UR CHICAGO - August 2008

[Disclaimer: The following is an archive of content that was originally on another website. Originally posted August 2008 - This is an excerpt of a feature in anticipation of Art On Track 2009. - to visit the original post click here. Please be aware that some press/posts do expire.]

Moving Art

---

For one night this weekend, the CTA is getting a creative makeover

by Diana Bae



It was an article in the Red Eye that inspired Tristan Hummel to work on a unique location for an art exhibition. The newspaper piece was a story about odd things to do with your money in Chicago. “One of those things was to rent a CTA train to host a party,” says Mojdeh Stoakley, Hummel’s business partner. “He thought, ‘Why not an art exhibition?’”

That idea, which struck a couple years ago, is finally coming to fruition. Stoakley, the 21-year-old CEO of Lethal Poetry, has partnered with Hummel, also 21 and CEO of Salvo, for “Art on Track.” For one night only, an eight-car orange line CTA train will turn into a moving art exhibition -- and Stoakley hopes it will earn a Guinness World Record as the largest mobile art exhibition. There will be five galleries as well as the works of 200 independent artists. Along with the visual arts, theater groups and a puppetry group will be present as the train rolls through the Loop on the elevated tracks. The $5 entrance fee for the event is also the ticket into the “Art on Track” afterparty at the Joynt, as well as a free drink.

For Stoakley and Hummel, who met as students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, “Art on Track” is a way to showcase the city. Rather than having people leave the Windy City, she and Hummel “want Chicago to be the destination for artists to build their careers. The city’s already halfway there,” Stoakley says. But the city still needs a “rise in the independent gallery world and a lot of community participation.” All artists that will show their work on the train are local talents.

The exhibition is also a way to change people’s perspectives of their surroundings. “The idea is to re-appropriate the expectations of how one views art: to challenge the artists into thinking about how to create their art for this environment,” Stoakley says. The train also lets “both the normal art-goers and non-art-goers to have access to work that’s been created.”

For the future, Stoakley says she would love to continue this event: “If we get an incredible response, then we can prove to the City of Chicago and the CTA that a bunch of youth can really get it done.”

”Art on Track” will take place Saturday, Aug. 30 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Entrance to the train is at the Adams and Wabash El platform.

[see original screen shot archive of article below]


www.lethalpoetry.com

RED EYE - CTA Blog

[Disclaimer: The following is an archive of content that was originally on another website. Originally posted August 29, 2008 - This is an excerpt of a feature in anticipation of Art On Track 2009. - to visit the original post click here. Please be aware that some press/posts do expire.]



Art on Track Event: You Going?

Posted Aug. 28 at 8:15 a.m.

Want to check out something positive on public transit? How about some exciting artowrk on the "L"? If the answer is yes to both, you're in luck. This weekend, some very passionate locals rented an "L" train and will turn it into an 8-car art exhibit on Saturday, Aug. 30.

Participating galleries include: The Flat Iron Artists Group, The Silver Room, Colibri Studio Gallery, Peter Jones Studio/Gallery and Quennect 4, according to a release sent over by the event organizers.

Sounds like a great time, so if you want to go, it's $5 (fare waived) and participants should meet at the Wabash/Adams entrance for a ride around the Loop from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. You can pre-purchase your tix at chicagoartontrack.com, where you also will find more deets.

Let's just hope the CTA gets the train there on time. Ba dum dum!

[see original screen shot archive below]

www.lethalpoetry.com

The Decider - August 2008

[Disclaimer: The following is an archive of content that was originally on another website. Originally posted August 30, 2008 - This is an excerpt of a feature in anticipation of Art On Track 2009. - to visit the original post click here. Please be aware that some press/posts do expire.]

Transit: Moving pictures

"Art on Track" exhibit brings art to mass transit

Patrick

by Steve Gillies August 30, 2008

It’s common to wait and wait for a train in the Loop, only to find that when it finally arrives, it’s the wrong train. But it’s not every day that the wrong train is actually an art exhibit.

On Saturday, Aug. 30, artist groups Salvo and Lethal Poetry will convert an eight-car Orange Line train into the Art On Track exhibit, a mobile art gallery, circling the Loop from 6-10 p.m. from its starting point at the Wabash/Adams stop. The Flat Iron Project (an artists group) will curate two cars, while the Quennect 4 Gallery, the Peter Jones Gallery, the Colibri Studio and the Silver Room will each curate a train car. Two cars of work by independent artists will also be displayed. The organizers are applying for a Guinness World Records award for the first and largest mobile art gallery, in terms of square footage and number of miles traveled.

But what does this art say about the human condition and the CTA? Will people get the metaphor of using public transportation to bring art out into the public? What separates the art on display from the art carved into the train windows or the graffiti on the walls and chairs? And if there’s a mechanical failure, will the works of art make the wait any smoother? Art provokes such meaningful questions.

[see the original screen shot archive below]

www.lethalpoetry.com

NINEninetyFOUR.org - August 2008

[Disclaimer: The following is an archive of content that was originally on another website. Originally posted August 26, 2008 - This is an excerpt of a feature in anticipation of Art On Track 2009. - to visit the original post click here. Please be aware that some press/posts do expire.]

Art on the move

The el is not just for Santa and his elves anymore. Now you can see art on a CTA train. This Saturday, August 30, you will have the cance to ride the orange line around the loop while viewing a mobile art gallery. An eight car CTA train will be rollin' around the loop from 6pm-10pm carrying art from various galleries and independent artists around town.

Visiting the train will cost you $5, and you can board at the Adams/Wabash stop. There will be staff aboard each train to discuss the art with you, if you lik. De-Railed, the official after-party for Art On Track, will follow at 11pm at The Joynt (650 N Dearborn).

I'm a big geek for the el, and naturally I love art, especially art presented in non-traditional atmospheres. Sadly, I will be unable to attend, as I will be out of town, but if anyone checks it out, I'd love to hear about it and see photos!

[see original screen shot archive below]


www.lethalpoetry.com

Idea Waitress - August 2008

[Disclaimer: The following is an archive of content that was originally on another website. Originally posted August 24, 2008 - This is an excerpt of a feature in anticipation of Art On Track 2009. - to visit the original post click here. Please be aware that some press/posts do expire.]

Art On Track: CTA as visual art gallery August 24, 2008

As every aspiring visual artist knows, creating the work of art is only one part of actually making a living as an artist. Getting the art in front of potential buyers is sometimes the more difficult part. A local Chicago artist collective is taking matter into its own hands in a very bold way: bringing art to the public by chartering an eight-car CTA train for a one-night traveling show on August 30. For the lowly price of $5, patrons will be able to actually touch at least some of the art and view a performance piece involving representation of Chicago’s famous landmarks and history. The presenters are Salvo, which describes itself as a “think tank” of artists, and Lethal Poetry, a Chicago-based arts and entertainment start-up. I love this idea and wish I were going to be in town so I could attend! It’s a creative and very affordable way to show how art can be part of everyday life instead of something one sees only in a museum or an art gallery — settings that some people find intimidating, uncomfortable or otherwise unengaging. Participating galleries include The Flat Iron Artist Group, Peter Jones Gallery, The Silver Room Gallery, Colibri Studio/Gallery and Quenect 4 Gallery, as well as independent Chicago artists. Full details available at Art on Track.

[see original screen shot archive below]