Art Loop Open Competition Begins Friday
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Amanda Murphy, The Great Jewelry Heist, photograph. Courtesy of Art Loop Open.
This Friday, October 15, the first-ever Art Loop Open competition will be launched in ten venues around the Loop. Featuring the works of 191 Chicago artists, the Art Loop Open is a meeting of art and technology as the public determines the winners, voting via texting and other Smartphone technologies. The works of all media– installations, works on paper, sculpture, painting, photography and video—will be judged in two rounds of voting. The first round of voting takes place October 15-22; the Top Ten vote-getters will then compete October 23-29 for a range of cash prizes and awards, including the top prize of $25,000.
Block 37
Friday, October 15
Throughout day, the contributing artists will be putting the finishing touches on their works. From 4:00pm- 5:00pm at Hub 37 in the Block 37 Pedway, interview ops will take place with Executive Directors of Chicago Loop Alliance & Chicago Artists’ Coalition, the co-presenters of Art Loop Open.
Then, the official launch will take place from 5:00pm-8:00pm with the “Loop Art Crawl” event at all ten venues. The launch is a fantastic opportunity for voters to not only see the works, but discuss them with the artists as well.
Catherine Jacobi, Forgetting, Sculpture. Courtesy of Art Loop Open.
The Ten Loop venues include:
• Block 37, 108 N. State St.
• Chicago French Market/MetraMarket, 131 N. Clinton
• Hard Rock Hotel Chicago, 230 N. Michigan Ave
• Hotel Allegro, 171 W. Randolph St.
• Hotel Burnham, 1 W. Washington St.
• Macy’s, 111 N. State St.
• Merchandise Mart, 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza
• Palmer House, 17 E. Monroe St.
• the Wit Hotel, 201 N. State St.
• W Chicago-City Center, 172 W. Adams St.
Hotel Burnham
In addition to the “Loop Art Crawl,” Hub 37, in the Block 37 Pedway, will offer a series of unique opportunities created by IIT, with Microsoft technology, allowing the public to discover more about the artists – and share their thoughts with other Art Loop Open participants.
The Chicago Loop Alliance is a member-based business organization that represents Chicago’s most dynamic mixed-use district, the Loop and is under the direction of Executive Director Ty Tabing. Led by Executive Director Carolina O. Jayaram, the Chicago Artists’ Coalition is a non-profit arts organization providing direct services to thousands of artists throughout the city.
*feature image is Jennifer Hansen’s sculpture, 20 oz. Biomorphic Mass. Courtesty of Art Loop Open.
1. Today, Art Loop Open announced the top ten finalists in the first year of their competition. A couple hours, later, Bernard Williams was disqualified because someone else (without his knowledge) distributed the number of his artwork around Columbia College.
2. There were 4 venues that contributed no artists to the top ten (Allegro, Palmer, Merch Mart, Hard Rock) though they represented 35% of the artists in the competition. By contrast, 5 other venues (Metra, Burnham, Macy’s, Wit, and W) represented only 19% of the artists, but contributed exactly half of the top 10 artists. Further, it’s interesting to note that 70% of the top ten were located within one block of Block 37, although only 50% of the total artworks were located in this area. All of the venues without winners are located farther than 1/5 mile from Block 37.
This begs the question: does the choice of where the artwork is placed affect the outcome of the voting? Taking note of the poor exhibition conditions of the Hard Rock Cafe, Palmer House, and other venues, the answer would seem to be affirmative. Block 37, as the center of the activities surrounding ALO, clearly was also the center of activity for public voting. Artists not positioned in or near this location, in my opinion, were put at a severe disadvantage.
3. People without texting capabilities or a smart phone we not allowed to vote. The voting system also did not support certain cellular carriers, including Cricket Wireless, even if the customers did have texting capabilities.