Office Hours for Artists + Arts Professionals is an opportunity for artists, arts administrators, and cultural producers to meet with Chicago-based curators, gallery directors, and executive directors.

One-on-one conversations last 30 minutes and provide a platform to discuss a range of issues of interest to arts professionals, including:
-Feedback on portfolios and project documentation
-Developing and implementing programmatic initiatives
-Preparing for exhibitions
-Pursuing professional opportunities
-And much more!

Office Hours Consultants: Lauren Pacheco, Roell Schmidt, Tricia Van Eck, Steven Wang, Angel Ysaguirre

Please note that space is very limited & advance registration is required. Office Hours appointments are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be able to indicate your reviewer preference following the registration process. Participants are asked to arrive 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment.
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OFFICE HOURS CONSULTANT BIOS

Lauren Pacheco is an arts and culture practitioner with 15 years of professional experience in arts administration, curation and project management. Her experience is grounded in social practice and public engagement. Lauren has become a resource to policymakers and has helped engage in the public dialogue about issues that impact artists and creative enterprises while working hard to bringing the arts to a broader audience and bridge cultural sector programming. Pacheco is co-founder of the Chicago Urban Art Society and the Chicago Lowrider Festival. In 2011, she developed and curated the award-winning public art initiative, Art in Public Places along the 16th street viaduct in Chicago’s Pilsen community. In September 2017, Lauren won a public art grant from the Knight Foundation and will transform outdoor vacant space in Gary, Indiana into a walkable art-park. She has received grant funding from the Knight Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Legacy Foundation, Chicago Community Trust and the National Association for Latinos Arts and Cultures. Lauren holds degrees from Northwestern University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and, the University of Illinois at Chicago. She currently lives in Gary, Indiana with her husband and their two pit-bulls.

Since 2009, Roell Schmidt has been the Director of Links Hall – Chicago’s experimental dance and performance incubator founded in 1978. With musician/presenter Mike Reed, she opened Constellation | Links Hall – a collaborative arts venue for dance, music and progressive performance in 2013. She is dedicated to fostering generosity, equitable partnerships, and artistic risk in the creation and public sharing of original live art. She is currently part of the Ragdale Curatorial Board and Navy Pier’s Program Committee. Prior to Links, she worked with Lookingglass Theatre Company, The Chicago Chamber Musicians, and as a freelance film/theater maker. She has served on the City of Chicago’s Cultural Advisory Council, the National Performance Network/Visual Artist Network’s U.S./Japan Connection Curatorial Team, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum board and consortium, and the Joseph Jefferson Awards Arts Technical team as well as on local, regional and national grant panels. She holds an MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tricia Van Eck is Artistic Director and Founder of 6108North, which challenges what art is, whom it’s for, and where and how it is created. 6018North creates unique experiences within intimate spaces. In the process, we empower artists to work together and with the public to nurture creativity, build community, and enhance Chicago’s quality of life. Named after its physical address in Edgewater, 6018North is also itinerant and presents shows around Chicago, nationally, and internationally — in France, Germany, and India — to connect Chicago artists with local and international audiences. 6018North was recently an Affiliate Partner of the Chicago Architecture Biennial and its large outdoor jungle-gym In Wood We Trust remains on view. In addition, throughout the summer 6018North hosts Living Architecture, a large-scale, multidisciplinary exhibition, with public programming of performances that showcase Chicago’s exceptional immigrant artists.

Steven Wang has over seven years of experience within the consumer packaged goods industry, helping Fortune 500 companies develop and grow their store brands. His experience spanned the realms of retail execution, new product development, market research and analytics, and category management for such retailers as Kroger, Office Depot, Safeway, and Kmart. His passion for opera—and the desire to find ways of getting younger generations involved in the artform—influenced him to pursue his MBA at the University of Cambridge in the UK, specializing in Culture and Arts Management. During his studies, Steven produced a modern interpretation of Dido and Aeneas, and worked as a budgeting consultant for the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. After his program, he assisted the Aldeburgh Music in Suffolk on multiple consulting projects, including a revamp of their marketing message to improve their recruitment strategies for the Aldeburgh World Orchestra.

Steven joined High Concept Labs as the organization’s first full-time executive director in 2015 and has helped triple the budget, grow the board of directors, expand staffing to include the organization’s first artistic director, and expand the organization’s reach on social media. Steven has also served as a panelist with the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Steven is a board member of the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) and a founding member of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) MakeWork Council. Steven also holds a B.S. in Marketing (Honors) and Economics from Arizona State University.

Angel Ysaguirre has been the Executive Director of Illinois Humanities since 2014. From 1999 to 2005, he was also the Director of Programs, creating programs and series that include The Odyssey Project, Einstein’s Revolutions, and Brown v Board 50 Years Later: Conversations on Race, Integration, and the Law. He was Deputy Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events from 2012 to 2014, where he managed the City’s public art program, creative industries offices, and arts programming. From 2005 to 2012, he was Director of Global Community Investing at The Boeing Company, overseeing the company’s grantmaking program in 60 offices throughout the globe. He began his career in Chicago as a program officer at the McCormick Foundation.
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LOCATION
Chicago Artists Coalition
217 N. Carpenter St.
Chicago, IL 60607

TUITION
$30 | General Public, CAC Artist Members, and BOLT/HATCH/LAUNCH and FIELD/WORK Residents

Official Website

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Tags: Angel Ysaguirre, Chicago, Chicago Artists' Coalition, Illinois, Lauren Pacheco, near west side, Office Hours for Artists + Arts Professionals, Roell Schmidt, Steven Wang, Tricia Van Eck