Celebrating the Extraordinary Achievements of 2023

As we transition into the new year, we want to pause and reflect on 2023. It was an extraordinary year, even by Arts of Life standards. Our artists reached numerous career milestones. Our Partners joined us in dreaming big, making major investments in our current and future artists. We continued to think ever more progressively about how we can advocate for our artists as creatives and leaders. And so much more. 

Thank you for being a part of our community. We hope you will join us in celebrating 2023.

So Many Firsts

In April 2023, Sue Pasowicz became the first Arts of Life artist to secure gallery representation and have a solo exhibition – Sugar Town at Ruschman. 

In partnership with Sho+1 gallery, Arts of Life work was showcased three times in Japan at Art Fair Tokyo, Art Fair Asia Fukuoka, and  Art Collaboration Kyoto. As if that weren’t enough, in Fukuoka, David Krueger’s work was shown side-by-side with that of Andy Warhol. 

At our own Circle Contemporary gallery, we hosted seven exhibitions. Opening Night, guest-curated by Liza Eilers, set a new attendance record as we welcomed 127 people to our space. 

Over 100 guests visited our gallery during the inaugural Exhibition Weekend. We were proud to showcase our work alongside that of 50 fellow galleries, institutions, and artist-run spaces across the city.

In response to advocacy from our artists, the North Shore Studio hosted its first Pride Party in June. They made rainbow-colored treats, art, and more.

Finally, the Progressive Art Studio Symposium took place in the Midwest for the first time in May 2023. We were thrilled to welcome 30 representatives from 20 progressive art studios to Chicago for the kick-off day. Our guests visited Arts of Life’s Chicago Studio, Project Onward, Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and Soho House. The Symposium then moved to Sheboygan, WI where our Program Director Tim Ortiz presented on The Role of Art Making in Disability Support Services, and our Executive Director, Denise Fisher coordinated a conversation with the Art Alliance on National Arts Advocacy Landscape and Strategy Agenda Development.

Getting Off-site Programming Off the Ground

Thanks to expanded staff capacity, we developed new weekly off-site programming opportunities for our artists. These programs connect our artists with their fellow artists and increase access to different mediums. A few stand-out examples include: 

• The Makerspace Group which travels to the Glenview Library’s Innovation Center twice a month to learn about newer art-making technologies including a Laser cutter, 3D printers, Vinyl Cutters, Embroidery Machine, a Serger, Sewing Machines, and Microcontrollers like Arduino’s and Raspberry Pi’s. 
• We have also seen our artists’ participation in classes at the Evanston Art Center flourish. Chris Viau took Experimenting with Pastels for the second time along with Amanda Gantner. Chris went on to participate in a group show with his classmates. We are proud to be providing a helping hand to our partners to make their programs ever more accessible to our artists.

Special Projects

Artists also took on special projects that were of interest to them this year. Ariée participated in DiscardDisco, creating her own runway look from trash. Dave Krueger celebrated a Love Man mural with his collaborator Ben Marcus on the side of the Salt Shed. Chris Viau made holiday ornaments to sell at the Buddy Shop within the Cultural Center. Nikole Heusman hosted a workshop in partnership with Intuit. And so much more. Ted Hamel and Joey Center each debuted solo performances at our Studio Sale.

Major Investments

In 2023, Arts of Life secured $710,000 in multi-year funding from new funders or new grant programs to support our growing programs over the next three years. Among those publicized so far, the DCASE Arts Recovery Program, Arts Work THRIVE Program, and Field Foundation are helping to expand our capacity to increase staff sustainability, launch new programs, and much more.