The Big Empty Tent
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Tullman says he met with Blackman Saturday and agreed to loan him the money, but was later told Blackman’s calls to the union and contractors hadn’t been returned. (A union spokesman says representatives met with Blackman Saturday night and “he didn’t want to come to an agreement.”) “By Monday it was pretty clear time had run out,” Tullman says. “He wasn’t going to be able to get it done.”
By Monday, however, DMG was considering stepping up if Blackman, along with his contracts and liabilities, was out of the picture. DMG didn’t want to take over, Carr says, “but if Tom canceled his show, we would try to put something up at Navy Pier for the dealers that would be left stranded.” Tullman says Blackman stalled at this point, and later on Monday DMG concluded there wasn’t enough time–even if they delayed the show’s opening by a day–to move it to the Pier. Monday evening DMG issued a statement that they’d determined not to become involved in any capacity.
Pritzker Park was the buzz at a party for artists thrown by the Chicago Art Project (formerly the Chicago Art Foundation) earlier this month. Executive director Paul Klein said the little park is the favorite among a half-dozen South Loop sites for CAP’s newest potential incarnation: a “long-term temporary” museum for Chicago art, made up of a dozen or more 8-by-40-foot shipping containers. One of the containers is envisioned as a mobile unit that would debut at Daley Plaza and then be dispatched to the neighborhoods, where it would function as a learning center staffed by volunteer artists with teaching certificates. Board president Heiji Choy Black said the group aims to raise $2 million over the next three years and needs $300,000 to deliver the container museum. CAP is showing 40 local artists at Nova.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Robert Drea.
