where is chicago's biggest artist nighborhood? (neighborhood, schools, live)

[chitown202020]

i am an artist i live in edgewater i never knew bridgeport was an artist nieghborhood . I am kind of a loner but thinking about getting some artist friends and showing my work.

[Master Jay]

chitown202020, get out there and show your stuff!

Go check out Halsted in Pilsen, and head south to Bridgeport.

Have business cards made (I'm old school and I certainly have them for my Tae Kwon Do business), possibly, and leave them with people at some of the art stores.

And then you can go get that drink outside on a patio somewhere

Best of everything to you, friend.

[chitown202020]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

chitown202020, get out there and show your stuff!

Go check out Halsted in Pilsen, and head south to Bridgeport.

Have business cards made (I'm old school and I certainly have them for my Tae Kwon Do business), possibly, and leave them with people at some of the art stores.

And then you can go get that drink outside on a patio somewhere

Best of everything to you, friend.

thank you for advice!

[Master Jay]

chitown202020, you're welcome. Go get that drink at a table, even if by yourself. Enjoy life. The world is yours!!

[Dorian22]

The Arts District is certainly Pilsen around Halsted and you also have to go into the side streets as there's a lot of art. Second Fridays has been one of the coolest parts of this neighborhood. I hope Gentrification doesn't take effect in Pilsen as it is one of the few quaint and cultural neighborhoods left in the city with a proper identity that extends towards Little Village and beyond blending in their Mexican heritage, remembering the neighborhoods eastern european roots, blending in with Chicano culture (very different from Mexican cultures), and of course today's Americana culture. I applaud the alderman for resisting Gentrification and if you want some bland neighborhood with a Starbucks and gender neutral dairy-free ice cream, there are many boring neighborhoods to choose from!

Bridgeport is another big artist neighborhood near Pilsen, a community that keeps growing but displacing the Irish-American and other working class families while Chinatown grows from the north.

Logan Square has some remnants like it's been mentioned and still many art events. But many are moving further west as the "Young Professionals" are moving in to feel edgy, like the younger Xennials did in Wicker Park and turned it into a joke.

East Garfield Park sounds awesome, never been. But even some parts in the southside are starting to grow in the arts such as the container city initiative which I've seen all over the world like London, Lisbon, Puebla, Paris...

Just glad that art is not dead in the city.

[ChicagoMeO]

Next time the city has an art fair, go to that and maybe network with the people there.

[TBideon]

Originally Posted by Dorian22

The Arts District is certainly Pilsen around Halsted and you also have to go into the side streets as there's a lot of art. Second Fridays has been one of the coolest parts of this neighborhood. I hope Gentrification doesn't take effect in Pilsen as it is one of the few quaint and cultural neighborhoods left in the city with a proper identity that extends towards Little Village and beyond blending in their Mexican heritage, remembering the neighborhoods eastern european roots, blending in with Chicano culture (very different from Mexican cultures), and of course today's Americana culture. I applaud the alderman for resisting Gentrification and if you want some bland neighborhood with a Starbucks and gender neutral dairy-free ice cream, there are many boring neighborhoods to choose from!

Bridgeport is another big artist neighborhood near Pilsen, a community that keeps growing but displacing the Irish-American and other working class families while Chinatown grows from the north.

Logan Square has some remnants like it's been mentioned and still many art events. But many are moving further west as the "Young Professionals" are moving in to feel edgy, like the younger Xennials did in Wicker Park and turned it into a joke.

East Garfield Park sounds awesome, never been. But even some parts in the southside are starting to grow in the arts such as the container city initiative which I've seen all over the world like London, Lisbon, Puebla, Paris...

Just glad that art is not dead in the city.

I don't know if you've been around Pilsen in a while, but there were a shocking number of closed galleries on Halsted last winter well before Covid. It was definitely going through a rough patch before the city shut down in March. As for the the alderman resisting gentrification i.e. keeping 18th/Peoria a bombed out lot, let's just say you and I have different perspectives.

Bridgeport Arts Center and Zhou are still going strong (Covid shutdown notwithstanding). Looking forward to Third Fridays again.

East Garfield Park has some gay yuppy types around California, but that area is still in pretty bad shape. I do recall seeing an art gallery on Kedzie a bit south of Chicago.

Wicker still has the Flat Iron building (first fridays) and a few art galleries scattered throughout Milwaukee and North.

Logan Square's art scene is a bit spread out, mostly on West Fullerton.

West Town (or whatever the area is) has a growing arts scene, in particular around 1700s West Chicago Ave.

[Master Jay]

Good morning, 7 years ago, or so, I don't think I would have believed there's be serious talk of East Garfield Park neighborhood turning for the good, even if little by little.

Then again, maybe 7 years ago or so, Ashland Avenue (in some northside areas) was about as far west as I would recommend friends of mine to bike ride with little concern of safety. But gradually I would ride my bike westward to Damen Avenue (in those same northside areas) and it seems fine.

So I am very glad to see this happening. If you look at the history of East Garfield Park, it seemed like it was predominately Jewish as well as very safe until the early 1960s. And it may not return to being predominately Jewish, but as long as it becomes safer, THAT is all that matters to me!

The real question: Will the other safe areas of Chicago STAY safe???

[Dorian22]

Well we can thank Podmajersky and his greedy ways for destroying East Pilsen. He brought in artists from outside of Pilsen and now he's kicking them out, so I'm not surprised. BUt there are still many independent art studios in the area that will keep going forward. As to the empty lot....they should turn it into a park or something that benefits the local community instead. Keep the Starbucks and Matcha Bars out or Pilsen will turn into another generic Wicker Park and we have enough of those already! So again, I applaud the alderman for keeping that crap out of Pilsen.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Good morning, 7 years ago, or so, I don't think I would have believed there's be serious talk of East Garfield Park neighborhood turning for the good, even if little by little.

Then again, maybe 7 years ago or so, Ashland Avenue (in some northside areas) was about as far west as I would recommend friends of mine to bike ride with little concern of safety. But gradually I would ride my bike westward to Damen Avenue (in those same northside areas) and it seems fine.

So I am very glad to see this happening. If you look at the history of East Garfield Park, it seemed like it was predominately Jewish as well as very safe until the early 1960s. And it may not return to being predominately Jewish, but as long as it becomes safer, THAT is all that matters to me!

The real question: Will the other safe areas of Chicago STAY safe???

I'd put my wonderment over EGP's glorious transformation on hold there Master Jay. EGP was over 91% African-American as of 2015, per census data. I do know that young investors have been eagerly buying over there since then and properties are surprisingly expensive now. So I'm not sure if there is now more diversity or if these purchases are being made by speculators waiting for it to "pop" (i.e. gentrify and push the poor people out so they can make a lot of money).

Or maybe they're planning on eliminating decades of systemic oppression and disinvestment. Who knows. I do know that the community area still suffers from a frightful level of violence. There have been 29 homicides and 111 shootings in Garfield Park in 2020. Bleep, between midnight and 5 a.m. this past Monday morning, there were 7 shootings and 2 homicides in Garfield Park! I'll forgive you if you missed them because they weren't reported on by the media and there are no protests planned over them to my knowledge. But here they are in case anyone might be interested...

https://heyjackass.com/