Artist Mara Baker’s Chameleon Blind Window Project connects vacant storefronts with the streetscape outside. By filling the empty windows with the colors and patterns of the city, Baker integrates the empty space back into public life. Her installation in the Chicago Market space is a collaboration between Chicago Market and Business Partners, The Chamber for Uptown, supported by a Public Art Grant. The installation is on display in the windows of the Chicago Market building and will be lit up each evening. Stop by our storefront in the Gerber Building at the Wilson CTA station to see it!

Attend: Chameleon Blind: Uptown Public Art Opening

Join us and artist Mara Baker for the opening of her art exhibit in our space!

Mara Baker is pleased to present a new public art installation titled Chameleon Blind — Uptown. Located in Chicago Market's historic Gerber Building, adjacent to the Wilson Red Line station, the work is housed in 16 windows and is designed to be viewed from the street. This is Baker’s largest work to date, and is generously hosted by Chicago Market and funded by Uptown United.

5:30 pm: Artist Talk
6:30 pm: Walking tour of Clifton Avenue Street Art Gallery

Hot cider courtesy of Chicago Market business Owner, Earth First Farms and bites from Owner Kā’lish and Sam & Gertie's. 

Chameleon Blind is an ongoing series combining wood, metal, light, and fiber processes to create multi-dimensional “light paintings”. Designed to be visible 24 hours a day the installations light up each night at dusk allowing commuters and pedestrians an opportunity to experience the work as it transforms from day and night. The project collaborates with Chambers of Commerce, local governments, and property owners across the city to site the work in underused and temporarily vacant window spaces.

The overarching goal of the project is to create new opportunities for the community to engage and access contemporary art outside of traditional gallery settings, while fostering connections to support and promote local businesses. In 2020, Baker will install Chameleon Blind in neighborhoods across Chicago including West Town, Six Corners, Humboldt Park, and more.

Mara Baker is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and educator. Combining traditional fiber processes, animation, light and video, Baker’s work draws inspiration from the phenomena of optical illusion and the changing of our eyes perception of light, color and space. Baker received an MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally including Chicago, New York, Santa Fe, Minneapolis, Budapest and Toronto. Baker is Associate Professor of Fine Art at the College of Dupage, a nationally recognized community college serving the greater Chicago area.

For more information, please visit www.marabaker.com. Read our interview with Mara here.

Free parking in our lot, behind the store. Enter at the far north end of the building along Broadway.

A. Jordan Rothschild is a residential real estate broker with @properties. His real estate business, Bike Home Chicago, recently became Chicago Market Business Owner #1803. Jordan gives clients the option to tour homes by bicycle or car. He understands the demand in the community for a store like Chicago Market and is excited to see the space come to life. 

An important part of our Annual Meeting of Owners every year is the chance for Owners to ask questions of the Board. We captured this year's questions and the answers from the Board here:

All the candidates for the Board of Directors were asked a series of questions to help the Owners of Chicago Market make an informed decision. Here are their responses:

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