As art scene veteran Carrie Secrist celebrates her longtime gallery’s evolution into new 10,000-square-foot West Town space SECRIST | BEACH (1801 W. Hubbard St., secristbeach.com), she checks in to paint us a picture of her world.
After more than 30 years in River North, gallery owner Carrie Secrist has started an exciting new chapter in West Town.
Wake-Up Time: Determined daily by my Bengal cat, Huckleberry; snooze-less meowing cat alarm and kneading usually begins around dawn.
Doppelganger: Peter Pan
Nemesis: The word no
My Aesthetic: I reference home decor/general lifestyle choices as “grandma funk”—antiquities meet contemporary.
Winter Uniform: A true Russian babushka hat that I inherited 30 years ago—the best ally against Windy City winter offerings
You Can Never Have Enough: Ice—the first word I learn when traveling in foreign countries
Workout: Thoughtful strength training and mindless play (in water or on the dance floor or pickleball court)
Last Meal: Ina Garten’s chicken pot pie and fresh corn on the cob dripping with butter and sea salt
Favorite Movie: It’s A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Rear Window or anything else with Jimmy Stewart. Also very partial to all movies starring my birthday mate Julie Andrews. At our 2010 wedding, I walked down the aisle to “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?” from The Sound of Music.
Mentors: A remarkable trio of family matriarchs: grandmother Jean, mother Karen and Auntie Cheryl
Fave Historic Artist: Hilma af Klint
Fave Museum: The Whitney Museum in New York (the old location where I began my professional art journey)
Fave Artist to Collect: Too hard to answer. Pick your favorite child?
Fave Chicago Haunt: Gethsemane Garden Center (gethsemanegardens.com). Our not-so-secret garden in the heart of Lincoln Park is where all time is spent out of the gallery.
Current Obsession: SECRIST | BEACH, our reinvention after 30-plus years in an inspiring new space
Soulmate: In all things life and art, husband Bill Beach
Skincare Essential: Fabulous new line by Dr. Julius Few
Philanthropy: All things animal-related
Mantra: “Trust the process,” proven essential by another fabulous femme mentor in my life, Jo Lief
Streaming Now: Disney+
On My Nightstand: Bill Zehme’s posthumous opus Carson the Magnificent
Favorite Song: Again, too hard to answer—though famously able to “name that tune” to the entire score of every Broadway musical in under five notes
3 Desert Island Essentials: Fire, water and dental floss
Zodiac: Libra (Oct. 1—very much so)
Photography by: COURTESY OF SECRIST | BEACH
