On The Campaign Trail ’15: Unseen, Unheard Artists in Chicago
A collaborative article that looks to discover and document new and upcoming artists within the city of Chicago.
8PM Whiskey: Nothing like being on the campaign trail, trying to get awareness out on a passion project. A black moleskine notebook, a whiskey, neat, in hand; does it get any better? Luckily, the guys over at Good Stax are, like myself, passionate about music and its various art forms and have agreed to let me share my story.
For the past couple of weeks I have been looking to raise funds for a writing project that I have slowly pieced together. I’ve scouted locations, researched upcoming shows, and exhibits and finally narrowed down my field to create this article.
I know what you’re thinking…
”Who the hell needs money to write?”
Well, this project is a little more detailed than just plain writing. With “Unseen, Unheard” I’m looking to travel the streets of Chicago searching for unique and interesting art in its various forms. I want to record, interview and document the lives of two artists that I come across over the course of a month. There will be one artist from the unseen portion, spanning anything from canvas art, culinary, theater, poetry, comedy, the list goes on; simply a visual type of art and second, there will be one on the music end, the unheard portion.
So once again I know what you’re thinking…
“Who the hell needs money to write?”
Well, this project is a little more detailed than just plain writing. I’m looking to hire a small crew, consisting of a photographer and editor to help me along the way. With that, I want to be able to compensate them for the amount of hours I will be asking them to put in and the pure frustration that will come from working with me. (What can I say, I have a vision and I want it as close to perfect as possible) The funds I raise will go towards, travel, paying my staff, any equipment we will need and finally those pesky submission fee’s that stand between me and publishing this article.
But Nick, what do we get out of this?
Great question! Don’t worry; I take care of those who see my vision. There are various perks along the way depending on the size of your donation. The more money I’m able to raise the more perks I’m able to dish out!
So Nick, What do you expect to come from this?
Glad you asked! My hope is that, this debut article can turn into a monthly piece with each month featuring two new artists. There are so many unique individuals that inhabit this great city that all one needs to do is look and listen to notice them. But I want to do more than just look and listen. I want to put names on art, add faces to names. I want to paint a picture with my words, and show people how extraordinary some of these characters really are.
Chicago is filled with hidden gems in the art world; someone only needs to discover them.
As of now my first featured artist is Mr. Ryan Roberts better known as DJ Skoli. Roberts is from Chicago, he see’s this city for what it is, limitless. He is an activist in the art community hosting events to showcase the talents of many local performers. I don’t want to give away too much, but the guy is infectious. His personality and ideas are crazy good. This article will be created no matter what, I assure you. This is a passion project of mine and even if I have to walk the streets of this city alone, look in ever sketchy dive bar, stay late at every comedy show or even sneak into local theater productions, I will write the best damn stories I can. But I know, with your contributions (whether it’s a like, share, five dollars or ten dollars) Unseen, Unheard: Artist in Chicago can become more than just a monthly read.
I want thank those that have contributed so far to this project and also thank my man James from Good Stax for letting me tell this story.
Nick
To contribute to this project click here!
