Diners who wander into the recently opened Gallery Cafe on the second floor of the new AT&T Corporate Center, at Monroe and Franklin Streets, will have a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
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Designed as an art gallery as well as an eatery, the cafe, described by general manager Jeremy Hayden as an ”upscale cafeteria,” is featuring the for-sale work of 10 to 12 local artists.
Among those artists is Jay Schiff, a trader at the Chicago Board Options Exchange by day and also an attorney. In the evenings and on weekends he can be found in a third-floor walk-up studio on West Institute Place raking gooey, gluelike gesso, often tinted with shimmering pastels, with tools such as a garden trowel across canvas. The results are highly textured abstract paintings with a strong tactile appeal.
”I use it as a stress reliever,” Schiff said of his after-hours art.
”If you did my business, you would understand. I would love to do it full time, but I don`t know how anybody can live this way.”
A painter since college days, Schiff, 40, gave up trying to work on the kitchen floor of his condo two years ago and rented studio space for his after-hours pursuit. He has sold pieces from $50 to $3,000 through Karl Mann and Rozmallin showrooms in the Merchandise Mart and from the walls of Randall`s Ribhouse. Like artists everywhere, he dreams of making the leap into the studio full time.