Artists at Work Forum: How to Turn Your Art Into a Career

Paul Klein invites artists Joyce Owens, Tony Fitzpatrick, Dawoud Bey and Juan Angel Chavez to discuss specific strategies they employ to have their art “take care of them.”  Experiments, mistakes and practical advice will be offered and audience questions entertained. 

The forum will be held in the First Floor Garland Room at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street.  The forum is open to the public, and admission is free.

Moderator Paul Klein is a curator, art journalist, activist and former gallerist who has long been an art advocate and proponent for art in Chicago.  In 2006 he was honored as Man of the Year by the Chicago Society of Artists.  He was the curator for the recently completed 2.3 million square foot expansion of McCormick Place and has championed Chicago by writing and distributing ArtLetter www.artletter.com, an online examination of art in Chicago, and now as a contributor to the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com).  His exhibition previews encourage readers to broaden their horizons by embracing unexpected quality, new venues, dynamic artists and strong exhibitions.

Dawoud Bey began his career as a photographer in 1975 and has had numerous exhibitions worldwide, at such institutions as the Art Institute of Chicago, the Barbican Centre in London, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Whitney Museum of American Art among many others. Bey’s critical writings have appeared in publications throughout Europe and the United States, and he has curated exhibitions at museums and galleries internationally as well.  His blog, What's Going On? is at http://whatsgoingon-dawoudbeysblog.blogspot.com/

Born in Mexico, Juan Angel Chavez immigrated with his family to Chicago when he was thirteen and began
developing his professional experience by painting murals in Chicago neighborhoods and schools as a member of the Chicago Public Art Group, where he became a leading force in the Chicago public art community.  Currently, Chavez focuses on his studio work and large-scale sculpture and installations made of found materials, light and sound.  An active participant in Chicago’s arts community, he is a 2008 Artadia Award recipient.


Tony Fitzpatrick is an artist, poet and actor whose artwork can be found in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in North Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  Fitzpatrick has made a living as a radio personality, a construction worker, and a film, stage and television actor, appearing in 15 major motion pictures.   He has also published six books including three collections of art and poetry.

Recently awarded a nomination driven Ragdale fellowship in July 2008, Joyce Owens has been selected to show her work in the American Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia.  Owens earned a BFA from Howard University and MFA from Yale University. In 2008 her works were included in solo exhibitions at Elmhurst College's Frick Center and at the H.F. Johnson Gallery at Carthage College in Wisconsin as well as numerous group shows.  She is the curator of the galleries and faculty member at Chicago State University.  Her blog, Joyce Owens: Artist on Art is at http://monroeanderson.typepad.com/joyce_owens_on_art/

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington
Chicago IL  60602

Admission free