Chicago Artists Month: Celebrating The City's Creative Force
October marks the beginning of Chicago Artists Month, a vast festival highlighting and celebrating the city's diverse mix of artists, organizations and their spaces.
First launched more than a decade ago by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the month-long event titled The City As Studio, features 100 programs led and sponsored by galleries, museums and studio artists. Exploring the how artists experience the urban environment, a goal of the program is to learn how art alters where we live. Both workshops and neighborhood walks dot the schedule and open galleries will display everything from sculpture, paintings, photography, digital work and some fashion design. The works of twelve emerging Chicago artists highlight the program.
The kick off celebration will be held October 1 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Pilsen East Artists Open House, 2003 S. Halsted in Chicago.
Home to several art schools, Chicago provides a vibrant atmosphere for both students and professionals and organizations and remains one of the few cities nationally to showcase local talent on such a large scale, according to information supplied by the Department of Cultural Affairs. While most exhibits are free to the public, some events do charge admission.
Hours for the events vary on each gallery, studio or museum and detailed information can be found on the website chicagoartistsmonth.org. Neighborhood restaurants and cafes take part in the celebration so call ahead of time if reservations are needed.
The twelve Chicago artists exhibiting for 2010 are: Bernard Williams, Mike Marino, Melissa Weber, Sam Kirk, Nikki Jarecki, Richard Hull, Jeff Zimmerman, Margaret Wright, Nick Bastis, Rahmaan Statik, Luftwerk and Iris Iris Pasic.
Posted by Lori Rotenberk
