Material is an Artist Run Project Space that is located in the storefront, adjacent to my studio. Since 2019, Material has hosted between 3 - 5 Solo Exhibitions per year. The artists or artist/curator teams that have shown were either selected by me, recommended to me, proposed an exhibition, or were artists who I came to know over time and enjoyed several studio visits.

Material is a space where a body of work by an emerging or mid-career artist can be thought through from inception to exhibition and finally thinking through the afterlife it will have in it's various forms of documentation.

I have never been awarded a grant to pay the artists and curators who work with Material. I have deep gratitude to people who support artists by collecting their work as well as my fellow Artist Run Project Spaces around Chicago. I also am grateful to my spouse: Mark, and kids: Ivy and Basil, who have helped in all the unseen ways to keep this space going.

The Material/Artist split is 70/30, during the run of an exhibition and for the few objects that remain in our Works Available section.

The artists, curators, and Material, work together in a cycle of mutual charity. My hope is that their ideas and creations expand our communion with each other and deepen the appreciation of the artist and their work.

With gratitude,
Jean Alexander Frater