Art Chicago, the city's largest annual contemporary and modern art fair, returned to the Merchandise Mart on Friday, kicking off a four-day run of exhibitions, speaking programs, and parties. Local fashion publication Factio magazine produced the fair's official opening-night after-party. Dubbed "Art Rocks," the event drew roughly 300 guests to the nightclub Lumen—a venue that planners settled on a mere two weeks before the event.
"We were initially going to do a much larger event at a raw space," said Melissa Maynard, Factio's editor in chief. "We had a great venue in line, the Stan Mansion in Logan Square," but then "a few problems presented themselves."
Topping the list of issues: the changing nature of this year's sponsorship. "Last year, it was really easy to pull on sponsors that wanted booths or other unique ways to present their brand," said Maynard. "For example, [luxury condo building] the Peshtigo set up stations where guests could view a short film" of their property. But this year, sponsors such as the Illinois Institute of Art and Islands of the World Fashion Week were more interested in simply showcasing their logos than creating roomy, interactive displays; liquor sponsor Corzo tequila "just needed a branded bar," Maynard said.
When they realized that they'd need room to accommodate logos instead of booths, it became apparent to Maynard and Factio publisher Henrique Kerch that a raw mansion was an impractical venue choice. So with Art Chicago only two weeks away, Kerch and Maynard canceled their reservation at the Stan Mansion (because the venue was prepared to donate space for the evening, there were no contractual issues to sort through) and set their sights on finding a lounge.
Choosing to host the event at Lumen "took the hassle out of decorating a raw space, hiring a catering company, arranging for a liquor license, insurance, security, tables, and all the other things" that come with bringing a large event to a raw space, Maynard said. Additionally, Lumen offers proximity to the Merchandise Mart and an arty undercurrent: one of the venue's owners belongs to art collective group M5, and "the space is completely set up to showcase digital art, so there was no need to bring in projectors," said Maynard.
Though the last-minute change of venues lead to some minor complications—some of the digital artists who had planned to showcase their work at the event, for example, had to back out when they learned that they'd need to work with less space—"everything went rather smoothly," Maynard said. "Sometimes, as a planner, you need to do what is right for your company and clients." And in these times, "simplifying is something we are learning to go with."
