Art Contest Will Plaster Briar Street Theatre with Designs

Lake View’s Briar Street Theatre will soon feature a new artistic touch as Blue Man Group hosts its first ever juried art competition, planned to overhaul the south side of the building. 

It’s planned to be a part of September’s EXPO ART WEEK, a citywide expo of Chicago’s art and cultural community. A panel of judges will vote on their six favorite submissions, with the winning artists each receiving $5,000 and some big recognition. 

And “big” is the right word to describe it. Each winning piece will be printed on a 10-foot by 10-foot panel and hung on the south wall of the theater at 3133 N. Halsted St. 

To Tom Galassi, who’s been the Blue Man Captain at Briar Street Theatre for 16 years, says the contest is a perfect representation of two art forms meeting. 

“What I really like about this is that we get to be in contact with the artists, and that’s what this show is really all about,” Galassi said. “It’s a group of people, artists, who wanted to express something, and it turned into this show. I think that’s a reason we’re still running. It's because there’s something personal and so alive about it.” 

Galassi says the theater has received roughly 60 submissions thus far, but they’re looking for even more artists to show off their talent. The deadline to submit work is Aug. 1, and the winners’ work will hang on the theater for the foreseeable future. That’s combined with also being on display in the lobby.

Submissions shouldn’t have a Blue Man in the work of art, but rather display a representation or feeling of what audiences feel when attending a performance.

“We’re not looking for an advertisement, but something that expresses the feeling of coming out of a show or walking in, or something—an element,” Galassi said. “That’s the exciting thing for me, because I don’t think you can judge art like, ‘This one is better than that one.’ It’s such a gooey thing. But we want to find a piece of art and just say, ‘Wow, that’s just how it feels to us. That’s what we’re looking for.’”

Joining Galassi on the judges panel include Chicago officials with accolades of their own, like the Executive Director of the Chicago Artists Coalition and the arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.

The grand unveiling event will occur in September.