February 2023 Newsletter
Welcome to the February Newsletter
You will find:
News from the CSI Committees
Show opportunities
Ongoing Member Exhibitions
Image: Mull by John Upchurch
2023 Chicago Sculpture International Juried Exhibition
Jack Olson Gallery, Northern Illinois University, School of Art & Design
Jack Arends Hall, Rm 200, DeKalb, IL
Exhibition Dates: January 23 - March 2
Closing Reception: March 2, 4:30 - 6:30PM
Exhibiting Artists: Nicole Beck, Jyl Bonaguro, Michele Corazzo, Bethany Cordero, Eoin Cullen, Brian Divis, Darlys Ewoldt, Shelley Gilchrist, Yvette Kaiser Smith, Gina Lee Robbins, Terry Karpowicz, Scott Mossman, Katherine Nemanich, Connie Noyes, Howard Sandroff, Dominic Sansone, Zelene Schlosberg, John T. Upchurch
News from the Board
Welcome CSI Board
We have a strong board committed to serving CSI’s growing influence in the sculpture scene.
Our motto for 2023 is: Building an informed, engaged and interconnected community.
Executive Board
President: Berthold Boone
Vice President: John Upchurch
Treasurer: Steven Franklin
Secretary: Stephanie Sailer
Board of Directors
Development: Anthony Heinz May
Education: Micki LeMieux
Emerging Sculptors: Spencer Gale
Indoor Exhibitions: Darlys Ewoldt and Christine Forni
Membership: Kara Cobb Johnson
Outdoor Exhibitions: Ray Katz and Chris Wubbena
Outreach: Patrick Wilson and Shengchen Xu
Here is some information on a few of our new board members:
Berthold Boone, President: Berthold’s sculptural career began in the outskirts of Kansas City where he helped restore slave-built limestone walls. His most recent preoccupation has been the conceptual novelty of making large-scale outdoor reductive tree sculptures. On warm pleasant days, Berthold can be found in his backyard covered with wood chips, whittling models for monumental compositions.
Chris Wubbena, Outdoor Exhibitions Co-Chair: Chris’s artwork fluctuates between interdisciplinary ways of working, focusing on small-mixed-media sculptural compositions, multi-media installations, and large-scale public sculptures. He is currently a tenured Full Professor of Sculpture at Southeast Missouri State University.
Kara Cobb Johnson, Membership Chair: Kara is a process-based installation artist who works across media with experience and interest in curating exhibitions. She welcomes questions and ideas about CSI Membership for 2023 and beyond.
Micki LeMieux, Education Chair: Micki creates outdoor sculpture for public exhibits and fine art. Her work focuses on organic shapes, life forms, and patterns found in nature. She currently teaches a mold making and casting class at a teaching foundry makers space.
Patrick Wilson, Outreach: Patrick uses 3D modeling in conjunction with metal and wood fabrication to explore themes of urban expansion and technological development. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Ray Katz, Outdoor Exhibition Co-Chair: Ray retired from teaching after 48 years as Professor of Art at the Auburn Hills, Michigan Campus of Oakland Community College. He continues to create and exhibit art in his Pontiac studio. Ray Katz has exhibited his sculpture throughout Michigan and in over 21 states nationally, as well as Japan and France. His work is represented in private, corporate, and institutional collections.
Please welcome our new leadership and have a look at their accomplishments on our website here.
News from the Outdoor Exhibition Committee
Image: Telos by Ray Katz, and Angele by Chris Wubenna
2023-2025 Sculpture in the Parks
Submission deadline is Friday, April 21, 2023, 11:59 PM CST
Chicago Sculpture International, in collaboration with the Chicago Park District and parks in the surrounding Chicago area, is seeking proposals from artists for the 2023-2025 Sculpture in the Parks Exhibition.
Works must be large scale and suitable for outdoors. They will be installed on hardscape or softscape (grass), so artists must be prepared for either type of installation. Only select sites have concrete pads; all other sites are softscapes. Sculpture will be on view for two years, from October 2023 - October 2025 (exact dates to be determined). Each sculpture will receive a $3000 stipend.
Eligibility:
This RFP is open to professional artists or artist teams 18 years of age or older. Artists whose proposals are accepted, if they are not already CSI members, will be asked to join.
How to apply:
Artists can submit on or two sculptures for review. Click here for submission requirements and application
Image credit: Telos by Ray Katz, and Angele by Chris Wubenna
News from CSI Project Space
Call for Submissions: Story Time
Call for Submissions: Story Time
Submission deadline: Friday, February 17, 2023, 11:59 pm
Opening Reception: Friday, March 3rd, 5-8 pm
CSI Project Space
1912 N. Damen Ave.
Chicago, IL
At the corner of Cortland and Damen, in the Bucktown neighborhood)
Storytelling through art is as old as history. We use stories to document reality, craft fantasy, teach, learn, symbolize and forge communication. So much sculpture is driven by a narrative, whether we are telling ourselves the story or sharing it with others. Some work externally presents a story, while others hold many within their membrane. We seek to exhibit the drama.
In the spirit of sharing, CSI Project Space invites members with a tale to tell to submit pictures of narrative sculpture alongside a written account of the story that the work is telling, or goes with it, or inspired by, or whatever that means to you.
Works of all media and installation formats will be considered, multi-sensory and time-based works encouraged, with performances to be arranged for opening night.
With this collective gathering of narrative artwork, we hope to to expand our audience’s understanding of what they are looking at and celebrate the timeless power of storytelling. The exhibit is curated by Kara James and Jeremy Wong.
Submission Details HERE
A special thank you from CSI Project Space to Giovanni Mayfield-Wubbena and Violet Bowdle for their help during the installation of the Intersections exhibit.
News from the Education Committee
Have Your Art and Eat It Too was another fantastic art project workshop that was held at The Boys and Girls Clubs at the Lathrop Homes.
Janet Austin shared a fun project that used different fruits and food to create creatures and art. The kids were full of smiles and afterwards could eat their art projects.
Membership Opportunities
This following is not a CSI-sponsored event but may be of interest to our members:
The Negro Motorist Green Book
CSI Membership Chair Kara Cobb Johnson has six free tickets available for The Negro Motorist Green Book, a special new exhibit at The Holocaust Museum in Skokie in observance of black history month. The Negro Motorist Green Book explores the history of a publication designed to assist black travelers during the era of Jim Crow and was believed to have been inspired by Jewish Vacation Guide, a catalog of hotels welcoming to Jewish travelers. While the exhibit is not directly related to sculpture, it does correlate to an upcoming exhibit at CSI Project Space as well as CSI’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. For more information and to reserve tickets please contact Kara Cobb Johnson at karajohnson@chicagosculpture.org.
The Language of Beauty
A few photos from the January group outing of CSI members to see The Language of Beauty exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Members were impressed by the vast methods of creating sculptural works and their arrangement en masse. The event was led by Kara Cobb Johnson, our recently appointed Membership Chair. Kara is process-based installation artist who works across media and brings curatorial experience which explores conceptual ideas including safe spaces for opinion sharing and co-mingling diverse groups.
CSI Development/Outreach Upcoming Opportunities
STARTS Program (Short-term Teaching Residency Program)
Deadline: May 15, 2023
Provides support of up to $4,500 to eligible Illinois not-for-profit organizations, schools, and school districts for short term residencies focused on hands-on learning experiences conducted by Illinois artists, companies, or ensembles.
Grant requests for fiscal year 2023 are for activities occurring by August 31, 2023.
Open deadline program.
Applications must be received no less than eight weeks before the project start date as identified in the application. Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are received and will be accepted through: May 15, 2023. Look HERE for more information.
If anyone is interested to apply, I have contacted Jerome Grand (program director) who explained the program is still open and looking for candidates. Specifics can be found online. Otherwise, feel free to reach out to me, Anthony Heinz May at anthonyheinzmay@chicagosculpture.org
Henry Moore Grants
Individual Artists: New Projects and Commissions
Deadline: March 1, 2023
Development/Outreach will apply for CSI as an organization:
Acquisitions and Collections
Research/Development
Conferences, Lectures and Publications
Reach out to me: anthonyheinzmay@chicagosculpture.org if there is any interest in specific areas of these three possible grant opportunities, where CSI as an organization could benefit. Look HERE for more information.
Luminarts Visual Arts Fellowships
Deadline: March 3, 2023
Look HERE for more information.
Member News
Members are welcome to submit news regarding exhibitions and professional development achievements to info@chicagosculpture.org. We would love to see what you are doing!!
Image Credit: Chromatic Spectrum Landscape by Christine Forni
ENVIRONMENT/S/TALLATION
ENVIRONMENT/S/TALLATION is an invitational group exhibition of installation art curated by Marci Rubin, Curator, Bridgeport Art Center. Each invited artist works within a discourse about the environment through their process and materials. Installations constructed from reclaimed materials such as plastic packaging, clothing, and furniture create lush colors, and textures while playing with the light and shadows of the gallery's environment.
ARTIST TALKS: FEBRUARY 25, (begins at 1PM)
JANUARY 20 - MARCH 3, 2023
Bridgeport Art Center: 1200 W. 35th St., Chicago (4th Floor Gallery)
Invited Artists: Christine Forni, Michael F. Gallagher, Bobbi Meier, Bryan Northup, Marci Rubin, Hereaclitus Here Vernon, Toby Zallman
The following are not CSI sponsored projects, but may be of interest to our members.
Art-in-Architecture Program
Application Deadline: Friday, April 13, 2023, 4:30 P.M.
The Art-in-Architecture Program of the Capital Development Board is pleased to announce
a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to Illinois professional artists to create permanent original public art for the Jefferson Terrace Building in Springfield, Illinois.
This building renovation provides office space for approximately 200 state of Illinois
employees from several state agencies. An ADA accessible concrete and metal panel ramp has been added to the existing building, east of the existing stair, as shown in the drawings and images in the RFQ (https://tinyurl.com/4wkfw8bn). The artwork is located on the exterior of a three-story,130,000-square-foot office building several blocks from the Illinois State Capitol Complex. It is located along the accessible ramp added to the building during the project. Jefferson St., also the path of Illinois Route 97 West, is a very busy Springfield thoroughfare used heavily by residents, visitors, and travelers. According to the Illinois Dept. of Transportation, Jefferson St. sees an average daily traffic count of over 11,000 vehicles per day at this location. The addition of artwork to this corner will enliven and activate the exterior of the building and will also serve as a wayfinding aid.
Stipend: An initial $1,000 to selected artists to develop site-specific proposals.
$27,000 to execute approved proposal.
Project summary and more information.
City of Batavia’s
West Cemetery Sculpture Competition
Call for Sculpture Proposals
The City of Batavia, Illinois announces a sculpture design competition for a work of public art. In 2021, the City completed construction of a columbarium structure within its west cemetery. The west cemetery was originally established in 1845. It consists of 21 acres of wooded property, just west of the Fox River. The City desires to have a work of public art installed atop the new columbarium structure (see photo). The sculptural work will become a woven part of the fabric of the cemetery and will remain in place for at least the next century. As such, the sculpture should present a timeless design that reflects a level of reverence, honor and dignity befitting of those who rest within the cemetery.
The City has budgeted up to forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) for commission of the completed and installed sculpture. The actual award value, as well as timing of distribution, will be negotiated with selected the artist prior to the commission grant. A $500 stipend for materials will given to five (5) finalists for the creation of maquettes.
Submission deadline: Wednesday, April 19, 2023
While you're here...
Have any news to share? Shows, awards, residencies et al.? Send the particulars along to info@chicagosculpture.org, and we'll include them in an upcoming newsletter.
While you're at it, your profile and images on CSI’s website are important. When CSI applies for grants and upcoming shows, images are solely chosen from those you have uploaded to our website. Please take a minute to look over what you have posted and make sure you are presenting the best work. Member Shelley Gilchrist sgilchristart@gmail.com has volunteered to help you if you need it, so feel free to contact her.
