Around The Coyote Wrap-up

By Lauri Apple in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 21, 2009 9:00PM

This past weekend, Around the Coyote held its Fall Arts Festival in Wicker Park — and Eyewitness News Chicagoist was there to check out the visual arts offerings. (We missed out on the film, music, performance and new media portions, though — pressed for time.) The viz arts portion of the fest took up several spaces around WP — including a couple of vacant storefronts — and included works by more than 100 artists from all media. Some of our faves were the bright, pop-arty acrylic-and-resin pieces by Nikki Hollander; Crystal Neiweem's collage portraits made from ripped-up magazine pages; and Ross Martens' tiny little otherworlds.

In charge of this year's Curator's Choice Selections was Chicago-based independent curator, consultant, Art Institute instructor and Urban Gateways Educational Program Manager (whew!) Britton Bertran. "My 'Best in Show' pick was a huge struggle as there were four or five artists who I felt all deserved it," Bertran says. "Ultimately, the fabric work by Camille Canales really appealed to me and stood out from the rest." On November 21, ATC will host the opening for the Mary Beth Cregier Photography Juried Competition; details to come. As for Bertran, he'll be curating exhibitions at Oak Park's He Said, She Said and at the Loyola University Museum of Art over the next few months.

Michelle Obama, collage by Crystal Neiweem