From our BEST Arts of the decade feature:
Eight artists with eight hours to each create a work of art live in and front of (and often in collaboration with) an audience of local art lovers, this all-day event gets everything right. It represents the perfect collaboration between town and gown. 8 to Create is run entirely by University of Illinois students, yet features a wide range of local artists, including one lucky undergraduate artist. By putting the public front and center for the entire creative process, this event breaks down the myths and mysteries surrounding the making of art and replaces it with real experience and engagement. There is nothing as satisfying as watching a creative vision gradually emerge into being. 8 to Create is the closest thing visual artists and their fans come to the kind of interaction and energy exchange that live theatre inspires. Let’s be sure to keep this program growing by supporting it with our attendance, or by donating to their various fundraisers throughout the year. (Debra Domal)
Photo from 8 to Create Facebook page; artwork by Anat Ronen