Jeffreen M.H. Ash, Ph.D. Photo by Shané K Gooding

Jeffreen M.H. Ash to Depart Threewalls After 11 Years

Jeffreen M.H. Ash, Ph.D. Photo by Shané K Gooding.

Threewalls Executive Director Jeffreen M.H. Ash will leave the organization September 30 after 11 years. Under her leadership, Threewalls moved beyond a traditional gallery model to focus on artist support rooted in Black feminist practice, including unrestricted grants and wellness resources. Jamie J. Brunson, formerly executive director of Philadelphia’s First Person Arts, will serve as interim director while the board conducts a search for Ash’s successor.

Sandra Leonard, Bowerbird, 2025

Hana Pietri Opens The Living Room in West Town

Hana Pietri marks its 14th year with the opening of The Living Room, a new space at 350 N. Ogden Avenue, second floor. Founded by artist Tiphanie Spencer, the organization will inaugurate the space with Marvin Tate’s exhibition, The Golden Hour, opening Friday, October 2, with a public reception from 6–9 p.m. The intimate setting will host exhibitions, multimedia projects and artistic collaborations.

Elizabeth Catlett in her studio, 1942. Courtesy of The Charles White Archives.

Mariane Ibrahim to Represent Elizabeth Catlett

Mariane Ibrahim is honored to announce the representation of Elizabeth Catlett (American and Mexican, 1915–2012), one of the most influential artists of the twentieth century, whose extraordinary seven-decade practice transformed modern sculpture and printmaking. The gallery will unveil a solo exhibition of Elizabeth Catlett in November 2027 in Chicago to inaugurate the new representation.

Jean Metzinger, Woman with a Fan, 1913. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Kunstadter. © 2026 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Image: Art Institute of Chicago.

Art Institute to Return Metzinger Painting to Jewish Collector’s Heirs

The Art Institute of Chicago will return Jean Metzinger’s Woman with a Fan (1913) to the heirs of Jewish collector Emanuel Lewenstein, WTTW reports. Research conducted with Mondex Corporation established that the painting was part of Lewenstein’s collection and was forcibly sold in Amsterdam following the German invasion of the Netherlands. The work entered the museum’s collection in 1959.