In a recent survey published in the Singapore-based paper the Straits Times, “artist” was labeled the top nonessential job during the pandemic. Folks flocked to social media to push back and criticize the results—and rightfully so. Just because museums have been largely closed and art openings have been put on pause doesn’t mean art is absent from our everyday experience.
The Hyde Park Art Center is commemorating the anniversary of the original “Artists Run Chicago” show in 2009. Some of the galleries like 65GRAND, Julius Caesar, and Devening Projects overlap with this year’s show, but many of the galleries included in the 2.0 edition have popped up since 2009. Like many DIY spaces, some have come and gone, while others have transformed into a new gallery or project space.
Guevara says while Chicago’s independent art spaces and projects are important, “initiatives that slow down, problematize, and workshop art-making, and are vocally working to be anti-racist and anti-colonial are more imperative.” So while folks may miss gallery openings, the connections made, and professional networking, it’s all trivial in the grand scheme of reality. Folks like Guevara are utilizing this exhibition to provide education and he explains that to make art for the “visibility sake becomes secondary,” and community and healing come first. “We aren’t able to speak on other cities, but that may be the juice of Chicago’s artist-run spaces and projects.” v
