Here Comes Another Art Fair
Two developments certain to add an interesting twist to the Chicago art-fair scene: (1) A group of local and out-of-town gallery owners and collectors have started a new company called Expressions of Culture, which will organize a series of annual Chicago-based art and design shows. (2) Former Lakeside Group staffer Mark Lyman is on a short list of candidates being interviewed to run the new organization. Lyman exited the beleaguered Lakeside Group, run by Chicago International Art Exposition cofounder John Wilson, on October 11, immediately following Lakeside’s eighth annual New Art Forms Exposition. By all accounts Lyman had ably managed New Art Forms for a number of years; Lakeside executive director Laurie Wilson did not return a call to her office. Lyman’s departure follows that of Tom Blackman, who left last year and wound up establishing a competing art fair, the New Pier Show at Cityfront Center.
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Expressions of Culture’s plans are still in the works, but the group hopes to present the first in a series of annual shows some time in late 1994. Bruce Robbins, founder of the Lill Street Studios and an Expressions of Culture partner, says the organization is particularly interested in mounting a completely new kind of show that combines “architecture, design, sculpture, new art forms, and the visual arts, something much broader than what Wilson had been doing.” The group has not yet pinned down a site for its debut show, but the Merchandise Mart Expo Center, site of last spring’s Art Chicago, is a possibility, Robbins said. Cityfront Center is another option, if the permanent tent Cityfront management is talking about putting up behind North Pier becomes reality. A source there confirmed that a permanent tent to house special events was being discussed, but no decision had been reached. “We need to be certain there is enough use for it before we move forward,” said the source.
What Do Tourists Want? Shopping!
When 58 international tour operators arrive in Chicago on November 8, they will promptly begin a five-day tour packed with shopping and sight-seeing but pretty much devoid of high culture. The occasion? The second annual International Tourism Week, sponsored by the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. When the whirlwind week is over, the bureau hopes the tour operators will return to their businesses in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan and encourage thousands of tourists to book tours to Chicago in 1994. Among other things on the International Tourism Week itinerary–planned by a committee of executives at several of the city’s tourism-based companies–are chances to shop Nike Town, F.A.O. Schwarz, and Saks Fifth Avenue, participate in a shopping treasure hunt along Michigan Avenue, take an architectural tour of the city, dine at Michael Jordan’s Restaurant, tour past film locations, and attend cocktail receptions too numerous to list.
