Evanston Made has a new 6-month art pop-up series on the Main-Dempster Mile beginning this September. The shop will feature a new medium each month until February, such as paintings and photography, to give various local artists a chance to showcase and sell their work.

The Dempster St. pop-up is a wide gallery space filled with art of all sizes, mediums and color schemes. It’s decorated with mid-century modern furniture from Skokie antique dealer Swantiques so people can imagine the art in their homes, Evanston Made founder and  executive director Lisa Degliantoni said. 

“We don’t have a physical location for Evanston Made. We always pop up in places,” Degliantoni said. “Our long term goal is to have a physical building where we can do … retail, a studio space and exhibitions.”

Every piece in the shop is meticulously placed, which Degliantoni hopes will show shoppers that all art, large and small, expensive and affordable, can sit well together. There are even paintings in the bathroom and sitting on easels to show buyers there’s no such a thing as a  conventional location for art.

The pop-up will feature paintings in September, photography in October, a holiday market in November and December, fiber and 3D art in January and printmaking in February. 

Nina Weiss has been an artist with Evanston Made for three years and has studied and produced art since she was 11. Weiss grew up in New York, and said she became a nature cyclist when she moved to Chicago, which inspired her genre of landscape paintings. 

“It’s nice to be able to paint what makes me happy and other people as well,” Weiss said.

Weiss said featuring her work in the pop-up has brought people to her personal studio. According to her, Evanston Made only takes 30% of artist profits, compared to typical rates at other galleries –– which Weiss said is 50%.

Mixed-media artist Lisa Haskin said she has always kept herself busy with art projects, from collages to graphic design to oil paintings. 

“(Mixed media) was a way of expressing myself in a different way that was very loose, non-structured and the art kind of comes to life and evolves,” Haskin said. 

Haskin said Evanston Made has granted her amazing exposure, especially as an introvert who prefers staying home and painting rather than advertising her work. 

Evanston Made used to host annual group shows for artists, but with growing membership –– which is currently at about 450 –– the organization pivoted to rotating mediums to allow all members a fair exhibition opportunity, Degliantoni said. 

Over 20 pieces have sold since the pop-up shop’s opening Sept. 3, bringing almost $6,000 in art sales, Degliantoni said. The prices range so that the art is affordable to the average buyer, with the most expensive being $2400 and the least expensive $40, she added.

“It’s really hard to get gallery representation (and) very expensive to get into shows,” Degliantoni said. “What we try to do with Evanston Made is remove all those barriers… we just want artists to be able to participate in the thing that they do and they love, and the expression they want to share with the community.”

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