Chicago − The Ed Paschke Art Center (EPAC) is pleased to announce it's second annual Artist Residency program.
Developed to provide Chicago artists with the time, space, and resources they need to pursue their creative work, EPAC's inspiring surroundings give residents a professional platform to create and exhibit their work within.
In partnership with Luminarts Cultural Foundation of the Union League Club Chicago, EPAC will host 2016 Luminarts Visual Arts Fellowship award recipients Jeffrey Michael Austin and Lily Dithrich.
Beginning Monday, March 14, 2016 and running through April 24, 2016, the Ed Paschke Art Center (5415 W. Higgins Ave., Chicago IL) will welcome Austin and Dithrich on site to exhibit finished works alongside transforming the space into an "open studio." Viewers are invited to step in to their workspace and see art making in action. This dynamic showcase of the best in emerging contemporary artistic talent is also a generative exhibition. Visitors are encouraged to check back throughout the exhibition's run and watch as these artists take a work from concept to completion over the course of their residency.
"One of the goals of the Ed Paschke Art Center is to support the careers of Chicago artists by providing them with a space to not just exhibit their work, but to engage with our community," said Vesna K. Stelcer, chair of the Ed Paschke Foundation. "This residency program allows viewers access to the typically off limits, behind-the-scenes territory of an artists' studio, similar to our installation of Paschke's Howard Street Studio space already on site."
Jeffrey Michael Austin is an interdisciplinary artist, musician and educator based in Chicago. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, recently including such venues as Le Carreau de Cergy (Paris), Chicago Artists Coalition, Kunstenfestival Watou (Belgium), The University of North Texas Art Galleries, Lehr Zeitgenössische Kunst (Berlin), The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and Fondation Vasarely (Aix-en-Provence). Austin received his BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and currently works as Deputy Director of The Chicago Perch and as a Teaching Artist with Marwen.
Lily Dithrich is a Chicago based artist working sculpturally with wood and textile. She received her BA at Oberlin College in 2013, and has since been working independently in Chicago. She has participated in a number of artist residencies nation-wide, including at the Ox-Bow School of Art and Artist Residency, the Anderson Ranch Arts Center, and the Wassaic Project. Her work has been exhibited at a number of galleries in Chicago and the midwest including the Hyde Park Arts Center and the Chicago Artists Coalition.
THE ED PASCHKE ART CENTER
The mission of the Ed Paschke Art Center (EPAC) is to preserve and provide public access to the work of the legendary Ed Paschke; to serve as an educational resource for youth, adults, artists and academics; and to function as an accessible platform for artists to showcase their work.
Located in Chicago's Jefferson Park neighborhood, EPAC opened June 22, 2014, almost ten years after the artist's death, on what would have been his 75th birthday. Built in tribute to Chicago's most famous artist, EPAC provides permanent access to the world's largest public collection of Paschke's work. EPAC houses 2,800 square feet of gallery space and 1,700 square feet of educational space, alongside a re-imagination of Ed Paschke's 2004 studio. The permanent collection showcases the Ed Paschke Family Foundation's holdings of the many styles and periods Paschke explored throughout his artistic career, which spanned from 1969 to 2004. The Chicago Artist Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting the work of Chicago artists, organizations and communities.
The Ed Paschke Art Center is proudly funded by The Rabb Family Foundation. Since its inception in 2013, the foundation has provided more than one million dollars to health, environmental and arts-related initiatives, including institutions such as the Ed Paschke Art Center and the National Veterans Art Museum. The Rabb Family Foundation works to support programs that overcome social and economic barriers as well as recognize citizens who have positively impacted the communities in which they live and work. Additional major supporters of the Ed Paschke Art Center include the 3M Company, Bank of America and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The Ed Paschke Art Center is free and open to the public seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. For more information call 312.533.4911 or visit edpaschkeartcenter.org.
Alicja Otap
