This change brought about a lot of concern to the artists and supporters living in the community. For years the festival enabled local artist to display their work and sell their art. When news hit that the Around The Coyote would move to the West Loop and into October, artists and organizers started to plan their own, new art show. Starting today and running through the weekend, the Flat Iron Artist Association will host smARTshow in and around the historic Flat Iron Arts Building. The show acts as a means to continue the tradition of supporting the artists and their work.
Organizer and artist Kevin Lahvic, 51, helped form the Flat Iron Artist Association in April of this year and talked about the importance of smARTshow.
“It’s been a tradition for almost 20 years in Wicker Park for the Around The Coyote to begin their show in the fall,” Lahvic said. “The art show is very important to the artist that are here as well as to the community itself. We thought it was important to stay here in the neighborhood, and to a lot of artist like myself, art is how we make our living. It’s important to carry on that tradition so artist can continue to live and work in the community.”
The Around The Coyote Arts Festival's move into the West Loop raised concerns among the artists and residents of the community in another way according to Lahvic.
“Throughout the history of America and through our big cities, something important happens over and over again,” he said. “Artists move into the community because the rents are low…and once they get into the community there starts to be kind of a creative, artistic vibe and that brings in people who want to be around that kind of atmosphere. Restaurants follow, trendy boutiques follow and eventually people want to move into those neighborhoods. And what happens historically is the artists get priced right out of the neighborhood they helped create.”
Lahvic has seen the same things happening in and around the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods, but he said the community has fought to keep its identity.
“A big part of that is the Flat Iron Arts Building,” he said. “The building’s owner, Bob Berger, is very committed to the arts and keeping this an art colony. There are three dozen working artist in this building, and it has constantly been a home for working artist for almost twenty years.”
The Flat Iron Arts Building, an 88,000 square foot structure located at the intersection of Milwaukee and North and Damen Avenue, devotes itself exclusively to promoting the arts.
Other local establishments like Club Lucky, Piece, Double Door and the Debonair Social Club are pushing efforts towards the smARTshow.
“Those guys have reached out and have been very supportive,” Lahvic said. “They have contacted us and told us they will continue to support us like they have done before. It’s exactly what we needed to help put the show on the map and helps us be taken seriously.”
This is important, Lahvic said, because it helps the Flat Iron Arts Building maintain its atmosphere and vibe.
“Once people come to the building and experience it, they continue to come back year after year,” he said. “And that’s very important because it helps preserve the building and community of artists.”
Lahvic also says the uniqueness of the show adds to the importance of continuing the show.
“We bill it as a show of emerging artists,” he said. “People can come to the building and find very affordable art by artists who can take the challenge with any of the high-priced galleries in the city. It’s basically about finding artist who are at a point in their careers who are still selling their work at a relatively cheap price. You can leave here with a piece of original art for your home for fifty bucks.”
The Flat Iron Arts Building also helps young artists find an education of sorts by learning from their peers.
“We make it a point to have this be a venue that is welcoming to new artists,” he said. “So you see people who are talented artists who may be young or are still trying to find their voice. We give them the experience to be around all these other successful artists and to interact with everybody…and that’s very helpful.”
While most art shows charge artists a considerably high fee to participate in their shows, smARTshow keeps its fees to a minimum and allows the artist to collect 100 percent of their sales.
“About probably twenty percent of those artists couldn’t afford those fees,” Lahvic said. “So we just waived the fees because they are literally starving artist.”
According to Lahvic, The Around The Coyote’s two shows acted as the main source of most of the artists’ income throughout the year. The Flat Iron Artist Association plans to have another show this winter, and to expand into four shows in 2009.
Lindsey Newman, 24, an exhibiting artist, explains the importance of participating in the smART show.
“As an emerging artist it’s all about promotion and getting myself out there,” Newman said. “So I hope to make a lot of connections in the neighborhood and meet a lot of people, artists and people involved in art. I would like to get involved in other art shows and hopefully sell some work.”
The spotlight on smARTshow has made it easier for people to find a large amount of accessible art.
“A lot of times you have to search out and find these types of events,” she said. “And this show puts it up front and you could kind of just stumble in and see the artwork. It’s different then other art festival because there is so much more art…people have smaller amounts of space, but there are a lot more artists.”
Newman sees smARTshow’s accessibility as a benefit to those new to the art world.
“It’s kind of a easy way to get involved and get out there rather then go to the large art museums,” she said. “I think for a lot of people who aren’t immersed in the art culture in Chicago, the show is an easy way to see what’s currently being made and who is out there.”
** Banner images of JoJo Baby by colbertimages and side art by Kevin Lahvic
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