Saturday, October 2, 2010

Ravenswood Artwalk

Ravenswood is both a street in Chicago and a neighborhood.  Officially Ravenswood (according to the realestate chatter) is part of the Lincoln Square area of Chicago.  Mostly residential, there is a corridor along  Ravenswood street that is home to art galleries and studios as well as small industry. The art walk is a yearly event and this year launched the 15th annual Chicago art month.  Unlike the art ffestival I attended earlier in the summer this one is strictly limited to the local artists that have studios in the area.  There were demonstrations and free classes in everything from silk screening to pottery and puppetry.  Because I am not a planner I was never quite in the right place at the right time.  But I enjoy seeing the individual work and talking with the artists.

A friend of mine at work is taking a pottery class and I think it would be fun to do.  One of the artists showed me the different looks of the pottery she makes as it dries and before it is fired and after it is fired before it is glazed and then of coarse the final product.  I especially loved the ceramic tiles and wall decorations. 

One woman had some very unique and pricey jewelry that I would love to have.  Lots of painters and photographers.  The main reason I went to the art walk in the first place was I received an invitation from a woman that I had taken photography classes from.  I get invitations from time to time from her but  have never made an event until today.  To my surprise I was more than just a email address.  She remembered me and even my name.  Lejean teaches art in the school system during the day, teaches photography in the evenings, works for Bella Babies (the company I worked for for a short time) on the weekends, and some how finds time to do her own work.

What I found most compelling about the day was seeing people's need to be express them selves in what every medium they choose.  For many of these people this is their full time jobs, supplemented it with teaching others to express them selves as well.  I don't know if anyone was buying today but it is nice to know that arts continue to flourish even in a terrible economy. 

2 comments:

  1. I'm really sorry I missed it. :( Pictures?

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  2. There is an art co-op here and a friend of mine, who is one of the artists, said they are selling. Maybe it is comfort in art in a hard time. Anyway it is always comforting to the artists to continue to express themselves.

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