October, Chicago Artists' Month: Ossia Fine Arts Space

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. East windows.

As part of the blog installation for Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project, showing through November 1, 2008, and to celebrate Chicago Artists' Month, I will be writing a series about the five artists. To start the series, I will be answering questions I get asked quite often about the show. Please note that the following images are overall views of the gallery. Future blogs will depict artists' works in detail.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. North entrance.

Are you one of the artists?
No, I'm actually the guest curator. I helped to put the show together with the gallery owner and curator, Karen Schulz-Harmon, and the artists (Frank Connet, Iris Goldstein, Darrell Roberts, Mirjana Ugrinov, Dale Washington).

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. Middle of the gallery.

Do you work as a curator?
I work as a freelance writer, editor, and illustrator. I'm currently working on writing and illustrating children's books and adult self-help books. Although this show may be the first and last one I curate, I would consider curating other shows in the future.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. West wall.

How did the show come about?
Karen as well as all of the artists appeared in my art blog ArtStyle Blog, A Voice for Artists in Chicago, which I created in 2007 and stopped working on in April, 2008. The blog was a venue for artists, whom I thought were talented but the majority needed more exposure. I wanted to have a show to showcase the talent of some of the artists, and so I approached Karen about a show for some contemporary Chicago artists. Since her space is used as a gallery and performance space, we decided to include live musical performances for each reception. We have a reception coming up on Friday, Oct. 10th from 6-9 p.m., featuring singer / songwriter Lisa Danielson.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. West wall from south.

How did you select the artists?
I realize that art is a very subjective and personal to a lot of people. I can say that it wasn't just because I liked the artists and their art. I also used the following criteria:
- Chicago artists who live and work in the Chicagoland area and who have professional experience and qualifications (education, exhibition / curatorial experience, teaching experience, art community involvement, and so forth)
- Craftsmanship and technical expertise developed over an extended period of time
- Creative use of color, form, and materials in a unique style
- Cultural relevance: representing or expressing Chicago's energy, people, landscape, and so forth; interpreting other art forms or cultural aspects of society
- Connection to the viewer: ability to connect to the viewer on a human level -- mentally, emotionally, and perhaps spiritually

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. South wall.

Why do you call this blog (Happy Faces Chicago) a blog installation?
An art installation uses almost any media to create a specific experience in a specific environment. If I'm going to be blogging specifically about The 5 Artists Project during the duration of the show, why not call it a "blog installation"? While I sit in the gallery every Friday until Oct. 31st, I interview people who come into the gallery by asking them what they think of the show and then I include any information about them in the blog. Of course, I have invited at least one artist every Friday so that we can include different artistic points of view.

Chicago Connection: The 5 Artists Project.
Ossia Fine Arts Space. East wall.