Abby Pucker (l.) with curator Zoey Lukov and Pace Gallery president Samanthe Rubell. Marc Patrick/BFA.com

One of the newest hot-ticket connections in the Chicago art community this year was a dinner with a civic and cultural agency called Gertie. Coinciding with events from EXPO CHICAGO, the city’s largest art fair, such an invite-only supper might include artists like Nick Cave, galleries like Patron Gallery and cultural entities like Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation. Gertie and friends have also spearheaded the DNC’s very public art program, hosted an event at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and were referenced in the New York Times and Vanity Fair. All very impressive, given that the institution was only founded in 2022.

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“I’m constantly trying to connect things to Gertie or make opportunities for people who are in our orbit,” founder Abby Pucker told Observer. “When I was younger, my mom used to say that I would go to the opening of an envelope.”

There is a secret sauce to Gertie’s........

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