Fused At Home, Virtual Exhibit as Members Persist, July 2020

The #FusedAtHome Virtual Exhibition and FUSEDChicago Members Persist During the Covid 19 Crisis

written by Jane Michalski

After 2019, a year when FUSEDChicago produced multiple exhibitions, it was expected that 2020 would again provide many opportunities for members to show their work. Instead, the entire world turned upside down as the Covid19 crisis struck. The annual Membership Meeting, scheduled for April 4th, was cancelled as a safety precaution, and members retreated to homes and studios to safely wait out the virus.

Not to be discouraged Fused Chicago Members have since found several ways to engage with their audiences.

In July, member Alicia Forestall- Boehm volunteered to produce a virtual exhibition:#FusedAtHome which is the first show since the shutdown. Participating members include: Carrie Baxter, Kathie Collinson, Cat Crotchett, VA de Pintor, Linda Sorkin Eisenberg, Bob Fesser, Alicia Forestall-Boehm, Shelley Gilchrist, Tammy Haman, Carol Hamilton, Brad Hook, Nikkole Huss, Catherine Keebler, Donna Kuo, Pat Lagger, Laura LaRue, Cindy Lesperance, Joycelyn Merchant, Jane Michalski, Michele Thrane, Karen Tichy, and Kathy Blankley Roman.

The show takes place in a virtual art gallery and viewers can see the work displayed as if hung on a wall. Selecting each individual piece brings up a view of that piece. The entire exhibition can be seen here: https://tinyurl.com/yb3svkvk

Members reacted differently to the stay-at home orders. Carol Hamilton used her time to set up a personal challenge and reflected “I set a challenge and goal for myself: create 100 encaustic monotypes. That goal really kept me going in the studio every day. It became exciting to see the progression as one print built upon the previous ones and I ended up with nearly 200! Not all are “show quality” of course, but I learned a lot and discovered ways of working I hadn’t thought of before. I am actually grateful for the enforced “quiet time.”

Carol Hamilton”Catch a Falling Moon”

According to Cat Crotchet “My work uses patterns to vividly represent human emotions and experience, and to convey not just beauty but tension. As the world has changed these last few months, the patterns of my life have changed (anthropologist Jane Guyer has dubbed it an “enforced present”). I’m not alone in this. My daily dog-walks have become a pattern for survival, and I’ve come to see that my neighbors—walking their dogs, jogging, biking—have their own survival patterns. With this, my work is changing. Old patterns are being destroyed, and new patterns are beginning to emerge. My current work is of and about our shared moment in American history, and our creative resilience and transformative struggles.”

Cat Crotchett “Eclipse”

Catherine Keebler had a different, type of experience, perhaps shared by others saying “Restrictions from the CDC and the City of Chicago Health Department have kept me “in place” during this pandemic. While I have new work, completed before the lockdown, I have been unable to have the work professionally photographed and framed. It has been frustrating since I can’t get to my studio and, while I can work in the studio here at The Clare, it is not the same. I am more comfortable in my own space where I can create a “mess” and not have to worry about cleaning up after each work session. On the flip side, I have been well protected and cared for in our facility and have no complaints. I have kept busy but do not ask what I have accomplished – nothing much.

Catherine Keebler” Korean Gatekeepers”

As might be expected, other FusedChicago Members have coped in creative ways to keep their art practice going. Helen Dannelly and Jeff Hirst began a Facebook group for all artists called Artist Voice and Vision https://www.facebook.com/groups/3182049168506623/ that now has 2.9K members! According to their page “This group is for artists and aspiring artists to share both your struggles and breakthroughs with the creative process to receive support, suggestions and kudos.” The couple offer their workshops and feature interviews with other nationally known artists and promote discussions while keeping a positive approach to art making. Members are encouraged to share their work with the group.

An early project called Viral Collaborations asked artists to submit an unframed, unmatted 10” x 10” work on paper in one predominant color incorporating one word about how they felt about the pandemic. Helen and Jeff will produce a show of the submitted work at the Bridgeport Arts Center in Chicago early in 2021.

Member Kelly Mathews is the gallery manager of Stola Contemporary Art, a new gallery located in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood at 3738 W. Irving Park Road. Plans for 2020 including readings, artist talks, workshops thought provoking (and perhaps a bit controversial) calls for art.
Most of the artists they work with are either Chicago based or have strong Chicago ties.

Kelly’s solo show “Being Bipolar in a Polarized World” can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klW6H70AyEo&feature=youtu.be

Kelly Mathews “Being bipolar in a Polarized World”

Prior to the shutdown, at a FusedChicago workshop featuring Art Consultant Susan Blackman, members were encouraged to submit their work to Springboard Arts. This new gallery will soon be opening in Chicago’s Wicker Park Neighborhood at 1910 W. North Avenue. Congratulations to members Shelley Gilchrist, Jane Michalski, and Kathleen Blankley Roman for their inclusion in the inaugural group of artists represented by Springboard Arts. While the gallery is not yet open to the public, artists work is being promoted online at https://springboardarts.com/

Artists have been fortunate to have the ability to show and sell work online during the pandemic. While it is unclear exactly when more familiar means of viewing art in person can resume, there are some hopeful signs.

A new Call for Submissions has been issued to FUSED Chicago Members for Seeing Double. The focus of the show is on work(s) that are either true diptychs OR two works that are very closely related or created together. Each artist will have at least two works chosen for this show and the work will be hung as a pair to show the relationship between them. Small work is encouraged.

SHOW DATES: Sept. 2 – Oct 3, 2020
WHERE: Old Courthouse Art Center, 101 N. Johnson St, Woodstock, Il CLOSING RECEPTION: October 3rd, 2020, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: AUGUST 16, 11:59 pm

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE SHUTDOWN; TELL US HOW YOU HAVE KEPT YOUR ART PRACTICE ALIVE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION HERE.