Jennifer Berg

The Nova Art Fair, now in its sophomore year, shines a spotlight on some of Chicago's up-and-coming talent. This weekend, the city's freshest art will be plucked from an array of galleries and displayed throughout Lakeview's City Suites Hotel at 933 West Belmont.

Nova will also pay homage to art forms that can't be hung on the wall: cinematographers, musicians and fashion designers will all be celebrated in special events held throughout the weekend. In an especially innovative fashion show to take place on Friday, models will strut their stuff on a moving El train.

Fashions will come from Wicker Park and Bucktown hotspots like Bynum and Bang, Robin Richman and Hejifina. Damen Avenue's dapper Apartment Number 9 will provide menswear, and shoes will come from City Soles. The represented boutiques were selected by Sarah Ponder, a rising fashion director from Columbia College. "I chose the boutiques for the designers that they feature as well as for the actual aesthetic in each store. I believe in fashion as an artistic concept; therefore, I appreciate these boutiques for their unique interpretations of fashion," Sarah says.

No doubt, the style will be swell. But towering stilettos, a speeding train--mightn't this make for a bumpy ride? All the better, according to the folks at Nova. "We liked the free-form idea of models walking a live runway and letting chaos be the guide," Ponder says. "Since the train is moving, we wanted to account for the possibility of a model ending up right in your lap; let's just hope she's cute, right? Seriously though, there is a very real element of creative chaos that will be employed for the event, and we like it that way."

Fashion mavens wanting in on Friday's mayhem can board the train at the Belmont stop. Each tour takes place on the purple line and will last one hour. Tickets ($20) can be purchased at the Belmont stop or online at www.novaartfair.com. For more information, call the Nova office at (312)421-2227.

(2006-04-25)

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