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Experience the Bohemian Scene
Thursday Feb 10, 2005.
By Freda Moon
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Several Blue Line stops west of downtown's high-end galleries and highfalutin museums, Wicker Park was once one of Chicago's unpolished gems. But in 1990, Parisian gallery owner Jim Happy-Delpech came to our Windy City and discovered an unknown community worthy of exposure. The Around the Coyote Festival, so dubbed after the 1930s skyscraper at the corner of North and Milwaukee (nicknamed "Coyote Tower" by locals), has grown into one helluva party. Like any good arts festival, Around the Coyote gets artists and patrons to mingle on the artist's turf, where blood, sweat, grit and grime combine in creative fervor. Modeled after the bohemian art fairs of Paris, Around the Coyote, which runs Feb. 10-13, is equal parts studio walk, exhibition and performing arts festival. Open studios and exhibitions highlight the works of more than 100 emerging photographers, painters, sculptors and mixed-media artists, in a full-force celebration of the visual arts that goes beyond the pristine white walls of the gallery space. Sarah Hamilton, the festival's executive director, says it is the nontraditional venues that set this festival apart from others: "They create an atmosphere that is less stuffy, more informal." It feels like a gallery walk with more warmth and excitement, says Hamilton of the festival she's directed for the past two years, "It's eclectic". Eclectic is right in more ways than one. Though the aforementioned photography, painting and sculpture may be the type of art you'd expect to see, they share the stage with a bevy of theater performances and video screenings.
Jumpstarting this year's festival will be the opening night party on Feb. 10 with a curator's choice exhibition and silent auction. Brimming with food, drink and music, the evening's festivities will feature Wicker Park's artists hawking their goods and poet cin salach. Salach, who co-founded the performance groups "The Loofah Method" and "Betty's Mouth," is a cultural ambassador to Prague, and celebrated slam poet. Her work has been heard on WBEZ, WFMT's Studs Terkel, Image Union, Art Beat and Oprah. No ordinary poet of page and stage, salach was selected by the folks at the Chicago Poetry Center because of her booming ability to command attention above the noise and bustle of a party. To help ease pocket book pressures, ATC offers an all-event pass for $20, a deal for those interested in dabbling in a little of all of what the event has to offer. And to reduce the possibility of frostbite, the winter event has wisely been organized for less outdoor walking than the fall festival. In an intimate triangle of venues, the theater and performance pieces will take place at 1935 1/2 North Ave., while the Audio/Visual (Short Film and Video) screenings will be held just around the corner at Rodan, 1530 N. Milwaukee. In addition to opening night's poetry and DJ performances, the theater and performance segment will feature several short raw plays born out of artistic partnerships between local playwrights and emerging directors. The Audio/Visual programs are particularly alluring this year: The first set premiers the new stop motion animation by Jenifer Lyter, last fall's Audience Choice Award winner, and the second set offers racier and more controversial content. With two sets of screenings on Friday and Sunday, visitors can watch both one-hour sets in one evening or divide the fun over two nights; filmmakers will be available at both screenings to answer questions and respond to comments. Viewers will also vote for the Audience Choice Award that will be announced Sunday night. Program One includes shorts from The Gadabout Film Festival, The Lost Film Festival, Rusty Nails and many more. Also, in adherence to one of Around the Coyote unique rules, Audio/Video curators James Gustin and Kim Alpert are required to screen their own new work as part of every festival. According to curator Alpert, this non-spectator philosophy "forces us to be on the cross with everyone else."
Winter Shorts Program Two: A Naughty Little Late Night Coyote includes sexually charged movies intended to "inspire an open dialog about censorship and pornography in America." The set will screen a music video for the song "On the What" by Ric Jilla, edited by Ted Askew that airs on BET Uncut. Also showing is "Mate" by Nathew Lays, about a couple who communicates through food and is considered by Alpert to be among the most interesting showings in this Winter's A/V festival. Around the Coyote's Winter 2005 festival will follow in the footsteps of its forebears by bringing Chicago's emerging artists into the spotlight. More at Aroundthecoyote.org, but here's the skinny on this not-to-be-missed event:
Entry fees: $7 Video; $7 per performance, or $12 for a nightly theater pass; $5 visual; or the bargain $20 weekend pass. Opening night: Thursday, Feb. 10; 7-11 p.m. The $20 entry fee covers beer, wine, hors d'oeuvres and gets you access to the silent auction featuring "Curators' Choice" artwork, live performance by poet Cin Salach, video screenings and DJs. Festival Activities:
Theater The ATC Winter Theatre Festival provides a venue to examine the unique collaboration between playwright and director. This festival features several short, raw plays, each of which is born out of artistic partnerships between local playwrights and emerging directors. At 7:30 and 9 p.m. on February 11-12; 3 and 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 13; all performances at 1935 1/2 W. North Ave.
Performance Details: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11-12; 3 p.m. Feb. 13
King of the Road
Funeral Critics
Train
Common Intellect 9 p.m. Feb. 11-12; 4:30 p.m. Feb. 13 Three Beautiful Children
Management Orientation
Ugly Baby or 564 Things to do With a Peanut
Suit
Film Dates & times: Friday, February 11th at 10 p.m. and Sunday, February 13th at 9 p.m. All films will be screened at Rodan, 1530 N. Milwaukee. There will be two sets each night. The first set will be a series of shorts, including the latest work from the Fall Festival's Audience Choice Award winner Jenifer Lyter, shorts from The Gadabout Film Festival, The Lost Film Festival, Rusty Nails, and many more. Included in this series are movies created in part by the curators, James Gustin and Kim Alpert. The second set, titled Naughty Little Late Night Coyote, will feature sexually charged movies to inspire an open dialog about censorship and pornography in America. Included in this series are works by, Nathan Lays, Frank Lopez, Ted Askew, and many more. Some of the moviemakers will attend screenings on both nights to field audience comments and questions. Attendees also will participate in voting for the Winter Festival's Audience Choice Award.
Visual More than 100 visual artists exhibiting a diverse collection of photography, paintings, sculpture and mixed media works will be displayed throughout the festival in the Flat Iron Arts Building at 1579 N. Milwaukee.
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