About the Crosshatch Project

The Crosshatch Project is a temporary, decentralized art exchange taking place in people’s living spaces across Chicago from mid-January through mid-March 2021. Faced with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in which we have been forced to collectively rethink our relationships within physical space, this initiative responds to the current lack of opportunities to intimately experience and connect around art. While museums and galleries are slowly opening up, such spaces are still inaccessible for many. The Crosshatch Project proposes an answer to the questions: how can we meaningfully engage with art objects in the current pandemic? How can we build new arts-centered communities while physically separated?

With a focus on emerging artists and arts administrators in Chicago, the Crosshatch Project is intended to be generative rather than merely transactional. Artists are asked to lend a work of art for display in someone else’s home for the duration of the two month program. On the other end, hosts are asked to compose a written reflection on the experience of living with the piece, which will be shared with the artist and on this website.

The goals of this project are manifold: to grow local networks of artists and arts professionals; to foster transdisciplinary dialogue; to live intimately with an original work of art; and to combat some of the isolation caused by the pandemic and exacerbated by the winter gloom.

This site offers a platform to share images of the installed works and hosts’ written reflections. It will also serve as an archive for the project, extending its scope and duration beyond the temporary physical exchange.

About the Organizer

Sophie Buchmueller is an emerging curator and art historian currently based in Chicago. She is pursuing dual master’s degrees in Art History and Arts Administration & Policy at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In her curatorial practice, she’s interested in exploring how contemporary art can be relevant in people’s daily lives and serve as a catalyst for collaboration and dialogue.

Contact

sbuchm@saic.edu