Bronzeville Artist Loft Dedication and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

"Art is Business"

Andre and Francis Guichard Owners
 Mayor Rahm Emanuel today joined community leaders, developers and local artists to celebrate the opening of the Bronzeville Artists Lofts, a $5.9 million project to redevelop a vacant 90-year-old building as 16 studio, one- and two-bedroom artist’s apartments as well as an art gallery and art incubator in 12,200 square feet of space at 436 East 47th Street in Bronzeville. The project is one example of the more than $780 million in planned and completed public and private investments underway in the area. It marks just over one year since the City launched the Chicago Neighborhoods Now initiative to strengthen the city through public-private partnerships.


“Our future is only as bright as our neighborhoods are strong, and projects like this will be the catalyst for the continued revitalization of our city,” said Mayor Emanuel. “This project not only reinforces Bronzeville’s legacy as a center for local artists and art patrons but it is proof that when the public and private sectors come together, cultural and economic vibrancy are possible.”



Bronzeville Artists Lofts was developed by Revere Properties LLC and Three Corners LLC. As part of the development agreement, half of the units are being leased to working artists earning no more than 120 percent of area median income (AMI) and the other half to artists earning less than 60 percent of AMI. In addition to the residential component, approximately one-third of the ground-floor retail is occupied by Gallery Guichard, which relocated from its original location on South Martin Luther King Drive and which showcases art from the United States, Africa and the Caribbean.


 "The Bronzeville Artists Lofts and Gallery Guichard honors the Bronzeville community's cultural history while at the same time, provide new opportunities for emerging artists,” said Alderman Pat Dowell. “The investments made by the City of Chicago, Revere Properties and Three Corners help stimulate the economy of 47th Street and gives new life to an important retail corridor."

The rehabilitation work was made possible by $1.1 million Tax Increment Financing (TIF) assistance and $4.4 million in federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding allocated by the City of Chicago.
 In the year since announcing Chicago Neighborhoods Now, Bronzeville has experienced $1.85 billion in planned and completed public and private investments that also include the Shops & Lofts at 47, a mixed-use, mixed-income housing and retail development currently under development and a new Mariano’s grocery store. Across Bronzeville, projects are creating 2,700 permanent jobs and 12,000 temporary construction jobs and strengthening economic development and affordable housing, attracting new retail and jobs to the area.



Announced in March 2013, the initiative is coordinating new economic development, housing, and quality of life improvements across seven opportunity-rich sections of Chicago – Bronzeville, Pullman, Englewood, Uptown, Eisenhower Corridor, Rogers Park/Loyola University and Little Village. Chicago Neighborhoods Now was projected to coordinate $330 million in City funding and $2.6 billion in State, Federal and private funding. Based on projections announced in the past 12 months, the City has have not only met, but exceeded those goals.

Bronzeville Artists Lofts Unveiled

"Art is Business" reposted for Sam Cholke

Gallery Guichard Moves Into New Space on 47th Street

By Sam Cholke on June 25, 2014 8:30am 

Slideshow
 Gallery Guichard celebrated the official opening of its new space at the Bronzeville Artist Lofts on Tuesday.
Bronzeville Artist Lofts
BRONZEVILLE — Gallery Guichard and neighborhood artists unveiled a new gallery space and artists lofts on 47th Street on Tuesday.
“I was afraid, it was almost like leaving high school,” said Andre Guichard, about moving his gallery from a converted three-flat at 3251 S. Martin Luther King Drive. “This is one of those life breakthroughs.”
Walking through the new 4,000-square-foot gallery hung with work by artists from South Africa, Haiti and other countries, Guichard said he’s convinced he and his partner, Frances Guichard, made the right decision.
“A lot of people do a lot of talking, but the Guichards put their money where their mouth is,” said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) at an unveiling event at the 436 E. 47th St. building. Mayor Rahm Emanuel was also on hand.
Sixteen artists occupy apartments on the second and third floors of nearly century-old former dairy building.
“I need light as a painter,” said Alpha Bruton, who has split her unit into two studios, a gallery space and a living space. “I got it, I got all the windows, all this light.”
The $7 million space was specifically designed around a zoning change from 2010 that allows artists to get a business license and use their home as a gallery.
“You always end up sleeping at the gallery anyway when you have a deadline coming up,” said Alan Emerson Hicks, an artist who works with found objects that shares studio space in Bruton’s apartment.
Hicks said he struggled to find a new studio that wasn’t raw industrial space when Begyle Brewery took over the building that housed his old studio in North Center.
“There are some, but nothing like this.” Hicks said. “Most of the studio spaces are these warehouses.”
All 16 apartments, which range from $592 for a studio to $1,175 for a two-bedroom apartment, are all rented.
The project is expected to expand next year with the creation of a pavilion on the lot east of the building.
Gallery Guichard held a reception for its first exhibit at the new space, "Genesis," at 6 p.m. on June 27.

Pop Up Research Station- AIM Hatchfund 2014

Pop Up Research Station: A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS!

N8:Chicago Pop Up Gallery 15th/State/Closed


“Oakland Artists transforms historic corridor in Detroit’s North End”

I will be attending the Roots and Remedies Conference in Detroit Michigan, on July 17th, and will schedule live interviews with art organizers from Oakland California who have transformed Detroit’s Historic North End neighborhood.
Murphy-Hill Gallery PopUP in Sears Administration Lawndale/Closed

Tour public art sites along Oakland Avenue in Detroit’s historic North End neighborhood with members of the Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition. Learn more about the initiative’s historical context, recent public art projects and glimpse future plans for the art corridor. We will end our tour at Oakland Avenue Farm and Market and stroll through this awesome example of the intersection of art, urban agriculture, and community engagement.


I have submitted my application to participate in Chicago Artists Month 2014. The theme this year is “Crossing Borders”; starting in August the Pop Up research station will resume our weekly on-air radio
interviews with blogtalkradio.com/GYST-ink. GYST Radio calls in number:  (914) 338-0532. 

Preparation is also underway to begin our on-air panel discussions connecting with art organizers in various cities for our pre-summit online conference, which will happen on Wednesday, October 22nd, during Chicago Artists Month. So save that date.

Chicago— Fast Forward : Rewind : Play

"Art is Business" Artist Marcelo Eli
Marcelo Eli, Mr. Rager, 2013, acrylic, collage, oil stick on canvas, 77 x 94 inches
Media Contact: 
Brook Rosini 
773.324.5520 x1003 
brosini@hydeparkart.org

Hyde Park Art Center presents a playful exhibition 
highlighting diversity of involvement in its Oakman Clinton School & Studios

Three-week projects suggest alternate interpretations of traditional gallery space
Chicago— Fast Forward : Rewind : Play presents a playful and experimental format for an exhibition incorporating artwork, murals, creative exercises, and ideas from Art Center teaching artists, student artists, and youth artists. The Kanter-McCormick Gallery will become a curatorial laboratory for five quick- and-dirty shows proposed by participants involved in the Art Center’s Oakman Clinton School & Studios, engaging the traditional “white cube” gallery as a learning space while highlighting connections among Oakman Clinton School & Studios faculty, students, and the broader Chicago arts community. The exhibition will be on view from May 11 until August 31, 2014, with a public reception for all participating artists and facilitators being held on Thursday, May 29 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm.
The concept for the exhibition arose out of the various opportunities for interaction and engagement between the diverse artist communities that interact with the Hyde Park Art Center’s Oakman Clinton School & Studios. Through an open call, all students and participants in Oakman Clinton School & Studios programs were encouraged to submit project proposals. Proposals were then grouped into complementary sets by Art Center School & Studio Manager Jeannette Tremblay and Art Center Director of Exhibitions & Residency Programs Allison Peters Quinn.
May 11 – June 1: Travel Log The opening set of projects engage the timeless quest of mapping personal journeys through visual media. In The Pram Invitational, Kathy Fimreite invites artists to create prams—small, utilitarian boats known for their workhorse efficiency—that symbolize their own life experiences. The resulting fleet becomes a tangible metaphor for community. Facilitated by Hardy Schlick, the complementary project in this set, 옥수동: 2012, highlights travel photography by Scott Hemsey. The images record a portrait of a changing urban landscape through the lens of a temporary transplant from the United States living in Korea.
Participating artists in Travel Log include: Sarah Berkeley, Marty Burns, Corinna Button, Alisa Caron, Gloria Carrig, Lucy Dallman, Deborah Adams Doering, Glenn Doering, Duey Fimreite, Kathy Fimreite, Michelle Anne Harris, Phillip Hartigan, Jean Hester, Megan Hogan, Mailka Jackson, Lisa Jenschke- Stephens, Gwynne Johnson, Barb Koenen, Heather La Riviere, Ted Micheletti, Jesus Meija + Ruth, Mike Mlekowski, Michael McGuire, Carolyn Pereira, Leon Sarantos, Homa Shojaie, Teresa Silva, Ines


Sommer, Donna Terry, Nadine Trumbull, Eric Wall, Megan Williamson, Amy F. Williamson, Phil Wright, Stacia Yeapanis, Young Artists from Sunlight African Community Center; and Scott Hemsey.
June 8 – June 22: Circle in a Square The circle-in-square motif is an oft-used repeating pattern in American quiltmaking practices. This project, facilitated by Sarah Nishiura, presents a formal exploration of how that iconic motif gets translated into other media through the work of Mie Kongo and James Kao.
Participating artists include: Sarah Nishiura, Mie Kongo, James Kao, Hyde Park Art Center quiltmaking students, and other Chicago quiltmakers.

Diane Ponder

June 29 – July 17: Not Or, But And This set of projects looks at the fluid, and at times oppositional, relationship between figurative and abstract practices. With Figurative VS Abstract, Melody Saraniti underscores the inevitable conversation between both camps by inviting painters whose work exists mainly on one side or the other, and then asking those artists to invite their inspirations from across the aisle. The result is pairings that belie imagined antagonisms. For her part, Diane Ponder’s project, Figuratively Speaking, pulls together artists whose works sprout from a place of abstraction but ultimately take a turn toward figuration.
Participating artists in Not Or, But And include: Larissa Setareh Borteh, Dana DeGiulio, Robin Dulzen, Judith Geichman, Anne Harris, Cameron Harvey, Sarah Hicks, Sarah Hicks, Amanda Joseph, Mike Nudelman, Maria Vergara; and Steve Coenen, Marcelo Eli, Astrid Fuller, Christine LaRue, Sandra Perlow, Judy Petacque, Susan Redeker.
July 21 – July 25: Big Art With multimedia artist Lee Blalock at the helm, Hyde Park Art Center campers will spend a week investigating the “white cube” gallery as a space for making. They will work together to design and create large-scale drawing and mural projects while learning about color, style, process, site-specific installation, and collaboration.
Participating artists in Big Art include: Hyde Park Art Center Creativity Campers.
August 3 – August 31: The Playground For the final pair of projects, John Murphy and Suzanne Sebold investigate the potential of the “white cube” gallery as an alternative space for learning. In Murphy’s project, Play/Pause, he joins Hyde Park Art Center teaching artists to reflect on the commonalities and divergences between the Artist Statement and the Teaching Philosophy, as manifestos of two distinct yet intimately related practices. Sebold’s project, Uncommon Core, investigates how these shared big ideas come into being through the microcosm of an art class with students from North Kenwood/Oakland Charter School.
Participating artists in The Playground include: Rodrigo Zendejas, Jeremiah Jones, Candice Latimer, Jessi Walsh; and North Kenwood/Oakland Charter School students.
Fast Forward : Rewind : Play will be on view from May 11 until August 31, 2014 at the Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 South Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60615; 773.324.5520 and www.hydeparkart.org. Exhibitions are always free and open to the public. Visit hydeparkart.org for more information and related events.
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Hyde Park Art Center is a unique resource that advances contemporary visual art in Chicago by connecting artists and communities in unexpected ways. As an open forum for exploring the artistic process, the Art Center fosters creativity through making, learning about, seeing, and discussing art—all under one roof. The Art Center is funded in part by: Alphawood Foundation; Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts; a City Arts III grant from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; Field Foundation of Illinois; Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts; Harper Court Arts Council; Harpo Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Illinois Humanities Council; Irving Harris Foundation; Joyce Foundation; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince; National Endowment for the Arts; National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly; Polk Bros. Foundation; David C and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation; Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust; and the generosity of its members and people like you.

Bronzeville Artist Lofts- New Home for the Phantom Gallery Chicago

BRONZEVILLE ARTIST LOFTS 

Artist Live/Work Space/ Art Incubator - 

Building dedication, June 24, 2014, ribbon cutting, and building tour.
Room #205 is a new office for the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network. Phantom Gallery Chicago Network members call for an appointment to view our new location. Looking for an agent? This is a service to all members of the PGCN; become a member today by renewing your membership for 2014 - 2015. Alan Emerson Hicks of Emerson Studio at 773-501-7730 or Alpha Bruton at 773-681-6570.
BAL Development planned a $5.9 million renovation of the former apartment building into 16 live-work spaces for artists and a first-floor gallery or arts-related space. When city officials presented the proposal to aldermen considering $1.08 million in TIF support, Gallery Guichard was identified as a potential tenant. And is now opening its doors on June 27, 2014. 




Be part of the Bronzeville 3rd Friday Trolley Tour. Our trolley rotates continuously for 4 hours, stopping at each location for 5 minutes for guests to exit and board. The trolley stops service at 10pm. We will ask all patrons/riders to make their way to where their vehicle is parked at 9pm. This service is free and paid for by members of the Bronzeville Arts District.

Tolley's service begins on July 19, 2014, from 6-10pm.
August 16, 2014, September 20, 2014, and the final Trolley Tour concludes October 18, 2014, during Chicago Artists Month 2014.




FRONT PORCH TIME Featured Artist Sarah Beckstrom

Reposted for Sarah Beckstrom sending this invite out to the many people I've       connected with along the way, perhaps it's been a long-time or a short-time ago...

Sarah Beckstrom, Shipping Container HOME Project, 2014

MAY 7, 14, & 21, 2014

HOME PROJECT: FRONT PORCH TIMETHE CONTAINER, ART MUSEUM Frontis an invitation to gather, sit, drink, and talk about nothing in particular on the front porch of MFA artist Sarah Beckstrom’s shipping container home. Bring something to sit on and a vessel to drink from. Sarah’s very special sun tea will be served. 5-7pm






My MFA exhibition highlighting my Shipping Container HOME Project will be opening next week at the Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, CA. There is also a documentary movie and some other events and happenings going on in May so if you're in the area stop by!
More information can be found below....or at http://www.sarahbeckstrom.com/homecontainerproject.html
All the best,
Sarah



Art of Forbidden Fruits

"Art is Business" curator Philip Bernal

Photography by Carlos Deleon

About
BRAND NEW event coming to Chicago in 2014 during the weekend of IML. Showcasing works of Fetish and Erotic art of international and local artists.
Mission
Art of Forbidden Fruits: a show of fine art depicting the sensual side of Fetish in a sexual context. Our aim is to provoke the imagination in the realm of possibility, to take the secrets we all have and, through opening the blinds and shining a light on the beauty that is our lives....
Description
This is a brand new art gallery event in partnership with IML and the Chicago Leather Archives. Art of Forbidden Fruits is all about artwork that showcases the local fetish and erotic community in Chicago. We will be displaying local artists' work at different venues throughout the city. Check the page often to see when you can check out some talented local artwork.





I'm often asked, What is art supposed to do? My 10 sec response is: a work of art, be it solid or sound in the air, will take your mind on a magical journey into your Soul, and what we find there may cause us joy or rage..... and our job is to know both with EVERY fiber of our being, only then can we feel empathy, the highest brain function of mankind.
 
Downtown Bar and Lounge. 
 Chicago, Il 440 N. State st
bernalresidential@gmail.com


Summer Regional Exhibition

"Art is Business" arts organizer curator Lavon Pettis

Opportunities


Type: Exhibition Opportunities [View all]
Posted by: Adrian Aquilino
Deadline: 05/09/14

St. Louis Artists' Guild presents
Summer Regional Exhibition

Deadline: Friday, May 9, 2014 by 11:59pm
Opening Reception: June 13, 2014, 6pm–8:30pm
Exhibition Dates: June 13–August 10, 2014

The St. Louis Artists' Guild's Summer Regional Exhibition is an all-media, all-styles, all-content juried exhibition open to all artists residing in Missouri or Illinois. All Artists' Guild members are allowed to submit work, no matter their geographic location.

Cash prizes totaling $1000 will be awarded by the juror.

Exhibition Juror: Najjar Abdul-Musawwir, Professor of Studio Arts and Art History in School of Art and Design and Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (http://cola.siu.edu/artanddesign/faculty-staff/faculty-directory/studio/najjar-abdul-musawwir.php)

To find more information, or to upload artwork online, please visit our website:http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/summer-regional-2014
Posted on 04/21/14
Expires on 05/09/14

CAA is not responsible for the content of listings in the Opportunities section. All postings are subject to review; inappropriate submissions will not be published.

PopUp Research Station- HatchFund Project

"Art is Business" co-producer Alpha Bruton 
Our HatchFund Project fundraising timeline has been extended, to June 10, 2014. Why is this project important to you? We envision the project as a portal for shared knowledge, a  resource of best practices, ongoing professional development, and a place for moral support to enhance our collective impact locally, nationally, and internationally. 



Phantom Gallery Chicago and Phantom Galleries LA have come together with the intent to create a network of support for artists and arts organizations that are creating temporary public art installations in storefronts that elicit community response. 


We see the Pop-Up Research Station as the portal for documenting our legacy, which we hope will equip emerging artists and arts organizers with the skills they need to advance their creative visions. We have over 20 years of education to offer, developed through our own research and development. We have also learned from artists who have carved out their own niches, built new communities from empty storefronts, and developed monthly art walks.


International Art Group "Artist Dinner" at Mess Hall in Chicago
"Wash Your Hands First"  is a communal dinner served in a pop up storefront gallery in the donors hometown. The dinner will be a place for discussion examining the relationships between local communities and their role in creating access to the arts. The first five donors to contribute funds $1,000 or more will be our VIP guest, the table runner will be an original piece painted by the featured artist.

The Pop-Up Research Station will host a national conversation in the form of an online summit, starting in 2014. The conference and recorded podcasts will be more candid while still including facts and figures.  The talks will focus on real discussions about the problems we face as artists and arts organizers in temporary public spaces, the use of our intellectual property, and how it is used to cultivate urban renewal. 

Dan Godston, Executive Director of Borderbend Arts Collective, has proposed a project with Detroit artists to open a storefront gallery during the Chicago Calling Arts Festival in October 2014. I have proposed broadcasting and gathering information as a PopUp Research Station, and using this gallery as one of our sites for the online summit. Borderbend proposed a project in partnership with Detroit through the Knight Arts Challenge. Finalists will be announced on Monday, June 16, 2014. Finalists are then invited to submit a full proposal. This is a 1:1 matching grant.

To start the Pop-Up Research Station, we need a minimum of $5,000, which will go toward materials, administrative fees, and travel costs. Anything we raise beyond our minimum goal will go toward additional administrative fees and perk costs.

Please help us realize our dream to create the Pop-Up Research Station by donating today!

Thank you so much for your support.

Curator Lavon Pettis Presents

The artwork of Najjar closing reception April 4, 2014.

Nickolas Conlon NOW and THEN

WWW.nicholasconlon.com  $25 Signed Edition- purchase at the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, 440 E. 47th Street, Chicago IL  60653.  

   Volume two will be available in March 2014, Amazon.
Nicholas learned everything on the streets in a meat and potato beer and shotguns games and let it type of atmosphere.


Amiri Baraka (1934-2014): Poet-Playwright-Activist Who Shaped Revolutionary Politics, Black Culture

Amiri Baraka (1934-2014): Poet-Playwright-Activist Who Shaped Revolutionary Politics, Black Culture

"Art is Business"

Phantom Gallery CHI

Learning Outside the Lines- YEA!

"Art is Business" Last Friday was Grandparents Day at Calvin Christian School, where my granddaughter, Dani Davis, is a sixth grad...