THE VISUALIST

Chicago’s real time archive for current and past events

ART EVENT LISTINGS

The Visualist provides a non-curated  calendar of current visual events in the Chicago area. This service is ad-free, communal, egalitarian, and publicly available. Our list contains programming that is open to the public, helping viewers find events that would otherwise be available only to those in the know. The Visualist doesn’t run on its own, it requires constant research and Chicago’s art community to maintain the comprehensive calendar that we share. By using our online form anyone can add to the weekly calendar and archive. We manually review submissions for spam, typos, and clarity before posting them publicly.

ART EVENT ARCHIVE

The Visualist is also a growing archive of Chicago’s visual art history. Chicago and its suburbs have a deep cultural past, and many of its exhibitions and public art events are at risk being lost. Through our archive we are preserving our shared history of not only well-publicized events that took place in well established spaces, but also apartment galleries, basement performances, mobile projects, happenings, or any kind of visual art event you can think of. It is this type of work, with its ephemeral nature that is so important and in danger of being lost to time if we do not preserve it. The Visualist records events through 2015 with a reasonable sense of fidelity. Additional entries back through 1949. Help us add to this archive by submitting past events using our online form. We manually review each submission before posting it publicly.

WHY DO WE NEED THE VISUALIST TODAY?

Our visual culture asserts our shared identity as Chicagoans, connecting us through our heritage while helping us imagine a future. Seeing our collections of events creates a picture of our history that is more than the sum of its parts.  It is through this lens that The Visualist works to provide access to Chicago’s visual arts events. We promote cultural encounters that are not prescribed by algorithms or dictated by corporate interest. We value shared experiences over content sharing. We value preserving our collective work as it is happening.

WHO IS BEHIND THE VISUALIST?

The story of the Visualist begins with newspapers and websites like The Chicago Reader, The Chicago Defender, and Spaces.org whose attention to events and their listing helped encourage our comprehensive view of Chicago and all of its communities. On The Make, developed by Karly Wildenhaus whose project is situated in the bones of The Visualist itself. Finally, Jenny Kendler, Chad Kouri, and Steve Ruiz who built The Visualist before offering it to its current stewards, Meg and Michael at culture/MATH.

The Visualist is managed by culture/MATH, a 501c3 non-profit that’s run by fun-loving volunteers with far too many hats. Every event submission helps to keep the Visualist running. If you have any questions or suggestions, please let us know at: Visualistchicago@gmail.com