It's a leap year and we're celebrating a leap in a new direction for 1100 Florence Gallery - Joanna Kramer Ceramics is setting up shop starting March 1st!
Come wish us all well, this Thursday, Feb. 29, 6-10pm, artist Dave Ford is hosting a painting exhibit pop up, which is the last night that 1100 Florence Gallery will be open as a gallery.
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My family purchased this former Polish meat shop in 2016, converting a commercial building to a live-work space. Dave, my husband, built three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, an art studio and art gallery in the storefront. I will never forget the look on our kid’s faces when we told them (then 6th, 9th grades) we’re moving into a former Polish Meat Shop with an art gallery in the front and we’re going to call it home.
I will also never forget listening to two dinkies on their way to Washington, peering in the window, scream yelling to each other; “This place is always so different!” “Yeah, it’s so weird!”
It was always so different at 1100 Florence Gallery and it was wonderful!
Our first exhibit, “Recollection” with Ben Blount, set the curatorial tone for the space; local, contemporary, emerging, underrepresented, important, timely, community driven, artist focused, reflective of the times.
We asked so much of ourselves as a family, to live inside of an art gallery with our front door opening onto the street, but we are better for it - more connected to neighbors, the community and blessed with an adaptive reuse experience that informs how we will use and share spaces.
We asked so much of the community; meet your neighbor, learn about their projects, buy what they make and gather in celebration, support. Thank you to all the artists who shared their work with us and to the community members who showed up and supported artists and makers!
And we used the gallery to host so many fundraisers for many great causes! Like when that AssHat what’s his name got elected, we hosted three Nasty Women Evanston fundraisers in support of Planned Parenthood! Remember the lines?
The gallery was also home base to Evanston Made, when me and Liz Cramer weren’t using our dining room tables or bedrooms. From group shows to professional development, we were able to share space with a fledgling arts org without a home. Yes, Evanston Made lives on and yes, a home is in our plans for the future. Stepping away from 1100 Florence Gallery gives me the time and energy to focus on making that happen.
Please be sure to tell your friends who don’t read that Joanna Kramer Ceramics will relocate to 1100 Florence Gallery starting March 1. She will run her studio, workshops, clay club, and retail, out of the space. She’s super friendly to humans and dogs and welcomes visitors! Yes, we’ll make sure she has sidewalk chalk!
This gallery space allowed me and my family to put down roots and connect to the community. Now it’s time to take all of the inspiration and excitement from all the exhibits and events, along with what artists and the community have shown they want, and expand from these beginnings. This space has given me the ability to dream bigger, so follow along for the next adventure; it will always be different and it will be wonderful.
AirBnB
Stay on the property, click here to rent a Tiny House in our backyard on AirBnB!
West Village in the News!
Read this two part series written by Gay Riseborough with the Evanston RoundTable about the artists who put Evanston's West Village on the map!
Part One: Birth of west Evanston’s arts district: From bricks and pipes to easels and prints. Click here to read.
Part Two: Evolution of west Evanston’s arts district: New artists take up the banner. Click here to read.