Unlikely Artists Connect at Second Annual Chicago Calling

CHICAGO - As a Chicago musician’s clarinet sang graciously to the solemn words of an Oakland poet, the unique paths of two artists briefly crossed.

“I felt like something happened there,” said Guillermo Gregorio, the Argentinean-born clarinetist now based in Illinois. “I was inspired in that moment.”

The poet, David Harrison Horton, shared the instrumentalist’s appreciation.

“Tonight was incredible with Guillermo,” said Horton, a California writer and performer. “I don’t live in Chicago. I may have never gotten to perform with him.”

These types of opportunities were precisely what the Second Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival provided to nearly 80 artists last week. The four-day festival, which began on October 24^th, aimed to connect artists from various cities and countries.

“Chicago Calling’s central goal is to help foster collaborative projects between Chicago-based artists and artists who live elsewhere,” said Daniel Godston, one of the festival’s organizers.

Perhaps the most luminous example of this geographic connect occurred when Asimina Chremos, a dancer and choreographer from Chicago, improvised in movement while Chuck Stebelton, a Milwaukee-based poet, performed his poetry. Horton believes that these interactions made the Chicago Calling worth the trip.

“Chicago Calling is an opportunity to perform with someone and learn from someone you wouldn’t usually be able to,” Horton said. “That really was the impetus for me to come from California – just the fact that I’d be working with artists that I usually wouldn’t be able to team up with.”

Last year, Horton participated in Chicago Calling from Stanford University and performed with musicians at the University of California at San Diego, the University of Alaska, and Loyola University Chicago over the Internet. This year’s festival again took advantage of modern technology, and connected artists in Chicago with others in places like New York and South Korea.

This connectivity generates opportunities for artists that never before existed, but it also makes some performances very vulnerable to technical shortcomings. On Friday at Elastic, a multidisciplinary performance space in Logan Square, before an audience of about 30 people, Godston performed with New York bassist Tom Abbs via Google Talk. Several minutes into the performance, the artists’ web connection failed.

“Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But an important part of any kind of discovery in artistic pursuit is the willingness to be experimental,” said Godston, who also teaches at Columbia College of Chicago. “Sometimes if it doesn’t work, it’s still good to try. You can go back later and try to figure out what worked and what didn’t, and improve upon it for next time.”

The unique collaborations that highlighted Chicago Calling did not break down only geographical barriers. For many artists, the festival also offered a refreshing sense of integration between different genres of art.

“I’m used to interacting with other kinds of visual artists, but not much with poets, for example, or dancers,” Gregorio said. “I think that interacting with those people was a very rich experience. Art forms should not just be linked together or have a relationship – they should be in absolute fusion.”

These interdisciplinary performances opened new doors for some of the festival’s younger artists. Adesuwa Obazee, a teacher in Chicago, performed with renowned musician Douglas Ewart during last year’s festival. Ewart was so impressed with Obazee’s improvisational dancing that he took down her information for future performances.

“Getting that kind of feedback from someone like Mr. Ewart made my year,” said Obazee, who also writes poetry. “One of the reasons I like this festival is that it lets new people get their foot in the door and be seen.”

Chicago Calling is sponsored by Poets & Writers, Inc., WNUR and Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. Although Poets & Writers Inc. contributed some funding, much of the festival’s expenses still came out of Godston’s pocket. However, Godston thinks that the festival will continue to grow and become self-sustainable.

“Chicago Calling is definitely picking up steam, and it’s going to be really exciting next year,” Godston said. “I’ve always believed the Chicago area is an important hub of cultural activity, and hopefully the festival keeps supporting that.”