Chicagoland area real estate brokerage Koenig & Strey Real Living has announced that they have partnered with the Center for the Arts at the Little City Foundation to use their office space as a display gallery for paintings created by the uniquely talented artists affiliated with the Center. This collaboration of real estate and the Little City Foundation has proven successful in that Koenig and Strey has already purchased five pieces for their permanent collection, including works by Jessell Butler, Tarik Echols and Tony LaPorte.
Koenig & Strey is the first company that Little City has worked with to feature rotating art display pieces that are available for purchase in a business setting, rather than in a dedicated art space or gallery. Koenig & Strey’s Home Office in Skokie, was the first office to display the striking mixed media paintings. Since the initial installation in June, three additional branch offices in Glenview, Lake Forest and Schaumburg have made their office spaces into galleries for these unique works of art. And the Schaumburg office is planning an open house and artist reception event later this fall. Koenig & Strey president and CEO Nancy Nagy commented, “It’s wonderful to be surrounded by vibrant, powerful and engaging art. We are so fortunate to be able to use our office space to not just raise the visibility for The Center and these incredible artists, but the awareness of the Center and what Little City strives to do every day.”
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: Darla Terrell, Koenig & Strey VP & Director of Facilities (left) and Frank Tumino, Administrator for the Center for the Arts, install a mixed media piece by Peggy Brostrom in the lobby of the Koenig & Strey home office.
Administrator for Center for the Arts, Frank Tumino, commented, “The Little City Foundation is so thrilled and excited to partner with such a prominent company as Koenig & Strey. They will provide a new venue and opportunity to expose our artists, reaching people as they are in the process of purchasing a home and looking for unique artwork.”
Located in Palatine, The Center for the Arts at Little City Foundation is dedicated to the belief that people with developmental disabilities could be taught skills that would lead to full opportunities in the arts. Each day, professional artists acting as facilitators encourage artists to expand their reach and skills, resulting in art that transcends the disability of the artists who created it. Artists who cannot see, artists who do not speak, and even artists who do not recognize the presence of others around them, are the painters, sculptors, and designers at Little City who exhibit and sell their work competitively with others who do not face the same challenges.