Who are Chicago’s arts workers? In what conditions do arts workers create and live? Dive into the community-driven and artist-centered data from the Chicago Arts Census! As Lawyers for the Creative Arts and the Arts Alliance of Illinois continue our program series on Creative Worker Rights, we’re joined by ACRE, the team behind the Chicago Arts Census. We’ll discuss their new report on the reality of arts workers’ living and working conditions in Chicago. The session will cover insights into unpaid labor, health and wellness, finances and debt, living conditions, unionization efforts, and more. Plus, we’ll discuss current context for the data study and some of the organizing priorities the data highlights. There will also be time for your questions. About the Speakers: Chicago Arts Census The Chicago Arts Census is a cross-discipline data collection effort in the city created by and with the art workers of Chicago. The Census is built to amplify our voices as art workers in Chicago, serve as an advocacy tool fighting for better working, living, and making conditions, and create opportunities for coalition-building across art sectors. It does so by collecting, mapping, and visualizing data sets identified by and with art workers to better illuminate the reality of our living and working conditions. At present, a complex and intersectional account of our labor does not exist. The collected data is being translated into a series of data visualizations, a website, a report, and public programs that demonstrate the interwoven and dependent relationships that make up Chicago’s art ecosystem. Learn more at: www.chicagoartscensus.com Kate Bowen Kate Bowen is an artist and educator living and working in Chicago, IL. She is currently the Executive Director of ACRE (Artists’ Cooperative Residency & Exhibitions); an artist-led, community driven residency and exhibition program. She is a co-founder and co-lead organizer of the Chicago Arts Census, a cross-discipline data collection effort created by, with, and for the art workers of Chicago. As an arts worker her practice is grounded in collaborative, abundant community building. She believes in open experimental platforms and feral pedagogical systems. She is a member of the board of the Pilsen Alliance, Video Programming Coordinator for the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and technical assistant to the artist Barbara Kasten. Anthony D. Stepter Anthony D. Stepter is an organizer, educator, and curator originally from Grand Rapids, MI. Anthony is the Programs Director at ACRE (Artist’s Cooperative Residency & Exhibitions) based in Chicago, IL and Wisconsin’s Driftless Region. Anthony has undergraduate degrees in Sociology and Marketing from Grand Valley State University as well as an MA in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to his role at ACRE, Anthony worked for the School of Art and Art History at the University of Illinois at Chicago as the assistant director of the Museum and Exhibition Studies graduate program. Anthony worked for three years as the public programs coordinator for Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before graduate school, Anthony worked for the Museum Education Department at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Continuing Studies Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Americans for the Arts, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. As an independent organizer, Anthony has hosted and produced dozens of events designed to create new and interesting modes of engagement around the arts. Chicago Arts Census
