About | HEAVEN GALLERY

Mission

Heaven Gallery is a non-profit and multi-disciplinary arts space in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood that presents emerging artists and musicians. In order to encourage submissions from a diverse pool of artists, the gallery widely promotes an open proposal process and does not charge submission or exhibition fees. Heaven strives to make art accessible to all community members; our art exhibitions are free of charge and all music events are open to audiences on a pay-what-you-can basis. Heaven also hosts regular community events to help promote public discourse through discussion and education. The gallery offers internships that mentor young artists on how to run an art gallery while learning entrepreneurial skills. In 2018, the organization also extended its educational program by partnering with the Parks District in Wicker Park to teach children art.

Support

Heaven Gallery is supported by grants from The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, SSA #33, and The Illinois Art Council Agency and The Art Works Fund In 2011, the organization created a model of retail sustainability with a small vintage shop in the front of the gallery.

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History

In 1997, David Dobie established Heaven in the Flat Iron Building in Wicker Park, Chicago. In July 2000, the gallery moved across the street to its current location at 1550 N. Milwaukee Ave. Over the past 19 years, Heaven Gallery has established itself as a launching pad for Chicago artists in all media including painting, sculpture, photography, film, and digital art. Heaven has monthly exhibitions as well as various video and film programs on a regular basis. Some of the featured artists include Marie Kennedy, Doug Lussenhop, Eric Fensier, Cat Chow, Doug Fogelson, Stephen Eichhorn, Jason Lazarus, Mika Horbuchi, and many others. Early Heaven musical performances include Dark Dark Dark, Anni Rossi, and Angel Olsen. In 2011, the organization added a small vintage shop to the front of the gallery to help fund the program. Since opening the shop, our outreach has expanded to a whole new audience with hundreds of people visiting every weekend.