Going Dutch Festival in Elgin aims to be a platform for underrepresented artists
Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin will be host to the 13th annual Going Dutch Festival, a celebration of female and nonbinary voices in the arts, with a focus this year on visual artists.
The 2023 exhibition features 10 artists and was curated by the Going Dutch Festival Committee, and the opening will include performances by past Going Dutch artists including Francesca Baron and Christine Hands. The visual art opening and performances will be 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, June 2, in the gallery at SSSA. A $5 suggested donation will be requested at the door.
"For years, Going Dutch has been inclusive of nonbinary artists, both as applicants and within the context the creative groups involved in the festival," said Going Dutch founder and artistic director Erin Rehberg. "However, this support had not yet made it into our mission, and now we are now doing just that. The 13th Going Dutch Festival will be our first celebration of female and nonbinary voices in the arts. From the beginning, GD was about providing a platform for underrepresented artists, we honor that this term extends well beyond those who identify as female, and, in our current home of Elgin, Illinois, know that both female and nonbinary artists deserve this platform and support."
To that end, year 13 is a year of growth and transition for the festival, as it revamps to best support female and nonbinary artists moving into the future. The visual art exhibition will be on display through the month of June.
Artists include Alison Balcanoff, Sara Peak Convery, Alisa Duda, Kathryn Eli, Frances Hernandez, Moriah Hoyt, Rachel Elizabeth Maley, Natalie Pivoney, Melina Scotte, Meghan Thayer, Zelda Vidal, and more.
Hands and Thayer will also host free visual and performing arts workshops for a group of young artists from downtown Elgin's YWCA Friday before Friday's opening.
The 2023 festival is produced by SSSA, with support from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission; Grand Victoria Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Logan Foundation; Palmer Foundation; and Seigle Foundation.
The gallery and studio, at 15 Ziegler Court in the heart of downtown Elgin, was founded by Elgin residents Tanner Melvin and Rehberg in 2013 as an outlet for the Elgin arts scene. Side Street provides educational and creative resources and an inclusive space, run by artists. Side Street's mission is to support the artist and artistic journey through collaboration.
For information on the Going Dutch Festival or any of SSSA's programs, visit sidestreetstudioarts.org, call or text (847) 429-2276 or email info@sidestreetstudioarts.org.