Chicago artists embrace online markets to survive pandemic

Artwork in an Uptown Chicago storefront. (KAITLYN FARLEY/MEDILL)

Commercial graphic designer Kim Ziolkowski said she was working in her 10-by-13-foot home office when she heard that most of Chicago’s craft fairs were shut down for the rest of the year.

Soon after Chicago announced COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in March, Ziolkowski, 56, said she started getting emails from clients saying her services were no longer required. By April, Ziolkowski’s workload was only 30% of what it was before the pandemic.

“I don’t want to cry. I've got a good life. I've got a roof over my head. I have food in the fridge,” Ziolkowski said. “But come around the beginning of April, it all came to a massive screeching halt.”

Ziolkowski creates paper advertisements and pamphlets for various events. To stay in business, she learned how to make digital advertisements and interactive PDFs for online events. Nonetheless, she said she lost work because many companies didn’t know how to transition to online markets.

“They're not changing. They're not pivoting, but I will definitely,” Ziolkowski said. “I mean, I had to learn quite a few new things already.”

Similar to Ziolkowski, Ravenswood-based illustrator Phil Thompson also had to move his business, Cape Horn Illustration, to an online storefront. Before the pandemic, Thompson, 38, relied on 10 retailers from Andersonville, Edgewater and Ravenswood for sales. Since the pandemic, almost all his sales have come from his website.

“I thought it was going to be a lot worse, and I guess what I didn't anticipate was that people were going to be doing a lot more shopping online,” Thompson said. “I'm glad that I invested in improving my website and improving Etsy as well.”

As the holiday season approaches, Thompson and fellow artist Kate McKiernan, an Edgewater candlemaker and owner of Bridges Burnt, anticipate making less profit than last year. McKiernan, 46, has been doing in-person events since the start of the pandemic. However, as the pandemic continues and online sales pick up, she said she isn’t sure how profitable attending fairs will be.

“I haven’t really decided yet, but there are two shows that are happening soon,” McKiernan said. “I’d love to do one at the end of November and one at the beginning of the December. That would be the perfect layout for me, but we’ll see how it goes.”

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Originally written for Medill coursework on Oct. 20, 2020.