In 2011 I wrote, “before there was ArtPrize, SiTE:LAB, ArtPeers, ActiveSite, (the) Avenue for the Arts and a host of other art-themed events held in raw spaces or places of business, there was the Free Radical Gallery (FRG) event.”
FRG began as the brainchild of East Hills neighborhood resident Mark Rumsey and sought to bring attention to the empty store fronts of Wealthy Street neighborhoods by asking landlords to open their walls and storefront windows to artists who would inhabit the space for a one-night-only art show.
In those days securing space was not a problem, but as Dwelling Place’s Jenn Schaub knows all too well now, when seeking an empty store front on Division Avenue, the site for this new and annual rebirth of FRG (as well as the popular Avenue for the Arts), finding a grouping of properties vacant and within walking distance of each other is proving more and more difficult these days. (Good problems to have.)
As a part of the healthy rebirth of this event, FRG places a heavy emphasis on the group dynamic, asking people to meet in advance each week at Pub43 as they discuss the various organizational aspects of a festival that is purposefully open in the planning process. That is the radical portion for sure, compared to the way other events are often structured.
It is by intentionally freeing up their curators to produce each event under a lose criteria that organizers have made this (and their spring event of Art. Downtown.) one of the most wonderful art events in the city for those who know art.
Events this year will range from the highbrow -- like many of the spaces devoted to higher education, from Calvin College to UICA to WMCAT, who will host an exhibition of their instructors’ work -- to the more economically accessible and highly collectable Starter Art exhibition curated by Miranda Sharp at Rapid Growth Media’s managing photographer Adam Bird’s 62 South Division Ave space.
All told you can expect to be able to sample 23 venues, which will feature a total of 215 brand new works by a variety of artists. FRG is produced on such a shoestring budget that it really needs to be bumped up given the importance of this event to our region. With an approximate budget under $2,000 (and not including the value of the volunteer's time) to make this event possible each year, this needs to change.
As part of the new rebirth of FRG, people who want to know more about the art and the event are invited to return next week on November 8 and hear from the organizers, who will showcase the highlights of the exhibition in a multi-media presentation being hosted at UICA. If there was ever a time for a critic from the outside art world – say, like Art Fag City, Hyperallergic or Jerry Saltz -- to arrive to critique the very-much-alive art scene of our region, this would be the time. I'm guessing that with a budget of two grand, we can expect nothing but silence unless an airfare materializes and a gift basket of money mysteriously arrives on their desk.
Critics or no critics, support local artists. It is that simple. See you on the Avenue Friday night.
Admission: Free
More Info