Art Wed Sep 02 2015
Around the Coyote Arts Fest Is Back This Weekend in Wicker Park
More than 30 visiting artists will show their work this weekend at the Around the Coyote arts festival at the Flat Iron Arts Building in Wicker Park.
Around the Coyote is a three-day festival celebrating the art and artists of Wicker Park. This Friday through Sunday, visitors can stop in at the Flat Iron Arts Building, tour artist studios, listen to live music and see theater performances. The festival kicks off with an opening night reception from 6 to 10pm Friday.
The Flat Iron Artists Association has a few new tenants this year: Bizarre Bucktown, which offers magic and walking tours of Wicker Park hosted by long time Second City teacher Gordon Meyer; jewelry and design by Fibonature; and Pyramid Sugar; joining long-standing residents Brainstorm Comics and Collaboraction Theatre Company.
The Flat Iron Artists' Association is a private, not-for-profit company dedicated to the promotion of the arts in the Wicker Park / Bucktown area and the sponsor of First Friday art shows in Wicker Park Bucktown. With the support of the WPB SSA#33 (a city Special Service Area program to enable communities to create and maintain commercial districts), the Flat Iron Artists Association and the local artists have been a driving force to revitalize the tradition of art in Wicker Park Bucktown. For more information, visit wpbfirstfriday.org.
Around the Coyote was an annual arts festival centered in a Wicker Park arts building from 1989 to 2010, when its funding was in decline. Various multimedia "Coyote" events have been held in intervening years. The festival is named for the former Coyote Gallery, which was once housed in the Northwest Tower Building, 1608 N. Milwaukee. One of its owners supposedly thought the top of the building looked like a coyote baying at the moon.
The Flat Iron Arts Building is at 1579 N. Milwaukee Ave, on the corner of Damen, Milwaukee and North avenues. Festival hours are 6-10pm Friday and 1-5pm Saturday and Sunday. There is a $5 cover charge at the door. Proceeds support the work of the Flat Iron Artists Association. More info available here.
