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Business Mon Apr 11 2011
The Bolt Residency Program Debuts this June
Are you one of the legions of artists out there lamenting your lack of productivity, chalking it up to not having a proper studio space, or perhaps feeling alien from the artistic community and generally uninspired? Do you need a muse, or an excuse to get out of your living room, away from your kids and your dirty dishes and start making art again? Or maybe you've been working your ass off in your basement but your work never sees the light of day and you would like some serious, critical feedback from someone other than your dog hiking his leg on it. OR maybe you're fresh out of college and you worry that you're going to fall into atrophy without some continued structure.
If you answered "yes" to any of the above, the newly-established Bolt Residency program may be a good option for you. The Bolt Residency is a highly competitive and juried artist program housed in the former FLATFILEgalleries, an 8,000 square foot space in the West Loop. It features a one to two-year artist residency program consisting of nine subsidized studios and professional exhibition space with daily, ongoing professional development and in depth collaborations with prominent Chicago curators, visiting artists, gallery directors, dealers, and collectors-- from Candida Alvarez to Monique Meloche. The idea is to not only provide studio space for artists, but to serve as a support structure and a network for artists to develop their creative practices into viable careers. It is not an easy thing, after all.
Not only do participants in the residency program get a prime workspace in the middle of the West Loop art district, they will actually be promoted by the Chicago Artists' Coalition and will be able to participate in the CAC's Art.Business.Create workshops for free. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Applicants must be CAC members and reside in the Chicagoland area during residency. Bolt Residency will support artists working in a variety of disciplines: painting, works on paper, photography, new media, installation and film. Sculptors, performers and sound artists are encouraged to apply, but may be limited by materials. Applications are available online and are due for submission April 29 at 12pm. Residency begins June 15, 2011.
For more information, visit the studios at 217 N. Carpenter Tuesday, April 19. They will be open from 5:30 to 8:30pm with guided tours and Q&A sessions every 15/20 minutes. If you can't make it to that, visit chicagoartistscoalition.org/bolt-residency for details.
