Josephine "La" Baker : Vision of Beauty

In a world where African American female imagery, in cinema and life,  is often not celebrated, the victorious and love-filled life of Josephine Baker reminds us that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Join us on the third Friday of the month this summer, July - September 17th, 2021, for a free screening during the Bronzeville Art District Art Tour,  SSFF Satellite Experimental Film Festival, presented by Wabi House Media, an art film by Renee Baker.

The art partners create an interdisciplinary/ multi-disciplinary Hybrid experience featuring a virtual online tour and in-person experiences at each gallery. In addition, an alley activation at 436 E. 47th Street will connect guests to the Great Migration Garden, becoming a social distance zone to gather.  Our neighbors can bring lawn chairs at dusk and enjoy a popup drive in an experimental film festival with projections on a three-foot wall facing the 47th street intersection. 

Virtual Open Studio, Phantom Gallery Chicago

"Art is Business"  December 18, 2020

2020 Bronzeville Art District Virtual Gallery Tours

Forecasting what the future holds, and how we adapt to new ways of presenting art engagement, and audience development while practicing social distancing.  Alpha Bruton, Founder of the Phantom Gallery Chicago, is moving to mark out a new and exciting program for the future of Phantom Gallery.

The Phantom Gallery will look at how the city influences art, and artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life. These installations will produce "Creative Conversations" presenting artists speaking about their art.

2020 Program virtual gallery openings will focus on Examining the State of Our Environment- and having conversations with artists in their studios. 

The aim of the Phantom is to examine changes in current curatorial production and to develop innovative displays in relation to virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process, and the final product. 

Artist in Resident – Renee Baker

Renee Baker visual artist/media and film is a resident artist/curator, who has invested in the Phantom Gallery Chicago Loft as an AIR to stage her experimental film screenings, and as an ancillary gallery to showcase and exhibit her sculpture and paintings. Renee is an internationally renowned artist best known for her work in the classical music industry. She is a resident artist working in found objects, sculpture, and the experimental film just to list a few of her multidisciplinary work.

       "Home Molasses" artist Renee Baker, an installation by curator Alan Emerson Hicks

LOIS STONE ARTS

Artist Statement

My artwork explores the subject of transformation and change in the human condition. What I want to discover are the ways these changes are inspired and the awareness that is revealed. I use color, shape form, and texture to inform my audience. Through my work, I attempt to evoke a feeling, response, or even a question from the view on what they feel in hopes to transform something in them.  I use spontaneous mark-making movement and rhythmic patterns. My work is most often done on paper, but some work is done on wood canvas and synthetic paper and is often used together in collage pieces.

Lois Stone

"Lotus  Revised 3 Kunst", 19" x 26"         Lois Stone Art, Oil on Paper, 2020 

    

    Lotus Series 1 Revised by Lois Stone

Phil M. Cotton

Although the images and subjects of my artwork are diverse; the influences and subject matter originate from the 1950’s era, abstract expressionist movement, and architectural/ designs of the Mid Century Modern/ Bauhaus periods. My contemporary artwork consists of organic and architectural visual images that respond to my observations of historical moments in time and the present state of our ever-changing complex society.

        "Fetish Sacrifice" Found Object Sculpture, Phil Cotton, Private Collection Alpha Bruton 

"Dinosaur" Phil Cotton  Mixed Media, 2017 

Bronzeville Art District Virtual Trolley Tour "Creative Conversation" - Abstract Expression

"Art is Business" 

Join us for our end of the season Virtual Trolley Tour - Friday, December 18, 2020. 7pm - 8pm

Bit.ly/bronzevillearttrolleytour                    Facebook Live- Phantom Gallery

    @ Video produced by Joseph Rzodkiewicz

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS, YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS AND ARTIST RELIEF FUNDS HAVE ALLOWED THE GALLERY TO SUSTAIN PROGRAMMING, DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME OF COVID-19.

Bronzeville Art District November Virtual Open Studio, Cesar Conde

"Creative Conversation", artists speaking about their art practice, November 20, 2020, focuses on

 Open Virtual Studio, "Creative Conversation"- Artist Cesar Conde.

"in·sight /ˈinˌsīt/ the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing:

intuition, perception, awareness, discernment, understanding, ... "

Cesar Conde 

Cesar Conde was born on September 23, 1963, in the Philippines. He came to Seattle in the early '70s when his family emigrated to the United States. Both his parents were white-collared professionals. Conde went to a public school in Seattle and was part of the first busing integration program. However, his first year of schooling was in Chicago's west side, where he was exposed to African-American, Latino and Polish communities. He grew up pressured to assimilate into the American culture in order to survive.

Travel exposed Conde to different cultures, which is reflected in his art. He learned to draw in Florence, Italy, and studied painting in Monflanquin, France.

Exhibitions:

Southside Weekly said "Conde's art is an art that does, and when looking at his portraits, one cannot help but feel that art can and must do things for us, that it must be strong, not flimsy. Indeed, that is Conde's whole goal: to remind us of the hard truths under the surface of our biases and judgments, lest we forget what happened to Trayvon," Jake Bittle, November 20, 2013

His work is featured in the Chicago Contemporary.

 "The film". 13 November 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2016.

 "Cesar Conde Art". Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2016.

 "South Side Weekly"

 "Chicago Contemporary". Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016

Coming soon.  Join us on December 18m, 2020  7pm - 8pm

Phantom Gallery: http://bit.ly/Phantom_Tour Meeting ID: 859 7433 6882

 Virtual Open Studio featuring:

Renee Baker- Experimental Film 

Post Modernism:

Lois Stone

Phillip Cotton

The Phantom Gallery will look at how the city influences art, and artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life. These installations will produce "Creative Conversations" presenting artists speaking about their art.

2020 Program virtual gallery openings will focus on Examining the State of Our Environment- and having conversations with artists in their studios. 

The aim of the Phantom is to examine changes in current curatorial production and to develop innovative displays in relation to virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process, and the final product. 

B. Ra-El Ali Thunder Zoom Virtual Open Studio Artist Interview

BRael Ali Thunder

https://www.facebook.com/brael.ali

BReal Ali  

http://www.braelali.com/

B'RAEL ALI THE ARTISAN

BRAEL.ALI13@GMAIL.COM

773-494-2391

IG: BRAELALITHUNDER

FB: BRAELALITHUNDER

TWR:BRAELALITHUNDER

SOUNDCLOUD: BRAEL THUNDER

https://phantomgallery.blogspot.com/2016/07/black-experimentalism-let-us-examine.html

My title B’Rael Ali is an affirmation that I use so that I always remain conscious of my spiritual identity and purpose. My purpose being a creative force sent from the cosmos, a bringer of truth.  I was born on the south side of Chicago and I have lived much of my life in the urban City. I am a graduate of the Southern Illinois University of Carbondale achieving a BFA in Painting and Drawing. I am also a spoken word artist. My artwork and poetry are infusions of urban life, history, and social commentary. I believe that knowledge of self is the true answer to anyone’s individual struggles because gaining it has improved my life tremendously. My artwork and poetry serve as a form of education, displaying the lessons and philosophies that help me during my struggles in order to help others through their struggles as well. Art is my language, Art is my way of solving the problems of today in order to create a better future.

 Much of my artwork features dancing figures. Dance is the physical cultivation of the Spirit through mental release and rhythmic processes. Dance historically, and contemporary is a large part of African and African American culture being used for ritual purposes, ceremonial, as well as social. My artwork depicts those traditional uses of dance through 2D drawings on paper that are enhanced with acrylic paint and pastels. I use the dancing figure as a creative vessel to express African American culture and issues. Through compositions designed from the figurative image of the dancer, I compose narratives that describe the African American experience, largely addressing identity, reconnecting African Americans to their African ancestry. The collaboration of symbols new and old creates the persona of "Afrofuturism" in my work, allowing my art to become ritual. 

The Phantom Gallery will look at how the city influences art, and artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life. These installations will produce "Creative Conversations" presenting artists speaking about their art.

2020 Program virtual gallery openings will focus on Examining the State of Our Environment- and having conversations with artists in their studios. 

The aim of the Phantom is to examine changes in current curatorial production and to develop innovative displays in relation to virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work, and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process, and the final product. 

Join us on December 18th, 2020 for our final installment of Virtual Open Studio featuring:

Renee Baker- Experimental Film 

Post Modernism:

Lois Stone

Phillip Cotton

Creative Conversation Presenting Artists Speaking About Their Art

"Art is Business"

ZOOM Virtual Gallery Tour Run of Show- November 20, 2020

Facebook: Live Stream

LINK: https://www.facebook.com/events

Phantom Gallery: http://bit.ly/Phantom_Tour Meeting ID: 859 7433 6882

www.cesarcondeart.com

B real Ali Thunder, photo by Toni Smith

Nicholas Conlon, "Last American Poet",  PINK GUN PROJECT

Bronzeville Art District Virtual Trolley Tour - Creative Conversation Presenting Artists Speaking About their Art Practice

"Art is Business"

JOIN US ON AUGUST 21, 2020 AT 7PM FOR A VIRTUAL CONVERSATION

FACEBOOK LIVE LINK: https://www.facebook.com/events/3168078666607321

Bronzeville Art District Trolley Tour 2019, "Experimentalism"

Mother Bessie Turner's Tea Set Collection, gifted to Alpha M. Bruton 1998

BORDERLINE (1930)

"Art is Business" Reposted for Renee C. Baker. Sponsored by The Black Film Center/Archive at IU and hosted by the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive/Screening Room.

BORDERLINE (1930)
Adah, a black woman, has an affair with Thorne, a white man, much to the dismay of some of the prejudiced townsfolk and Thorne's wife, Astrid. Adah attempts a reconciliation with her man, Pete, but eventually leaves him and the town. Meanwhile, Astrid goes mad and cuts Thorne's face and arm with a knife, but then mysteriously dies. Thorne is tried but acquitted. Because of the events, the mayor sends Pete a letter asking him to leave town for the good of all concerned.

Scored by Renée Baker and the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project.
Directed by Kenneth MacPherson
Starring Paul and Eslanda Robeson

RENEE BAKER is the founding music director and conductor of the internationally acclaimed CHICAGO ORCHESTRA PROJECT CMOP), a polystylistic organization that grew from classical music's plums as jazz. A member of the world-renowned collective Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), there are few barriers to the creative turns of this composer, conductor, artist, and instrumentalist. As a featured ensemble, CMOP has been chosen to work with NewMusicUSA and the EarShot program of the American Composers Orchestra. Called the latest AACM visionary by DownBeat Magazine, Baker is one of the brightest and most fertile minds active in composition today.

Sponsored by The Black Film Center/Archive at IU and hosted by the IU Libraries Moving Image Archive/Screening Room.

SILENT SMILES: INTERIOR INVISIBILITY

"Art is Business" Please check the weather before voyaging out, a notice will go out if this event is canceled due to extreme weather.

SILENT SMILES: INTERIOR INVISIBILITY

Renee Baker Artworks on Paper

Feb 1- March 15

CLOSING RECEPTION MARCH 1st, 6-9 pm

Phantom Gallery Chicago Network

436 E 47th St

Suite #205

773-681-6570 for more information.

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network is proud to announce Renee Baker as guest- artist in residency. Her residency will take place between Feb 1st - September 30th, 2019. She will be working directly with Phantom Gallery Chicago’s chief curator Alpha Bruton. The Phantom Gallery Chicago will provide AIR with technical and administrative support, support for the creation of new work and the exploration of new ideas with a monthly exhibition featuring new works.

First Friday Salon Series- "Creative Conversation"

Description: "Salon" is a room or series of rooms where works of art are exhibited, thus the Phantom Gallery Chicago Loft Gallery, located in the Bronzeville Artist Lofts, 2nd floor, Room 205 are hosting a series of creative conversations, and artist talks hosted by featured artists in the network. 

Renee Baker for the month of February will feature the works of N. Masani Landfair.

Next City - Inspiring Better Cities

"Art is Business" Re-Posted article BY AUDREY F. HENDERSON | JANUARY 4, 2019

Restoring the Glory of This Iconic Chicago ‘Black Metropolis’ Building

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Historic Anthony Overton Hygenic Building in Bronzeville, 3619 S. State Street

n the heart of Bronzeville, on Chicago’s Near South Side, around 20 folks bundled in coats, hats, and scarves gathered on the first floor of the iconic Overton Hygienic Building. Photos and graphics lined the walls, stripped to bare plaster and exposed brick. A cardboard representation titled “The Shotgun Shack/House” sat on one table, covered with cutout slogans and photos. D.W. Griffith’s controversial 1915 film, “The Birth of a Nation,” played in a continuous loop, projected directly onto the bare wall opposite the entrance.

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They were all there on Nov. 30, 2018, for the closing reception of “Art and Social Justice: Examining the State of Our Environment,” a pop-up exhibition organized by Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. The month-long multimedia exhibition featured contributions from participating curators Renee Baker, Felicia Grant Preston, Paola Aguirre Serrano, and Paula Robinson, along with artists Duane Preston, Renard Preston, Ciera L, Preston, Jihad El Amin, Toussaint Werner, Michael “Koto” Thomas, Walter Freeman, Larissa Johnson, and Rhonda Hardy.

The venue was not a random selection. In its heyday, the Overton building housed a thriving variety of black-owned commercial and civic improvement ventures under the direction of legendary African-American entrepreneur Anthony Overton.

We Know Our Blues Film installation/screening

"Art is Business" Re-post for Renee C. Baker

2019 Exhibit: We Know Our Blues Film Installation/Screening

A Natural Born Gambler- Bert Williams

Opening - Jan 4 -  Closing -Feb 4, 2019
Phantom Gallery Chicago Network 
Opening 6-9pm
Dinner and wine reception

Exhibit: We Know Our Blues Film installation/screening
A Natural Born Gambler- Bert Williams
Charleston Parade- Jean Renoir
Both films with new scores by Renee Baker
Recorded by Chicago Modern Orchestra Project

A Natural Born Gambler is a 1916 silent film short, the first of only two films starring Broadway comic and singer Bert Williams. The film was Williams' first two-reel comedy and was a film that was expected not to disappoint audiences and was highly anticipated. 

Initial release: July 24, 1916

Director: Bert Williams

Screenplay: Bert Williams

Production company: Biograph Company

Producer: Bert Williams

Cast: Bert Williams, Wes Jenkins

Come and join the Phantom Gallery Chicago as we begin our 2019 open studio's first Friday, exhibits, creative conversations, art talks, and more. Located at the Bronzeville Artist Lofts, 436 E. 47th Street, Suite #205.

Gallery office hours Wednesday- Thursday, 10am - 2pm, or by appointment.  

phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com
773-68106570  for updated information

Artist in Resident- Renee Baker 2018

"Art is Business" Renee Baker as Guest- Artist in Residency -2018-2019

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Phantom Gallery Chicago Network is proud to announce Renee Baker as a guest- artist in residency. Her residency will take place between September  1st– December 31, 2018. She will be working directly with Phantom Gallery Chicago’s chief curator Alpha Bruton. The Phantom Gallery Chicago will provide AIR with technical and administrative support, support for the creation of new work and the exploration of new ideas with a two-month installation that concludes in November 2018.

Open studio during my artist residency at Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. Much research, collecting and recontextualizing coming up..

"So honored to be a newcomer to the Bronzeville legacy and it's commitment to the arts. Andre and Frances Guichard and Gallery Guichard are keepers of that flame and are dedicated to activating and promoting excellence in the arts."

Thank you Alpha M. Bruton, and Phantom Gallery Chicago Network for the gift of time and space to create...

Current Installation " ACCESS: ADJUNCTION" Sculpture Bias Installation See/Hear/Eye/Touch

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE- RENEE BAKER
Renee' Baker is a founding music director and conductor of the internationally acclaimed Chicago Modern Orchestra Project (CMOP), a polystylistic organization that grew from the plums of classical music as well as jazz. A member of the world-renown collective Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians.

Critical acclaim for her graphic scores novels has come from performances in Berlin, Poland, London, Scotland and as far-reaching as Vietnam.

As a disruptive composer and visual artist, there are few barriers to the creative turns of this composer, conductor, artist, and instrumentalist. As a featured ensemble, CMOP has been chosen to work with NewMusicUSA and the EarShot program of the American Composers Orchestra. 
An expert at ensemble development and training, Renee’ developed the Mantra Blue Free Orchestra (Chicago), PEK' Contemporary Project (Berlin), the progenitor of Bleueblue Walkers/Bass Kollektief, Twilight Struggles (Berlin) as well as being involved in starting over 20 cutting-edge new music ensembles. Among them: TUNTUI, Wrinkled Linen, Chocolate Chitlin' Caucus, Red Chai Watch, FAQtet, Project 6, Renee' Baker's AWAKENING, Baker ArTet, a Butoh ensemble BODY STRATA, and Strings Attached.

 Ms. Baker has performed globally from Bimhuis (Amsterdam) to Symphony Center (Chicago) and was a founding member as well as Principal Violist of Chicago Sinfonietta for 26 years
Ms. Baker has composed over two thousand works for ensembles ranging from pieces for solo instruments, ballet, opera to large orchestral works that bridge the classical, jazz and creative music genres. Her ability to embrace various creative parameters in her work has led to commissions for the Chicago Sinfonietta, Berlin International Brass, PEK’ Contemporary Project, and DanceWright Project, among others.

As a disruptive force in composition, Ms. Baker’s eclectic visual score compositions led her to create a gestured conducting language she calls CCL/FLOW (Cipher Conduit Linguistics), which she employs when working with numerous cutting-edge groups in Cologne, Berlin, Netherlands, London, Chicago, Portland (OR), and other ensembles around the world. 

A further aspect of her composition skills is the development of her painted score exploratorium pieces for ensembles of variable sizes. Ms. Baker is also in demand as a lecturer and expert in nontraditional composition techniques, as well as large ensemble “comprovisation”/ improvisation development.

Aspects of the art world permeate Ms. Baker’s work. Her performance artwork SUNYATA: TOWARDS ABSOLUTE EMPTINESS will premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA, Chicago) in May 2015, and her tactile score sculpture works were featured at the MCA Chicago as part of the Sunyata premiere.

Ms. Baker is the composer of four operas. Currently, she is working as a film score composer, having composed and released a new score for Oscar Micheaux's “race film” masterpiece BODY AND SOUL (1925) with the music performed by her Chicago Modern Orchestra Project ensemble.
Called the latest AACM visionary by Downbeat Magazine, Ms. Baker is one of the brightest and most fertile minds inactive in composition today.

Renee' C. Baker, Conductor/Composer
Chicago Modern Orchestra Project /PEK' Contemporary Project
reneebaker@comcast.net
reneebakercomposer.com
reneebakercomposer.net
chicagomodernorchestraproject.org

For more information:
http://www.billdoggettproductions.com/Black-Composers.html
http://www.billdoggettproductions.com/Black-Composers-2.html
http://www.billdoggettproductions.com/CH125.html *

###

ABOUT THE PHANTOM GALLERY CHICAGO-NETWORK/ Self-directed ARTIST IN RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Phantom Gallery Chicago realizes artists need to keep creating and inventing at their personal best, that they need time to reflect and time to work seriously, or just for the fun of it. We believe the journey to becoming a skilled and accomplished artist is lifelong. When you invest in your talent, you can reinvigorate your passion for making art. But, an important part of the process is building into your schedule a time for renewal, for new experiences, and for a different perspective. Self-directed artist residency’s, “artist vacations” are not taken just to get away from their work, but rather to find ways to inspire their work with new exuberance and energy.

The goal is to give artists a space in which to imagine new ways to work. The residency is followed by a two-month exhibition of the project created, which is fully documented and accompanied by a full-color exhibition brochure. All art made during the residency belongs to the artist. Artist is encouraged to share their ideas, complete a visual diary of drawings, collage, video or photography. This visual journal will reflect the on-site experience, employing themes, contemporary narratives, personal or historical regarding the course, or discourse of their work.

While artist residencies have traditionally provided opportunities for artists to work in solitude, many residency programs today are designed specifically around artists engaging the local community. Increasingly, organizations still primarily offering retreat-style residencies are expanding into community-engaged work as well, and looking for best-practices from peers.

In response to these significant shifts in the residency field, we began this discovery project with two guiding questions:
1) How can artist residencies be a platform for engaging communities in meaningful and responsible ways? 
2) What do artists need to succeed in community-engaged work, and how best can residency programs serve those needs.

“Environmental Concerns”

"Art is Business"

“Environmental Concerns” 

September 26 - November 18, 2018

Opening Event: September 26, 5:00-8:00PM 

"Environmental Concerns" is a collaborative project of the Experimental Station and William Hill Center for the Arts. It looks at local intersections between the natural world and social environments. Through exhibitions, installations, and public events, it connects and amplifies neighboring grassroots sites.

The non-profit Experimental Station was built on a legacy of environmental and artistic activity.  Its building was home to Chicago’s first recycling center, Kenn Dunn’s ReUse Center, and then became a hub of activity around the studio of artist Dan Peterman, whose work is centered around reuse.  Today, Experimental Station fosters a dynamic ecology of cultural programs and initiatives to meet local needs. It does so through running a community bike shop as a youth program, a farmers market, a program doubling the value of food stamps at farmers markets, and arts and culture events, while also incubating businesses and hosting community journalism projects.

Located just a few blocks south of Experimental Station is the William Hill Gallery, an intimate space for contemporary art located in the backyard of the house that William Hill inherited from his grandfather. Hill, an artist, curator, and horticulturalists, has developed several outdoor sites: the William Hill Sculpture Garden, Dorchester Botanical Garden, and The Woodlawn Botanical Nature Center (at Hyde Park Academy High School).  All within a few blocks of his home and gallery, they are filled with plants and objects.

This project highlights the existing artistic and horticultural efforts at these sites and further activates them through installations, exhibitions, and events by artists connected to Hill and Experimental Station. Included are:
a live-plant installation and “Plant Your Fears” project by Cream Co.
urban and natural landscape and still life paintings by Gerald Sanders and            students outdoor bike-part sculptures by Alice Smith-Jones with youth from   

Blackstone Bicycle Works sculptural light and sound installation by Alpha Bruton with William Hill, sculpture by Peter Gray an extinct animals zoo made by Rhonda Ghoulston and her students at Hyde Park Academy

A series of free, public events include:
a tour of the sites during the opening reception
a screening of WTTW’s “Earthkeeping” television program by South Side            Projections a performance of “Chainsaw Lowering” by Erik Peterson
a “sound walk” of the immediate neighborhood by Norman Long
a public conversation with EPA veteran and art collector Patric McCoy

Organized by Alpha Bruton (Phantom Gallery Chicago), William Hill (William Hill Center for the Arts), and Matthew Searle (Experimental Station).

For more information, contact Matthew Searle, Assistant Director of

Experimental Station:
matthew@experimentalstation.org or 773.241.604

Participating Artists
William Hill
Alpha Bruton
Rhonda Ghoulsten and Hyde Park Academy students
Alice Smith-Jones with Blackstone Bicycle Works
Peter Gray
Gerald Sanders with students
Sasha Earle and Brett Sweeney of Cream Co.
Norman Long
South Side Projections
Patric McCoy
Erik Peterson

Project Sites
William Hill Gallery and Sculpture Garden - 6442 S Dorchester Ave. (indoor/outdoor)
Dorchester Botanical Garden - 64th and Dorchester (outdoor)
The Woodlawn Botanical Nature Center - 6300 Stony Island (outdoor)
Experimental Station - 6100 S. Blackstone (indoor)
Blackstone Bicycle Works - 6100 S. Blackstone (outdoor)

Project Events 
Note: All are free and open to the public. They will take place Experimental Station (6100 S. Blackstone) unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, 9/26, 5:00-8:00PM - Opening Event and Tour of Project Sites

Saturdays, 9/29 and 10/6, 12:30-1:30PM - Norman Long’s Three Block Sound
Walk (depart from 61st and Dorchester)

Wednesday, 10/3, 6:00-8:00PM - “Earthkeeping” Film Screening with South Side Projections
Saturday, 10/13, 10:00-1:00PM - Cream Co.’s “Plant Your Fears” at the 61st St.

Farmers Market
Thursday, 10/18 - 6:00-8:00PM “Environmentalism, Art, and the

Neighborhood”: A Conversation with Patric McCoy
Tuesday, 11/13, 6:00-7:30PM - Closing Event: “Chainsaw Lowering” Public

Performance and Tasting with Erik Peterson

March 4th Sunday Salon Series Presents: Losing all Track of Time

"Art is Business

March 4, 2018, 3pm- 5pm
Sunday Salon Series presenting artist Renee Baker, at the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, Bronzeville Artist Lofts Room 205. Seating is limited, 
RSVP  at phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com.
Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/events/942809055866078/

The Phantom Gallery Chicago is proud to support the CSO African American Network, as they present the work of Renee Baker this Saturday, Feb 24rd, see article below.
Reposted for Primary scar of shame 2018, by Laura Emerick

CSO'S AFRICAN AMERICAN NETWORK TO SCREEN TIMELY SILENT FILM "THE SCAR OF SHAME" by Laura Emerick

February 21, 2018   |   0

With its theme of female debasement, abuse and exploitation, “The Scar of Shame” could have been born of the #MeToo movement. Attacked and browbeaten by her stepfather, a woman finds herself led down a path to perdition. Despite its topicality, however, the work comes from a much earlier era: It’s a silent film, released in 1927, and was considered lost until an original nitrate print was discovered decades later.

“The fact in 2018 that we can look at a film like this and see that many of the social and cultural vagaries still exist … the struggle is virtually the same,” said Chicago-based composer Renèe Baker, who has written a new score for “The Scar of Shame,” which starred an all-black cast and was produced by the independent Colored Players Corp. of Philadelphia. As part of Black History Month, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s African American Network will screen “The Scar of Shame,” with Baker’s score, on Feb. 24 in Buntrock Hall.

“The Scar of Shame” is an example of a so-called race film: movies made by black filmmakers with mostly black casts, intended for black audiences. From the dawn of cinema to the 1940s, more than 500 race films were released, with approximately 100 still surviving. “Within Our Gates” (1920) and “Body and Soul” (1924), directed by pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, are well-known; others such as “The Scar of Shame,” which respected film scholar Donald Bogle has called “quite possibly the best independent black film of the silent era,” are less so.


Which is where Baker, founder of the Chicago Modern Orchestra Project, comes in. She has written more than 2,000 works, including 100 film scores, which have been performed at venues such as the Music Box, the Museum of Contemporary of Art and Roger Ebert's Film Festival. Last season, the CSO’s AAN presented Micheaux's “Body and Soul” with Baker’s score.

For the CSO’s “Scar of Shame” screening, Baker has recorded a new version of her score specifically for the event. “The Scar of Shame” project originated at Indiana University-Bloomington, where Baker had done some research at its Black Film Center/Archive. The archive and IU Cinema then commissioned Baker to compose a score for "The Scar of Shame"; it had its world premiere November 4, with Baker conducting an orchestra of students from IU’s Jacobs School of Music.

Though the November 4 performance was recorded, Baker didn’t have time to master the audio files for the CSO's screening (which will be a Blu-ray projection). So she decided to compose and record a new version of the commissioned score.

During her research at IU, Baker was drawn to the works of Phil Moore (1917-1987), a jazz pianist-arranger-bandleader and the first black musician hired as a staffer for a major studio (MGM, in 1941). His Suite for Strings (1939) inspired motifs in her "Scar of Shame" score. Baker describes this work as "avant-garde, creative music a la the AACM [the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians], with definite classical influences. What I specialize in is accessing the sponge that my brain is. I’ve lived with all of these genres.”

Since its rediscovery in 1969, scholars and cinephiles have embraced “The Scar of Shame,” included in the book The 50 Most Influential Black Films: A Celebration of African-American Talent, Creativity, and Determination (2001). It’s also part of "Pioneers in African-American Cinema" (2016), a five-disc set released by Kino Lorber, which remastered titles from the Library of Congress and other film archives.

Baker points out that "Body and Soul," perhaps her best-known score, is from the same cinematic milieu as "The Scar of Shame." " 'Body and Soul' is a good movie but 'The Scar of Shame' is a brave movie, because it's so relevant to what's going on nowadays politically and culturally," she said. "It’s American history.”

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s African American Network will screen “The Scar of Shame,” with Baker’s score, on February 24 in Buntrock Hall. For more information and tickets, click here.

NO SAFETY IN SILENCE- Conundrum Conversation

"Art is Business" Alpha Bruton, Chief Curator , Renee Baker,Artist in Resident, space is limited RSVP required:

The Phantom  Gallery Chicago will be hosting a launch event on Sunday, October 1st, 3-6 pm as part of our Sunday Salon Series.

Alan Emerson Hicks, and Renee Baker 2017

NO SAFETY IN SILENCE- Conundrum Conversation

As a response to a call for action the Phantom Gallery Chicago will host a film screening of Birth of A Nation, D.W. Griffin, 1915 as part of the CONUNDRUM FILM SERIES followed by Creative Conversation, "No Safety in Silence", that tackles the must serious of issues today.

Film/Conversation  begins at 3pm - 6pm 
BlogTalkRadio Creative Conversation: 5pm-5:30pm
National Launch  Event begins at 6:00pm CST. 

There will be a livestream training followed by an organizing meeting so we can join in the fight to make our democracy more representative and expand access to the ballot in (Illinois). I would love it if you could make it to my event!

RSVP here: https://go.peoplepower.org/event/voting_rights/9994

If you have any questions about the event, please let me know! I hope to see you then! email phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com
773-681-6570 for more information.

 I’m very excited to share that ACLU People Power will be launching a brand new campaign called “Let People Vote” to go on offense and expand access to the ballot and make democracy more representative in our state -- and I’m hoping you’ll take action with me! 

In solidarity,

Alpha Bruton

If you can't make it then join us on our Creative Conversation RadioBlogTalk, our scheduled call-in time and on air time is scheduled at 5:00pm CST, on October 1st, 2017, 310-982-4237. 

This project is supported in part by: 

A+ AvG Festival and Wabi House Media Presents

"Art is Business" Renee Baker

For lovers of film, music and art, the CONUNDRUM FILM series has something for every pallette. This is a  creative screening open house where you can grab your plate and watch pertinent and provocative films that tackle the must serious of issues today.

A+AvG Festival and 

Wabi House Media

Saturday, September 16 , 2017

@Phantom Gallery Chicago
436 E. 47th St Chicago
Suite 205

Addressing the black female artist perspective, film composer/new director, Renee Baker, with curators Alpha Bruton and Alan Emerson Hicks, co-curators of Phantom Gallery, presenting a day-long film love-in.

Continuous screenings
All films with new scores recorded by
Chicago Modern Orchestra Project 
Refreshments available

SCREENING SCHEDULE
Daylight 
3:15pm – 8:08 pm
*Birth of a Nation 1915 Dir. DW Griffith
*Intolerance Dir. DW Griffith

Civil Twilight
8:08 pm – 8:39 pm
*Within Our Gates Dir. Oscar Micheaux

Nautical Twilight
8:39 pm – 9:18 pm
*Within Our Gates Dir. Oscar Micheaux
*Symbol of the Unconquered Dir .O. Micheaux

Astro. Twilight
9:18 pm – 10:01 pm
*Kandinsky Staircase. Dir. R.Baker

Night
10:01 pm – 11:59 pm
*Altered Consciousness  Dir. R. Baker
*Abandoned.   Dir. R. Baker
*Assorted short films   Dir. R. Baker


Sponsored in part by: 

Chicago South Side Host - Inkind

Holy Angeles Parish Inkind donations