by Dan Perkins
The
arts are a major part of life in Chicago and no
cultural institution is better known or more
revered in the city than the Art Institute of
Chicago. The Art Institute houses
several world-class collections and routinely
feature exceptional exhibitions. But there
is more to the institution than just its museum.
It has a school dedicated to the professional
development of artists, known as the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
The School, which was founded in 1866, offers
degrees at the undergraduate and graduate
levels. One leading publication named SAIC
as the number one graduate school of fine arts
in the nation.
Obtaining an arts
education from such a prestigious institution is not an inexpensive pursuit, but SAIC has
organized a fun and creative event to help
fund scholarships for its most deserving
students. The event is called BareWalls,
and for the past ten years, prominent graduates
of the Art Institute have gathered to create
masterpieces that are sold to raise scholarship
funds.
BareWalls is a one
day event that challenges each participating alumni
artist to conceive, execute and complete a work
of art in roughly ten hours on a bare 3 x 5 foot
canvas. In the evening, the public is
invited to view the works - some of which are still receiving
finishing touches. Amidst cocktails, hors
d'oeuvres and live music, the public is
encouraged to bid on their favorite pieces in a succession of three silent
auctions. Once the auctions close, the
winning bids are posted and the art is removed
and given to their new owners.
All proceeds from the event go directly to the BareWalls Scholarship Fund, in support of
students at The School of the Art Institute of
Chicago.
This year, SAIC
hosted its eleventh BareWalls event on Saturday,
November 5, 2005. It was a typical gray
and rainy November day in Chicago, but the mild
temperature helped to ensure a large turnout,
especially among the 150-plus artists invited to
participate in the event. Inside the
cavernous space located on the second floor of
the 847 W. Jackson Boulevard Building, on
Chicago's trendy west side, the atmosphere was
bright and inviting, and filled with creative
energy. Some artists went to work on their
canvases immediately and with great intensity,
never breaking except for the necessities of
food and rest. Other artists took a
more leisurely approach to the task at hand -
stopping to visit, socialize and observe the
creative process of their colleagues.
Eleven prominent
alumni artists were invited to headline this
year's BareWalls event, including Jonathan
Green, who enjoys international recognition for
making colorful, sensual,
vibrant paintings that often depict African Americans engaged
in a variety of outdoor activities - set
amidst the splendor of the South Carolina coastal
region.
Green invited
diversityinbusiness.com to document his
participation at this year's event, but that
invitation was quickly extended to other
participating artists of color, including
Francis Allende-Pellot, who was born and
raised in Puerto Rico, but now makes Chicago her
home; and two two other Chicago artists:
Allen Moss and Phillip London.
Below are portraits of each of the four artists
at various stages of work. These images
are a small, but important reminder of the rich
diversity of talent and artistry that abounds
within diverse communities.
BareWalls serves
many functions. In addition to raising
money for scholarships to support students at
The School of the Art Institute, BareWalls also
provides the public with a unique opportunity to
not only see a variety of artistic styles, but
to meet the artists as well. From a professional
perspective, the event provides the artists with
a valuable opportunity to renew old
acquaintances and to network. Pictured below are
snapshots of artists and SAIC alumni networking.
Photo 1:
Pictured (left to right) are Willie Mae
Arnold,
Lynn Johnson and Sharon Thomas, three
elementary art teachers from Gary (Indiana)
Public Schools, talk with BareWalls participant Francis Allende-Pellot, (right) who
recently earned her masters degree from SAIC and
is now teaching at an alternative public arts
high high school located in the predominantly
African American community of Bronzeville, on
Chicago's south side. Arnold and Johnson are both SAIC
graduates.
