Photographer Mike McCaskey: from the NFL to the Voices Warehouse Gallery

This article originally appeared in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald on Tuesday, August 30, 2011, and appears here with permission.

Mike McCaskey’s Next Chapter

by Clete Campbell

The Bears co-owner finds a new inspiration in photography

Cultural worlds away from the National Football League, Mike McCaskey has found his passion. In a Trappist monastery, in the people, farmlands and classrooms of Ethiopia, in the picturesque native scenery of the Upper Mississippi River Valley, the co-owner of the Chicago Bears is at inspired peace. After years working in the high-pressure, highly scrutinized front office of one of the NFL’s most high-profile teams, McCaskey has traded his suit and NFL owners’ meetings for the world of photography.

“This time around, I get my choice, and I choose photography, and being an artist and trying to tell stories using images,” said McCaskey, who stepped down as the Bears’ chairman earlier this year. “To me, it’s wonderfully exciting.”

McCaskey unveiled pieces of his work Monday in a sneak preview of his new show opening Sept. 10 at Dubuque’s Voices From the Warehouse Gallery. The exhibit will showcase 12 featured artists, including works showcasing memories and inspirations of of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

“Mike is the type of artist we want, because he’s reinventing himself for the third or fourth time,” Voices’ Sam Mulgrew said. “He’s an academic. He was in the Peace Corps. He ran a sports franchise. Now, he’s in a new chapter in his life and he’s diving back into his (passion). “He’s an emerging artist and he needs what we can provide: a lot of people to see his artwork and (a stage) to showcase his work.”

McCaskey’s images range from vibrant black and white images of the junior high students he taught in Fiche, Ethiopia, from 1965-67, to scenes and people from New Melleray Abbey monastery and striking shots of Iowa farms and prairies.

“You have a handsome rolling landscape of Iowa by the Mississippi River,” said McCaskey, showing one of his Iowa nature prints. “People don’t think (of Iowa) looking that way. One of the things I like to do with my photography is show people things they weren’t expecting.”

He has also escaped the sometimes harsh limelight of the NFL. McCaskey presided over a volatile era in Bears history during the team’s near-decade long slump of the 1990s. His firing of the popular Mike Ditka in 1993, controversial personnel decisions — including the botched hiring of Dave McGinnis in 1999 — and the team’s rash of losing seasons in the late 90s made him a prime target for criticism for fans, sports talk radio hosts and newspaper columnists.

Working in the NFL “is a real test (of character),” McCaskey said. “The media is extravagent both ways: Too much praise if you do well, and too much criticism — some of it unfounded. You have to go with your own internal compass and do what you think is right.”

Here, McCaskey is away from it all, and in a place of serenity. The Bears are always in his heart, but photography is Mike McCaskey’s passion now. “What I’ll miss is opening day, and not being on the sideline before the game, and talking with the head coaches and saying, ‘What do you think of this year?’” McCaskey said. “My hope (for the Bears) is to be a real good fan and enjoy the game from the stands without the same sense of responsibility that’s been on my shoulders for a lot of years.”

Live art exhibition with Rogue Citizen of the Twin Cities

Live Paint by Rogue Citizen
Voices Gallery opening reception
Saturday Sept. 10, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.

Enjoy the collaborative live painting of Rogue Citizen, to be showcased at the Voices from the Warehouse District opening reception on Sept. 10, starting at 7:00 p.m. A crew of four artists from the Twin Cities, Rogue Citizen will generate a work from inception to finish during the event. “The work we’re creating at Voices will be on a large surface with acrylics, ink, collage, and whatever else makes its way on. The goal is to be finished by the end of opening night.”

Consisting of midwesterners Shawn Dalsen, Eric Mattheis, Matt McGorry, and Matt Wells, Rogue Citizen’s visual art has evolved under the influence of video games and urban street graffiti, tossed with raw social commentary. A collaborative exhibition held this spring in Minneapolis, Execute Rogue Citizen, focused on themes of imprisonment and the American justice system, and ended with the planned destruction of unsold works.

An art collective since 2009, Rogue Citizen creates live art that springs from the group vibe and hinges on observer feedback. “Usually the audience does not directly participate, but conversation and interaction is really valuable, and there have been a few occasions where folks are invited to tag and paint on a surface we’re working on.”

With three formal art degrees amongst the four-man crew, the merging of their individual efforts results in a dynamic group style.  “One artist is usually designated to be the lead and prepare ideas and imagery before the event.  During these projects all of us bring our technical strengths, keeping communication as open as possible to get a final product we’re all satisfied with.” Their joint work reveals an affinity for science fiction, with bold robotic images, superhero-esque humans, and otherworldly dreamscapes of action.

Emerging as collaborative artists when offered the opportunity to create live paintings during concerts, Rogue Citizen has gained acclaim for urban murals. “The first outdoor mural we all worked on as Rogue Citizen was 60ft long on the side of Shuga Records in northeast Minneapolis over a three-day festival, and with minimal preparation.  It was a pretty spontaneous collaboration made more interesting with free beer and heat stroke.  Since then our outdoor walls have been more calculated, although there’s always plenty of room for improvisation.”

In addition to sharing the collaborative live work to be generated during the Voices Gallery opening reception, each of the four artists will also display a 4ft x 8ft interpretive self portrait. “Rogue Citizen is excited to get out of the Cities for the first time as a crew, and show everyone there how we do it in the 612 [the Minneapolis telephone area code].  It should be a lot of fun, and we look forward to visiting other cities in the midwest soon.” Look for more information about Rogue Citizen at Lizardman Art or on their Facebook page. You can also watch a time lapse video of their live art here.

About the author: A writer and social media specialist, Pamela can be found at creativedubuque.com

Emergence of Spirit: Expression from the Self Within, a runway hairshow

A live art hairshow runway exhibition
By Michele Chillook
Sunday Sept. 18, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 7:00)

“It’s renegade,” said Michele Chillook about the concept behind her runway hairshow, scheduled for Sunday, September 18th at the Voices Warehouse Gallery. A local photographer and cosmetologist with experience in creating over-the-top, edgy looks for professional photo sessions, Chillook plans an evening of music, dance, and outlandishly elaborate runway fashion designs.

“I think of Emergence of Spirit as my coming out as an artist.”

Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. for an opportunity to relax with a beverage and enjoy the art gallery. Event goers can listen to acoustic tunes and vocals by local musician Maureen Kilgore, whose premiere of an original piece will be accompanied by a Julliard-trained dancer. Then the pace will pick up for a techno-vibe soundtrack to a radical runway experience starting at 8:00 p.m.

Other stylists, makeup artists, and models will assist Chillook in using clothing, jewelry, and hair designs to push the line and disprove “the perception that things are different, and they’re bad because they’re different.” She linked the runway hairshow to the ReVolt theme of this year’s Voices gallery. “I think of Emergence of Spirit as my coming out as an artist.”

“I’ve had to break out of a box already, just to be who I am,” said Chillook. As a hair stylist, Chillook’s creative edginess is sought after by her Dubuque area clients. “I feel that people come to me because I have allowed that inner repression to be an expression.”

In Emergence of Spirit: Expression from the Self Within, she is encouraging the other participating stylists to burst beyond repression to display their wildest design ideas. “It’s that part of you inside that says, ‘Come on, just do this,’ and you keep saying no, no, shoving it down instead of letting it out.”

Adorned with finely crafted jewelry along with hairstyles inspired by original outfits, Chillook’s models will wear designs that exemplify expanding beyond the constraints of society.  For instance, she plans to fabricate a pair of outfits using Styrofoam, “to demonstrate the re-creation of the box we’re put in.” First appearing on the runway as a model clothed in Styrofoam boxes, the Styrofoam will return, metamorphosed into an entirely different and more genuine wardrobe.

Chillook plans another outfit devised from clothing labels, as a commentary on judging individual people by labels. Offering herself as an example, she said, “I’m a cosmetologist, but there’s so much more.” She envisions the hairshow exhibition as a gut-level, creative self-expression that acts against the forces that tell us who we should be, how we should live.

Time — Chillook’s “artistic challenge” in her working life — will be shattered by an outfit adorned with watches and timepieces, in a design still in the conceptual phase. In addition, a model wearing only black light body paint, with exuberantly colored hair, will “demonstrate aspects of our nature that we try to cover up with material things.”

Art and fashion lovers are invited to attend the Emergence of Spirit runway hairshow exhibit on September 18th for a visual ReVolt against society’s expectations. Enjoy live music from local songstress Maureen Kilgore at 7:00 p.m. with limited hors d’oeuvres, followed at 8:00 by live art on the runway, with models styled head to toe in original designs.

Dubuque actress Chrissy Hogue will act as MC, and Luminous Life Photography from Galena, Illinois, will be on hand to photograph the event. According to artist and event stylist Michele Chillook, Emergence of Spirit: Expression from the Self Within  will celebrate the irrepressible “freedom to do it our way.”

About the author: A writer and social media specialist, Pamela can be found at creativedubuque.com