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CHICAGO ART FOUNDATION

BUSINESS PLAN
February 2006

Mission Statement

The mission of the Chicago Art Foundation (CAF) is to examine, chronicle, collect, exhibit, and advance the art and culture of Chicago and its region. CAF is dedicated to working with artists and the public to showcase the history, legacy and continuing accomplishments in the visual arts here. Our programming supports artists of every generation and recognizes the strength created by the diversity of our community. We enable scholarly and artistic pursuits through a wide range of activities that concentrate on art made in Chicago and provide unique opportunities to broaden and deepen our creative community are the home for Chicago’s visual art, with attention to music, theater, literature, poetry and other forms of artistic expression.

The Chicago Art Foundation educates the public on many levels. We will make art accessible to children and adults without any art background or awareness.  Through a conscientious program of presenting information democratically, with appropriate and competent wall labels, and with docents available at all times, we will demystify art and make art-viewing interesting and enjoyable to the art-educated and lay-public alike.  

Unlike any other local institution, we will host an active and critical dialogue about the culture in Chicago that includes artistic, social, political, and economic histories and interpretation. As a collegial partner with other art institutions in our community, CAF will educate about the past and present and participate in creating the future.  We will reach out beyond Chicago through printed and electronic media to promote our activities and extend the history and influence of Chicago’s art to the rest of the world. 

What Sets Us Apart

The Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art are central to the visual life of our community. It is fair to note that those two institutions do not have as their primary or even secondary focus the display or examination of Chicago art. Unlike those institutions, whose role is to bring the art of the world to Chicago, the Chicago Art Foundation sets its focus on the glories of our own backyard.  Through exhibitions, publications, symposia, mentorship, and more, we will spread that history locally and to a national audience. 

Exporting exhibitions and publications to other cities is a crucial element in familiarizing the rest of the nation with the history of Chicago art. The time has come to acknowledge and celebrate that Chicago’s triumphs in the visual arts should take their place alongside the more fully recognized accomplishments in architecture, literature, music, and theater. CAF is determined to further that agenda, and to work to increase the civic pride that cherishes the richness of the history of art here.

The Need for the CAF: Preserving and Promoting Chicago’s Art and Culture

CAF will use art as a tool to generate civic pride, and to explore how we as a city got to where we are. Paintings and sculpture have documented Chicago’s history, and presentation of that work enlightens and reveals those stories. CAF will develop an active and critical dialogue about culture in Chicago that examines art history in relation to the social, political, and economic climates. It will present the story of notable artistic events that helped shape the arts in Chicago such as: The School of the Art Institute’s historical and early acceptance of women and minorities, Harry Callahan’s introduction of photography to Chicago, the architecture of the 1934 World’s Fair, the Columbian Exposition, the rise of jazz, the roots of blues, and the explosion of architecture that brought into being some of the world’s finest buildings and most influential architects.

 From an international perspective, Chicago is viewed as one of the premiere U.S. cities for theater, dance, music and opera. The Chicago Symphony is second to none. Our architectural legacy is recognized for some of the most important innovations of the 20th century. Yet our visual arts history has not yet seen shared in the same acknowledgment though its artists have gained immeasurable recognition. CAF believes that Chicago’s artistic legacy has been widely dispersed throughout its history due in part to the lack of a focused effort to collect, promote and display the great works of art produced here. Chicago’s artistic legacy is at the heart of the mission of the CAF; our intention is to create an institution that brings together the art history of this city and create an ongoing collecting museum that supports the art of Chicago. 

Goals

  • Establish a permanent museum in a publicly accessible location
  • Educate about the past and present and participate in creating the future for the art and artists of Chicago
  • Acquire and display exemplary art from Chicago’s history and present
  • Produce exhibits, lectures and printed material
  • Make the museum available through electronic media
  • Create a self sufficient and viable business to accomplish these goals
     
    • Objective of Business Plan

      • Planning. The purpose of this plan is to establish CAF’s investment priorities in time and money and to set forth a blueprint for both management and investors.

      • Goal Setting. To provide the CAF and its investors with a set of goals and objectives against which success can be better measured.
         
    • Operations

      • One goal of the CAF is to be a multifunctional facility that can address the cultural needs of both the City’s residents (and hopefully beyond) and its artists. To that end, its facilities will offer a variety of services, some of which are listed below.

          1. Exhibitions

        • The CAF endeavors to create a variety of programming that shines a spotlight on the full spectrum of Chicago artistry –the known, the unknown, the traditional and the cutting edge.
           
      •   2.   Outreach and Education

        • Because of our Chicago focus, CAF outreach efforts will extend to local neighborhoods and ethnic communities, neighborhood cultural institutions, the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District. We build relationships and partnerships with communities and institutions to enhance the overall understanding of Chicago’s unique cultural vitality, and create a sound museum institution with strong civic ties to its community. We will offer educational programs and workshops that provide children as young as four years access to the visual arts through hands-on classroom work at the facility, lecture series and direct contact with professional artists. We have begun laying the groundwork for these relationships by meeting with key individuals in the aforementioned institutions and organizations, and all of these efforts will begin shortly after the museum opens in Fall 2006.
           
      • 3.   Career Building and Mentoring
         
        • One of the paramount focuses of CAF is the promotion of career building, an endeavor no other museum addresses. We will serve as an incubator, an institution that is available to college graduates by providing mentors and an ongoing exhibition program that directly supports recent graduates.  The CAF will provide direct support through a step-by-step process that will show young artists how to prepare for exhibitions, review and selecting works for show, and work hand in hand with a mentor who can provide meaningful dialogue about professional career development. This effort will begin upon the opening of the permanent space, by late 2006.

          Additionally, we will maintain a flat file to house roughly 500 artists’ works on paper. This will enable a great number of artists to have their work in a museum, emphasizing the young, underexposed artist for whom the traditional museum model lacks personal relevance.  This will go a long way towards exposing the public to these artists, and artists to each other’s work.
    • MANAGEMENT  

      •   Executive Director

      • CAF is lead by an Executive Director, Paul Klein, whose responsibilities range from leadership in the management of daily operations to providing institutional vision, strategic direction, program development, administration, and financial and human resources management. The Executive Director will maintain a high professional profile in the local, regional, statewide, and national community.  He will work closely with the Board of Directors and give direction to them.
         
        • Paul Klein has been in leader in the Chicago art community since moving to Chicago in 1981 when his choice of River North established it as a future art center. He did it again when he moved to the West Loop in 1990. Always a believer in giving back and building community his gallery flourished because of his commitment and accessibility.  A frequent public speaker, he has lectured at colleges, universities, museums and conferences throughout the country.
           
    •   Director of Development and Community Relations
       
      • The Director of Development and Community Relations, Robbie Deveney, oversees the fundraising and marketing efforts of the museum. She facilitates relationships with governmental, civic, and cultural institutions, and oversees all public, community relations, and outreach efforts.
         
        • Robbie Deveney has a rich background in community development and special events.  While Director of Community Relations at Kendall College, she created large-scale events for the Chicago Wine and Food Festival, various consulates, the LEED Council, the Entrepreneurship Institute, the Chicago Historical Society, Almost Famous Chefs Competition and put Kendall on the map in its new Chicago location.  She was Executive Director of Chicago End-of-Life Care Coalition, Founder and Executive Director of CHALK (Chicago Art Link for Kids), and Associate Director of the American Poetry & Literacy Project.  She is on the Executive Board of the Chicago Wine and Food Festival.
           
    •   Curator
       
      • One full-time curator and two museum support staff will be added during the summer of 2006. 
         
    • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
       
      • CAF maintains a Board of Directors of up to 11 members that is responsible for the fiduciary and governance aspects of CAF. An Executive Committee of three members is responsible for An Executive Committee of three members is responsible for the decision about CAF’s essential activities, and meets weekly CAF’s.  The Board’s internal committees include finance, marketing, and fundraising. The Board meets on a monthly basis, and receives a comprehensive status report from the Executive Director. All major decisions of the organization shall be discussed at Board Meetings. An Advisory Board exists to support and encourage significant financial giving.
         
    • ADVISORY BOARD
       
      • A broad cross section of philanthropically minded individuals serve on the CAF Advisory Board. Sharing an appreciation for the vision and mission of the CAF, they lend their name and resources to the organization and periodically step forward when their expertise, knowledge and/or connections fit a particular task at hand.
         
    • ARTISTS ADVISORY BOARD
       
      • The Artists Advisory board is headed by Tony Fitzpatrick, and represents the Chicago art community. It serves in a non-voting, advisory capacity with regard to exhibitions, programming and direction, and is a major part of the conscience and artist voice of CAF.  The Artists Advisory board will help ensure that the art community acts in its own interests.
         
        • Tony Fitzpatrick is an artist, poet and actor whose artwork can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The National Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. His work has also appeared on album covers including the Neville Brothers “Yellow Moon,” and Steve Earle’s “El Corazon” and “The Revolution Starts Now.” Tony has made a living as a radio personality, a construction worker, and a film, stage and television actor, appearing in 15 major motion pictures, and has published five books including three collections of art and poetry.
    • MARKETING
       
      • COMMUNITY SUPPORT
         
        • The Mayor of the City of Chicago, Richard Daley has enthusiastically endorsed CAF and offered the assistance of the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development to help secure a strategically and accessible space. CAF has also met with various directors from the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Chicago Cultural Center and they have also expressed their enthusiasm for the goals of CAF and their desire to collaborate with us.
           
      • TARGET AUDIENCE
         
        • In keeping with one of the primary goals of the CAF – to educate the public as to the depth and significance of the Chicago art community – we see our target audience, at the initial stages of our growth, to be broad based and local.  By exhibiting without pretension in open and accessible spaces, CAF hopes to reach into parts of the community that might not otherwise be touched by the beauty of Chicago’s art scene while at the same time creating captivating programming that appeals to even the most discerning eye. With this as a base, CAF will then seek to market what it has created to those outside of Chicago, making the CAF the resource for Chicago Art.
           
      • WEB SITE AND NEW MEDIA
         
        • By summer 2006, our outreach will extend beyond Chicago through an extensive, daily-updated website that promotes and catalogues our activities, and takes Chicago’s art to the rest of the world.  The website will essentially be a daily newspaper, reflecting the work on exhibit at CAF and be available to the regular viewing public.  It will be one of our strongest tools in generating an awareness of Chicago artists by curators, museum personnel, and dealers in other cities. 
           
      • PUBLICATIONS AND ARCHIVING
         
        • CAF will produce a printed journal containing scholarly essays that focus on the arts, history and culture of Chicago.  We will publish the first in 2007, and continue on an annual basis.
    • FACILITIES
       
      • One of the challenges to starting an organization like CAF is making strategic decisions about how to spend the dollars that are raised. One conscious decision we have made is to begin with a facility whose cost will better allow the organization to dedicate available dollars to other priorities.
         
      • NEAR TERM
         
        • CAF is currently is currently in discussion with the City of Chicago to locate space in or in close proximity to the Loop on which to place a long-term, temporary facility.  This facility will be crated from extensively remodeling 12 to 15 recycled 10 x 10 x 40 foot shipping containers.  The interior public spaces will include up to three galleries of varying sizes, which can be subdivided and used for rotating exhibitions and permanent collections. CAF expects to present its first exhibit in September 2006.
           
      • LONG-TERM
         
        • By 2009, CAF hopes to relocate to a 50,000 sq. ft. space, close to Millennium Park and the Museum Campus, a location that will allow the organization to be an integral part of the City’s cultural infrastructure. In the larger space, we will increase the number of exhibit spaces, video presentation (databank) new media capabilities, media production facilities, library and archive space, and a 200-seat lecture/performance space. With High Definition television production and programming, CAF will be able to sponsor, produce and distribute art related content to network, cable and public access television stations as well as stream content from its website.
    • FUNDRAISING
       
      • Given the nature of CAF’s business, its founders understand that virtually all its operating funds will come from outside the organization and not from revenue generated within. Therefore, a heavy emphasis will be placed on creating and establishing events and opportunities for the community to contribute on a recurring basis.  Because the fundraising market is a crowded one, especially now, CAF will need to appeal to those with a strong emotional connection to the organization’s goal and mission.
         
      •    NEAR TERM
         
        • Our initial strategy, driven by the Board Members and others in the community included a series of house parties (four per month) to introduce the organization to potential donors; a major benefit in December 2005; a direct mail campaign; solicitation of corporate and private donations; and grant writing to foundations. A critical part of the fundraising process is generating awareness of the institution in the community. To that end, we are also meeting with civic and political leaders to garner their support.
           
      •  LONG-TERM
         
        • The institution will be privately funded.  A grant writer will be hired in early 2006, to solicit corporate, government, and foundation support. In 2006 and 2007, CAF will hold two large benefits per year, together netting over $175,000.  By 2008, we expect them to net over $250,000. 
           
      • ADDITIONAL REVENUE
         
        • Curatorial fees will be paid to CAF for shows it exports to galleries and museums, netting roughly $50,000 in each 2006 and 2007. In early 2007, there will be proceeds as well from the gift shop and café.
           
      • MEMBERSHIP
         
        • Though admission to the museum will be free, CAF is a membership organization. We will offer the public memberships for around $60 per year that provide discounts for classes, lectures, and special events.