Illinois Institute of Technology is NOT an art school. Why am I advocating so hard for an artist alley event at a tech school? Why don’t I just talk to Columbia College, or the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, or even DePaul University?
Here’s the thing: we might not all be art students, but there are SO MANY artists who go to Illinois Tech. I’m the founder of Cosplay Club, an organization that focuses on creating props and costumes of characters from different beloved series. We may be small, but we recognize the joy that comes from people seeing and enjoying our art. Not only that, but we recognize the joy that comes from visiting an artist alley at the conventions that we attend. Just seeing how others express themselves and their love of different media inspires us to continue to express ourselves in any way we deem fit.
I was not really a 2-D artist growing up. As a child, I watched as my older brother experimented with different art styles and slowly developed his own. Being the competitive kid that I was, I decided I was unable to catch up with his skill and abandoned the idea of ever learning to draw or paint.
However, I fell in love with 3-D mediums. I began with theater tech, which many people might agree is basically the gateway drug to becoming a nerdy artist. There, in my 8th-grade drama teacher’s classroom, I learned the craft of turning recycled materials into beautiful costumes, props, and backdrops. From there, I experimented with my mother’s sewing machine and started sewing my own costumes of my favorite characters. With every Google search and YouTube tutorial, I discovered new mediums of art to further my craft. Eventually, by the time I had entered college, I had amassed over a dozen art hobbies and hundreds of tiny, handmade crafts that I had no way of getting rid of.
This led me to create a small art business with my older brother and his fiancée. Yes, it started as a selfish way to get rid of my crafts and make room for more, but it turned into something that I continue to pour my heart and soul into. From building the business from the ground up to finally vending at my first convention, I have never felt so fulfilled in any of my other creative endeavors. I learned the legal side of business (which is probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done in my life), how to price products, how to pay taxes, how to plan for events, how to store the hundreds of trinkets that I make in a year… And somehow, the most stressful thing in my life has also become one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’ve never strived to grow up quickly, but somehow I ended up learning so many adult things without realizing it, out of pure motivation to maintain my business.
Back to why I want to host an artist alley at Illinois Tech: this gives students a taste of what it is like to run a business while being able to share their creativity with the student body. Genuinely, nothing compares to others finding worth in your hobbies. It’s a feeling that can’t be described, only felt. While we continue to encourage students to participate, we understand that this unprecedented type of event at our school requires a few more passes to fully get more students involved. Because of this, we are inviting our alumni and other local artists to participate to serve as an example of what small creative businesses can achieve. We also encourage student organizations to participate both for fundraising and as a smaller, secondary organization fair to spread awareness of their clubs. While it’s a bit late to register for a table, as registration closes on Friday, September 12, we encourage you to apply for next semester’s event! Of course, we would LOVE for you to stop by any of our tables during the event. Feel free to ask questions, chat, and maybe purchase a few things (hint, hint, nudge, nudge). Friday, September 19, will be our second-ever hosted artist alley event at IIT. We hope to see you there.