A New Stage for VGA
A Few Announcements from VGA
VGA Gallery is excited to share a new phase for the organization. Although we have been quiet since our last exhibition, System Link: Video Game as Memoir was cut short due to the pandemic, our team has been busy with a transition that will shift VGA Gallery into a new stage for our organization’s history.
A Fond Farewell
VGA Gallery’s Executive Director and Co-Founder, Jonathan Kinkley, has made the decision to step down from his role after 6 years of tireless dedication to the organization’s mission, to better focus on his work at The Art Institute of Chicago as well as personal projects. Jonathan, along with Director of Exhibitions and Co-Founder Chaz Evans, cultivated VGA Gallery from an idea—that the emerging discipline of video game art needed support through gallery practice and art historical context—into a brick-and-mortar gallery space where art games are studied and championed.
Jonathan writes, as a farewell message: “It is time to pass the torch and I do so with my full faith and confidence in the VGA team. Our purpose focusing on video games as an art form is as indispensable as ever before and I am so proud of how far we’ve come. It seems like only yesterday Chaz and I were riffing on what a video game art organization could look like over beers, and now those lofty dreams have been met and exceeded with a dizzying array of exhibitions and partnerships in Chicago and around the world. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart—I look forward to remaining an enthusiastic member of the VGA community, and seeing you at the next amazing program.”
VGA Gallery thanks Jonathan for his visionary work making this organization a reality. We are delighted that Jonathan will continue to stay connected with the organization as a working board member at large.
Going forward, the incredible efforts that Jonathan has carried year after year will be shared by a team of board members who are also veteran staff: Jen Rhodes will now serve as Director of Development, Mick Reed as Treasurer, Eleanor Schichtel is now Director of Communications, and longtime Manager of Exhibitions Brice Puls has transitioned to Director of Operations.
New Horizons
Between the staff transition and COVID-19 crisis, VGA Gallery is moving out of our Bucktown gallery space in the Bloomingdale Arts Building and for the immediate future will continue to support our mission as an online organization. It is our desire to open another brick-and-mortar space again in the future, but at this time we are looking to expand our online presence with a variety of free resources and collaborations. The following are a few of these projects you can expect to see more of in the coming weeks:
VGA Archive Have you ever gone to one of our shows and wished you could play all the games at home? Did you miss any of our exhibitions in the last few years? In the coming months, we are planning digital versions of our gallery projects bringing our exhibitions to you, increasing representation of the artists we have worked with in the past, and creating itch.io playlists with and in-depth written coverage.
VGA Reader Open Access We’ve taken steps to get all three issues of the VGA Reader up on our website, so you can now peruse all of them directly online. Take a look, and while you’re at it, consider purchasing a hard copy or pdf version—we are still selling them in our online shop!
Introducing VGA Zine, a digital publication by the team at VGA. This zine is a sounding board for all our piping-hot takes on art, indie, and AAA video games, and we’ll also be taking a look back at some of our previous exhibitions and connecting with artists who make games. VGA Zine is set to launch in June 2020.
We’re grateful for your ongoing support. In this new era of digital community and art online, we’re looking forward to growing and supporting video game art with you for years to come.
If you’re able, please consider donating, or take a look at our prints for sale.