The threats of gentrification and rising property prices are a challenge for cities and artists across the globe. Anjulie Rao discovers the non-profits in Chicago, turning to new models to survive.
As the director of Heaven Gallery in Chicago, Alma Weiser has spent 15 years building a community of emerging artists and curators, showing the work of younger practitioners from marginalized backgrounds and identities. Like many alternative gallery spaces, Heaven provides opportunities to jumpstart an artist’s career. The work is important but financially precarious, particularly when it rubs up against real estate.
In 2019, the building where Heaven and three other DIY venues rent space — a former textiles manufacturer in the booming Wicker Park commercial corridor called the Lubinski Building — went up for sale. To continue the work of stabilizing and supporting artists, Weiser says that she would need to “liberate” the building and its gallery tenants by buying the four-floor, 38,000-square foot space.
“The arts have always been at odds with real estate. Artists create value, we create wealth, and it gets extracted from us and then we have to leave when the neighborhood changes,” Weiser says. “The very thing that creates the value gets ripped out of it.” ... Keep reading on Bloomberg.
As the director of Heaven Gallery in Chicago, Alma Weiser has spent 15 years building a community of emerging artists and curators, showing the work of younger practitioners from marginalized backgrounds and identities. Like many alternative gallery spaces, Heaven provides opportunities to jumpstart an artist’s career. The work is important but financially precarious, particularly when it rubs up against real estate.
In 2019, the building where Heaven and three other DIY venues rent space — a former textiles manufacturer in the booming Wicker Park commercial corridor called the Lubinski Building — went up for sale. To continue the work of stabilizing and supporting artists, Weiser says that she would need to “liberate” the building and its gallery tenants by buying the four-floor, 38,000-square foot space.
“The arts have always been at odds with real estate. Artists create value, we create wealth, and it gets extracted from us and then we have to leave when the neighborhood changes,” Weiser says. “The very thing that creates the value gets ripped out of it.” ... Keep reading on Bloomberg.