Art Work Day
Join Me for Another Art Work Day in Chicago
Yesterday, I traveled to the Art Institute of Chicago [AIC] for a long day of writing in the wild. I self-assigned a task and attended a Writing in the Galleries event.
This Thursday, I worked with Kat and a few members of the Shut Up and Write group. Kat had arranged all of this, so thankfully, I wasn’t managing any people.
The train was on time and we hopped aboard! Instead of walking around in the chilly air we went back into the Van Buren station and waited til it was time to meet our friend, already in the city. The museum usually doesn’t open until exactly 10, but they opened the door 3 minutes early!
We had some bumbles. One friend had a backpack, which is not allowed in the museum. He ended up buying a canvas tote in the gift shop to use. It is super cute though, and I may buy one of my own! We also forgot to warn our friends that there are no power outlets in the member lounge, where we planned to spend most of the day working. Luckily, Kat has an amazing portable charger for computers which saved the day.
For member hour, we started in the Thorne Miniature Rooms. It was super hot in there [it usually is], but I started to feel nauseous and had to leave.
We spent some time with Paradise Lost and the Korean National Treasure exhibit, and then went upstairs. I had a call that began at eleven I needed to be online for.
I also worked on a residency application which involves a 10-page writing sample, my writer resume, and a cover letter. I wanted to get the bulk of this work done so I can let it marinate and then review to send by Sunday.
I worked with my notes and wrote some fiction pieces in my notebook.
I was meeting a writing friend I met at a past Writing in the Gallery event in the lounge later in the afternoon. She came to the lounge to write and then attend a member talk after. She walked with me to the writing in the gallery event and then moved on to her event. It was nice to chat and get to know her a little bit better.
Lunch in the Lounge
I had an espresso turkey sandwich with some homemade chips and caramelized onion dip after the 1 pm tour. The tour was about French Impressionists. One painting completed just before the Impressionists had a hydra in it, which is the second time this emerged this week. I am paying attention to this detail.
My friends and I sat at a long table towards the back of the lounge and we laughed quite a bit while we snacked and worked. It was a great environment!
Writing in the Gallery
was hosted by Nancy Chen in the Goff exhibit. This was the evening sister of the event I went to last month so she warned me the prompts were the same. I reassured her I am a different writer than I was last month and I focus on different aspects of the exhibits no matter how many times I visit them.
The group was amazing this session, the conversation flowed and was interesting which is one advantage of attending these events. A violinist and pianist were visiting the city for a chamber music competition and added a creative spin to the art and writing we hadn’t had before. There were two fiction writers who attended the same MFA program who also shared amazing insights. It was a fueling 1.5 hours for sure.
Almost all the writers expressed interest in staying in touch with the group I am gathering, so I will send a welcome email today.
I met back up with Kat and Matt after the session so we could see a few more artworks and then head home. In the evening, the trains do not run as frequently, so we were stuck for another hour.
Overall
On the ride home, I realized we had been in the museum for 9 hours - not including travel time. Although I worked and achieved a remarkable amount while spending time with people I love to share time with, I think it was a bit too long for me. I had a late night Wednesday which contributed to this feeling I believe. I am thankful my schedule is light today.
I also feel like I haven’t been home much in March! I was gone from the first to the sixth and the last two days have been full and I have been away from home until 10 pm. This week has been heavy for several reasons.
I had to wind down from the excitement of the day so Chris and I chatted til about midnight before we went to bed.
As usual, I have notes and a lot of input from the day, which is a large part of the purpose. All of it will influence my writing over the next few days. It is a big win!
Do you love museums? I invite you to join my next course:
An Invitation to the Museum Portfolio Course
Join me for learning designed especially for writers who love art.
If you missed my recap of my last artwork days, you can read that here:
I am writing more robust museum guides where I share the specifics of my self-imposed writing assignments - you can find the first one here:
A little more about me: Tammy L. Evans is a writer, teacher, and professional curator living in a tiny house on a peninsula with her husband, adventure cat, and Parkour loving black kitten. Tammy’s location device is her loud laugh. She is the creator and host of THE TRIO COURSE. Her poetry has been published in The Storyteller, FoxGlove Journal, Story Hall, Blue Insights, The Partnered Pen, and others. Her fiction has been published in Gone Lawn, South Florida Poetry Journal, Cabinets of Heed, Spelk, Five on the Fifth, Fiction Berlin Kitchen, and longlisted for the Welkin Prize 2026.