Alpha Bruton Art Projects - 2021

"Art is Business"

Alpha Bruton, Chief Curator at Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, a project that connects artists to temporary installation spaces,  aims to examine current curatorial production changes and develop innovative displays concerning virtual spaces. "Curatorial Practice" explores the impact of the urban environment on the artist and their work and the contributions that artists make to the vitality of a city. The place where art is imagined and made, whether in a physical or virtual space, affects the idea, the process, and the final product.

Alpha looks at how the city influences art and how artists transform the city by contributing to civic dialogue and quality of life.

Art PROJECTS Exhibitions

Bronzeville Art District Virtual Trolley Tour-

CHICAGO – Bronzeville is a focal point for Chicago's vibrant African American culture. Like Harlem in New York, Bronzeville is a community where Chicago's African American music, Literature, Fine Art, and Theater historically thrive. The Bronzeville Art District (BAD) currently consists of six established visual art spaces working together to focus and drive cultural activities in the community so that a distinctive cultural identity can be crystallized and communicated.

As a web developer, I shaped the online presentation for the (BAD) website., using it as a tool and online archive for virtual galleries and a window to virtual art openings in 2020. A Web Designer's primary job is to create attractive and functional websites. They design each site's layout and organize the information in a way that is visually pleasing and logical. A well-designed and easy-to-use website draws people to the company's online presence. From there, they will hopefully become customers. 

The purpose of the art show is to showcase inclusion, diversity, and equity with artists of color in the creative world. 

This project is partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and a grant from the Evanston Arts Council, an agency funded by the City of Evanston, IACA, and the NEA.

The Evanston Art Center Biennial is one of the Midwest's largest and most prestigious juried exhibitions, offering 200 artists an opportunity to have their work viewed by myself and two talented curators: Dan Devening, Director, Devening Projects, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Kate Pollasch, Director, Corbett vs. Dempsey.

Gallery Guichard is a gallery commanding as much respect as Michigan Avenue in the Bronzeville community, the most significant art district in the country. Owners Andre Guichard, Frances Guichard, and Stephen Mitchell opened the gallery in 2005 to expose patrons to multicultural artists specializing in the African Diaspora. Through fine art exhibitions, experiential events, and art tours, Gallery Guichard allows emerging underrepresented talent and mid-career artists to develop their imagination and creativity.

Pop-Up Research Station invites your participation or Email phantomgallerychicago@gmail.com.

Phantom Gallery Chicago's Alpha Bruton and Phantom Galleries LA Liza Simone have created a network of support for artists, curators, and arts organizers engaged in temporary public art installations in storefronts and projects that encounter community response. We envision the project as a portal for shared knowledge, a resource of best practices, ongoing professional development, and a place for moral support to enhance our collective impact.

In 2012 we launched a Podcast produced by GYST Radio on BlogTalkRadio. Pop-Up Research Station developed gradually: hosting "Creative Conversations" that explored "Temporary Public Art Installations,"" Storefront Art Movements," "Creative Place-making," and projects that are the impetus for "Cultural Urban Planning."

The Pop-Up Research Station is a place to glean information. We see the Pop-Up Research Station as the portal to documenting our legacy, giving emerging curators and artists new to the world of creative placemaking a "Tool Kit" that has already been 20 years in the making, researched, developed, and implemented by artists who have carved out niches and built new communities from empty storefront to monthly art walks, and virtual trolley tours.

"Creative Conversation" on BlogTalk Radio will cover snapshots of artist stories, host honest discussions on the problems we face, offer a support system, and solicit advice on how to avoid the potholes moving forward. The interviews done for PopUP Research Station are conversational and geared toward the artist's mindset but will be helpful for those interested in our projects as a research tool.

SPACE IN THE GAP - Liza SIMONE  Technical Support for Phantom Gallery Chicago.

Space in the Gap can program space for property owners, municipalities, and cultural organizations. We can generate catalytic action plans for properties and districts by Analyzing markets and neighborhood demographics and creating a vitalization strategy for a property or group of properties.

I contracted with the SOJO Art Museum Expansion Project as the Research and Development Consultant.

The museum is named for Sojourner Truth, who, although born into slavery, worked tirelessly for abolition, women's rights, non-violence, and civil and economic advancement of oppressed people. The museum gives homage to Mrs. Sojourner by expanding the historical & biographical knowledge of her life's work and carrying on her mission by teaching, demonstrating, and promoting projects that accentuate the ideals and principles for which she stood. 

Our mission is to open minds and change lives by exploring and celebrating African American history, experiences, and culture through art education and outreach. Our vision is of a world in which the adversity and achievement of African American history inspire everyone toward a greater understanding of acceptance and unity!