Go Fund The Hills
Donation protected
7/31/2015
A message from Ron:
Hi everyone, I just wanted to update you on how we're doing, and to thank you for your donations, thoughts, posts, emails, phone calls, texts, emergency hangs, offers for places to stay, furniture, clothes and generally amazing and beautiful support. None of us are entirely comfortable asking for stuff, especially money, and we know most of our friends are artists like ourselves and we appreciate every single gesture no matter how small and we will have your back forever. We still can't comprehend how close we came to being hurt in this fire and how lucky we are that it happened during the afternoon and not at night sometime. Leo, Mike, Caleb and I have all found temporary housing that suits us for the time being. We'll probably begin to look for something more quasi -permanent in the next 2 weeks. Thanks to our family, friends and neighbors we are in high spirits and working our way through this mess with determined positivity.
The other day we were able to get inside the building to search for anything salvageable, and while we were able to grab a couple things here and there, some sentimental stuff and some equipment that may or may not be functional, we were confronted with a strange sense of finality.
We still have a long recovery ahead of us, many plans to make and lives to rebuild. We have been overwhelmed by your support, but we still have more work to do. We encourage everyone to continue to share this story and offer help in any form if you can. We will continue to organize and clarify our specific needs and keep everyone updated. Look out for some clothing and household item drop off dates and locations as well as a couple events we are planning in the coming months. Thank you and we can't wait to have fun with you all again very soon. Eventually we will make thank-you packages for everyone who has donated.
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The Hills Esthetic Center is an artist collective and exhibition space in Chicago. On Friday, July 24th, an electrical fire devastated the live-work space and recording studio, destroying all the belongings, art supplies and art work of the 4 artists, Ron Ewert, Mike Kloss, Leo Kaplan, and Caleb Willitz, who were living and working at The Hills for the last 9+ years. In addition to the Visual Arts, The Hills was home to the recording studio operated by musician and sound engineer Caleb Willitz. Built from scratch, the Artists and Musicians who worked at the Hills over the years invested tens of thousands of dollars in music and recording equipment, as well an expansive collection of local and national artwork and a full woodshop worth of tools, computers, a dozen hard drives, digital projectors, cameras, video cameras and video editing equipment, to say nothing of the thousands of hours of DIY work the artists did to establish the 4 individual studios.
As friends of The Hills, we are raising funds to help them get back on their feet. Nothing can replace the memories we have of this special place, the years of exhibitions, studio visits, conversations around the tiki bar, gatherings and art making, but now more than ever, Mike, Ron, Leo and Caleb need the support of their community. Funds raised through this campaign will go toward replacing the basic necessities they lost- from clothing and shoes to cell phones, replacement drivers licenses and help with a deposit for a new residence, among other things.
In the studio of Caleb Willitz he found a niche within the Chicago jazz, and improvised jazz community. He has worked closely with many members of the historic collective, the AACM, as well as European musicians visiting Chicago including Tatsu Aoki, Nicole Mitchell, Hamid Drake, Mars Williams, Ernie Adams, Joshua Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Corey Wilkes, Harrison Bankhead, Ed Wilkerson, Fred Anderson, Jeff Parker, Paul Wertico, Steve Rodby, Ari Brown, Fred Longberg-Holm, Jim Baker, Marquis Hill, Dana Hall, Kent Kessler, Douglas Erwert, Avreeayl Ra, Caroline Davis, Greg Spero, Paal Nilson-Love, Axel Doerner, Michael Zerang, Ståle Solberg, etc…
Aside from studio recordings, he has made remote recordings in a wide variety of venues ranging from auditoriums in the MCA, the Cultural Center, and Ravinia Park, to dive clubs such as the Velvet Lounge and Andys, to medium size rock clubs like the House of Blues and the Metro.
We fear that Caleb has lost all of his equipment and the archives of thousands of recording sessions
As an artist-run space, The Hills has been dedicated to hosting cutting-edge and experimental programming that rarely finds the opportunity to be seen elsewhere. The Hills was a haven for artists, musicians, weirdos and freaks, facilitiating many friendships and collaborations and stirring challenging discourse within a warm and open atmosphere.
Please consider giving to those who have given so much to the Chicago arts community.
A big thank you to everyone who has already donated to paypal and in person:
Dana Bassett, David Warn, Hope Esser, Meredith Esser, Kate Bowen, Mobile Music Instructors, Tusk, Josh Duensing and Nisi Daly, Allison Glen, Edward Andrews, Alex Schmidt, Dimensions Variable, Matthew Brennan, FLTFL, Min Song, Matt Morris, Sofia Leiby, Alex Ebstein, Nicole Rogas, John Keefe, John Ford, Fiona Cook, My Tang, Christine Stulik, Yasi Ghanbari, Jacob Hammes, John Shin, Kate Walsh, Jeff Harvey, Ben Speckman, Tim Christakos and many more.
We will need all the help we can get in the coming weeks. Thank you so much.
A message from Ron:
Hi everyone, I just wanted to update you on how we're doing, and to thank you for your donations, thoughts, posts, emails, phone calls, texts, emergency hangs, offers for places to stay, furniture, clothes and generally amazing and beautiful support. None of us are entirely comfortable asking for stuff, especially money, and we know most of our friends are artists like ourselves and we appreciate every single gesture no matter how small and we will have your back forever. We still can't comprehend how close we came to being hurt in this fire and how lucky we are that it happened during the afternoon and not at night sometime. Leo, Mike, Caleb and I have all found temporary housing that suits us for the time being. We'll probably begin to look for something more quasi -permanent in the next 2 weeks. Thanks to our family, friends and neighbors we are in high spirits and working our way through this mess with determined positivity.
The other day we were able to get inside the building to search for anything salvageable, and while we were able to grab a couple things here and there, some sentimental stuff and some equipment that may or may not be functional, we were confronted with a strange sense of finality.
We still have a long recovery ahead of us, many plans to make and lives to rebuild. We have been overwhelmed by your support, but we still have more work to do. We encourage everyone to continue to share this story and offer help in any form if you can. We will continue to organize and clarify our specific needs and keep everyone updated. Look out for some clothing and household item drop off dates and locations as well as a couple events we are planning in the coming months. Thank you and we can't wait to have fun with you all again very soon. Eventually we will make thank-you packages for everyone who has donated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hills Esthetic Center is an artist collective and exhibition space in Chicago. On Friday, July 24th, an electrical fire devastated the live-work space and recording studio, destroying all the belongings, art supplies and art work of the 4 artists, Ron Ewert, Mike Kloss, Leo Kaplan, and Caleb Willitz, who were living and working at The Hills for the last 9+ years. In addition to the Visual Arts, The Hills was home to the recording studio operated by musician and sound engineer Caleb Willitz. Built from scratch, the Artists and Musicians who worked at the Hills over the years invested tens of thousands of dollars in music and recording equipment, as well an expansive collection of local and national artwork and a full woodshop worth of tools, computers, a dozen hard drives, digital projectors, cameras, video cameras and video editing equipment, to say nothing of the thousands of hours of DIY work the artists did to establish the 4 individual studios.
As friends of The Hills, we are raising funds to help them get back on their feet. Nothing can replace the memories we have of this special place, the years of exhibitions, studio visits, conversations around the tiki bar, gatherings and art making, but now more than ever, Mike, Ron, Leo and Caleb need the support of their community. Funds raised through this campaign will go toward replacing the basic necessities they lost- from clothing and shoes to cell phones, replacement drivers licenses and help with a deposit for a new residence, among other things.
In the studio of Caleb Willitz he found a niche within the Chicago jazz, and improvised jazz community. He has worked closely with many members of the historic collective, the AACM, as well as European musicians visiting Chicago including Tatsu Aoki, Nicole Mitchell, Hamid Drake, Mars Williams, Ernie Adams, Joshua Abrams, Frank Rosaly, Corey Wilkes, Harrison Bankhead, Ed Wilkerson, Fred Anderson, Jeff Parker, Paul Wertico, Steve Rodby, Ari Brown, Fred Longberg-Holm, Jim Baker, Marquis Hill, Dana Hall, Kent Kessler, Douglas Erwert, Avreeayl Ra, Caroline Davis, Greg Spero, Paal Nilson-Love, Axel Doerner, Michael Zerang, Ståle Solberg, etc…
Aside from studio recordings, he has made remote recordings in a wide variety of venues ranging from auditoriums in the MCA, the Cultural Center, and Ravinia Park, to dive clubs such as the Velvet Lounge and Andys, to medium size rock clubs like the House of Blues and the Metro.
We fear that Caleb has lost all of his equipment and the archives of thousands of recording sessions
As an artist-run space, The Hills has been dedicated to hosting cutting-edge and experimental programming that rarely finds the opportunity to be seen elsewhere. The Hills was a haven for artists, musicians, weirdos and freaks, facilitiating many friendships and collaborations and stirring challenging discourse within a warm and open atmosphere.
Please consider giving to those who have given so much to the Chicago arts community.
A big thank you to everyone who has already donated to paypal and in person:
Dana Bassett, David Warn, Hope Esser, Meredith Esser, Kate Bowen, Mobile Music Instructors, Tusk, Josh Duensing and Nisi Daly, Allison Glen, Edward Andrews, Alex Schmidt, Dimensions Variable, Matthew Brennan, FLTFL, Min Song, Matt Morris, Sofia Leiby, Alex Ebstein, Nicole Rogas, John Keefe, John Ford, Fiona Cook, My Tang, Christine Stulik, Yasi Ghanbari, Jacob Hammes, John Shin, Kate Walsh, Jeff Harvey, Ben Speckman, Tim Christakos and many more.
We will need all the help we can get in the coming weeks. Thank you so much.
Organiser
Dana Bassett
Organiser
Chicago, IL
