Interview with Chicago Gallery News
In the Summer 2019 issue of Chicago Gallery New, I connected with Ginny Van Alyea for an feature titled Money Talks. Interview is as follows:
Video Game Art (VGA) Gallery
Focused on increasing cultural appreciation of and education about video games and new media
Location: Wicker Park
Executive Director: Jonathan Kinkley (Co-Founder with Chaz Evans)
Years in business: 6
Number of art fairs per year: 4-5
Single biggest expense? Artist fees and staff compensation was around $20K in 2018, higher than normal because we had a huge exhibition Chicago New Media 1973-1992 that was grant supported, allowing us to pay artists, scholars and workers. Also, we are nonprofit.
Average annual art fair fees (booths, travel, lodging, shipping)? About $3-5K in 2018, all for local fairs like BitBash, C2E2, Minefaire, GDEX. This year since we are traveling Chicago New Media to the Ars Electronica fair to reach 100K people with the help of the Terra Foundation, that presentation will cost around $10K. We estimate around $3-5K for additional local fairs but also trip to present at Games For Change Festival in NYC and also Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Annual or monthly rent? In 2018, rent averaged around $500. VGA has generous landlords (my wife Melissa and I!) who subsidize rent and post the space on airbnb when it is not in use by VGA, freeing up funds for programming.
Annual revenue? About $70K in 2018
Is there one thing/factor that has mostly kept you afloat? The Chicago video game and art community believes in us and that takes the form of material support through grants, donations and volunteering, plus hundreds of people buy VGA prints. Sheer grit and determination are factors too!
Why it’s all worth it? This is a tough question and I confess I ask myself this often. We bring pure delight and wonder, and people's reactions are amazing and appreciative. The artists too, are so hungry and deserving of recognition. Without VGA, kids at Humboldt Park Library wouldn't learn how to make games; artists working in games and new media wouldn't be appreciated in artistic spheres. Books about gaming wouldn't be published, and people seeking for art and games wouldn't have this dedicated place to go.
