Art has always been a big part of my life. I can thank my mom for this. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized this was a privilege and not everyone grows up in a house where art is celebrated. We frequented our local rec center’s Saturday ceramics class, and there was a good chance if you had dinner at our house, your salad bowl was made by my mom. There was nothing pretentious about making art in my house. It was here where I learned the joy of making for the sake of joy.
I went on to study design and learned a new kind of creativity– one that had more rules, judgment, structure. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but slowly forgot how to make art for art’s sake. I worked for 5 years in the corporate world as a designer, and further lost my connection with art. When the pandemic hit, I had an influx of time with myself. I chose to rediscover my muscle of creating without judgment, reconnecting with play, joy, and art for art’s sake. Art has brought me so much healing, community, and compassion. Ever since I’ve wanted to help so many more people tap into that.
I started Palmer Square Art Fair to give artists of all kinds an intimate, accessible playground to share their work with their neighborhood and learn from other artists. This community fueled me. I loved seeing artists grow and support each other on their journeys. I loved seeing the neighborhood show up for artists, and find their own joy from the fair. I wanted more. Outside of the fair, I hosted free art + zine swaps, I collaborated with The Queer Social Club to host Chicago’s first Queer Art Party. I started an online Discord community – Creative Block Club – where artists can support each other, ask for help, and share inspiration.
I’ve dreamt of having a physical space to celebrate all of this– a place to make art, share art, and invite others in to access joy, community, and healing from art. The dream has always seemed far fetched. It’s expensive, a lot of paperwork, etc. It’s not something I would want to do on my own. But it always itched at me, and I wasn’t alone in that.
Freelancing can be isolating. Luckily when I started my self employment journey, I joined a community of other artists and freelancers I admire. Every Wednesday I coworked (and still do) with Cheryl Hinman, ½ of Gingergold. We commiserated about projects, stress, burn out, and celebrated successes. We spoke often of opening a space together.
This May the perfect opportunity fell in my lap. I had my first ever solo show at a space owned by Color Club in Irving Park following a month long artist residency I did in Mexico. It was an amazing and rewarding endeavor. After the show, we noticed the space was for rent. Color Club was actively looking for the right tenant to activate the space with art and create community.
It was a daunting decision, but together with Gingergold – Cheryl & Sarah Hinman, we decided to give it a shot. This fall, we are opening Lot’sa– a community art space in Chicago, around the corner from Color Club.
At Lot’sa you can shop local art, join us for coworking + meetups, and attend art workshops. We couldn’t be more excited, and we’re also pretty nervous! We have a fundraiser live from now – our opening, and all the funds will help us with our costs we’ll incur in first year (setting up the business, legal, moving, physical space transformations, etc.) Anything helps, and the fundraiser is a perfect example of community coming together to build something everyone can benefit from.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating art at Lot’sa. We hope you’ll cowork with us and make a new friend. We hope you’ll attend an inspiring artist talk and walk away with a piece of art you’ll cherish forever. We hope you’ll attend a workshop and make your own art. We hope you’ll find joy, community, and inspiration here.