Side Street Studio Arts celebrates fifth anniversary March 2
Side Street Studio Arts, 15 Ziegler Court in downtown Elgin, is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a night of art making, visual art, live music, performances, and more from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, March 2.
The event is for all ages. There is a $5 suggested donation at the door.
Side Street Studio Arts opened March 1, 2013, and quickly became a home for both fringe and mainstream performing and visual artists.
During 2017, it hosted 24 visual art exhibitions, 35 music performances, more than 50 live art events, more than 300 on-site arts education programs, 240 hours of Community Moves arts education outreach programming, 10 internships, weekly free gallery hours, 100 hours of activities per week, donated space for fundraising events for area organizations, coproduced the Elgin Fringe Festival and Elgin Literary Festival with the City of Elgin, and featured a downtown Elgin Gallery, Lab, and Theater that were active for all 52 weeks during the year.
New in 2018, Side Street Studio Arts has expanded its lab space at 11 and 13 S. Spring St.
The Lab is an ever-growing, shared artist space designed to support the artistic process through the housing of equipment, storage, and proximity to exhibition resources. Lab not only allows individual artists the space and time to create, but hosts a variety of interactive workshops and classes, from ceramics to oil painting to photography for both children and adults.
"The Lab expansion has allowed us to open a greater number of arts education experiences for all ages," said founder and Executive Director Tanner Melvin. "We have found that our community is looking for easily accessible, hands-on art experiences, and we are excited to be able to provide those opportunities for all ages and experience levels."
"Additionally, more space, community interaction, and funding opportunities have allowed us to grow Community Moves, our arts education outreach arm," added SSSA founder and Executive Director Erin Rehberg.
"Community Moves brings art to public schools, various organizations, and provides scholarships to artists of all ages for our on-site programming. All class fees and donations take us further in supporting this outreach."
The anniversary festivities kick off with SSSA's monthly First Friday Drop-In Small Wonders in the theater from 4:15 to 6:15 p.m. For a $5 fee, parents can drop their young artist off for two hours of visual and performance art-making fun.
The uncurated "V" visual art exhibition features the work of more than 40 area artists.
"For the first time in SSSA history, a panel of judges will adjudicate the works and a $500 prize will be awarded to a single selected artist," said Roberto Martinez, director of exhibitions.
"The prize is sponsored, in part, by our friends at Elgin Public House and our first grant from the Illinois Arts Council."
There will also be a crowd favorite vote, and the winner of that vote will receive a yearlong Lab membership and additional prizes from SSSA.
The "V" judges are Judson University Department of Art and Design faculty member Melanie Gibb; artist Martinez E-B; artist, curator, and activist Jennifer Sova; and Joe Vassallo, chairman of the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission.
Judging and voting will take place from 6 to 8 p.m., and winners will be announced at 9 p.m.
The evening will also include performances from area musicians Think Easy, Old Jaw, and Watch City; live art making and hands-on demonstrations on silk screen printing with Lab artist Fred Wimms, featuring original year five artwork by Elgin artist Chris Palm; cake from Elgin's Herb's Bakery; and more.
All Side Street Studio Arts spaces will be open to the public from 6-10 p.m.
Side Street Studio Arts was founded by Elgin residents Melvin and Rehberg in 2013 as an outlet for the Elgin arts scene. Currently under the direction of Amanda Harris, Martinez, Melvin, and Rehberg, Side Street provides education and creative resources and an accessible space run by artists. Its mission is to support the artist and artistic journey through collaboration.
For information on any of its programs, visit www.sidestreetstudioarts.org, call (847) 429-2276 or email sidestreetstudioarts@gmail.com.