- Chicago Artists' Coalition
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Chicago Artists' Coalition is a non-profit arts advocacy and career organization based in Chicago and open to artists and non-artists alike. Its stated mission is to educate the public as to the value of the visual arts, be an advocate for arts issues, provide professional and educational services, and improve the environment in which artists live and work. After the retirement in 2005 of the founding director, Arlene Rakoncay, the CAC is currently under the direction of Olga Stefan, who has increased the level of programming and outreach, and expanded the scope of the organization, creating collaborations and partnerships with various other institutions and organizations throughout the city.
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History
The Chicago Artists' Coalition was founded in 1974 to improve the lot of Chicago artists, who had no access to health insurance and little communication. It was modeled after the Boston Visual Artists' Union, Inc. and officially incorporated in 1975. It influenced the city government to pass the Percent for Art bill, and spurred the formation of the Chicago Office of Fine Arts, now the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
Activities
The Chicago Artists' Coalition holds regular artists' salons to bring together diverse Chicago-area artists. It hosts "regular workshops, lectures, and panel discussions on topics of immediate interest to artists, such as housing, space, employment, marketing, taxes, health hazards, law, culture and advocacy."
Services
The Chicago Artists' Coalition offers information about grants, fellowships and other resources; a job bank; an online calendar publicizing art and gallery events and calls for entry; online galleries; associate membership to Fractured Atlas which offers discounted health insurance; discounts on artist materials and health services, and an emergency fund.
Publications
The Chicago Artists' Coalition has published numerous books about marketing art, exhibitions, galleries and bookkeeping. It publishes a monthly newspaper, the "Chicago Artists' News" with current art events, artist and gallery profiles, art show reviews, articles on issues important to artists, and announcements of exhibition opportunities. In October 2008, the Chicago Artists' Coalition introduced its first issue of Prompt, a biannual art journal with a multidisciplinary focus on the intersections between art and society, co-founded by then director Olga Stefan.
The Chicago Art Open
The Chicago Art Open was founded by the Chicago Artists' Coalition in 1998 and remains the premiere survey of local art. Held in October as a centerpiece of Chicago Artists' Month, the Chicago Art Open features the work of around 300 Chicago artists, primarily professional but also including work from emerging and student artists. In 2008, the Chicago Art Open will be held at a new venue, at the Merchandise Mart in River North.
External links
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