Imaginary Landscape jumps at an opportunity to support its local community. That’s why we had our holiday office party right in our neighborhood at the Empirical Brewery in Ravenswood. Empirical Brewery is not only well known for their locally brewed craft beers, food truck visits, and dog friendly taproom (like Imaginary), but for their “working cats.” Say what? Yep!
Anyone who lives in Chicago understands rodents come with big city living. Rodents are attracted to high-quality grain and the brewery stocks bags of 50-pound grain—a rodent magnet you can say. To control rodents from chewing through the brewery’s bags of grain, they use cats which they found is more effective than any exterminator. Empirical Brewery’s feral cat colony, named after the "Ghostbusters”, were adopted from the local Andersonville Tree House Humane Society's Cats at Work program. A smart, effective solution to a big problem, and you have to love they are giving a much-needed home to some loveable cats.
But my story doesn’t end there. This circle of community support continues with the brewery hosting a Random Acts of Gallery Jingle Cats reception in December. Created by artists, Random Acts of Gallery gives Chicago artists opportunities to have their work seen by utilizing blank walls in unexpected places. This cat themed local Artist exhibit donated a portion of the art sales to the Tree House Cats at Work program. The Tree House Humane Society is also near and dear to the heart of our very own Project Manager, Amy Nalette, who volunteers her time to this organization.
The entire Imaginary staff enjoyed each piece of art showcased in the taproom at our holiday party, and we knew we couldn’t leave without supporting our local Artists and the Society. It was unanimous, we had to have a Cat themed piece of art added to the walls of Imaginary. Next thing you know, the Cats of Edinburgh painting by local Artist Jenny Tiner was marked SOLD!
The Imaginary staff had the pleasure of meeting Artist Jenny Tiner in person when she visited our Andersonville office to personally thank us for supporting the Random Acts of Gallery’s efforts. The Cats of Edinburgh painting joins several other local pieces that adorn the walls of the Imaginary Landscape office.
Each day, the “cats” bring a smile to our faces, thank you Jenny!