Seeing art ‘more intensely’ now
Beverly ArtWalk this year becomes the do-it-yourself AltWalk, and in some ways is better than ever
Beverly ArtWalk this year becomes the do-it-yourself Alt Walk— and in someways is better than ever.
There is no Beverly ArtWalk this year, at least not of the conventional sort that has brightened and united the South Side neighborhoods of Beverly andMorgan Park for the past six years, and people are just fine with that.
“This year has beenwonderful, actually,” says Sal Campbell, a visual artist who, along with neighbor and arts administratorMonicaWilczak, is co-chair of the Beverly Area Arts Alliance (The Alliance), which they co-founded in 2014 and which has since staged the Beverly ArtWalk.
This year’s “walk” exists under the banner of “AltWalk.”
“I think that in this time, with so many things shut down, people are able to see art more intensely,” says Campbell. “There’s less noise, less distraction.”
Many art and entertainment organizations have come up withways both clever and desperate to reach audiences in this shuttered era. There are livestreamed plays and backyard concerts,
internet excursions and other events that allow people towatch and listen in person (socially distanced of course) or, most often, fromthe comfort or, what is for many, the captivity of their own homes.
Fewhave adapted aswell and compellingly as have the folks of The Alliance, which has been doing a creative job of adjusting to our trying times, hosting a few outdoor backyard concerts and reformatting its popular Frunchroom reading series for those who enjoy availing themselves of Facebook and Zoom.
The AltWalk is there for the taking, pared back from years past but still a visual feast.
Look, there on a tree in front of Bookie’s, the bookstore at 10324 S. Western Ave., is the elaborate yarnbasedwork (known in art circles as a “yarn bomb”), thework of Linda Bullen honoringNative American women who’ve gone missing.
Look, there on thewalls of Two Mile Coffee Bar, 9907 S. Walden Parkway, are the stunning portraits of Tim Anderson; the other Two Mile Coffee Bar, in the old train station at 1766W. 95t St., features thework of Ann Blaas.
Look, there at City Grange, 1818W. 99th St., are the creatures made of rawmaterials and found objects byMathias “Spider” Schergen, a retired Golden Apple Award-winning public school teacher.
Look at the large collaboration among five women artists at the Root Consignment shop at 1913 W. 103rd St.
There is a story, and human beings, behind each of the 20-some installations that dot the lively South Side neighborhoods. Surely the most touching is that of Kurt Mitchell, whose haunting drawings can be found atHorse ThiefHollow, a very pleasant brewery/restaurant at 10426 S. Western Ave., where also on display on thewalls are fine and colorfulworks of other artists.
“Kurt could usually be found at the end of the bar, always drawing in his everpresent sketchbook,” said Campbell. “He had done some of the illustrations for Horse Thief’s beer labels andwas planning to have hiswork as part of this year’swalk.”
But he got sick and died ofCOVID on July 1. “That was heartbreaking,” said Campbell. “Butwe tracked down some of hiswork. We wanted it to be part of this year’s event. He deserved that.”
Fromits inception, the idea behind the artwalks was to link creative artists with the area’s businesses, a canny collaboration that benefited both the artists (most of theirwork is for sale) and the businesses, which have enjoyed opening their spaces to largerthan-usual crowds.
Pieces started being installed a fewweeks ago, and there have so far been two relatively organized eveningwalks, during which the art is illuminated and most of the businesses remain open. Another takes place 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday. You can get all sorts of information— about the art and artists, and links to the business in which they are being shown— at The Alliancewebsite and on Instagram.
This will enable you, if you can’t join thewandering crowds Thursday night, to create your own do-ityourselfwalk (or bike ride or car ride).
“Wewant this to keep going until theweather gets nasty,” says Campbell.
Until then, you will have your own outdoor art gallery of paintings, drawings, hand-woven baskets, ceramics and mixed media. And there has been some talk, spurred by this year’s success, of creating a dedicated space curated by The
Alliance that might serve as a permanent showcase for local artists.
In addition to the art installations on view, there is an intriguing new element called Pandemogram postcards. “We asked people to send these to us,” says Campbell. “They could be addressed to anyone, everyone, expressing hopes, dreams, worries and expressions of love during this painful, tumultuous and, I hope, transformative time.”
This idea and, indeed, the coining of the term “Pandemograms”— a combination of “pandemic” and “telegrams”— was that of artist CarlaWinterbottom, who started designing and sending postcards at the outset of the pandemic.
The Alliance put out a call for others, anyone, to contribute, and some of those efforts are on exhibit at Heritage Gallery, 1907W. 103rd St.
This is the cozy business started decades ago by the late Jack Simmerling and his daughter Vicki, who runs it still. Before his death in 2013, I visited oftenwith Simmerling and found him to be an artist of great talent.
Born and raised in suburban Blue Island, he earned a degree in fine arts fromtheUniversity of NotreDame. Hewanted to work in a museum, but therewere no jobs available. So, with a new wife and baby, hewent towork for a framing company and began selling his paintings for 25 cents. Hewas successful, hiswork got more expensive and, as he proudly told me long ago, “I have had a very loyal clientele. I do believe that mywork might be hanging in every other house in Beverly.”
And on thewalls of the gallery aremany of his paintings. Each one, in its way, is a timeless love letter to Beverly and the city.