By Jim Sterne
News Editor
The beloved, 28-year-old Lill Street Gallery, nationally renowned for its emphasis in ceramics, has crafted a new $3 million, 24,000 sq. ft. home in the Ravenswood neighborhood and a new identity as the Lillstreet Arts Center.
In those 28 years the neighborly art organization created art instruction and gallery offerings in metalsmithing, drawing, painting, printmaking, along with traditional pottery and ceramic sculpture. The new Lillstreet Art Center, 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. (at Montrose Ave.), has launched its inaugural ten-week class session this week after their grand opening celebration and parade last Saturday.
“To go from a small clay studio in a CTA horse barn to an arts oasis that doubled in size with new equipment and a new Artist-in-Residence program is a dream come true," said Bruce Robbins, founder and executive director of Lillstreet Art Center. "We will not only be the premiere place in Chicago to learn a new craft, but also a place for artists to come together and learn from one another.”
The new Lillstreet Art Center has 24,000 sq. ft. in the former Franke Gear Co., including 14 classrooms with state-of-the art equipment (two specifically designed for children), 20 artists’ studios, a main floor gallery space for exhibits by local and national artists and a gallery shop featuring exclusive artist-made works for sale. An additional 13,000 sq. ft. of space in the building will be rented by Lillstreet Art Center to local artists, architects and artisans.
At the grand opening, people were given hands-on demonstrations of various media, promoting the classes and their philosophy... that art is fun, an essential part of human development all through life. The organization may be in a new location, and have a new name, but the values remain the same. Robbins' vision includes outreach to children's hospitals, public and private schools, and the Chicago Park District.
The old Lill Street Gallery at 1021 W. Lill St. in Lincoln Park closed August 15 and will soon be a pile of rubble waiting to be hauled away to make room for three single family homes. Like other organizations that began when Lincoln Park was not trendy, such as the Old Town School of Folk Music and the Chicago Children's Museum, it was limited by parking and logistics — not to mention the increase in property values. The old studio was purchased for $100,000. It sold for $2 million.
The renovation of the Franke Gear Co. began in December '02 and was led by (architect) Foster Dale and (general contractor) Construction Resource Group.
The Artist-in-Residence program provides emerging and established artists with a place to work and teach. The chosen artist will have studio space and materials in exchange for his/her hands-on interaction with Lillstreet students, leading workshops, etc.
The artist-in-residence will also have a show in the gallery space at the end of his/her term and leave Lillstreet with a finished collection of artwork to submit to galleries and retail shops. Lillstreet will be the only arts center in Illinois to offer such a program.
The inaugural Artist-in-Residence will be Omar Vera, who has just completed his MFA in ceramics from the School of the Art Institute and whose work combines ceramics with other media.
The additional classrooms will enable Lillstreet to offer more classes than ever before and accommodate more students. Currently, each week, over 100 classes and workshops — taught by professional artists — are offered to more than 1200 students of all ages, starting at age two with “Toddler Clay” and “Toddle in Saturdays” and continuing through “Things that Grow” (for children 5-8), “Drawing & Cartoons” and “Mosaics” (for youth ages 8 – 12), and a myriad of teen and adult classes in clay, metalsmithing and painting & drawing at all skill levels.
The new space features a gallery that is double the size of its former gallery, enabling Lillstreet to display several exhibits simultaneously, including a new permanent space designated for the display of two-dimensional works such as paintings, drawings and textiles. Continuing its tradition of showcasing contemporary art exhibits by both local and national artists, the fall gallery exhibition schedule includes an exhibition of two-dimensional works created by Lillstreet faculty members and a juried show of Lillstreet students’ metalsmithing works.
The original Lill Street Gallery was founded in 1975 by Robbins as a clay company with a small pottery studio. Located at 1021 W. Lill St., in a former CTA carriage barn, Lillstreet quickly grew into one of the Midwest’s largest ceramic centers. Its non-profit arm, the Lillstreet Learning Center, provides arts education to Chicago’s underserved population.
The Lillstreet Art Center is open to the public year-round. The gallery hours are: Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. — 6 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information call (773)769.4226 or visit www.lillstreet.com
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