About

ACRE (Artists’ Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions) is a volunteer-run non-profit based in Chicago devoted to employing various systems of support for emerging artists and to creating a generative community of cultural producers. ACRE investigates and institutes models designed to help artists develop, present, and discuss their practices by providing forums for idea exchange, interdisciplinary collaboration, and experimental projects.

Residency: Steuben, WI
Exhibitions: ACRE Projects / 1913 W 17th St / Chicago, IL 60608

ACRE was founded in 2010 in effort to provide the arts community with an affordable, cooperative, and dialogue-oriented residency program. ACRE’s residency takes place every Summer in rural Southwest Wisconsin. The property, set on 100 acres of wetland, hills, and farmland, is home to such wildlife as deer, bald eagle, heron, hawk, and rainbow trout, and is strewn with a vast network of rivers and springs. The residency facilities include numerous buildings which provide for expansive communal work spaces, a screen-printing studio, an outdoor wood shop, and access to both digital and analog recording equipment. Accommodations are all recently built from salvaged timbers and furnished with individual bathrooms, kitchenettes, and decks. All meals are provided, and are be prepared daily using ingredients grown in the surrounding area, which is renowned for its organic and sustainable agriculture and dairy farms.

Residents have the opportunity to expand upon their individual practices and take part in optional programming within a collaborative community. Additionally, visiting artists are invited to conduct studio visits and present lectures, discussions, and workshops. Residents can apply for 12-day or 26-day residencies or are free to determine the length of their stay for a reasonable day rate. The residency supports 25-30 residents at a given time.

Over the subsequent year, ACRE endeavors to provide opportunities and exposure to its alumni. Each resident is given access to an online “flat file”, where they can develop customizable pages to present their work and are offered a solo exhibition or event at ACRE’s 400 square foot gallery space in Chicago. After each year’s residency, exhibition openings occur weekly throughout the year. These efforts complement other activities and programming designed to create the conditions for a thriving and enduring arts network.

Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some things that the press has had to say about ACRE:

Feature Article about ACRE in NewCity

Jettison Quarterly Article about ACRE and the residency it sprung from, Harold.

Interview with ACRE co-director Emily Green on Sixty Inches from Center Blog part 1 and part 2

Interview with ACRE co-director Nick Wylie on Bad at Sports Blog

Local coverage of a softball game at ACRE’s 2010 Summer Residency

ACRE named best new art residency by NewCity!

Chicago Weekly article about ACRE and some recent exhibitions.

Caroline Picard reflects on her visit to ACRE for Bad At Sports .

MDW Fair covered by SIFC with some words from Assistant Director, Becca Brown.

ArtSlant article about MDW Fair with a nice ACRE mention.

ACRE’s 2011 Country Fair on WBEZ!