These days it would seem that there are relatively few effective voices speaking up for artistic and cultural diversity, both in terms of longevity and sheer, stubborn consistency. Thus, it is good to celebrate and recognize the achievements of HotHouse and people like it’s Executive Director, Marguerite Horberg. They and their supporters help promote the kinds of artistic viewpoints that are all too often smothered in a society which embraces artistic homogeneity at the expense of vibrant, aesthetic growth.
HotHouse is both a physical space (the Center for International Performance and Exhibition, a.k.a. CIPEX) and a nonprofit organization capable of mounting events ranging from concerts to lectures to film programs and graphic art exhibits in a number of venues. Since 1989 when HotHouse first began operations in Wicker Park, the organization has offered local jazz and "world music" musicians a place to play while also bringing in a fair number of high profile national and international acts. They’ve been particularly active in presenting Hispanic artists, specifically Cuban musicians. Horberg seems particularly proud of the fact that HotHouse was the first Chicago based arts organization to bring the premier Cuban jazz band Los Van Van to the area. This focus has also contributed to a number of the graphic arts exhibitions that have taken place in the HotHouse’s gallery.
None of this has been an easy thing to do, however, as evidenced by the HotHouse’s period of wandering in the wilderness (1995 to 1998) when their rent escalated to unmanageable proportions and rendered it homeless.
Still, Horberg and a few associates managed to produce concerts in tandem with the Jazz Institute of Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and various other organizations, keeping the HotHouse name in circulation.
In 1996 they received some funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation which enabled Horberg to search out a new home for the organization. Since 1998, HotHouse has worked out of their current facility at 31 E. Balbo in the South Loop near Columbia College.
A conversation with HotHouse’s driving force Marguerite Horberg
Conscious Choice: How and why did CIPEX become involved with different types of Hispanic music to such a large extent?
Marguerite Horberg: We present artists from throughout the world but I would say we have a special interest in Afro-Caribbean music because it illustrates beautifully the connections between populations we have close relationships with. I personally became interested in Cuban artists when I traveled there in the 1980s and started bringing Cuban artists to Chicago for reasons that had more to do with breaking the embargo against Cuba and supporting the artists there. Early on, many emigres and refugees from Central America were part of our core audience base and interest developed from that point forward.
CC: How did CIPEX come to be involved with the Chicago World Music Festival? Was it because of the organization’s prior reputation as a welcoming venue for different kinds of music?
MH: We were part of the founding of the festival, which sprang out of a meeting with many presenters in 1999 at the Field Museum. The original founding partners are HotHouse, the Old Town School of Folk Music, the Field Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Cultural Center. We helped create the festival although in recent years the city has taken over the festival.
CC: What are the roots of the organization’s relationship with the local and international Hispanic communities?
MH: HotHouse was an early supporter of many solidarity groups, refugee groups, and individuals who arrived in Chicago in the 1980s from different strife torn areas in Central America. We became an informal place for cultural activities organized by Nicaraguans, progressive Cubans, Salvadorans, etc.
CC: What is the impetus for the Gallery at HotHouse? Had the Gallery been part of the Wicker Park operation?
MH: The impetus is to fulfill the "exhibition" part of our mission statement and to incorporate visual arts and multi-media projects into our programs.
CC: How is the financial support for the Gallery different from that of the performance space?
MH: We do not have financial support for the gallery. We are dependent totally on donations and the few dollars we make from a percentage of sales. Operational revenue from the other programs currently supports the gallery.
CC: How would you describe the HotHouse’s role within the community to date? What does the future look like for the organization?
MH: I think we play a vital role both as an open independent space and sympathetic presenter who is usually open to most ideas. We have survived 16 years so we have something to share about what works and what doesn’t. We are one of the only places that cares about diversity and that cultivates poorer clients [performers]. The future looks bright but with a leadership like we have in the White House I’d say anyone’s future could be in doubt.
Garaud MacTaggart is a freelance writer and music critic based in Buffalo, N.Y. He currently writes for the Buffalo News.
Two great shows
Two of the upcoming shows at HotHouse are particularly notable:
Jazz saxophonist David Murray and The Gwo-Ka Masters (Caribbean drummers)
Friday and Saturday, April 18 and 19, 9:00 pm, $20 (21 and older)
Orquesta Aragón (one of the most historically important of all Cuban bands)
Friday, May 9, 7:00 pm, $30 (18 and older, seated show) 10:00 pm, $30 (21 and older, two hot dance sets) See both shows for $50
HotHouse is located at: 31 E. Balbo, Chicago, IL 60605; 312-362-9707;
e-mail: hothouseoffice@msn.co