An Evening Of Fine Art And Fine Food: Chicago Artists Coalition's Starving Artist Benefit

By Carrie McGath in Arts & Entertainment on Jun 24, 2015 8:50PM

This Thursday, the Chicago Artists Coalition (CAC) will be holding their annual benefit, Starving Artist, and tickets are still available to support this crucial organization tirelessly serving artists in the city.

The winners of this year's Maker Grant—Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford and Samantha Hill—will be honored at the event that will include art installations, a raffle, an auction and hor d'oeuvres created by top culinary talents. Guests may bid at the venue on Thursday, but bidding on an array of great artwork is also going on now via Paddle 8 and includes work by last year's Maker Grant winner, John Preus. Raffle tickets can be purchased online now and winners will be announced at the event. Prizes include a Chef's Table dinner at Girl and the Goat, a weekend stay at Soho House and much more.

Since 2013, the Maker Grant is awarded to two artists who create artwork using sustainable materials and practices with either a $3000 or a $1000 grant to help those artists continue their practice and nourish their careers. Funded with proceeds from the Starving Artist event with a matching contribution from OtherPeoplesPixels (OPP), this event is an essential fundraiser to further serve the two exceptional artists who are awarded the grants each year.

Due to the popularity of the Starving Artist benefit over the years, CAC will host the event this year in the more spacious Venue One in the West Loop. Proceeds from this event where contemporary art melds with artful cuisine will help the 41-year-old organization continue their mission of assisting artists with educational resources, exhibitions and other services, including entrepreneurial guidance.

This event combines the fine art of the city's cuisine with groundbreaking visual art by several CAC artists through tablescape collaborations with participating chefs. Some of the chefs include Tony Quartaro of Formento's and Pat Sheerin of Trencherman with specialty coffee drinks and cocktails by Lavazza. DJ Swaguerrilla will be supplying the music for the evening and there will be performances by Power of Cheer and Erin Kilmurray/The Salts as well as video art by Lilli Carré, Theodore Darst, Kayla Anderson and Snow Yunxue Fu.

The Starving Artist benefit is an important one to artists in our city, but is also important to the city as a whole since CAC consistently puts on great programming, exhibitions and offers educational resources.

Tickets can be purchased online and at the event. This event will be held this Thursday, June 25, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Venue One (1034 W. Randolph St.)