This October the Museum of Contemporary Art celebrates the 10th anniversary of its 12x12 series. The monthly show features up-and-coming Chicago artists, most of whom have never before exhibited in a museum.

While planning the next batch of shows, Chief Curator Michael Darling noticed a disturbing trend: As he surveyed the one hundred artists who had shown work in the series, he realized that between 20 and 30 percent of them no longer live in Chicago. “I’ve noticed a general pattern of brain drain of the city’s best and brightest artists,” says Darling. “It’s worrisome.”