Prime 8 Art League Dedicated to Connecting the Creator Community with Influential Brands, Technology Shops, and Creative Agencies
Post graduation, Andrew founded the Prime 8 Art League — a social enterprise dedicated to connecting the creator community with influential brands, technology shops and creative agencies — as a means to activate, inspire and challenge the private sector.
In 2011, eight members of Gorilla Group’s (Chicago based creative agency) creative team set forth to stay connected to Chicago’s local art scene as many of them had backgrounds in printmaking, painting, photography and music. As a result, the team convinced the company to fund a passion project to conduct a local “Call for Artists” application process, commission those artists and host an event celebrating the newly created pieces. 60 applicants later (we selected five) and a cover page write up in the Chicago Reader provided us with signals that we were onto something worth pursuing. This project would affectionately be called the Prime Eight Art League.
For the next six years we continued to improve the application process, partnered with strategic brands/companies and leveled up the experience of being part of the Prime Eight Art League ecosystem.
In 2016, we hosted our most ambitious fundraising event at the House of Vans in Chicago showcasing artists from around the world, live painting, big ticket raffle, live entertainment and more. All proceeds from the evening went to our great friends and official NFP partner Marwen. Watch the recap video here.
In 2017, we shifted gears and sunset the application process to pursue the service offerings of creative consultation, creator representation and sponsorship procurement. As a result, we have been privileged to work with brands like Facebook, Instagram, Vans, New Era Caps, Brooklyn Boulders and more.
About Andrew:
With roots in the agency, technology and design communities Andrew walks the line between the conceptual and tangible arenas. A designer by trade, he's spent most of his career actively listening in anticipation of thoughtfully and accurately representing his clients.
In addition, Andrew has been invited to speak about industry trends at Gensler, IxDA, Northwestern University's High Tech Club and is a former board member of AIGA Chicago. He has been featured in Soho House's House Magazine, holds a BFA in Printmaking from Ohio University and an MFA in Digital Media from Rhode Island School of Design.
