October is Chicago Artists Month, and this week will feature the Lillstreet Art Center. Established in 1975, Lillstreet Art Center offers an artist residency program, a gallery, a studio space, an outreach program and classes in all types of art, such as “ceramics, metalsmithing/ jewelry, painting/drawing, printmaking, textiles, glass, and digital arts/ photography,” according to their website. They have classes for first-time artists, young children, and anyone in between. People can even book parties and other events there.
The Lillstreet residency program is made up of young artists who decided to dedicate even more time to teach kids and adults outside of the classroom on an individual basis. According to their mission statement, this “is meant to help bolster the vitality of the student community and create relationships with the students.” The repertoire of artists obviously changes, but all are highly specialized and qualified, earning a BFA or MFA in their respective fields.
As for the 2012-2013 year, the Ceramics/Handbuilding resident is Joanna Pike, Ceramics/Wheelthrowing is Erik Zohn, Digital Arts is Garrett Baumer, Kidstreet is Alice Costas, Metalsmithing is Heejin Hwang, Painting/Drawing is Gwendolyn Zabicki, and Textiles is Paige Fetchen. The general classes range in variety and difficulty level. Classes are not the only appeal of this school, though.
The community outreach, or ArtReach, has been going on since about 1989. This “has been the non-profit sister organization to the Lillstreet Art Center,” according to their mission. ArtReach “serve(s) populations that face economic, physical, cognitive or other barriers to art resources and art education … (and) include public art projects where participants create sculpture, mural and functional objects such as benches, planters and mixed media installations of found objects.” Their archives detail some more specific projects that the volunteers have been working on since 2010. For example, in September, they finished painting a mural at Ravenswood Elementary School.
As for the children’s classes, Kidstreet is designed for those between 18 months and 14 years old. These classes range from basic drawing to multimedia. They also have afterschool camps for kids between 9 and 12 years old. If someone’s child enjoys Lillstreet enough, they can even have a birthday party there. Other social gatherings are possible as well. Adult parties can be for birthdays, bachelorette parties, showers or just a night out. The party attendees can make jewelry, clay or do a custom screen-printing. If someone would like to spend the entire day at Lillstreet, he or she can get a group together and do a creative retreat day. The possibilities are numerous. If all this is not enough, there is also a program called Ignite at Lillstreet.
Ignite is a program that, according to the website, “provides local and national businesses and professionals an opportunity to use art as a tool for inquiry.” Art can be a great way to bring people together. The collaborative effort and communication needed to create art is nearly identical to the collaborative effort and communication necessary for a business to run effectively. Plus, spending time together outside of work can strengthen connections between workers.
Specific months that are dedicated to something are designed to get the general public thinking about different facets, and appreciate the impact, positive or negative, it has on the world. October is Chicago Artists Month, which means that October is dedicated to the artists of Chicago. However, these hard-working employees, volunteers and students at Lillstreet Art Center work at and appreciate art every day, not just for October. They all work incredibly hard, and should be recognized for what they do.