I ended up at the Blackstone Hotel to mainly get in out of the rain and enjoy the comfort of the lobby before I got on my train home. They have decorated the lobby with modern chic furnishings that contrast with the highly ornate Baroque architectural embellishments of the structure. A set of mercury glass vases were on the rustic-yet-retro coffee table and they had really cool, funky, jazzy music - it felt like a club. So that is where my trip took me.
It started out with a very special lunch meeting and my train got me there early enough that I stopped in the Chicago Cultural Center to see the new shows.
Project Onward is an art studio that supports artists with mental and developmental disabilities, and they were featuring the work of Sereno Wilson : All That Glitters. When I went in the studio space, they were advertising that several of the artists would do a $5 or $10 portrait, and it only took 10 minutes of your time. So I had enough time to have Reno do this portrait of me, and while he worked on glitterizing it, I went to my lunch meeting and brought my friend back to see the finished product.
Then she had one done by Fernando Ramirez, a pencil drawing.
It was a lovely day despite the cold, freezing rain. A lunch at Pastoral that made me feel like I was in Europe (and not just because of the tiny, cramped tables); delicious. A visit to the Prudential lobby to see the latest art exhibit there featuring paintings by Cleveland Dean, photographs by Susan Aurinko, and paintings by Matthew J. Schaefer.
I chatted with a Flossmoor friend on the train platform and on the ride home. She had given me a set of encyclopedia that I have used in my work, and was suggesting ways I can get books for my upcoming installation piece - I'm going to need a lot of books.
An art filled day.
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