A Walk Through Logan Square

By JACQUELINE LEWIS

As the gallery landscape continually changes and expands its traditional borders Logan Square has become its own bustling art hub. The neighborhood’s thriving art scene is young and fresh, with galleries devoted to living artists and maintaining active art spaces.

Logan Square is easily accessible from the Blue Line. For those who prefer driving, street parking is usually available as well. Once you are in Logan Square, it’s easy and fun to peruse the entire neighborhood to experience all that it has to offer.

Let’s start with a quick tour of a few noteworthy galleries:

COMFORT STATION

Comfort Station is just south of the Logan Square Blue Line station on Milwaukee Avenue. In 2010, Comfort Station set up shop inside of a historic building. The gallery operates in conjunction with the Logan Square Preservation nonprofit. Since then, Comfort Station has been entirely volunteer run and received its own nonprofit status in 2016, continuing its mission to host public, community driven programs.

GREETINGS FROM CHICAGO MURAL - LOGAN SQUARE, CHICAGO

A vibrant, multidisciplinary art space that exists to help local artists and the Logan Square community, Comfort Station, throughout the past decade, has consistently demonstrated the connections that occur at the intersection of art and everyday life.

GALERIE F

You’ll find Galerie F a bit further south on Milwaukee Avenue. A platform for local and national emerging artists, Galerie F puts on monthly exhibitions and also hosts community drawing events. In addition to their in studio projects, Galerie F runs mural projects that are visible throughout Logan Square and the Greater Chicago Area.

With art available for purchase both in person and online, the gallery is a useful resource for those interested in street art, gig posters, and art prints, along with other miscellaneous collectibles. Their style is hip and new, spotlighting street art styles.

POSITIVE SPACE STUDIOS

Heading west on Fullerton you will reach Positive Space Studios, founded to build and foster a diverse community of artists from all levels. It is a multimedia space for those who are inspired to create and publicly share their work. Anyone with passion and energy for art can rent event or

studio space here. Positive Space believes that unbridled creation leads to a stronger community. Visit this space for good vibes, new exhibitions, workshops, and events that cultivate connection in Logan Square and beyond.

OLIVA GALLERY

If you walk a bit further south you can visit Oliva Gallery. Gallery owner Kimberly Oliva is a veteran of the Chicago market scene with expertise in merchandising, design, and selling antique collectibles. When she moved into her 1890’s era Logan Square home, she immediately found herself drawn to preservation and neighborhood advocacy.

Oliva Gallery is the culmination of Kimberly’s background and her love for Logan Square. Originally selling jewelry and artistic pottery from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, Oliva has since expanded. Today the gallery offers work by contemporary artists as well as 20th century fine art and design plus lighting, home decor and costume jewelry.

65GRAND

At the southern end of Logan Square you will find 65GRAND, a contemporary art space run by Bill Gross featuring a rotating exhibition schedule. The space is open, with natural lighting and white walls, perfect for displaying its collection of paintings and sculpture. Some of the artists on view include David Corbett, Jasmine Justice, and William Staples.

Recently, the space has shown Gina Hunt’s exhibition Signal and Heather Mekkelson’s Reverse Prophecies which drew crowds from all around Chicago. When coming to see 65GRAND’s newest exhibition, check out the colorful mural outside, since that’s always changing as well.

EXTRA/BASIC STUDIO (EXTRA PROJECTS)

Loop back north towards the Blue Line CTA stop and you’ll find the final gallery on this tour (but by no means the last artistic space in Logan Square). Extra/Basic Studio is a public space for artists to display their art in a lowkey setting. Extra/Basic creates an open dialogue between the viewers and the artists that includes feedback, sharing, and deeper discussion.

From beginners to professionals, all artists are welcome to display engaging art here, as long as it challenges viewers. The goal of Extra/Basic Studio is to develop a more critical understanding of the possibilities that exist within art. Check out this space and join the conversation next time you are in the area.

STREET ART

Logan Square is home to a vibrant, diverse street art scene. Almost everywhere you look there is public art, especially murals, ranging from the well known You Are Beautiful tag, to intricate scenes, to more classical graffiti font.

Underneath the Fullerton Blue Line stop there is a Halloween themed mural. This evocative image of a beautiful green witch on a pumpkin blends seamlessly into a colorful graffiti tag. Y o u Ar e Beautiful Logan Square As murals can be painted over or altered, see this before it is gone forever.

Another graffiti-like tag is currently over Moda Italia (2950 W. Fullerton).

Murals evolve and space is often needed and repurposed, which gives you another reason to visit Logan Square again and again.

• n-Times Tanveer Ali/Su

More resources: logansquarist.com /2019/04/30/murals-in-logan-square/

Chicago Sun-Times Mural Guide: guides.suntimes. com/street-art/ logan-square/ R ob i n W Prints of the mural pictured on the opposite page available from $24.95 at wen Dippie i l l iams mural by Jerkface and O greetingstour.com/shop