Six years ago, when Robin Monique Rios opened the 4Art Inc gallery in a large, glassy, two-story space at 1932 S. Halsted in east Pilsen, her landlord welcomed her as exactly the right kind of tenant for the neighborhood he’d newly dubbed the Chicago Arts District. John Podmajersky III—whose family had lived in east Pilsen since 1914, and whose parents began buying property and creating an artists’ community there a half century ago—was looking for what he called “artist-entrepreneurs” to replace the street-level studios along Halsted from about 16th to Canalport with galleries and art-related businesses. “We want our storefronts to be vital commercial spaces in the context of an art community,” he told me then. 4Art, a start-up offering framing, art classes, and graphic design along with the work of about 20 mostly local artists, was a perfect fit.
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This week Rios is closing her space in preparation for a move to Bridgeport, eager to escape the ghost town that the Chicago Arts District has become even as the sprawling University Village development has taken shape just a few blocks away. Most of the storefronts between 18th and 20th on Halsted now stand empty; on the east side of the 1800 block, one after another of the live-work spaces—beautiful bi-levels opening to the street in front and to Podville’s famous hidden gardens in the back—are vacant. Even in this economy, it’s hard to imagine why. Maybe Podmajersky can explain, but he didn’t return calls for this story.
What went wrong? Rios says Podmajersky management “never bothered” her, but, “I felt like there wasn’t enough support. . . . They weren’t keeping the artists.” Podville’s been a “revolving door,” Rios says. “People would come, stay a year, and then leave.” She says she and Schmidt started the Chicago Arts District’s tradition of Second Friday open studios to bring people into the area. “I don’t know what will happen once we leave,” she says, but “I can’t continue to push a wagon by myself.”
Laura Harper, who joined the Chicago Artists Coalition last year as executive director, has resigned after a mere eight months. (She didn’t return calls.) July 31 was her last day. Board member Barbara Hirschfeld, founding director of the Cuneo Museum in Vernon Hills, has stepped in until “things are put in order” and a replacement can be hired.
Coalition Gallery Wed-Fri noon-7 PM, Sat noon-5 PM, 2010 W. Pierce, 773-772-2385, caconline.org.
