The Chicago Arts Archive

                                            Sixty Inches From Center: The Chicago Arts Archive and Collective Project

Nicolette Caldwell, Tempestt Hazel, Andrew Roddewig

Sixty Inches From Center is an organization that has been functioning as an independent, collaborative project since its official launch in November 2010. The goal of this organization is to document and engage the visual arts in Chicago. There are two components to the organization: The Chicago Arts Archive and The Collective Project.

The Chicago Arts Archive is a way to document and engage the visual arts in Chicago. While using the Internet, technology and new media as our main tools, in addition to the documentation, we also focus on finding innovative ways to engage the Chicago community with the vanguard visual arts and collaborate with local artists, organizations and spaces in order to do so.

The types of documentation that we use include video, audio, photography, editorial essays and interviews. This media is cataloged and featured on The Chicago Arts Archive website. The material featured is used as an educational and promotional support tool for community engagement as well as to capture and contribute to the most innovative aspects of our city’s peripheral visual culture. 

We have partnered up with other organizations and establishments in a variety of ways in order to build bridges within our writing community, help promote one another to new audiences across the board and give more exposure to the art that keeps our Chicago experience compelling.

The Collective Project is an ongoing progression of projects through partnerships and collaborations with other organizations in Chicago. The aim of these projects is to focus on creating new ways to engage the community with the visual arts. With these endeavors, The Collective Project functions as an essential portal to the contemporary art periphery in Chicago. The Collective Project website will launch in early spring of 2012.

The inaugural Collective Project came about after establishing a long-term partnership with WBEZ radio. This partnership manifested as a bi-annual event called What Is Your Art?. This event is a free public event that highlights the many art centers that stretch across the City of Chicago.

Our Motive
As art historians we have seen first-hand how documentation (or lack thereof) has shaped history. It is very important for us that we allow young art historians and arts enthusiasts to add to the Chicago histories. Larger institutions are shaping these histories with the voices of the emerging artists, curators, activists, and cultural shapers that are creating a dynamic story of Chicago art. What they are not doing is shaping these histories at ground level. 

Our Name
The name stems from two things. It is a curatorial standard for hanging artwork and it was the name of the 2010 exhibition at Columbia College Chicago highlighting contemporary street art in Chicago, curated by Nicolette Michele Caldwell and Casey Champion. We decided to use the name for our organization because it seemed appropriate when thinking of the work we choose to cover – art, practices and people creating work outside of the central institutions in Chicago.

http://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/

EVENTS:

"It's Our Birthday" - Sixty Inches From Center is one year old!

We have one wish for our birthday and that is for the continued support from our audience. To help Sixty Inches From Center achieve a 2012 milestone into a second year of operation we are asking you to donate to our Paypal account.

What’s Your Art? Celebrating the Art Centers of Chicago

Saturday, December 3 2011 @ 12:00pm - 5:00pm   - FREE!
Chicago Cultural Center - 78 E Washington St
Presenter: Chicago Public Media - WBEZ 91.5FM
WBEZ Event Page: http://www.wbez.org/event/2011-12-03/whats-your-art
What’s Your Art Website: http://www.whatsyourart.org/