Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Burns.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
After a 3 year sprialing mindfuck at grad school in the middle of a cornfield, I crash landed in a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend in Logan Square. I got a cleaning job, started doing a zine a month, and joined the Peanut Gallery co-op. I was also part of Peanut Gallery from 2013 – 2014. Peanut had a lot of shows and an amazing community, it was where I wanted to be and what I wanted to be doing.
After Peanut lost the space I moved my studio into my apartment. I tried painting but it’s not easy in your bedroom so I put some miles on the drawing desk. I work mostly in ink and oil paint. An apartment studio is great but after a while it gets old, pretty soon your easel ends up being where you hang your laundry. I asked an acquaintance I met through Peanut named Andi Crist if she had any available studio spaces at her place Autotelic Studios. We talked, I got a space and we made a deal on rent that if I ran the gallery and managed the studios there would be a discount on rent. Autotelic had been around for a while with several locations, but in October 2017 Crist dissolved Autotelic and I took over the lease at the 1856 space. I called it, Night Light because I always leave a floor lamp on all night.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest obstacles to every artist I know is money, we all struggle to afford a studio and pay rent. You have to be resourceful when you don’t make a lot of money and have debt. I moved to Chicago in 2013 and cleaned houses for 4 years, my current day job is fabricating/installing furniture and cabinets. Quitting drinking really helps too.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Night Light Studios and Gallery is a non-profit organization committed to providing affordable studios and facilities to artists in Chicago, IL. The studios range from $100 – $300 per month and are on a month to month lease. Our gallery is a 36 sq ft storefront window (a frequent visitor calls it a micro galley) and we are doing 6 shows a year. Our location is what sets us apart from other studios and galleries, everyone with a studio now lives within walking distance.
Since January 2016, there have been 19 shows in the gallery, All the artists who put up work here are my friends or friends of friends, but this year I’m reaching out to people I do not know and so far everyone has said yes! The only stipulation for the artists is that I ask them to keep it PG-13, there is a grade school next door. A lot of the artists I like have nudity and other kinds of explicit content, which has called for creative solutions to exhibiting here. In February 2018, Amanda Joy Calobrisi simply turned her sculpture’s private parts away from the window or put a veil over their naked bodies. It looked good and worked as a surprise when you saw the show from inside the gallery.
What were you like growing up?
On a Sunday, when I was in 2nd grade, I drew a bald eagle at the table where my dad, his brother’s and his dad played cards. My grandparents owned a farm in Union, KY where my large family got together on Sunday’s almost every week. I was going through Grandpa Bob’s stacks of National Geographic magazines and found a bald eagle on a perch in Alaska. I drew it too big for one page and kept adding other pieces of paper until my bald eagle was perching on his lake in Alaska over 8 pieces of tape-connected paper. That was the first time, I got lost in a drawing.
Pricing:
- Studios range from $100 – $300 per month, month to month lease
Contact Info:
- Address: 1856 N Richmond St.
- Website: https://www.nightlightstudios.com/
- Phone: 859-653-3556
- Email: nightlightstudioschicago@gmail.com
- Instagram: nightlightgallery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nightlightstudioschicago/
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