2026 06 22

Let’s spend some brainpower thinking through a modified approach to one of my businesses, shall we? My studio space, See You Soon at the Kimball Arts Center, is still very much finding its identity even after four years of existence. What I imagined the space to be did not really pan out. In some ways the differences have been better and in other ways far more challenging than anticipated. The reasons are many, and the control I have over the reasons span the entire spectrum, from totally my fault to didn’t see it coming from a mile away. Today, let’s focus on things I can control, specifically: what is See You Soon?

See You Soon Originally was:

• A commercial photo studio

• Clayton Hauck’s space to do stuff and try things

• A rental photo studio

Through the years, new identities have come and gone. Broadly speaking, the space has organically shifted more towards being an event space than it is a photo studio, both for reasons of necessity (financial) and due to where I’ve chosen to focus my energies. While the future existence of See You Soon is currently in limbo, I think it’s quite valuable to give it my best effort as we steadily move towards the completion of our initial five-year lease, even if we don’t end up renewing (for the record, my goal is not to close, however, I’ve come to the point where that outcome will not bother me should it happen. Additional time to do things like photograph Michigan’s Upper Peninsula sounds very appealing to me).

See You Soon Now:

• An event space, primarily focused on visual arts and photography

• An outlet for Chicago’s creative community

• A place for creative people to come together

So, how do we make this new identity work?