A
2
N R
N E
U A P O
L R
T
0 1
0
-
0
2 2
2
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. —Molière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin, the French playwright) I am pleased to present the Annual Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. In a year like no other, The Arts Club of Chicago grappled with a worldwide pandemic, civil unrest, and economic turmoil. It’s been a roller coaster ride, but we rolled well. We were fully open and operating from July through November and closed from November into March 2021. Today, we are back in full swing, with few restrictions. As the Club’s 13th president, I am most grateful for the generous counsel and support of my stellar predecessors, Dale Pinkert and Helyn Goldenberg, as well as our Executive Committee, Executive Director Janine Mileaf, and many other dedicated Club leaders. Together, we have done so much so well. We maintained our lofty standards of programming and dining while keeping our members and staff healthy and safe. Our dedicated staff delivered our usual top-notch programming, in-person and on-line; widely acclaimed exhibits; and always-delicious dining room fare. I am also deeply grateful to our stalwart members. You have been patient, engaged and loyal. I am pleased to note that the Club’s attrition was modest—the Club’s membership declined by only 8 percent during these months. Your support was key to keeping our longtime and talented staff in place. We were also fortunate to receive federal pandemic assistance to help replace lost revenue. The street protests of 2020 made it clear that Chicago and the nation have embarked on an historic exploration of racial and social justice. Among other efforts to respond to this moment, the Club mounted the series “The Path Toward Racial Equity: Conversations in the Arts.” And we continue a fruitful relationship with Enrich Chicago, which has helped lead us to exciting new opportunities to reach out and engage with our city’s vibrant diversity. We continue our deep commitment to a two-fold mission: To be an engaged community, and a public cultural venue for conversations and explorations in the arts. We have conquered the obstacles to emerge more vibrant than ever. It is a glorious time at The Arts Club of Chicago! Laura S. Washington President
With a truly astonishing and unintended alignment of concerns, The Arts Club of Chicago launched an exhibition on the topic of “care,” just as the global pandemic of COVID-19 began to heat up for its second wave in the fall of 2020. Upkeep: Everyday Strategies of Care focused on the activities undertaken to maintain daily life—cleaning, cooking, parenting, supporting, comforting, washing, and so much more. As the pandemic took hold, these activities became the focus of our time as we were confined to domestic spaces. At a grand scale, the government also began to note that caregiving was essential to a productive society, naming relief packages after care and proposing that the network of under-valued caregivers be recognized and aided through funding and policy. Featuring six artists from five countries, Upkeep was supported by the Club’s newly established Ambition Fund to support international research, artist travel, and exhibition execution. It also participated in the Feminist Art Coalition, a national initiative exploring concepts of feminism operating in the art world today. We like to think that those who were able to come visit the exhibition benefited from the opportunity to appreciate, reflect on, and even laugh about the repetitive chores that occupied our quarantines. By the time we installed Hurvin Anderson: Anywhere but Nowhere in April, it looked as if the pandemic was on the wane. Anderson’s lush landscape paintings allowed us to travel vicariously beyond the walls of the city and contemplate the richness of the Caribbean, as well as the repercussions of touristic travel. What would our encounters with journeying be about as we reemerged from isolation? Anderson further centered our thoughts on the diasporic communities that exist in the UK, where he resides, through his monumental paintings of barbershops. As an artist of Jamaican descent, Anderson has noted his own ambivalent relation to the island that he inhabits as both insider and observer: “I have entered this new place, slightly unsure. Actually, through making paintings you engage with questions you are unsure about. My struggle with Jamaica: I don’t know it and I know it. I have this romantic vision of it and a lot of the painting is fighting that romance.” In the garden, Paola Cabal’s What Means Light, shone throughout the year, with its columns of trompe l’oeil painting and grand-scale photographs that portrayed the interior and exterior views of the arts club’s west side. Bringing the Drawing Room library and the architecture that we face into the garden along with the patterns of light created by the sun on these surfaces, Cabal’s contemplative project illuminated the city street, while allowing viewers to consider the passing of time, connotations associated with “clarity,” and the artist’s slow process of observation. As the Club responded to the constantly changing regulations regarding gathering, hospitality, and performance, we maintained weekly content through remote programming. In June, we gradually resumed in-person options, beginning with a fabulous story-telling soirée. In total, we provided about 50 programs this year, with attendance varying from a handful to more than 400 international viewers. All of the virtual programming was offered to the membership free of charge. In a mini-series of hosted conversations, we featured an opportunity for our artist members to share their pandemic practices. There were also remote DJ nights, conversations, and talks about topics like adaptive architecture or Dutch taste in art. Our public programs included an original trio of broadcast performances recorded in our empty rooms, round tables on Equity in the Arts, artist interviews, and a film screening by Stanya Kahn. Hospitality was largely curtailed during these months, but we encouraged outdoor dining in the garden and carryout options whenever possible. For Thanksgiving, we offered delivery of a traditional turkey meal to our members, and shared leftovers with a local not-for-profit. Overall, we were so encouraged by the ongoing engagement of our members and are pleased to come through these difficult months in solid standing. We look forward to sharing more in-person experiences soon.
2
Janine Mileaf Executive Director and Chief Curator
3
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Laura S. Washington
Julia Langdon Antonatos
President
(at large, Public Engagement)
Charles Mottier
Silvia Beltrametti
Vice President
(at large, Membership)
Igor DaCosta
Michelle Boone
Secretary
(at large, Membership)
Barbara Adelman
Helyn Goldenberg
Treasurer
(ex officio) Dale R. Pinkert (ex officio)
Class of November 2021
Class of November 2022
Class of November 2023
Nada Andric
Kate Bensen
Barbara Adelman
Silvia Beltrametti
Heiji Choy Black
Julia Langdon Antonatos
Dawoud Bey
Alison Cuddy
Heather Bilandic Black
Suzette Bross Bulley
Igor DaCosta
Michelle Boone
Wynne Delacoma
Robert Feitler
Friedrich Burian
Helyn Goldenberg
Denise Gardner
Virginia Gerst
Michael Halberstam
Caryn Harris
Chandra Goldsmith Gray
Rodney Lubeznik
Leslie Hindman
Charles Mottier
Savi Pai
Edward Horner, Jr.
Neil Ross
Alice Sabl
Alex Krikhaar
Lincoln Schatz
Laura S. Washington
Dale R. Pinkert
Kanwar Singh
Cynthia Winter
Robin Loeweberg Tebbe
Janine Mileaf (ex officio)
4
5
COMMITTE CHAIRS
Kate Bensen Audit Nada Andric Alex Krikhaar House Silvia Beltrametti Michelle Boone Membership Julia Langdon Antonatos Public Engagement
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE New Members Barbara Adelman Finance and Investment Neil Ross Reception Charles Mottier Nominating and Governance Wynne Delacoma Jameeleh Shelo InterArts
Gretchen Burch
Sarah Milestone
Paola Cabal
Kimberly Oliva
Orianna Cacchione
Giancarlo Pasquesi
Inga Carus
Amanda Puck
Sharon Corwin
Rhoda Rosen
Rick Farrell
Daisy Schultz
Vanessa Filley
Craig Semetko
Ricki Harris
Julian Siggers
Jeffrey Haydon
Robert Stanley
Carlyle Madden
Diane Tang
Walter Melion
Ann Ziegler
We regret to record the passing of the following members: Brock Arms Helen Bass John Bross Frances Comer Sondra Epstein Helmut Jahn Jan Jentes James Loewenberg Robert Marks Darryl Schiff Patrick Shaw Jean Shorr
6
7
COMMITTEES
RECEPTION
MEMBERSHIP
FINANCE AND INVESTMENT
Neil Ross, Chair
AUDIT
Silvia Beltrametti, Co-Chair
Barbara Adelman, Chair
Daniel Bender
Kate Bensen, Chair
Michelle Boone, Co-Chair Alice
Julia Langdon Antonatos
Kate Bensen
Julia Langdon Antonatos
Sabl, Immediate Past Chair
Kate Bensen
Leigh Bienen
Igor DaCosta
Kate Bensen
Igor DaCosta
Suzette Bross Bulley
Heiji Choy Black
Helyn Goldenberg
Lisa Dieter
Heather Bilandic Black Barbara
Rodney Lubeznik
Laurie Hammel
Bluhm Kaul
Savi Pai
Katherine Harvey
Suzette Bross Bulley
Dale R. Pinkert
Lynn Hauser
Joan Clifford
Edward Horner, Jr.
Sean Eshaghy
Justine Jentes
Joan Feitler
Jessica Lagrange
Kathryn Harvey
Laura Layfer
Caryn Harris
Gloria Lehr
Edward Horner
Alison McNally
Brooke Hummer
Helen Harvey Mills
Helen Harvey Mills
Geof Oppenheimer
Jason Kalajainen
Savi Pai
INTERARTS COMMITTE
Merrillyn Kosier
Lauren Peterson
Wynne Delacoma, Co-Chair
Madeline McMullan
Terry Saunders
Jameeleh Shelo, Co-Chair
Charles Mottier
Lincoln Schatz
Adam Belcuore
Brian Rojanasumaphong
Pauline Sheehan
Ginger Farley
Lincoln Schatz
Joanne Silver
Virginia Gerst
Evonne Yonover
Kanwar Singh
Todd Hieggelke
Rebecca Woan
Steven Zick
Christopher Jones
Tanner Woodford
Susan Lape
Cynthia Winter
Helen Harvey Mills
NOMINATING AND GOVERNANCE Virginia Gerst, Co-Chair Helyn Goldenberg, Co-Chair Julia Langdon Antonatos Michelle Boone Charles H. Mottier Laura S. Washington
HOUSE Nada Andric, Co-Chair Alex Krikhaar, Co-Chair Chandra Goldsmith Gray Robert Kleinschmidt PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AD-HOC Julia Langdon Antonatos, Chair Alison Cuddy Wynne Delacoma Natasha Egan Ishan Johnson Lisa Lee
Maria Pinto Neil Ross Catherine Sarr 8
9
2
100
164 493
79
49
10
11
ACQUISITIONS Natalia Goncharova (1881–1962) Rayonisme, ca. 1912 Oil on canvas 14-5/8 x 10-3/4in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Shaw and Sophia Shaw in memory of Rue Shaw
12
13
EXHIBITIONS
Upkeep: Everyday Strategies of Care October 16, 2020 — March 20, 2021
E
X
14
H T
I I
B I O N
S
15
Hurvin Anderson: Anywhere but Nowhere April 9 — August 7, 2021
16
17
18
19
GARDEN PROJECTS
Paola Cabal: What Means Light November 11, 2020 — May 29, 2021
Chicago Mobile Makers: Shape Makers June 11, 2021 — March 5, 2022
20
21
A
I
R
T
L
U
B
R
T E
H S
E S
N P
22
S C
23
July 2020 The Art Newspaper Experts Weigh in on Alleged Art Forgery Ring in Michigan Ruth Lopez BOMB Structure Without a Center: Jennie C. Jones Interviewed by Jared Quinton August 2020 Opera Wire Amanda Majeski, Jonathan Johnson, Karim Sulayman Headline Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago 10th Anniversary Season Logan Martell, September 2020 New City Fall Arts Preview 2020: The Art of Maintenance Kerry Cardoza October 2020 Artforum ArtGuide’s Must See List November 2020 Robert Feder Robservations: Ryan Chiaverini to fill in on WLS Radio Morning Show Visualist Chicago March 2021 Financial Times Hurvin Anderson: ‘I was the English Boy in the Jamaican Conversation’ Jackie Wullschläger April 2021 Apollo Magazine In the studio with… Hurvin Anderson Elizabeth Fullerton
PP RR OO M A R G G R A M S
June 2021 Sixty Inches from Center Review of Hurvin Anderson: Anywhere but Nowhere Jennifer Torwudzo New City Anywhere/Nowhere is a Good Place to be: A Review of Hurvin Anderson at The Arts Club of Chicago Chris Miller New York Times Style Magazine T List: Five Things We Recommend This Week Megan O’Grady 24
Jitesh Jaggi performs “Hope and Hip Hop” in the Salon (June 2021), photo credit Sarah Elizabeth Larson
25
S
PROGRAMS July–October 2020
PROGRAMS November 2020–January 2021
July 2 Pre-recorded Podcast: Kadie Afrik on the Business of Fashion 9 After Hours with Jeremy Alvarez 10 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Garden Project: REPOSE Discussion
November 2
with Artists
13 Lunchtime Program: Music Welz Kaufman interviews Marin Alsop 16 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Pre-Recorded Talk with Marilyn Chase on Ruth Asawa
24 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art A Second Talent Drawing Workshop, Ken Krimstein
August 13 Lunchtime Program: Film South Side Home Movie Project with Jacqueline Stewart
20 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Sheryl Reiss on Raphael 25 Lunchtime Program: Literature Rachel Cohen on Austen Years 28 After Hours with KonaFM
Lunchtime Program: Culture and Community Jeanne Schultz Angel on Suffrage
10 16 19
Evening Program: Theatre An Evening with Second Story Live Stream Program: Visual Art What Means Light Sunrise to Sunset Lunchtime Program: Theatre Court Theatre’s Othello with Gabby Randle, E. Patrick Johnson, Noemie Ndaye
December 4 7
Evening Program: Music Karim Sulayaman CAIC stream Lunchtime Program: Culture and Community The Path Toward Racial Equity: Artists
8 12
Lunctime Program: Gastronomy Leah Koenig on Jewish Cuisine Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Garden Project: Paola Cabal Interview with Janine Mileaf
September 10 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Newberry Curators on Renaissance Invention 14 Lunchtime Program: Culture/Community The Path Toward Racial Equity: Arts Administrators
17 Evening Program: Visual Art Jennie C. Jones: Constant Structure Closing Tours
25 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Side-By-Side: Farnsworth House 29 Lunchtime Workshop: Cross Stitch as Meditation with Stacia Yeapanis
14 15 18
Holiday Program: Music Caroling in the Garden Lunchtime Program: Glenn Hendler on David Bowie Holiday Program: Virtual Holiday Reading with Michael Halberstam
January 14 19 22
Evening Program: Visual Art Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. and Aliza Nisenbaum Lunchtime Program: Theater Chris Jones and Michael Riedel Lunchtime Program: Visual Art LATITUDE Artists and Michal Raz-Russo on multiples
27
Lunchtime Program: Culutre and Community Julian Siggers on Field Museum
October 3 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Field Trip to The Nate Sculpture Park 9 Lunchtime Program: Fashion André Leon Talley with Laura Layfer 24 Lunchtime Program: Fashion Rue Shaw Lecture with Hoda Katebi and Abigail Glaum-Lathbury
27 Afternoon Program: Visual Art Bronwyn Katz & Kapwani Kiwanga 28
29
PROGRAMS February 2021–May 2021
Fashion icon André Leon Talley in
February
conversation with Laura Layfer on The Chiffon Trenches (October 2020)
12 Lunchtime Workshop: Jewelry Workshop with Ippolita Rostagno 17 Lunchtime Program: Architecture Sarah Hendren on “What Can a Body Do?” 20 Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Interest Group on Hope with Lincoln Schatz 26 Evening Program: Theater Tiny Performances in Empty Room March 12 18 20 23
Lunchtime Program: Architecture Marshall Brown and Amanda Williams Evening Program: Film Stanya Kahn Screening and Discussion Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Upkeep Closing Tours Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Linda Falcone with Sheryl E. Reiss on Women in Renaissance Painting
April 1 6 15 23
Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Pandemic Creativity: Shallow, Hargrave, Pittie
30
Lunchtime Program: Literature Tom Dyja and Ken Krimstein on New York,
Lunchtime Program: Design Florist Emily Thompson with Janine Mileaf Lunchtime Program: Film Oscars Preview with Michael Phillips Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Hurvin Anderson with Michael Prokopow New York, New York
May 7
Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Debra Kerr and Leisa Rundquist on Henry Darger
8 Mother’s Day Weekend Brunch 13 Evening Program: Visual Art Gallery Tour Hurvin Anderson and Playlist Happy Hour Organizer and writer Hoda Katebi in convresation with fashion designer/professor Abigail Glaum-Lathbury on Blue Tin Production Cooperative for the 2020 Rue Shaw Lecture (October 2020) 30
21
Lunchtime Program: Design Alsdorf-Freehling Lecture: Joel Sanders on Inclusive Design
27 Lunchtime Program: Theatre A Red Orchid Theater with Carrie Shepherd 31
PROGRAMS SUMMARY
June 2021
1 8 10 17 23 28
Number of Events
Lunchtime Program: Culture and Community The Path Toward Racial Equity: Land Acknowledgements Lunchtime Program: Visual Art Claudia Swan on Dutch Art, Trade, and Taste
This chart represents the number of events held at The Arts Club in each category from July 2020–June 2021
Evening Program: Visual Art Pandemic Creativity: Goro, Bredar, Ke Yi Zheng Lunchtime Program: Culture and Community Alex Shephard and Jo Livingstone on Corporate Consolidation in the Arts Lunchtime Program: Gastronomy Monica Eng and Louisa Chu on What to Eat Outside Evening Program: Theater Storyteller Jitesh Jaggi: Hope and Hip Hop
CSO First Chair percussionist Cynthia Yeh records in the Salon for a 32
virtual First Chairs concert (October 2020)
33
Average Attendance This chart represents the average attendance at each type of event at The Arts Club from July 2020-June 2021.
Baritone Keanon Kyles sings holiday carols in the garden (December 2020)
32
Dancer Jasmine Mendoza performs beneath the Mies staircase for Tiny Performances in Empty Rooms (February 2020)
33
ARTS CLUB STAFF Administration
Hospitality
Janine Mileaf
Lucas Franco
Executive Director
Head Chef
Waiter/Coat Check
Charla Moseley
Marisol Osorio
Aida Blasco Lopez
and Chief Curator Modesto Abarca
Catering Manager
Waiter
Fermin Alberto
Jesus Rodriguez
Maintenance Head Blake Ashby
Dishwasher/Prep Cook
Maitre d’
Cayetano Carbajal
Felicitas Uriostegui
Communications Fellow Holly Bresnahan
Dishwasher/Prep Cook
Waiter
Membership Engagement Coordinator
Ruben Celis Line Cook
James Lucchesi Business Manager
Miguel Quizhpi Sous Chef
Jenna Lyle Programs Manager
Alexandra Ramos Line Cook
David Merz Administrative Assistant
Amelia Richey Bartender
Adam Mikos Facilities and Gallery Manager
Theatre artist Kurt Chiang and Communications Fellow Blake Ashby film actor Livia Chesley for 34
Tiny Performances in Empty Rooms (February 2020)
35
CONTRIBUTORS
Thank you to the following supporters who contributed from July 2020 through June 2021 to exhibitions, public programs, outreach, publications, the Ambition Fund, and the Fellowship pro-gram at The Arts Club of Chicago. Wynne Delacoma Neil Ross and Lynn Hauser Charles Mottier Sally Feder Heiji Choy Black Smart Family Foundation of Illinois 36
37