*portrait by Al Tyler,
featured artist in The Chicago Art Scene.
Ivy Sundell's three books, The Chicago Art Scene, Art Scene: Chicago 2000 and Living Artists, aim to bring the enjoyment of fine visual art to the public. She has given presentations, such as "How to Break into The Real World - Practical Experiences" to students and alumni at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and "Appreciation of Living Artists" to middle school students. She is a member of the Chicago Artists' Coalition.
Plans
"In the past, each book cycle includes a year spent on producing the book and a year on promoting the book. Somewhere along the line, I realized that the book is not the end of the project. Rather it's a tool that can be used by featured artists to promote themselves, and that I can use to bring living artists to the public. The titles have led to group invitational exhibits of featured artists at galleries and museums."
"Even though I have been educated indirectly about various forms of art and the art world by mingling with artists, I still consider myself a part of the general public. To enable the public to enrich their lives with art much as I have enriched mine, I plan to hold library discussions and arrange for public exhibits. It will likely take me longer than a year this time, but I don't want to rush into the next book until I've fully utilized my tool."