Is this dude your spirit animal? Then to the festivalmobile! The 2014 Administrative Internship awaits!

 

The Deets

The Administrative Intern will assist with all aspects of administration and production of 2nd Floor Rear 2014.

 2nd Floor Rear is an annual 24-hour festival of alternative spaces, apartment galleries, and ephemeral and migrant projects celebrating Chicago’s vibrant community of alternative and DIY art spaces. Thanks to a special grant from the Propeller Fund, this season, we are pleased to offer a paid internship to an aspiring cultural producer. The 2014 Administrative Intern will receive a monthly stipend for the duration of the internship, and will be eligible for a bonus upon the internship’s completion. 

Compensation: $250 monthly stipend

Duration: December 1, 2013-March 1, 2014

Hours: Approx. 10 hours per week, flexible schedule

Continue reading Wanted: 2014 Administrative Intern

 

 

 

 

 

We’re proud to announce that 2nd Floor Rear is an awardee of the 2013 Propeller Fund! That’s right! The good folks at Threewalls and Gallery 400 (and their jury, of course) are handing us a big chunk o’ change to do the festival again this year. There are some big changes and major improvements on the horizon, but let’s take this moment to celebrate. A huge thanks is due to all past volunteers, collaborators, and participants: you guys do the bulk of the work. There would be no festival without your creative labor and immense talent!

If you have a free evening, come celebrate with us at the 2013 Propeller Fund reception tonight, from 6 to 8, at Hull House. We’d be so happy to see you there.

Finally shipped off the last Kickstarter rewards a couple weeks ago, and just to prove that it is finally all finished, here’s some of the evidence:

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, I got to use a big, crazy machines to make a bunch of tee shirts (and is was glorious). 

 

So what’s on the horizon now that 2FR 2013 is officially over and done? Well, stay tuned for a big announcement!

 

A whopping thanks to everyone who came out to, participated in, or donated to 2nd Floor Rear 2013! The archive is finally up (See the About 2nd Floor Rear 2013 page). Other post-production projects, like the 2nd Floor Reader, have been put on hold for the moment. And for those of you who donated to our Kickstarter, rewards are due out this May. Until next time…

2nd Floor Rear 2013 starts in t-minus an hour and a half, and we’ve got some snazzy maps for you to download, print, and take with you. (Or pick one up at any of the venues.) They look like this:

Click here for printable schedule + map

We’ll also be live tweeting and instagraming the festival, so follow us  @2ndFloorRear and at itsaponyprojects on Instagram.  Wanna comment? The official festival hashtag is #2ndfloor. We’ll be keeping up with the commentary and compiling it at the end of the festival, so comment away!

The sidewalks are super icy out there, so please be careful travelling from place to place. Happy festivaling!

Facebook is lighting up with event sneak peaks…

  

 

 

 

 

…and we’ve been working like crazy to get things ready…

 

   

 

   

 

(Special thanks to Katrina Mohn, Jason Graber, Mia Lopez, Ian Ostrowski, Yishai Weisntein, Kate Brown, Megan Owoc, Lara Nevins, and Andrew Bermudez for making the banners happen.)

…to share the Chicago art love with everyone tomorrow. The only thing we want more than to see your lovely faces there is to crawl into a cave of down pillows and sleep until May. But based on the work we’ve been seeing so far, tomorrow is so worth it.

 

 

We are thrilled to announce that 2FR 2013 officially reached its $1,500 Kickstarter goal. This is the second year in a row we’ve successfully raised funds through Kickstarter, so a giant thanks to Kickstarter for making arts microfunding a thing, and to all 39 backers, who are indeed magic.

 

Hello friends, backers, and soon-to-be backers!

We’re in the final stretch now! Circa $400 away and 9 hours left to go! The suspense is killing me. Well, not really killing me, but I have to imagine that this is what it must be like to watch the Superbowl and actually care about which team wins.

Here’s a little blurb from the official fundraising email, summing up why the money is needed and where it’s going:

“This year, with 23 events and counting—wandering performances, an art gallery in a purse, conversational karaoke, lectures, and a breakfast rock show—we look to your support to keep up the festival’s momentum by helping us cover the cost of professional documentation, PR, materials, incidentals, and design. All of these elements are crucial to the continuation of this annual festival, as it ensures that we, the producers, and participating artists have a record of all ephemeral works. Documentation of artworks, professional promotional material, and a substantial web presence allow festival staff, participants, and volunteers to parlay their involvement in 2nd Floor Rear into further professional development, grants, portfolio expansion, and more.”

Now, some updates about rewards. I’m thinking that we might do heat transfers rather than silkscreens for the T-shirts. We have two designs in mind so far. One is that fab, Nintendo-esque 2FR 2013 logo everyone’s been asking me about (see below), by SAIC/itsa_pony! projects alum Silvia Vasilescu, whose stipend for her 2FR design work completely depends on this Kickstarter campaign. Another possible (albeit totally unconfirmed) option is some form of this rad Honey Boo Boo graphic, designed by SAIC Visual Communication Design grad Kellie Taylor (also see below).

 

Also, with sincerest apologies to my mother, I rashly promised on the Facebook event page to make an art critic (or curator) version of  YouTube sensation Hannah Hart’s My Drunk Kitchen if the Kickstarter gets funded. This was probably a giant mistake, but  no backsies, I guess. YOLO???

So keep funding all you night owls, early birds, and random lurkers who happen to catch this update before the intergalactic donation portal closes at 11:50am EST…

 

…because patronage is magic!

 

 

We’ve got 24 hours to fund our Kickstarter. We’re about 1/3 of the way there, and have some fat funds coming in, but every little bit helps! Follow the link to fund now!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/445506472/2nd-floor-rear-2013

From 21 Artists:

“Sneak peak of ‘Situation #1’ by featured artist Abbéy Odunlami, an interactive 5-course meal prepared and enjoyed on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago. Abbéy cooked, hosted and engaged complete strangers in conversation throughout each course.”

Join Abbéy for ‘Situation #2: Dinner with Photographers” at the Logan Square blue line stop from 1-5pm this Saturday during 2nd Floor Rear.