TO ART AND PROFIT 

To Art & Profit (TAAP) was first successfully staged March-May 2011 through a partnership between Links Hall and co-curators Abra Johnson and Meida McNeal. Funded in part by awards from 3Arts and the Puffin Foundation, the festival brought together artists, scholars and cultural advocates to envision what collective social action looks like through a more diverse and democratic approach to artistic programming. For more on the previous festival go to the archived website.

Spread over three weekends from March through May 2011, To Art & Profit is an interdisciplinary performance series augmented with arts-focused dialogues and Carnival-inspired street theatre spectacle throughout the city of Chicago. The festival pairs Chicago-based artists across discipline and genre, asking them to create performances around select themes and questions: What is the value of creative labor? How can we practice a more conscientious capitalism, one that allows art makers to make a living while still nourishing the human spirit? How can we democratize art production, widening the scope of creative voices and expressions brought to public spaces and stages? Each performance weekend will be linked to different Chicago neighborhoods (Logan Square, Pilsen, Bronzeville). To Art and Profit aims to connect and engage different neighborhoods around Chicago around the value of art and artists to their immediate and global community. Finding various ways to invite community participation, this series explores how art can be profitable, accountable and accessible. In addition to the Links performances, there will be street theater spectacles and public discussions on the following themes: March 18-20: What Is It Good For? Defining Art’s Purpose Now April 15-17: Quit Bullshittin’: Recognizing Division and Building Solidarity in the Arts May 20-22: Come As You Are: Re-Imagining Art with a Conscience For more information, visit LinksHall.org. BUY TICKETS!
DONATE
DONATE

Evidenced by recent studies such as Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, artists and their audiences contribute $2.2 bill.ion to our local economy. Artists of all stripes are at the forefront of new urban movements ambitiously cultivating solutions for the present and future growth of wider civic communities through the creation of sustainable urban dwellings and architecture, accessible foods and urban gardening programs, and arts-integrated and independent educational and therapeutic support services.