ABSTRACT
The aspiring artist must be resourceful. As a film student at Chicago’s School of the Art Institute, Delia financed her project in part with loft parties. Local deejays entertained gratis at these affairs, and completed scenes from the film-in-progress were projected against a brick wall. For the filming itself, locals in the café crowd were recruited to serve in various capacities-as set designers, camera operators, script consultants, or actors. Those lacking the requisite talents for one of the technically demanding tasks contributed as extras. Artists in Wicker Park participated in this sort of thing readily-after all, they expected the others to show up at the opening of their art exhibits, or the premier of their new play, or the read-through of their script in progress, or the finals of their poetry slam. A critical mass is necessary to support
the production of culture for which there is as yet little popular demand or monetary support. It amounts to a bohemian bargain, and it helps us to understand why artistic sorts across genres continue to value urban propinquity.
