Chicago Exhibition Weekend (CXW) came into being last year because Abby Pucker was tired of hearing people saying they didn’t know what was going on in the Windy City, how to find interesting events or that they felt intimidated by the art world.
“I was like, ‘Screw this. This is so annoying. There’s so much going on. You’re just not taking the step to actually go find it,’” Pucker, the founder and CEO of the cultural and civic consultancy firm Gertie, told ARTnews. “I realized that people just need a lot of hand-holding.”
For its second edition, CXW has grown to a four-day event aimed at drawing local attention to the city’s galleries, museums, and creatives spaces; provide an additional reason for collectors and arts professionals to visit outside of the annual art fair Expo Chicago in April; as well as help expand the scope of who has access to art and who feels included.
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CXW’s packed schedule of events in early October included gallery tours, artist talks, cocktail parties, studio visits, curated walks, an art bazaar, a 300-seat kick-off dinner, and even a tennis mixer.
Abby Pucker (fourth from left) during desserts at the studio of artist Yvette Mayorga during Chicago Exhibition Weekend. Photo by Kyle Flubacker, Courtesy of Gertie
“It gives galleries, institutions, curators, collectors, gallerists, an opportunity to put something out into the world that they wanted to do, knowing that there’s an actual audience for it and that there’s a constellation of programming and events around it,” Pucker told ARTnews.
“It’s really about creating a moment for Chicago, to celebrate Chicago and bring new collectors into the experience,” Expo Chicago president and director Tony Karman told ARTnews. “It’s not reliant on hundreds and thousands of out-of-towners coming to Chicago for its success.”
Even Rhona Hoffman, the longtime 90-year-old gallerist who recently announced that she was closing her space, discovered something new from this year’s event. “There are more galleries that I’ve never even heard of on the list,” Hoffman told ARTnews during a cocktail reception at Gray Chicago. “So [Pucker]’s really mixed it up and connected between old and new and different neighborhoods.”
A collaborative prescendent
While Monique Meloche Gallery founded Gallery Weekend Chicago in 2011, modeled after Gallery Weekend Berlin, CXW is produced by Gertie in collaboration with Expo Chicago. Discussions between Karman and Pucker began after the art fair moved from September 2020 to April 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gertie views itself as a neutral, organizing party that avoids prioritizing one space over another and allows galleries like Mariane Ibrahim, DOCUMENT and Monique Meloche to focus on their businesses during CXW. “And also acknowledging that we need to raise money to do this organizing from outside of the gallery ecosystem or the arts ecosystem,” Pucker said, pointing to brand-sponsored events being much more common in New York or Los Angeles.
It’s worth mentioning that Pucker has drawn attention locally for being the daughter of billionaire film producer Jean (Gigi) Pritzker and Michael Pucker (as well as cousin of billionaire Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker). While it would be easy to dismiss the 32-year-old, Pucker makes it clear she’s willing to do the work of producing CXW on a “shoestring budget” because she’s invested in helping change Chicago’s reputation in the art industry as well as increasing its accessibility to more new, young, and early collectors.
“We also think about bringing people that are not existing art people into the fold, which galleries or art folks don’t generally think about,” Pucker said. “It’s not just art-centric or playing to an existing audience that already understands this. It’s actually reaching out to adjacent audiences.”
Building community beyond the weekend
At several CXW events, Pucker promoted and explained Early Work, Gertie’s paid membership program ($50 to $70 a month) aimed at growing the art collecting community in Chicago. In addition to a newsletter with information on art events, Early Work’s member perks include access to exclusive works from emerging artists, early access to works from partner galleries, as well as early access to tickets for select events organized by Gertie and its partners.
Chanelle Lacy, Gertie’s Director of Art Initiatives, designed Early Work’s programming based on prior experience working at the gallery Kavi Gupta. Lacy could plan interesting programs and give tours of the Kavi Gupta’s collection, but didn’t have time to also find and engage with new collectors. “There isn’t really a way to tap into what is happening, where you should go, what is relevant, how to wayfind,” Lacy told ARTnews. “I’m trying to shape Early Work in a way that serves the needs that I know exist.”
A private dinner inside the studio of artist African American-Thai Armani Howard during CXW. Photos by Kyle Flubacker, Courtesy of Gertie
Pucker and Lacy described the demographics of people in Early Work’s membership as new collectors who can spend $5,000 a year on art—people in industries and career trajectories with a lot of future growth and spending potential. “In 2034 they’re probably going to have closer to $100,000 to spend on something, just in terms of disposable income,” Pucker said. “We want to make sure that in 10 years what they want to spend their money on is art.
“We’re excited to demystify it [for members] and bring you all really into the crucible of where the creativity happens,” Lacy said in her Early Work pitch before a private dinner inside the studio of African American-Thai contemporary artist Armani Howard.
“From people who are established collectors to people who are more emerging, we’re trying to build relationships between the whole spectrum of people who make art happen and make art possible,” Pucker added.
Lacy’s six years at Kavi Gupta, including as a director, also helped her understand what types of promotion, programming, advertising, and logistics assistance would be the most helpful for galleries to benefit from their participation in CXW, such as the extra staff and transportation needed for extended opening hours.
Chanelle Lacy (left) and Abby Pucker at a Early Work x Independent Curators International cocktail party at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery during Chicago Exhibition Week. Photo by Kyle Flubacker, Courtesy of Gertie
A noticeable shift already
Multiple galleries told ARTnews that CXW’s second iteration clearly increased foot traffic and inquiries from art collectors. It didn’t hurt the weather was perfect throughout the entire weekend, allowing for locals to easily walk around West Town to galleries like Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Andrew Rafacz Gallery, which recently reopened after a pickup truck crashed into its facade last September.
“Last year we had just over 600 people visit the galleries Saturday at the 2nd floor of 1709 [W Chicago Avenue] and this year was just over 800,” DOCUMENT gallery owner Aron Gent told ARTnews.
“We had 40 people here for a walk-through at six o’clock in the evening,” Corbett vs Dempsey co-owner John Corbett told ARTnews. “Today’s been an absolute madhouse.”
“We spoke to five collectors this morning,” Patron Gallery co-owners Julia Fischbach and Emanuel Aguilar told ARTnews on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Several people toasting at the CXW Kickoff Dinner at UMMO. Photo by Matt Reeves, Courtesy of Gertie
In between all the planning and events, Lacy and Pucker keep brainstorming about how to make the art world more approachable, broaden the idea of what it means to be an art collector, and measure their impact.
“What we’re trying to do is be proactive about solving an issue that exists here, but also exists in other places, so that we can build a more financially sustainable arts ecosystem, not one that just relies on, you know, 30 to 50 mega-collectors that sort of keep the art world, and the art market turning,” Pucker told ARTnews. “It can’t be that the first thing that you transact on has to be, like, $5,000 for you to be in the club. There’s got to be something lower.”
Pucker also views CXW and Early Work as helping increase the success and sustainability of the city’s art economy. “What we’re trying to do is create the conditions in Chicago for collectors, institutions, galleries, artists, for the whole ecosystem to really be able to exist in conversation with New York and LA, but also separately from that because we don’t necessarily want to be tied to and live or die by market conditions that are created in other places that don’t necessarily apply here.”
While helping grow the local collector base and a steady increase in its membership are important signs of success, Lacy said another indicator of Early Work’s impact would be several successful relationships between members. “I’d like two or three weddings,” Lacy said with a smile.
Update: October 25, 2024: Tony Karman is the director of EXPO Chicago, not Tony Lama. ARTnews regrets the error.