SOUTH SHORE ARTS WELCOMES DORMAN + TORLUEMKE
South Shore Arts is excited to announce a new collaboration with long-time friends and curatorial partners, the team of Dorman + Torluemke. Linda Dorman, the Director of Exhibits at South Shore Arts in the 1990s, and Tom Torluemke, a highly recognized artist and teacher, will be curating three exhibits annually in the main gallery at the Center for Visual & Performing Arts, as well as two exhibits in the CVPA atrium and three exhibits at Substation No. 9, the South Shore Arts branch in downtown Hammond. Additionally, Linda and Tom will organize arts education programs to accompany their main gallery exhibits as a means of engaging with the community
Q & A WITH THE CURATORS
Q: How long have you both been working together curating exhibits?
A: We both have a history of organizing and curating exhibitions before working together in 2001. Linda was the Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services for South Shore Arts (Nothern Indiana Arts Association) from 1995 - to 2000. After having her son Neil, she went out on her own to curate and facilitate programs and exhibitions in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. It afforded her freedom and flexibility as a parent and curator to see through projects that were important to her. Tom worked at R.H. Love Gallery in Chicago for a few years, running their contemporary art program and organizing their exhibitions. This was on top of his full-time career as an artist and educator. We had lots of energy back then! At first, we collaborated on a few projects to see if we would work well together, and we did. So we embarked on opening an art gallery in Hammond with the help of the City. The gallery was called Uncle Freddy's Gallery, named after Tom's uncle, who was deaf and mute and helped take care of Tom when he was a child. They would draw pictures to each other to communicate what they were thinking or wanted to do that day. Tom attributes his interest in art and his ability to communicate visually to Freddy. From 2002 to 2009, we organized 70 exhibitions and programs. Since we closed the gallery, we have curated exhibitions at Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, The Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, Co-Prosperity Sphere, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago. IN 2018 we started organizing exhibitions and happenings around Chicago under the name ORBIT. The pandemic put a stop to that. With our combined experience, we have organized/curated over 170 exhibitions/programs/events and worked with over a thousand artists.
Q: What led you to curate exhibits at South Shore Arts?
A: A few things led us to our current work curating exhibitions with South Shore Arts. We always funded our exhibitions and programs through Uncle Freddy's and ORBIT more recently. That limited what we could do and our possible venues. Our visions and ideas were more significant than we could realize independently, and then the pandemic halted all of those activities. Tom judged the Salon Show last year, and after selecting the work, we volunteered to install the exhibition. While we were installing the show, we talked about how we probably would have never met if it were not for South Shore Arts, its history, and its potential for the future. Then it finally sunk into us that John Cain would be retiring from South Shore Arts; he was the one that introduced us. We realized that we wanted to be a part of the transition and build specialized exhibitions and programming for the organization. We both have a long history with South Shore Arts and John. He was the one who hired Linda all those years ago and was a mentor, challenging her and fostering her love of art and artists. He also hired Tom to open Substation No. 9 and the Crown Point Art Center back in 1998. We live in and understand the communities that South Shore Arts serves, and working with and supporting artists is essential to the work we both love.
Q: What is something you look forward to in working with South Shore Arts
A: We both have been planning exhibitions in our minds for years. We have spent the past 20 years together making, living, and studying art. Now we can realize some of our ideas and make them a reality. Our first exhibition Nature Lovers, features artists we have admired and who each bring a unique perspective about nature to the show. Later this fall, we will be opening a photojournalism and documentary photography exhibition entitled THIS IS IT, which is a dream for Linda. We will be working with several of the foremost photographers in the country right now. Their work for the exhibition covers a range of critical humanistic themes and ideas. For 2023, we are putting together a group painting exhibition called Sense and Sensibility: Poetry in Painting. For next summer, we are organizing a show called Dealer's Choice, which will showcase artwork from galleries in Chicago with programming that explores and demystifies collecting art. These exhibitions are in addition to the tried and true exhibitions South Shore Arts is known for, like the Salon Show and the Tri-County school exhibitions. We also plan to do some pop-ups in the gallery between the exhibitions.