Local residents, businesses are encouraged to meet award-winning artists to provide feedback on original artwork that will be created for Blue Line stations
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will host a community meeting on Monday, June 12, to allow local residents and businesses owners an opportunity to meet Dan Devening (Chicago, IL) and Francesco Simeti (Brooklyn, NY), the award-winning artists hired to create new, one of a kind artwork for the Irving Park and Addison Blue Line stations, respectively, as part of the historic Your New Blue project.
In December 2016, the Chicago Transit Board awarded contracts to the two artists as part of CTA’s ongoing commitment to expand artwork at CTA rail stations within the City of Chicago and other key transit locations. These artists’ work at the Irving Park and Addison stations will enhance the travel experience for commuters while further adding to the character and vibrancy of the surrounding community.
Local residents are encouraged to attend the meeting, which is intended to engage and promote dialogue between the artists and residents about the surrounding community:
Monday, June 12
6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Independence Park Field House
3945 N. Springfield Ave., Chicago, IL 60618
*Facility is accessible to people with disabilities.
The artists will use input from the community to guide the development of proposed artwork designs, , which will be unveiled at a future date.
CTA issued a Call for Artists in 2016 seeking local, national and international artists to submit their qualifications and portfolios for consideration. Chosen from a competitive field, Devening and Simeti were selected by an evaluation committee based on their artistic merit, qualifications, professional recognition and their written statements of interest.
Under the leadership of Mayor Emanuel, CTA’s collection of public art has nearly doubled since 2011 to more than 60 works of art across all eight rail lines. It includes mosaics, art glass and sculptures created by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists, many of whom are local. Over the next few years, CTA’s public art collection will further expand to include nearly a dozen new works of art.
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About Artist Dan Devening (Irving Park Blue Line)
http://dandevening.com/
Dan Devening is an artist, curator and educator living in Chicago. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Since the mid 1980s, his paintings and works on paper have been featured nationally and internationally. Devening is also the Director of devening projects + editions, a gallery project in East Garfield Park featuring exhibitions and site-specific installations by emerging and established international artists.
Francesco Simeti (Addison Blue Line)
http://www.francescosimeti.com/
Born in Palermo, Italy, Francesco Simeti graduated in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Among the most internationally acclaimed Italian artists, Simeti is currently engaged in a number of public art projects in the United States, including the MTA Bensonhurst Gardens transit station in Brooklyn, NY the Multnomah County Health Department Headquarters in Portland, Oregon, and has made site-specific installations in various museum spaces, including MARCO of Rome, the RISD Museum, Providence, Art & Idea Gallery in Mexico City and Columbia University in New York.
