2004
For the 17th Evanston and Vicinity Biennial, MKB presents a five-panel series produced by Cream Co. MKB continues to donate paintings to various charities and the Showroom continues to function as a fixed space where Cream Co. participants, fabricators and others interact. MKB and Bill Gerhard set-up Cream Co. (Colorado). The Whitney Museum acquires a second, multi-panel MKB/Cream Co. work.
2003
For the Big Picture Show: Size Does Matter, Betty Rymer Gallery, Chicago, MKB presents a large MKB/Cream Co. painting. Cream Co. (including others and Bill Brown) produces Really Real, at Gallery 312, Chicago. The Whitney Museum acquires a ten-panel MKB/Cream Co. work. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery acquires a five-panel MKB/Cream Co. Per the Hyde Park Art Center’s request for a proposal for an institutional intervention by Cream Co., MKB proposes For Real.
2002
Cream Co. serves Free Lunch Fridays (every day) at The Showroom (through the present). For Rupturing Beauty, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, Marie Krane Bergman presents Part of One Year, Brown Mound and Diary Drawings, Michael Kiresuk presents paintings and Cream Co. presents Petal Shelf and Fermenting Beer. James Elkins, and others, write essays for the catalogue.
2001
Krane Co. and Loose Change become Cream Co. Leah Finch, Bill Gerhard and other fabricators begin producing paintings for MKB/Cream Co. Adam Leech presents “Marie Krane Bergman by Adam Leech”, Rijks Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Loose Change produces their last traditional art exhibit "Luxe", at the Showroom.
2000
MKB and Daisy Mitchell found The Showroom, an artist-run studio. MKB forms Krane Co., soliciting colleagues to construct her paintings. MKB, Adam Leech and Kiresuk, continue to work individually and collaboratively, and name their collaborative connection, “Loose Change”. John Photos enters the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute. For “Paintings and Titles”, a “solo” show at the Contemporary Art Workshop, MKB presents a show of paintings and objects that includes works that appear to be made by one artist but are actually made by members of Krane Co., Loose Change and others. For Potluck, a Loose Change production at The Showroom. the group invites artists and friends to "Bring a work of art, include it in the show and stay for the party". Over 70 people, including many non-artists and children, bring work and the event functions in part like an art show and in part like a community picnic.
1999
Bill Gerhard, Howard Fonda and Daisy Mitchell enter the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute. Bill Brown and Diana Young visit MKB’s and other MFA studios.
1998
MKB, Michael Kiresuk, Adam Leech, and Leah Finch enter the MFA program at the School of the Art Institute.
1997
After meeting in the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate program at the School of the Art Institute. Marie Krane Bergman commissions Michael Kiresuk to photograph kitsch and the two begin to make photographs together. Although the two maintain separate painting practices, they take classes, participate in various critique groups and jointly develop criteria for producing and judging art.