In a year that saw Chicago’s Loop move into the spotlight as a viable destination for arts, competing for attention in multiple neighborhoods that have been fostering creative communities for years, we have Ty Tabing to thank.
As executive director of the Chicago Loop Alliance, the neighborhood business association responsible for the Loop’s increasingly creative programming, Tabing had a hand in every major visual arts venture in 2010: the year-old Pop-Up Art Loop initiative that has seen empty storefronts transformed into galleries; Oak Park artist Tony Tasset’s giant “Eye” sculpture, which fueled multiple public-art dialogues as it stared down commuters from Pritzker Park last summer; and autumn’s inaugural Art Loop Open which, despite significant first-year flaws and criticism, succeeded in awarding $50,000 to local artists based on popular vote.
“I have to admit, one of the highlights of my year was handing out those checks,” Tabing said over lunch recently at the Palmer House Hilton, which is near the CLA’s modest Monroe Street office. “I liked the fact that there were cash prizes and that we were really going to alter the course of the winning artists’ lives. … We want this area, the Loop, to be seen (by the arts community) as very welcoming, democratic and pluralistic and inviting.”
It’s getting there, thanks in part to the temporary spaces that Tabing’s 10-person team has leased gratis to local art institutions large and small. Scattered throughout the Loop, nonprofit organizations such as the Hyde Park Art Center, the Chicago Artists’ Coalition, the Chicago Urban Arts Society and, in 2011, the National Museum of Mexican Art are given free rein to curate and install art in some of the city’s highest pedestrian-traffic areas.
Tabing isn’t a curator, nor does he have an art background. He has a degree from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy Studies and, before joining the CLA, seven years’ experience in the city’s Department of Planning and Development. As a self-described ambassador to the Loop, he handed over the creative reins to outside experts, including a curatorial committee of representatives from the Art Institute, the Renaissance Society and the Department of Cultural Affairs.
“Ty has been smart to be aware of what he doesn’t know, and bring in the right people who are aware,” said Kavi Gupta, the West Loop gallery owner who represents Tasset. “He’s very open-minded to doing very ambitious projects, which you don’t see many people in the city doing.”
In the process, Tabing, whose day-to-day work is primarily focused on property development, has started buying art.
“It’s been transformative and awareness-raising just to better frequent (art venues) and understand the artist community in Chicago,” Tabing said. “Bringing attention to this area and creating initiatives that drive foot traffic into this area, that’s my chief objective. It could be done in a number of ways, but we’re using art to accomplish it.”
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