View of the Artist Run Spaces Fair from the MacLean second floor balcony. Students interact with representatives from various spaces in a sea of tables. Photos by Mya Nicole Jones.
Chicago has always been an environment enriched by art and artists. In a city, place making can be a way to plant roots. At a school like the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, art is one way people claim and create space. SITE is an example of this placemaking that has made itself integral to the SAIC community and the greater Chicago area.
SITE is a student run organization at SAIC that runs two galleries on campus. Formally known as the Student Union Galleries, SITE’s intention has always been to realize and exhibit student work. SITE aims to be a teaching gallery that goes beyond SAIC, placing emphasis on collaboration and professional practice outside of the classroom. Their galleries are located on the first floor of Sharp and the 280 Building.
Founded in 1994, SITE is celebrating their 30 year anniversary this year. As a part of their birthday celebration, in collaboration with SAIC’s Career & Professional Experience department, SITE hosted the Artist Run Spaces Fair in the MacLean Ballroom on September 25. The fair was a networking event that featured various artist-run spaces like studios, galleries, and fellowships in the greater Chicago area.
Myai Brown and Tatyana Scott check students at the CAPX table stationed in front of the entrance.
Students sit and gather around tables to speak to representatives from various artist run spaces.
“One of the many reasons we thought of this event is because SITE itself is largely artist run over the last 30 years, but it’s also directly contributed to the artists run scene in Chicago — outside of just the school itself. We wanted to celebrate that. We wanted to bring people together. There’s people here from Hyde Park; there’s people here from West Town; even from Riverside,” said Matthew Cortez, SITE curator and director of the 30th anniversary.
Cortez also shared that many of the artist run spaces around Chicago are run by SITE alumni that branched off from the organization post-grad.
“At one of Hyde Park [Art Center’s] exhibitions that’s annual — one year over half of the galleries that were there were run by SITE [alumni]. So [the Chicago art scene is] also pulling from that history,” said Cortez.
In tandem with the artist run spaces event, SITE hosted a walk through the week prior to the fair of their active student exhibition in the 280 gallery with work by Charlie Thackway titled “All That We Dream Of.”
Charlie Thackway’s exhibition title sign, made of wood and paper, with paint reading “All That We Dream Of, Charlie Thackway” with a brief description about “building” the SITE space in September.
Video installation on the wall of the exhibition, five monitors, wood planks, and exposed cords. Videos display the Interstate Turnpike of Stevenson and Dan Ryan Expressway in Bridgeport.
Thackway’s show explored the idea of wasted space and community building, working primarily with reclaimed wood from the community, writing, and video installation. As a part of utilizing the space, Thackway also hosted a community build where students were invited to come into the gallery space and construct something out of the wood in his show.
“I work with reclaiming materials, wasted materials as well as wasted space — and trying to show the potential that these things have. This is definitely my first time having an official solo show. Most of my work lives outside of the gallery space at this point. And this was, kind of a new thing for me, trying to see what the gallery has to offer and what is possible in the space,” Thackway said.
Reclaimed wood resting against the wall of the exhibition.
Exhibition space post-community build session, a structure formed from the reclaimed wood fills the room, and no wood is left against the wall of the space.
Thackway’s exhibition is another example of looking at space differently. For many SAIC students, SITE is their first introduction to curation and gallery work outside of classroom critiques. For 30 years, SITE has challenged and made space accessible for student art. SITE has no plans of slowing down and intends to continue connecting students to space at SAIC and throughout Chicagoland.
