It’s been four years since people were put in lockdown for numerous months due to a contagious virus. Despite the passing of time and the creation of vaccines to contain the virus, people and businesses still suffer in the aftermath of COVID-19 in various ways, specifically in Chicago’s art scene.

 

Research conducted by Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and SMU Data Arts revealed that the city’s art industry has struggled to regroup following the pandemic. Numerous factors, including dwindling ticket sales, lack of attendance, increased costs, budget constraints, and the failure of private donations to meet expenses because of inflation, have led to this struggle within the city’s artistic world.

 

While there has been slight progression within the last two years, art organizations have not been able to fully recover business-wise, except for the Bridgeport Art Center.

 

The Bridgeport Art Center, located near Guaranteed Rate Field at 1200 W 35th St, is home to more than 300 tenants, most of whom are art studios for creatives. The building includes a fashion design center, three galleries that feature numerous exhibitions, and two event spaces available to rent: The Skyline Loft and Sculpture Garden.

 

During the pandemic, director of marketing Jeff DeLong made creative changes in order to make the building more marketable.

 

“I took the opportunity to redo the website, redo some of the branding, and update the logo a little bit. I’ve been in entertainment marketing most of my career, so for me it was like, how do we build an audience when we can’t have an audience?” DeLong said.

 

When visiting bridgeportart.com, it directs viewers immediately to its leasing and event booking, differing from how the site was structured previously, as it focused on the art and exhibitions within the center. The shift on the website was intentional, as the two event spaces within the building bring in the most amount of money and people, which helps the center in multiple aspects.

“If you’re going to drop 12 thousand dollars for one night, that’s 12 tenants. If you do three or four events like that in a weekend, that’s a nice business model,” DeLong said.

In 2022, in-person attendance recovered slightly as it pertained to citywide art events, however, it was still 60% lower than it was pre-pandemic. Attendance in Chicago museums decreased by only 14%. Yet, the biggest drops in attendance were for performing arts and cultural organizations, as they decreased by 59% to 73%.

While the center did face attendance difficulties like any other art organization during the pandemic, it was able to regroup and maintain consistent attendance numbers in the aftermath. 

“We were kind of dead in the water,” DeLong said, “But then we started to do open studios here [in the Sculpture Garden]. We did contact tracing, just in case anyone got COVID, and because we were taking those steps, I think it gave people a degree of confidence that they could come back [to the center].”

Despite reports suggesting that the Chicago art scene and its businesses are in crisis, The Bridgeport Art Center serves as a maverick as it continues to garner revenue and attendance through its rebranding.

Upon exiting the elevator and entering the 18,000-square-foot event space known as “The Skyline Loft,” located on the fifth floor, viewers are met by 15-foot wood-beamed ceilings that feature mesmerizing views of Chicago’s skyline.