The Art Institute to Honor Ed Clark with the Legends and Legacy Award

The Art Institute of Chicago's Leadership Advisory Committee is pleased to present the third Legend and Legacy Award to artist Ed Clark on Friday, October 25, 2013. The award is conferred upon living African American artists who, through their lifelong accomplishments, have achieved national acclaim with careers spanning over 50 years. Clark is the third recipient of this distinguished honor. Previous award winners include Elizabeth Catlett (2005) and Margaret Burroughs (2010).

The evening features a conversation between the artist and Ronne Hartfield, former Woman's Board Endowed Executive Director of Museum Education at the Art Institute, in Rubloff Auditorium beginning at 6:30 p.m. A reception and gallery viewing follow at 7:30 p.m. in the Modern Wing's Griffin Court. The evening concludes with a silent auction for a once-in-a-lifetime experience in New York, which includes a roundtrip flight, a studio visit with the artist, and the opportunity to select a signed painting from Clark's studio.

Individual tickets to the Legends and Legacy Award Honoring Ed Clark are $150 per person and include the program, buffet reception, and set of Ed Clark notecards. Patron tickets are $500 per person and also include an Ed Clark catalogue, reserved seating during the program and reception, and recognition in the event program (subsidizes one student ticket). Collectors Circle tickets are $1,000 and, in addition to Patron-level benefits, includes an invitation to an exclusive event at Neiman Marcus, a signed poster, and recognition in the event program (subsidizes two student tickets). Gold Collectors Circle tickets are $5,000 and include two tickets to the event, an invitation to a private event with Ed Clark, two signed posters, an invitation to an exclusive event at Neiman Marcus, and significant recognition during the event (subsidizes two student tickets). For more information on the event, or to purchase tickets, please contact Natalie Harris Lenz at (312) 443-3133 ornharrislenz@artic.edu.

Half of the net proceeds raised will benefit the Walter and Shirley Massey Chicago Fund and its mission to support need-based scholarships at the School of the Art Institute.

About Ed Clark

Ed Clark (b. 1926) began his career as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and continued his studies in Paris. He is the first painter credited with working on a shaped canvas, an innovation that influenced contemporary art through the 1950s and 1960s. He is also known for his powerful brushstrokes achieved with everything from a push broom to his bare hands, as well as for his large-scale canvases and vibrant use of color. His numerous awards include the National Endowment for the Arts' Masters Award, the Musée du Louvre's Prix d'Othon Friez, the Adolph Gottlieb Award, and the Congressional Achievement Award. Clark's work is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as in many museum collections worldwide.