Julia Klein, “Stand/Statuette.” Mock-up of the planned editions. Edition of 25 + 6 artist proofs. All thirty-one are unique in terms of exact measurements and color. Cast bronze, steel and paint.
Threewalls, one of Chicago’s non-profit art leaders in pro-artist programming, is launching the 2015 edition of its Community Supported Art Chicago (CSA) series: “The Tabletop Collection.” Using the theme of a sculpture garden reimagined for a tabletop, the collection will be available as a set with works by five Chicago-based artists: Laura Davis, Assaf Evron, Julia Klein, Sabina Ott and Stephen Reber.
The CSA series is an annual art subscription of locally produced art. The idea is to “buy local.” Patrons have the opportunity to support and collect artists living and working in Chicago; in return, they receive limited-edition projects by contemporary artists at a reasonable price. This year, each set is $600 from March 15 through June 30; the price then increases to $750.
Four out of the six previous CSA subscriptions are sold out. Now in its seventh edition, “this year’s new initiative is the constraint of the ‘tabletop’ sculpture,” Shannon Stratton, Threewalls founder and executive and creative director, explained in an email exchange with Newcity. The idea came to her at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto while looking at Henry Moore’s “miniatures.” “I love sculpture,” she says, “Seeing these maquettes or studies was an inspiration to set this [CSA series] up as a ‘prompt’ to a group of artists.”
Laura Davis, “Gray and Grey.” Mock-up of the planned editions. Copper, nickel and cement.
Sculptures by Davis, Klein, Ott and Reber will be approximately 6” x 4” x 4” each. Evron will contribute an architectural rendering, which a purchaser could use as a guide to place the sculptures on. Of the contributing artists, Ott described her upcoming work in an email: “I am planning on making a [three-dimensional] printed miniature mountain that comes apart. Inside you will be able to see internal grottos and tunnels.” Artist Laura Davis is taking a different approach to her piece. Using copper, nickel and cement, she pulls a Yin and Yang symbol apart and forces it back together.
“The Tabletop Collection” is available in a limited edition of twenty-five. According to Stratton, Threewalls pays artists a commission for each edition. The artist determines how to spend it: deciding whether or not to place the entire commission into the work. In total, each artist makes twenty-five pieces—one piece for each set.
The CSA series not only provides exposure to emerging and mid-career artists. It is also an opportunity for collectors of all levels: including “established collectors who [will not] normally take a chance on emerging artists they are unfamiliar with, and new collectors on a small budget or small on space,” as Stratton puts it. (Amy Haddad)
