Hyde Park Art Center is proud to present the fifth annual exhibition of work from participants in The Center Program, the Art Center’s flagship artist professional development initiative. Led by Director of Education Mike Nourse, this six-month program is designed for a group of artists who create new works, connect with peers, present to visiting professionals, and culminate with an exhibition. This year’s exhibit, guest curated by Dan Devening, Director of devening projects + editions, features work by 23 artists in a variety of media.
The Center Program is partially supported by 3Arts and Luminarts.
Featured Artists
Alejandro Acierto, Kayla Anderson, Miguel Aguilar, Jeffrey Austin, James Britt, Greg Browe, Marian Carow, Mel Cook, Marcelo Eli, Brent Fogt, Deirdre Fox, Victoria Fuller, Eric J. Garcia, Azadeh Gholizadeh, Stephanie Graham, Yvette Kaiser Smith, Stacza Lipinski, Kelly Lloyd, Fidencio Martinez, Randall Miller, Injung Oh, Suzanne Torres, Melissa Weber, and Gwendolyn Zabicki.
Aptly titled New Business, this exhibition showcases new, never before seen work that reflects the program’s mission of inspiring innovative ways of thinking, creating, and responding to critique. During their time in The Center Program, participants are encouraged to extend their reach, forge new connections and look at the Hyde Park Art Center and its robust community as a platform for support and inspiration. Ultimately, The Center Program gives its members the opportunity to delve into unexplored subject matter in order to push their boundaries as artists and achieve personal and professional growth.
The Center Program offers artists the unique opportunity to develop their portfolios, receive feedback from professionals in the field, and work toward an exhibition. This year the exhibition will fill the entire 2nd floor of the Art Center, including the Kanter McCormick gallery and the Guida Family Creative Wing, with the overall goal of building critical dialogue for professional artists seeking to expand their practice. Over the course of six month, gallerists, critics, and professionals push Center Program artists to answer tough questions, evolve their practice, and ultimately produce strong, new work to show. Through this process, participants gain a strong peer and professional network, support in thinking critically about how they approach their art, and the opportunity to introduce their new work to a broad audience.
About Dan Devening
Dan Devening received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is Founder and Director of Devening projects + editions, a space which first began in 2007 as a curatorial effort and later developed into a contemporary gallery that produces publications and limited artist editions, including works by Laura Letinsky, Kay Rosen and Tony Tasset.
Throughout his career, Devening has participated in over 50 solo and group exhibitions and his work is housed in permanent collections and museums including: AT&T (New York, NY and Chicago, IL), the City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs, DeLoitte (Chicago, IL), Fidelity Investments (Boston, MA), Four Seasons Hotel (Scottsdale, AZ), Kunstverien Recklinghausen (Recklinghausen, Germany), Elmhurst Art Museum (Elmhurst, IL) and (Illinois State Museum (Springfield, IL). He has been the recipient of multiple grants and scholarships, the most notable being the Illinois Arts Council Visual Artist Fellowship.
In addition to organizing exhibitions at Devening projects + editions, Devening has been actively curating throughout the Chicagoland area. His curatorial projects include: Seems at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum, Northwestern University, Subject Matters, Standard Gallery, Paper Projects, Evanston Art Center, Infra-Thin, Gahlberg Gallery, College of DuPage, and The Nature of Disturbance, Rowland Contemporary.In addition to organizing exhibitions at Devening projects + editions, Devening has been actively curating throughout the Chicagoland area. His curatorial projects include: Seems at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum, Northwestern University, Subject Matters, Standard Gallery, Paper Projects, Evanston Art Center, Infra-Thin, Gahlberg Gallery, College of DuPage, and The Nature of Disturbance, Rowland Contemporary.
