High Concept Labs & Unfolding Disability Futures Team Up to Present Art/Access Labs
High Concept Labs & Unfolding Disability Futures Team Up to Present Art/Access Labs
Photo by Tara Ahern/Roots of Life Photography
High Concept Labs (HCL), in partnership with Unfolding Disability Futures (UDF), is launching Art/Access Labs, a series of convenings committed to fostering a vibrant disabled artist ecosystem through cross-discipline and cross-impairment professional development activities.
UDF is a Chicago-based collective of disabled, sick, injured and neurodivergent artists representing a wide variety of artistic practices, including dance, sound/music, theater, performance art, and storytelling. This partnership brings together UDF’s expertise centering the experiences, needs, and perspectives of artists with a lived experience of disability with HCL’s expertise developing artist-driven residency programs and creating community exchange around the creative process.
Convening of Chicago's Disabled Artists (12/3/23) | Photo by Mikey Mosher
The originating version of Art/Access Labs was curated by artist Maggie Bridger during her 2022-2023 residency with HCL. Now, under the joint leadership of HCL and UDF, these convenings will offer artists with disabilities a space for peer learning and resource sharing.
Art/Access Labs are centered around artists with a lived experience of disability including Deaf, disabled, sick, neurodivergent, and Mad artists, and those working through their relationship to these categories, working in all mediums. Anyone who is invested in fostering a vibrant disabled artist ecosystem in Chicago is encouraged to participate. This audience may include professional artists, students and pre-professional artists, educators, curators, arts administrators and other arts professionals.
LabWork in Process Showing (4/2/23) | Photo by Angee Lennard
Half the gatherings will be funded opportunities for artists to share and discuss work-in-progress. This affinity space frees artists from implicit or explicit expectation to educate about or justify disability aesthetics/culture, and allows for more nuanced conversation and resource sharing. These gatherings will alternate with convenings developed with feedback from participants seeking to develop or sustain careers in the arts. Potential topics include skill sharing, a mixer to facilitate new collaborations, and moderated conversations between disabled artists and venues, curators, and production teams.
The inaugural Art/Access Lab will be on Sunday, June 2 from 2:00 to 4:00pm as a hybrid event with Experimental Station, an accessible community-imbedded venue in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood, hosting the in-person component. During this salon-style gathering, attendees are invited to share works, short performances/readings, clips, scenes, or anything else they might be working on. The event will begin with an introduction to the Art/Access Lab series presented by HCL and UDF. The rest of the event will consist of short showings interspersed with time to mingle with fellow artists with disabilities.
As HCL and UDF learn through presenting Art/Access Labs, both organizations will be a resource for artists and organizational peers seeking to increase access to arts training, funding, and participation for the disability community.
HCL Celebrates 15 Years
Year-long celebration will feature artist events, programs, and showcases across Chicago.
Year-long celebration will feature artist events, programs, and showcases across Chicago
CHICAGO, May 1, 2024 – High Concept Labs (HCL), an artist residency and support program, is proud to announce its fifteenth anniversary. A year-long anniversary celebration will feature artist-driven and community-focused events, performances, and showcases across the city, and build on HCL’s history of bringing artists and audiences together around the creative process.
“HCL’s 15-year anniversary is a chance for people across Chicago to come see what our laboratory is all about,” says HCL co-founder and board chair Kevin Simmons. “When connected with audiences through our services, HCL Artists in Residence from Chicago and around the world are empowered to achieve creative breakthroughs, innovative programs, and uncover new experimental, conceptual, and genre-defying artistic projects that can transform our communities.”
Since its founding in 2009, HCL has facilitated more than 300 artist residencies across genres and disciplines—showcasing Chicago-based artists to broad audiences, and bringing artists from around the world to Chicago. Past HCL residents have included co-founders of the Emmy-award winning Manual Cinema; Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet; renowned national-touring footwork crew The Era; inveterate Afro-Feminist performance group Honey Pot Performance; and Chicago choreographic mainstays such as Molly Shanahan and 2024 US Artist Fellowship Awardee Erin Kilmurray, among many others. Most recently, HCL was instrumental in bringing Jeff-nominated “Tebas Land” to the stage in 2022.
Today, HCL operates from Pilsen-based Mana Contemporary arts center, which houses the organization’s flagship Artist in Residence program—a 12-month residency that provides artists with a stipend, no-cost studio space, and tailored curatorial, development, and marketing support. HCL also presents Open Labs for sharing and testing ideas; curated gatherings; and showcases—all of which will be offered during HCL’s anniversary celebration.
Aquil Charton, HCL alumnus and Co-Director for HCL says “There is an art to holistically caring for artists and their creative processes. At HCL this practice is our focus, and it is reflected in the community we have cultivated over the past fifteen years.”
The 15-year anniversary also kicks off HCL’s new individual donor fundraising program, with a goal of raising $125,000 to increase the organization’s pipeline and support capabilities for a robust and diverse range of artists and projects.
HCL managing director Angee Lennard notes “Artists thrive when they’re equipped with the time and space to ideate, iterate, risk- take, and collaborate. Meeting our $125,000 anniversary fundraising goal means we will be able to continue offering long-format residencies that enable pivotal career growth for the artists who benefit from our programs.”
Donations for HCL’s anniversary will also support the organization’s collaboration with Unfolding Disability Futures (UDF), a grassroots collective of disabled, sick, and neurodivergent performing artists. In partnership with UDF, HCL plans to launch new “Art/Access Labs,” quarterly artist convenings fostering a vibrant disabled artist ecosystem for peer learning and resource sharing.
High Concept Labs 15th Anniversary Campaign
The HCL Anniversary Campaign seeks to raise $125,000 in recognition of 15 years of advocacy for experimental, conceptual, and genre-defying artistic projects. This campaign will enable the longevity of High Concept Labs and our mission of strengthening Chicago’s creative sector through accessible residency programs.
The HCL Anniversary Campaign seeks to raise $125,000 in recognition of 15 years of advocacy for experimental, conceptual, and genre-defying artistic projects. This campaign will enable the longevity of High Concept Labs and our mission of strengthening Chicago’s creative sector through accessible residency programs.
Our Impact
In its first 15 years, HCL has facilitated over 300 artist residencies across genres and disciplines. Past residents include co-founders of the Emmy-award winning “Manual Cinema”; Grammy-nominated Spektral Quartet; renowned national-touring footwork crew “The Era”; inveterate Afro-Feminist performance group “Honey Pot Performance”; and Chicago choreographic mainstays like Molly Shanahan and 2024 US Artist Fellowship Awardee Erin Kilmurray, among many others. Most recently, HCL was instrumental in bringing Jeff-nominated “Tebas Land” to the stage in 2022.
As we begin the next phase of our work, we will:
Continue our unique two-year local residency model that provides the resources that enable artists to be visionaries, cultural leaders, and community beacons;
Continue promoting visibility for the creative process though Open Labs, Art/Access Labs, and Annual Showcases; and
Deepen our commitment to full artist and audience accessibility in regards to geography, disability, and socioeconomic factors like education and income.
“There is an energy and urgency in the air at HCL that really inspires artists to raise the bar and make truly worthwhile work.”
Jason Pallas
2011 HL Sponsored Artist
Lab E: Convening of Chicago's Disabled Artists | December 3, 2023 at Experimental Station | Photo by Mikey Mosher
Our History
HCL was founded by Kevin Simmons and Molly Feingold in 2009 with a vision of sponsoring and providing warehouse space to artists to develop short-term creative projects. This adaptable, service-oriented environment, bolstered by a creative staff adept at supporting administrative aspects of artistic careers, quickly established HCL as the place for artists to seek support for interdisciplinary, process-based, collaborative, participatory, and experimental projects.
The original home of HCL, a warehouse space on Wabansia Avenue.
In 2014, we moved to our current home within the Mana Contemporary arts hub situated between Pilsen, Bridgeport, and Chinatown. Here, we built out the HCL Lab, a large studio equipped with a sprung wood dance floor, a grand piano, and extensive A/V equipment. This specialized studio, provided at no cost to Artists in Residence, quickly became a core residency benefit.
The next era of HCL ushered in a wave of partnerships and collaborations that brought our work to venues and public spaces throughout the city. HCL, in collaboration with Chicago Loop Alliance, presented The Living Loop, a festival celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of Chicago’s performing arts community with three months of free weekly outdoor performances. A partnership with 3Arts supported Rashayla Marie Brown’s “Reality is Not Good Enough” video and photography series. A partnership with Experimental Station brought Dorothée Munyaneza, a Rwandan multi-disciplinary performance artist, to Chicago for two-month residency.
In 2019, HCL transitioned to a co-director leadership model and overhauled programs to expand the depth of support for artists. HCL residencies were reinvented as 12-month opportunities, with the option to return for an additional year of support as a Fellow Artist in Residence. This expanded duration dramatically stabilizes artistic practices and can enable pivotal career growth.
In 2020, we were able to quickly pivot during a tumultuous time by providing autonomous access to our facilities. In addition to providing safe studio access for current HCL residents, we met an increased need for space by extending no-cost access to HCL alumni and other artists whose livelihood was interrupted. For 18 consecutive months, HCL made space for 20 additional artists and artist groups, with studio use tripling to an average of 85 hours/week.
Now in 2024, as we enter our 15th year of programming, we are now leaning into our accessibility commitment by addressing accessibility limitations beyond socio-economic and geographic barriers. Our newest programmatic expansion is the launch of Art/Access Labs, a series of convenings presented in partnership with Unfolding Disability Futures (UDF) and committed to fostering a vibrant disabled artist ecosystem through cross-discipline and cross-impairment professional development activities.
Co-presented with UDF, Art/Access Labs offers a community space for artists with disabilities to share resources, to nourish artistic and professional relationships, and support the development of each other’s creative practice. As HCL and UDF learn through presenting Art/Access Labs, both organizations will be a resource for artists and organizational peers seeking to increase inclusivity.
To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Angee Lennard, Managing Director, at angee@highconceptlabs.org. We are happy to tailor a benefits package to suit the goals of corporate and individual donors.
More Ways to Donate
By Check: Mail donation to High Concept labs, 2233 S. Throop St., Suite #401, Chicago, IL 60608
Venmo: @HighConceptLabsNFP
Zelle: info@highconceptlabs.org
Bank Transfer or DAF: Please email angee@highconceptlabs.org
High Concept Labs is a nonprofit 501(c) (3) organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible.
Please Tell Us About Yourself!
We want to know about you!
We want to know who you are!
This spring, HCL is collecting information about our community and audience to better understand who we serve and ensure our programs are responsive, equitable, and reach a broad and diverse audience.
We know your time is valuable. To show our gratitude, we will gift $50 DoorDash gift cards to three people who completes this survey.
Survey closes Friday, April 19th.
High Concept Labs Announces 2024 Resident Artists
High Concept Labs (HCL) announces the 2024 Artists in Residence: Bradford Chin, Christopher Knowlton, Haruhi Kobayashi, Carissa Lee, and KT Shivak.
High Concept Labs (HCL), a Chicago-based artist residency program that centers experimentation, discovery, exchange, and risk, announces the 2024 Artists in Residence: Bradford Chin, Christopher Knowlton, Haruhi Kobayashi, Carissa Lee, and KT Shivak.
The Artist in Residence (AIR) program is HCL’s flagship, 12-month residency that supports artists to develop time-based work. Artists receive a stipend, no-cost studio space, and professional photo and video documentation, along with tailored curatorial, development, and marketing support. The AIR program is juried by a panel of Artistic Advisory Council members, which includes arts practitioners, critics, writers, and thinkers, including many HCL alumni.
These five Artists in Residence are joining five Fellow Artists in Residence (FAR): Sofía Gabriel del Callejo, Helen Lee, Regina Martinez, Allen Moore, and Rigo Saura. The FAR program invites alumni of our Artist in Residence program to continue for a second full year to further their projects and deepen their practice.
2024 Fellow Artists in Residence
This cohort includes artists working across a variety of disciplines including movement, performance art, dance, puppetry, sound, new media, augmented reality, and multimedia. While the research interests and creative practice of each artist are unique, there are many shared concerns such as the ethical use of emerging technologies and the integration of access tools into the creative development of new work.
“At HCL we are very fortunate to be a resource for, and have interest from, such a wide range of amazing artists who are at a particular point in their process at which they come to us for additional support. We only host a few artists at a time, but place high value on showing up where we can for the community with great care in the processes involved in making great art,” shares HCL’s Artistic Director, Aquil Charlton.
Throughout 2024, these artists will receive support as they move through the various stages of developing new work: from research to rehearsals to presentation. Charlton states, “Each year we have the opportunity to deepen our investment in the arts community in Chicago and beyond, and we look forward to rising to that call every time.”
With HCL’s mission grounded in promoting visibility for the creative process, resident artists will be able to meaningfully connect with public audiences through Open Labs, a platform for artists to share developing projects, test ideas, and gain perspective on their work through conversations with audiences.
Additionally, in conjunction with their 15th Anniversary, HCL will present a variety of work-in-progress presentations, premieres, and public engagements throughout 2024 inviting audiences to witness the creative process and innovative work of these artists.
2024 Artistic Advisory Council AIR Review Panel
Majel Connery
Juelle Daley
Douglas R. Ewart
Miranda Gonzalez
Rika Lin
Meida Teresa McNeal
Zachary Whittenburg
Help create the arts ecosystem that Chicago needs & deserves
For nearly 15 years, High Concept Labs has enabled artists across genres and disciplines to incubate new ideas, discover new approaches to making, and build new skills. We have championed over 300 artists and collective projects through providing no-cost studio space, funding, and professional documentation, along with tailored curatorial, development, and marketing support.
Through this work, we have learned that artists need a platform to share developing projects, test ideas, and gain perspective on their work through conversation. This is where HCL’s Open Labs come in.
A Letter from HCL’s Co-Directors
Dear HCL Community,
For nearly 15 years, High Concept Labs has enabled artists across genres and disciplines to incubate new ideas, discover new approaches to making, and build new skills. We have championed over 300 artists and collective projects through providing no-cost studio space, funding, and professional documentation, along with tailored curatorial, development, and marketing support.
Through this work, we have learned that artists need a platform to share developing projects, test ideas, and gain perspective on their work through conversation. This is where HCL’s Open Labs come in.
These free work-in-progress showings invite audiences to witness the creative process and then reflect on the experience through moderated conversations with the performers. These events foster rare and important community exchange between makers and audiences. We believe that this type of dialog is essential for artists to find the resources and community investment required to be cultural leaders and visionaries.
In 2024, we anticipate investing over $20,000 to cover the many “hidden costs” of free events like Open Labs:
Professional photography, videography, and audio recording that artists can use to apply for grant funding, residencies, and opportunities to present their work;
Production and technical support, like lighting, sound, and video projection; and
Access tools, such as ASL interpretation and captioning; and
Direct funding for artists to bring their projects to the public.
We invite you all to help us lay a strong foundation for our 2024 Open Lab series with a gift of any size. Together, we can create the arts ecosystem that Chicago needs and deserves.
Looking forward to 2024,
Aquil Charlton & Angee Lennard
HCL Co-Directors
To donate via a Donor Advised Fund, or bank transfer, or to learn more about the benefits of becoming a Sustaining Donor, Lead Presenter, or Sponsor, please contact Angee Lennard, Managing Director, at angee@highconceptlabs.org.
High Concept Labs Welcomes New Artistic Director
High Concept Labs (HCL), a Chicago-based arts service organization and artist incubator, announced today that Aquil Charlton has joined HCL as its new Artistic Director. He joins HCL Managing Director Angee Lennard in a co-leadership position with the organization.
Aquil is a creative and visionary leader who leverages his experience as a teaching artist, consultant, and co-founder of artist collaboratives to make positive contributions in Chicago communities and the arts sector. His leadership in community-based cultural and youth development work have been recognized by Aspen Institute, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 3Arts, Northwestern University, and Yale University. Aquil is also an independent musician, rapper, songwriter, DJ, producer, and was an HCL Sponsored Artist in 2018.
High Concept Labs (HCL) announced today that Aquil Charlton has joined HCL as its new Artistic Director. He joins HCL Managing Director Angee Lennard in a co-leadership position with the organization.
Aquil is a creative and visionary leader who leverages his experience as a teaching artist, consultant, and co-founder of artist collaboratives to make positive contributions in Chicago communities and the arts sector. His leadership in community-based cultural and youth development work have been recognized by Aspen Institute, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 3Arts, Northwestern University, and Yale University. Aquil is also an independent musician, rapper, songwriter, DJ, producer, and was an HCL Sponsored Artist in 2018. “As an alumnus of the residency, I feel so honored to return to HCL and contribute in this capacity,” says Aquil.
“Aquil and I came up as HCL Resident Artists at the same time. I am so happy to have him back at HCL as our Artistic Director,” stated Andy Slater, who serves on the HCL Board of Directors. “He has a unique opportunity to provide the same kind of support we received during our residencies to current and future HCL cohorts. His past experience at HCL and his vivid vision of the future will strengthen his role as a leader. We've got some great times ahead of us!”
“Aquil is, without a doubt, a great mind, and his unique sensibilities enable him to perceive intricacies that often escape the notice of most,” contributed Loinal “Brother El” Freeman, HCL Alumnus and founder of The Beat Bank, a long-time partner of HCL.
HCL Co-Director, Angee Lennard, adds, “Aquil brings a deep understanding of what artists need to thrive and a clear vision for how we can continue expanding HCL’s capacity to meet those needs. I’m inspired by his commitment to community-building and am eager to collaborate with Aquil to advance HCL’s mission and increase the impact of our work.”
“High Concept Labs is a soft and mindful landing place at the intersections of so many artists' careers, and my goal is to be a great steward of this vital service to the arts ecosystem in Chicago,” says Aquil. “I get to do this alongside an amazing team and I look forward to together welcoming a new group of residents for 2024 and supporting a thriving community of fellows, alumni, and partners. As a South Side Chicago resident, I am excited to strengthen our partnership with Experimental Station and facilitate connections with the rich networks of artists and spaces on the South and West Side.”
Meet the Fall 2023 HCL Team
HCL Welcomes New Staff
From Left: Angee Lennard, Mallory Qiu, Rika Lin, & Veronica Salinas. Photo by Cindy Lan.
High Concept Labs is pleased to announce that Veronica Anne Salinas has joined HCL as our Marketing Manager.
This new staff position reflects our commitment to increasing the visibility of the creative process. By deepening our investment in marketing and communications, we will be able to better connect with artists and audiences who can benefit from our work while raising the visibility of the artists we support.
Veronica is an arts administrator, educator, and sound artist with a passion for interdisciplinary arts. With an MFA in Sound from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and specialized studies from The Center for Deep Listening, Veronica's arts administrative journey reflects a commitment to nurturing artistic growth and immersive learning experiences.
“I am excited to collaborate with the team in developing marketing strategies to amplify HCL's artists, projects, and initiatives,” says Veronica.
Additionally, Rika Lin joins us as Interim Artistic Director. Rika is an accomplished artist, curator, teacher, and arts administrator. She is an alumna of our Artist in Residence program, and currently serves both our Board of Directors and our Artistic Advisory Council. With a focus on public engagements and providing artistic support to Artists in Residence, Rika will be with HCL until the Board of Directors appoints a permanent Co-Director.
HCL is pleased to also announce that Mallory Qiu, who has been an intern with HCL since Summer 2022, will be continuing as Curatorial Assistant. She will provide broad assistance to HCL Co-Directors in areas related to the management of the HCL studio at Mana Contemporary, documentation of our programs and events, and the production and presentation of public-facing events. This temporary position continues through 2023.
These team members join HCL’s Managing Director, Angee Lennard.
Meet Our Team
Rigo Saura Develops a Research Lab at HCL
Photo by Sharvani Killarni
Rigo Saura | Photo by Ren Picco-Freeman
Rigo Saura, 2023 HCL Partner Artist in Residence with Chicago Dancemakers Forum, is developing a Research Lab as a kind of counter-residency, with five Labs occurring across three weeks.
Dancers from different backgrounds and training are invited to take class together, led by Rigo. These Research Labs aim to open participants to look at the ways in which the temporary collective body might momentarily interrupt the established order that typically regulates a studio class. Through this intervention, dancers may reconfigure the nexus of relations that order the space and is used in composing a dance.
This Research Lab is purely experimental. It is open to the possibilities that people bring and engage with, and is for anyone seeking new subjective positions which fall outside of codes and hierarchies that otherwise govern the making of dance.
There are two Research Lab variations:
Research Lab Classes
These classes are designed for advanced and professional dancers and focus on professional training. We will explore the versatile mechanism of involving floor technique with upper body movement, while developing a dynamic kinetic energy and challenging our field of movement and technique.
Research Lab Classes are focused on the connectivity, partnering, and different quality of movement in the contemporary dance spectrum.
Wednesday, July 26, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday, August 2, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Wednesday, August 9, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Research Lab: Searching Material & Improvisation
Two sections of the research lab, titled “Searching Material & Improvisation”, are designed for any artistic mover who has the curiosity to express, explore and dialogue through movement. These sections are focused on exploration, improvisation and connection with yourself and others in the room. Led by Rigo Saura, Research Lab: Searching Material & Improvisation provides five hours in the studio where you can put your creativity and inspiration to play, connect with other artistic visions, and find enrichment through both observing and sharing your knowledge. These sections have a four-step structure: Warm-up, Improvisation, Creation and Presentation.
The culminating presentation step will pull together all the information and knowledge that we will be working on in the other steps to create a small work that we can share with guests (friends, family and students) at the end of the day.
Sunday, July 30, 3:00 to 8:00 pm
Sunday, August 6, 3:00 to 8:00 pm
Rigo Saura is a Partner Artist in Residence through the 2023 calendar year.
About the Artist
Rigo Saura is a 2023 Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist Finalist. He is a former soloist dancer of Danza Contemporánea of Cuba and soloist dancer of the classic cast in the National Ballet of Ecuador. He was Resident Choreographer in Ecuador’s Urban Ballet and Composition Master in the Metropolitan School of Art. Since moving to Chicago, he has been part of Ruth Page Center of the Arts and guest artist/instructor for the Professional Program at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Chicago DanceWorks , Thodos Dances, Visceral Dance Chicago, Theater and Performance Studies for the University of Chicago at the Reva and David Logan Center of the Arts, The Latin School Dance Program, Common Dance Conservatory, Chicago DanceCrash and Ruth Page Civic Ballet. Currently, he is a dancer, teacher, and resident choreographer at Hedwig Dances. He is winner of a L.A. Contemporary Choreography Lab and Chicago DanceMakers Forum Production Residency, and a 2022 guest choreographer at Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre. He is currently a Links Hall Co-Mission Artist.
Presented by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in Joint Residency at Mana Contemporary with support from Chicago Dancemakers Forum.
HCL Announces Departure of Artistic Director
High Concept Labs announces today the upcoming departure of its Artistic Director, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla.
CHICAGO, IL—High Concept Labs (HCL) announces today the upcoming departure of its Artistic Director, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla.
Since assuming the role in 2019, following the successes of previous Artistic Director Billie Howard, Cursach Montilla has brought extensive experience as a performing arts curator as well as a robust global network of creative partners to the benefit of HCL. She also brought many new developments to the organization, including significant revisions of HCL’s flagship residency program, including the addition of a formalized year-long post-residency fellowship opportunity, providing additional studio access as well as a continuation of curatorial and production support.
Cursach Montilla also initiated HCL’s LabX and LabE programs. LabX is a curated residency that promotes new work development through international exchange. LabE is an ongoing program designed to enable a vibrant disabled artist ecosystem and address the needs and interests of disabled artists through regular gatherings including community-building events and in-progress showings.
During her tenure as Artistic Director, Cursach Montilla played an important role in the emergence of new partnerships for HCL with a variety of organizations and supporters, and in the evolution of pre-existing ones. She has also sought to improve and expand access to HCL’s services.
Kevin Simmons, who founded High Concept Labs nearly fifteen years ago with friend and Founding Artistic Director, Molly Feingold, said: “Yolanda cares holistically about not just the artists’ work, but about their well-being, broadly defined. Her big heart, sharp mind, and deeply informed intuition have led to structures and strategies for HCL to maximize its impact on the city’s creative ecology, especially to the benefit of artists who may otherwise encounter systemic challenges to the development of their networks and practices. We thank her for her work and wish her well.”
Cursach Montilla’s last day as Artistic Director of High Concept Labs will be June 28th. The Board of Directors will commence its search for a new Artistic Director, to serve as Co-Director in partnership with Managing Director Angee Lennard, in early July.
The 2023 Residency: Impressions from HCL’s Artistic Director
HCL’s 2023 Winter Picnic, our annual residency welcome gathering
HCL’s 2023 Artist in Residence (AIR) and Fellow in Residence (FAR) programs brings together an accomplished cohort of artists working across various disciplines. In collaboration with HCL Artistic Director, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla, and Curatorial Assistant Intern, Mallory Yanhan Qiu, these artists will shape their 2023 residency to best serve their needs:
The following text has been written by Artistic Director, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla, and edited by Curatorial Assistant, Mallory Yanhan Qiu.
“A defining concern among the 2023 residency artists is loss, the concept of safety, and how one can access healing modalities in engaging the somatic experience of connection. The artists are untethering the control of the cognitive, letting the collective experiential happen and tooling it, through embodied movement, sound, and visual art. They are widening the idea of “audiation” too. This practice for making the hearing of the sound inside transmutable for collective healing has spread. The dance, visual and music-based artists understand the need of collective experiences for persons in their communities and everywhere to connect within.
It’s inconceivable for these artists to remove themselves from the experience of their practice. In fact, they seek that alchemy effect. HCL is ideally structured to be the apothecary. The artists at HCL are pushing the boundaries of their practice and making a meaningful impact in their communities and beyond.
The year-long residency and studio provide a unique opportunity for artists to combine different elements to create powerful and transformative experiences. The artists are multihyphenated and don’t underestimate themselves as community-gatherers, self-producers, administrators, and artists to push for progress around the issues of race, equity, and access at the institution. Some are making work that evoke both the immediate present and the past, the earthly and the unearthly, or letting a sense of humor shine into oppositional forces against the power structure. Yet, they are consistent about spanning outward from an unapologetic emotional center and visible inner presence. They create through deep collaboration and combine sound, music, movement, and technology to create expansive sensory universes. No artist is doing “a thing”.
HCL’s vision for 2023 is that artists forge divergent paths and embrace the studio’s possibility to hone practice, convene around ideas, stage skill sharings with peers, create and curate installations and performances, and much more unknown from here. We believe that the world is in need of new modes for healing and we are honored to provide the space for our resident artists to share their internal self-healing process and contribute to this collective endeavor.”
LabE Launches at Experimental Station
Photo by Tara Ahern
Unfolding Disability Futures | Photo by Justin Cooper
LabE is an HCL initiative dedicated to addressing the needs and interests of disabled artists. The originating version of LabE is curated by HCL Fellow Artist in Residence Maggie Bridgers, and is a series of monthly cohort meetings addressing particular needs of disabled dance artists such as studio access, development and production support, and platforms for promoting Chicago’s sick, Deaf and disabled dance artists.
The foundation of this series was established in 2022, through a residency at the Chicago Cultural Center Learning Lab, where disabled dance artists came together to dream about ways to address barriers in Chicago’s dance community. LabE is a year-long program built out of the following collectively-identified opportunities to address the particular needs of disabled dance artists:
In-Process Showings: Provide informal spaces to show and talk about work in progress
Training Development: Develop access & disability pedagogy trainings for the local dance community
Community Building Events: Organize social and community building spaces
Funding Application Writing Group: Host a writing group for artists working on funding applications
The name “LabE” represents HCL’s Open Labs series that fosters meaningful community exchange and Experimental Station, who is supporting the project as the host site for the full 2023 series of events.
LabE Calendar
Throughout the year, the community will meet the first Sunday of each month in-person at Experimental Station, with remote meetings scheduled as needed. Each month’s meeting will be dedicated to one of the four priorities that emerged out of 2022’s convening at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Participants are very welcome to attend the gatherings that are of personal interest and are not required to attend every meeting.
Sunday, February 5: Mapping Accessible Dance
Sunday, March 5: Training Group
Sunday, April 2: In-Process Showing
Sunday, May 28: Writing Group
Sunday, June 4: Training Group
Sunday, July 2: Cancelled due to inclement weather
Sunday, August 20: In-Process Showing
Sunday, September 17: Training Group
Sunday, October 15: Social Gathering (In Person)
Sunday, November 5: Social Gathering (Virtual)
Sunday, December 3: Convening of Chicago’s Disabled Artists
Who should attend?
All LabE events are open to Chicago-area dance artists who self-identify as Deaf/deaf/hard of hearing, sick, mad, neurodivergent, disabled or living with a disability, and/or who have lived experience with disability, chronic injury/pain or impairment. The space is particularly meant for those interested in exploring disability and impairment-informed modes of practicing dance.
Location
These are hybrid events. The in-person portion will take place at the Experimental Station. The online portion will take place via Zoom, with the zoom link sent out to all registrants in advance of the event.
Experimental Station
6100 S Blackstone Ave
Chicago, IL 60637
Access Information
The first floor of Experimental Station, where the event will be held, is wheelchair accessible, including accessible bathroom stalls. This event is intended to be relaxed, welcoming and comfortable for all in the space. Multiple forms of seating are available, as well as a few stim tools. You are welcome to come and go, bring your own access tools, and move about the space as needed during the event.
Fluorescent overhead lighting can be turned off if needed.
Please refrain from wearing any scented perfume, cologne, lotion, etc.
The accessible entrance to Experimental Station is a red door on the east side of the building. Free street parking is available. The nearest bus stops are the #59 at 61st and Dorchester or the #2, #171, and #172 at 60th and Kenwood. Experimental Station is just a few blocks away from the University of Chicago/59th Street Metra Station.
All attendees are asked to wear masks for the duration of the event, but please note that Experimental Station is a public space and that there will likely be unmasked people in the building. For those unable to mask or to risk being in a public space, we are offering a virtual option to join the event via Zoom. Attendees will be asked if they prefer to attend online or in-person upon registration, though they are welcome to switch their registration type and all registrants will be provided the link to attend on Zoom. AI Captioning is available via Zoom.
Accessibility Map
One LabE action item is to come together as a community to collectively compile a list of accessible dance studios, classes, and performance spaces in the city. By building community and crowdsourcing our favorite places to rehearse, take class, and perform, LabE hopes to create a more inclusive and accessible dance scene in Chicago for all.
About the Curator
Maggie Bridger is a 2022 City of Chicago Individual Artist Program grantee and PhD candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Disability and Human Development. She is a co-founder of the Inclusive Dance Workshop Series at Access Living, for which she and her project partner received a 2021 Chicago Area Albert Schweitzer Fellowship. She was part of the inaugural cohort of the Dancing Disability Lab at UCLA and serves on the planning committee for CounterBalance, Chicago's annual integrated dance concert.
Presented by High Concept Labs, with support from Monira Foundation and Experimental Station, where HCL is in residence.
High Concept Labs Announces 2023 Resident Artists
High Concept Laboratories (HCL), a Chicago-based arts service organization and artist incubator, announces 2023 Artists in Residence: Sofía Gabriel del Callejo, Helen Lee, Regina Martinez, Allen Moore, and avery r. young.
High Concept Laboratories (HCL) announces 2023 Artists in Residence: Sofía Gabriel del Callejo, Helen Lee, Regina Martinez, Allen Moore, and avery r. young. These multidisciplinary artists each receive a full year of access to no-cost studio space, a stipend, and additional support. In collaboration with Artistic Director, Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla, and other HCL staff, Artists in Residence are able to shape their residency to best serve their artistic development and professional growth. Resources range from advising on research, editorial and budgeting assistance for individual project grants, documentation and production support, to opportunities to share and discuss work-in-development through HCL’s Open Labs.
The residency selection process is guided by HCL’s eleven-member Artistic Advisory Council. This panel includes highly respected artists, educators, and curators who bring their expertise in sound art, performance, dance, video, new media, and more to the review process.
A defining concern among the full 2023 residency cohort is loss, the concept of safety, and how one can access healing modalities in engaging the somatic experience of connection,” explains Cesta Cursach Montilla.
These five Artists in Residence are joining seven Fellow Artists in Residence (FAR): Newly Formed Trio (Deidre Huckaby, Jessica Anne, & Mabel Kwan), Maggie Bridger, Meredith Haines, Shalaka Kulkarni, Corey Smith, Kinnari Vora, and Juliann Wang. The FAR program invites Artist in Residence (AIR) program alumni to continue for a second full year to further their projects and deepen their practice. Fellows receive no-cost studio space and the same customizable support offered to all artists in HCL’s residency programs.
In 2023, HCL will also welcome two Partner Artists in Residence (PAR). First, through the National Performers Network Creation Fund, HCL is able to co-commission new work by Sugar Vendil, who was an HCL Artist in Residence in 2019. Additional co-commissioners include Living Arts of Tulsa and National Sawdust. As one of nine Consortium Members of Chicago Dancemakers Forum (CDF), HCL anticipates providing one CDF 2023 Lab Artist with the same resources offered to Fellow Artists in Residence, including no-cost access to facilities, mentorship, and connectivity.
Cesta Cursach Montilla states, “The artists at HCL don’t underestimate themselves as community-gatherers, self-producers, administrators, and artists to push for progress around the issues of race, equity, and access at the institution. They create through deep collaboration and combine sound, music, movement and technology to create expansive sensory universes.”
Throughout 2023, this cohort of 14 resident artists and their collaborators will present in-progress projects and performances through Open Labs, HCL’s flexible event series that allows visibility for the creative process and the opportunity for artists to workshop projects and ideas and to develop perspective on their work.
2023 Artists In Residence
2023 Fellow Artists in Residence
Updated on 2/24/23.
HCL Receives Ruth Foundation for the Arts Core Grant
High Concept Labs (HCL) is honored to be one of 138 arts organizations to receive a Fall/2022 Ruth Foundation for the Arts Core Grant.
As an inaugural Core Grant recipient, HCL is one of 86 nonprofit arts organizations receiving approximately $50,000 of support from Ruth Arts. The one-year program builds out the Foundation’s programmatic scope and geographic reach. This grant will support our ongoing residency programs that artists praise for their depth, flexibility, and duration. These residencies provide an accessible environment for experimentation and discovery, and are bolstered by ongoing mentorship and programming support. This support will allow HCL to continue investing in our Active Hope and Reparation Accelerant (AHORA) initiative that funds the development and premieres of new community-attuned work by artists who identify as people of color and are current or recent artists in one of our residency programs.
Supported by the late Ruth DeYoung Kohler II and inspired by how artists live, make and are remembered, Ruth Arts launched earlier this year with a unique nomination process guided by 50+ artists, providing funding to nonprofit arts organizations nationwide.
“These programs are at once forward-facing and anchored in Ruth DeYoung Kohler II’s inimitable legacy,” says Executive Director Karen Patterson. “We’re proud to honor Ruth’s lifelong commitment to the arts by continuing to fund the organizations she personally supported, and to develop new programs in her spirit of experimentation and community-building.”
Alongside the Core Grant, the Ruth Foundation for the Arts is pleased to announce the multi-year Thought Leaders grantmaking program which awards an additional 14 nonprofit arts organizations $300,000 in the next three years.
High Concept Labs Welcomes New Managing Director
High Concept Laboratories announced today that Angee Lennard recently joined HCL as its new Managing Director. She joins HCL Artistic Director Yolanda Cesta Cursach Montilla in a co-leadership position with the organization. In partnership with Yolanda and HCL’s Board of Directors, Angee will steer the organization through its next phase of growth and innovation.
“We are so pleased and fortunate that Angee has joined our team as Managing Director,” stated Kevin Simmons, HCL founder and Co-Chair of HCL’s Board of Directors. “She embodies the passion and commitment required to build a creative community, while understanding the inherent challenges in sustaining and growing a non-profit arts organization.”
“Angee brings a depth of experience and expertise as an arts administrator and will bring much needed stability to HCL,” added Co-Chair Peter Taub. “After an extensive search, the Board is confident that Angee is the right person to elevate our operations in a way that will compliment and support the outstanding artistic excellence Yolanda has achieved since joining HCL.”
Yolanda, HCL’s Artistic Director since 2019, states, “I welcome Angee as a co-leader as we investigate how residencies and public events can better support current and future artists. HCL has always tended to artists whose multidisciplinary work reveals the concerns of the time. I am eager to work alongside Angee to broaden access to artists who amplify their communities and to provide a full range of resources guided by the principles of equity and inclusion.”
Ms. Lennard is an arts administrator and printmaker. Her deep involvement in the arts has spanned organizational leadership, operational management, program development, studio maintenance, and print production. She was the founder and Executive Director of Spudknik Press Cooperative, a community-based printmaking studio for fifteen years. As a professional printmaker, she has collaborated with local and nationally-recognized artists. She has been a lecturer at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Arts Administration and Policy and the Printmedia departments, and served as a Marwen Foundation Teaching Fellow and Treasurer for the Chicago Printers Guild (CPG). These experiences led her to a variety of local, regional, and national speaking engagements, as well as a variety of roles with colleges, universities, non-profits, and museums.
“I am deeply invested in HCLs’ mission to provide artists with the space, time, resources, and community that is required for sustained artistic experimentation,” Lennard said. “I look forward to collaborating with Yolanda to advance HCL programs through an artist-first approach.”
High Concept Labs Partners with Elevate Chicago Dance 2022
High Concept Labs is thrilled to be the Partner Organization of Chicago Dancemakers Forum Elevate Chicago Dance 2022. The cross-town festival will take place across four days in six locations and feature staged works, dance on camera, virtual reality, augmented reality, works-in-progress sharings, installation performance, outdoor experiences, and industry conversations with over 30 local dancemakers.
Elevate Chicago Dance 2022 includes 6 projects developed by HCL Residency Artists and Fellow Artists:
Yoshinojo Fujima aka Rika Lin (Fellow Artist in Residence) | Thursday, Oct 13, 10:00 a.m. -3:30 pm | Chicago Cultural Center | Kurokami E{m}Urge #ChooseYourReality (Produced by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Ginger Krebs (Fellow Artist in Residence) | Thursday, Oct 13-14, 7:30pm | The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago | All We Can See from Here (Supported by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Ayako Kato (Fellow Artist in Residence) | Friday, Oct 15, 11:00am-1:30pm & 3:00pm-5:30 pm | Palmisano Nature Park | LUCA/Res Communis: ETHOS Episode III (Produced by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Maggie Bridgers (Artist in Residence) | Sunday, Oct 16, 10:00am-1:00pm| Chicago Cultural Center | Cultivating Chicago's Disability Dance Community (Produced by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Aaliyah Christina (Fellow Artist in Residence) | Sunday, Oct 16, 2:00pm | Big Marsh Park | We praise mother while We be FAST (Supported by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Corey Smith (Artist in Residence) with Jasmine Lupe Mendoza and Lia Kohl | Sunday, Oct 16, 4:00pm | Big Marsh Park | Anatomy for Interiors (Supported by High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in joint Residency at Mana Contemporary)
Additionally, High Concept Labs and the Monira Foundation in Joint Residency at Mana Contemporary is an Elevate Site Partner and is hosting the Saturday 10/15 program featuring:
6:15pm: Extended Play by Christopher Knowlton
7:00pm: Raíces to Roots (excerpt) by María Luisa Torres and Luis Tubens
8:15pm: The F____, the Fawn, and the Boss (excerpt-in-progress) by Nora Sharp
8:45pm: In Lieu of Flowers by South Chicago Dance Theatre, choreographed by Kia S. Smith
9:00pm: the Function by Erin Kilmurray and collaborators
For more information, visit HCL upcoming events and the Elevate website.
HCL Resident Artist Maggie Bridger starts Her Residence at Chicago Cultural Center Learning Lab on October 16, 2022
Maggie Bridger is a sick and disabled dance artist and scholar whose work centers around disabled bodyminds in dance, with a focus on reimagining pain through the creative process. In residence at the Learning Lab, Maggie is partnering with High Concept Labs and local disabled dance artists to develop a pilot program to support and platform Chicago's disabled dancemakers.
Elevate Chicago Dance 2022 celebrates the first day of Maggie Bridger's residence at Chicago Cultural Center Learning Lab, "Cultivating Chicago's Disability Dance Community”. Attendees are welcomed to relax and rest at the Learning Lab with soft seating and a short interview and performance film that documents some of the recent work shown by Chicago disabled dance makers. Maggie and her collaborators develop works with a particular focus on ways that disabled dance artists are developing and sustaining disability dance in Chicago. Also, attendees are invited to add an interactive map of accessible dance spaces in Chicago, which will become a broadly shared resource for the Chicago dance community.
More public events are coming, visit HCL upcoming events and Learning Lab website to see more.
Unfolding Disability Futures | Photo Credit: Justin Cooper
HCL announces 2022 International LabX-change Residency Artist: Juan Parodi
HCL’s LabX residency supports one creative international exchange annually. The 2022 residency is a partnership with Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA) and supports Juan Parodi, directorial guest artist, with a studio to develop a new adaption for Chicago produced by CLATA of Tebas Land, by playwright Sergio Blanco. Juan is developing the work in collaboration with Chicago-based performers Tommy Rivera-Vega and Esteban Schemberg. Blanco conceived his two-person play as adaptable to the sociopolitical climate of the region where it is staged, as a type of collaboration with the director. The initial staging of Blanco’s Tebas Land toured in South America and Europe, and had 17 different stagings on all continents since 2013.
Tebas Land makes its North American premiere as part of Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival, produced by Chicago Latino Theater Alliance. It runs 22 September through 9 October, 2022 at Chicago Dramatists. For information visit Destinos website.
![Applications for the 2023 Artist in Residency (AIR) program will remain open until Sunday, October 9th, 2022 [11:59 PM CST]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5fb623e14558580224601fa1/1663357332768-SKDZD5KGHQN1OR6IHY6F/AIR+update+the+date.jpg)
Applications for the 2023 Artist in Residency (AIR) program will remain open until Sunday, October 9th, 2022 [11:59 PM CST]
Applications for the 2023 Artist in Residency (AIR) program will remain open until Sunday, October 9th, 2022 [11:59 PM CST]
The AIR application deadline has been postponed to Sunday, October 9th, 2022 [11:59 PM CST]
Save the Date Applications open August, 16, 2022 for the Artist in Residency (AIR)
Save the Date
Applications open August, 16, 2022 for the Artist in Residency (AIR)
Applications open August, 16, 2022 for the Artist in Residency (AIR)
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