Explanations: For Non-Members

The Palette and Chisel is a center for the study and practice of representational visual art with the following salient -- and often unique -- characteristics:

1. A primary emphasis on open (non-instructed) live-model workshops -- approximately 35 hours/week, 52 weeks/year.

2. A secondary emphasis on 10-week classes on a variety of representational practices -- including figure drawing, watercolor landscapes, figure sculpture, figure oil painting, and Asian brush painting - with a variety of instructors, techniques, and approaches..

3. Periodic special week-long workshops on various topics (still-life, portrait, figure, landscape) with popular instructors - often visiting artists with national reputations.

4. A first-class (recently remodeled) gallery space in the upscape
'Goldcoast' neighborhood of Chicago

5. A modest schedule of annual dues -- currently running $30/month -- permitting free access to all non-instructed workshops.

6. A membership that is open, basically, to anyone who calls himself-herself an artist or art student.

7. A board of directors that is elected by the members.

There's really nothing quite like it in the country -- if not the world -- and it is not surprising that recent years have seen several young artists from other states, as well as Europe and Asia, come to Chicago to work here.

But the Palette and Chisel should not be considered a neo-academic atelier. There is no strict curriculum -- there are a variety of approaches -- and there is really no vetting of instructors, as long as they fit within the general category of representational art. The instructors we have are those who have been able to attract -- and keep -- a group of interested students.

Membership is ethnically -- and chronologically -- diverse -- with a relatively large number of retirees.