West Town, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Kinzie Corridor, Humboldt Park

West Town

Wisconsin

IL • MI • IN

West Loop, Fulton Market, East Garfield Park

West Loop and West Side

Evanston, The North Shore, Northern, Western and Southern Suburbs

Suburbs

Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater, Andersonville, Rogers Park

North Side

Michigan Avenue, Streeterville, The Gold Coast, The Loop, and South Loop

Michigan Avenue

Pilsen, Bridgeport, Chinatown, plus Hyde Park, Jackson Park/Dorchester, and Bronzeville

South Side

Superior and Franklin streets, West Chicago Ave, and down to Merchandise Mart and the River

River North

Forum 301 is delighted to present, Where I Sleep, a group photographic exhibition. Where I Sleep includes artists that investigate the nuances of the “home” through vast photographic practices. Each artist examines the complexities of connecting to a physical space, as their various perspectives operate under the commonality of our notion of home. These works draw us to consider the isolated opportunities seated inside an individual’s sense of home– including the potential to encourage memory, seeing, and story. Curated by Mikayla Dore and David Imundo Artists: Philip Alvy, Greta Bell, Sam Burzak, Jillian M. Browning, Sophia Cutino, Renata Escamilla, Alex Franklin, Tom Gallagher, Daniel Hartmann, Amy Hiley, Hillary I. Johnson, Michelle Kaffko, Kamille Kirschling, Robert Knight, Nathan Miller, Félix Mirel, Lynn Silverman, Riley Valentine

Where I Sleep

Italian immigrant Silvio Barile spent decades converting his pizzeria into a museum to honor his heritage. The Italian American Historic Artistic Museum in Redford Charter Township, Michigan, was once enormous. The interior walls of the restaurant were covered with murals, photos, and postcards of iconic Italian imagery such as statues of Julius Caesar, Roman ruins, Renaissance-era paintings, olive trees, and Italian and American pop culture figures. In addition to two-dimensional adornments, Barile fabricated large-scale concrete statues depicting events and characters renowned in Italian and American history. His sculptures filled the pizzeria, then the patio behind it, then the acre of woodland behind the patio. Even after the restaurant closed in 2002, the museum remained and continued to grow.After Barile’s death in February 2019, increasing costs and pressure from the community resulted in the destruction of the site in 2020. In May 2021, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center acquired three large painted concrete works by Barile that were believed to be the last remaining components of the museum. In the early months of 2022, a grouping of eight additional works was found and acquired by the Arts Center. This is the first time these works are being shown outside of the Michigan site.

Silvio Barile

<a href="https://experience.mcachicago.org/7707" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tickets and Sponsorship Opportunities</a>Please note that this event is held at The Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 East Delaware Place.The Visionary luncheon celebrates arts philanthropy in Chicago and extraordinary women artists.&nbsp;The 2026 event features a program with multidisciplinary artist and MacArthur Fellow Amanda Williams and the presentation of the 2026 Arts Philanthropy Award to Bank of America for its commitment to arts and culture in Chicago.For tickets or more information, please contact&nbsp;<a href="mailto:Visionary@mcachicago.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visionary@mcachicago.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="tel:+13123973871" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">312-397-3871</a>.Image: Amanda Williams. Photo courtesy of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Visionary: Celebrating Leadership in the Arts

Our Free Days Are Taking The Night Shift! From March through November, we’re returning to Free First Tuesdays! On the first Tuesday of every month, enjoy extended hours from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm - admission is free for all, no residency restrictions.

Free First Tuesday

Aspects of Nature is a two-person gallery show by Jay Walsh and Carol Zack, both of whom teach at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles. Jay Walsh is a ceramic artist who has been playing in the mud for years. Having been introduced to ceramics in high school and continuing in college, Walsh has been teaching ceramics for several decades. Walsh says the chemistry of glaze and clay has always appealed to him. For the past couple of years, he has been exploring crystalline firings. The process of crystalline glazing combines chemistry, application, and variable firing schedules. The crystals are grown on the glaze surface, much as they do in nature, reminiscent of frost on windows, agates, snow, and other natural patterns. Walsh says, “I love teaching and creating work from clay. There is always something new and exciting to learn in this art form. Rabbit holes are everywhere when it comes to ceramics. You can dedicate your life to ceramics and there is always more to explore”. Like Walsh, Carol Zack has been teaching at Fine Line for many years. Having always enjoyed finding beautiful places to explore and realizing that artistic expression is everywhere, high school and college formed the basis of her training in Fine Arts, along with teaching certification/ Zack loves playing in the paint, particularly with soft and oil pastels, both of which seem extra-sensory and immediate, and can be quickly pushed and manipulated into beautiful, colorful layers and textures with just fingers and blenders. Just paper and pastel sticks are all she needs. As she says, “The advantage to working with pastel is that it never dries, so you can leave it and return to the painting, picking up where you left off. Clean-up is also less complicated than with other painting media”.

Aspects of Nature

Journalist Natalie Y. Moore discusses the newly opened Obama Presidential Center and its impact on Chicago’s architectural and racial landscape in conversation with historian Leslie M. Harris.

Our Changing City: The Obama Presidential Center

William Staples, Garden, 2026, oil and acrylic on canvas, 14 x 9 inches

William Staples: Some Things Can Only Be Seen

Join us for a slow start to the Family Day season—dust off your creative muscles and get ready to play, see, and create.

Family Day | Warmups

Terra Machina explores the relationship between nature and technology. Using exceptional materials sourced from around the world, Lefty OUT There combines modern machinery with handcrafted techniques to reveal their natural beauty. The result honors each material's origins while celebrating fine art and contemporary craftsmanship. Running through every piece is Lefty's signature polymorph pattern, inspired by vibration, frequency, and the interconnected systems found throughout nature. The pattern reflects the rhythms that exist at every scale, from microscopic cellular structures to the landscapes of our terrain. It serves as a reminder that the same forces shaping the natural world are constantly at work around and within us. Terra Machina also represents a new chapter in Lefty's practice. Every work in the exhibition introduces new materials, fabrication methods, and creative processes that have never before appeared in his work. By combining natural materials with contemporary machines, the exhibition challenges the idea that nature and technology exist in opposition. Instead, it presents them as collaborators, working together to reveal new perspectives on the beauty, complexity, and interconnectedness of the world around us. Image: LEFTY OUT THERESYLVAN CONNECTION,&nbsp;2026Pacific Northwest maplereclaimed from a 100+ year-old fallen tree38 x 72 x 2 in.96.5 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm

Terra Machina:  Lefty OUT There

The gallery will be participating in the inaugural edition of the Chicago Art Fair at the Merchandise Mart.&nbsp;More information to follow but we hope you will mark your calendars and join us! Opening night October 7 and the fair runs thru October 10. Free tickets and more information available&nbsp;<a href="https://us.list-manage.com/Vt436OnZnMO?e=4e60073cbe&amp;c2id=4d50cb5e36083b5514fb6b314e231f0b" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(42, 93, 176);" target="_blank">HERE&nbsp;</a>

Chicago Art Fair

OS Projects is honored to present Fenestra Falsa, a solo exhibition of collages and paintings by Chicago artist Dan Devening. The exhibit opens August 8, 2026 and continues through October 10, 2026. A public reception for the artist takes place on Saturday, August 8 from 1 – 3 pm. Dan Devening is an image builder who combines decisive subject matter with gestural mark-making, spray enamel, collage and stitching to express a life experience shaped by the unexpected, the surprising and the unknown. Like much of what has held his interest over the years, the works in this exhibition engage the ways in which perceptual nuance and optical and spatial play come alive in compositions built on rigorously considered parameters. The project’s point of departure is the rounded rectangle, a shape that is ubiquitous in the devices that connect us to the outside world: iPhones, iPads, computer monitors and televisions. All these devices employ the "friendliness" of the rounded rectangle to suggest comfort and simplicity while effortlessly holding us captive. The shape’s affability—and invitation to use, peer into, and be mesmerized—mirrors the current state of culture, reflecting not only how we consume information, find entertainment and create connections but also the darker, more sinister undertones that are ever-present. The rounded rectangle also serves as a portal. It can frame an aperture or function as a window revealing a landscape. It can press outward against the picture space, swelling and suffocating the frame, as if straining toward its breaking point. This capacity, to both expand outward and pictorially recede and dissolve inward, makes the shape both flexible and multivalent, giving Devening room to explore the ways in which physical and perceptual experiences frame psychological response. Fenestra Falsa’s collages and paintings are fully grounded in the formal concerns of art making, offering the viewer the opportunity to be transported through purely material means. Form builds the image, reveals the subject and tells the story. Form creates chromatic intensity and calibrates the relationship between sharpness and blur, qualities that echo the devices that hold us hostage. Like those devices that incessantly demand speed and immediacy, the works in Fenestra Falsa induce the same pull toward absorption, elevation and immersion—only slowed down, stilled, held. <a href="https://www.osprojects.art/fenestra-falsa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details</a> Image: Altadena by Dan Devening, 2025

Fenestra Falsa

<h2>Chicago Art Fair brings together a select group of galleries presenting exceptional contemporary, modern, and fine art from across the United States and around the world.</h2><h2> </h2><h2>Fair Hours</h2> VIP / PRESS PREVIEWWednesday, October 7, 2026 | 4 PM – 5 PM OPENING NIGHT PREVIEWWednesday, October 7, 2026 | 5 PM – 8 PM PUBLIC FAIR HOURSThursday, October 8, 2026 | 11 AM – 8 PMFriday, October 9, 2026 | 11 AM – 8 PMSaturday, October 10, 2026 | 11 AM – 6 PM&nbsp;<a href="https://rwag.ticketspice.com/chicago-art-fair-2026?t=caf26-rwag-web-ts-link" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">GET TICKETS</a> Participating exhibitors include Chicago-based Carousel Fine Art, F.L. Braswell Fine Art, Glick Sullivan Projects, Hilton Contemporary, Jean Albano Gallery, McCormick Gallery, Richard Norton Gallery and Stephen Daiter Gallery; New York-based Camp Z, George Billis Gallery, Haven Gallery, Lawrence Fine Art, Marloe Gallery, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Raccolta | YMF, Treat Gallery, Vallarino Fine Art and Walter Wickiser Gallery; and international exhibitors Cogalerie, Echo Fine Arts, Galleria Barbara Paci, GX Gallery, Jonathan Cooper, TSEKH Gallery and Yvel. &nbsp;Additional galleries from across the United States include Artavita, Aspen Art Gallery, Christopher Martin Gallery, Conde Contemporary, Gabriel Da Sylva Gallery, Galeria Azur, Gallery Giuseppe, Gebhardt Gallery, Habatat, J. Ruel Martin Gallery, Jerald Melberg Gallery, Judy Ferrara Gallery, Melissa Morgan Fine Art Gallery, Michael Fine Art, Moberg Gallery, Okay Spark Fine Art, Perseus Gallery, Price Krishnan Gallery, SAB Gallery, Salazar Art Advisory, Sponder Gallery, Tim Lotton Glass Works, Timothy Yarger Fine Art, Trifecta and Walter Redondo Fine Art Collection. ﻿The fair will also feature special projects by Agnes Beleznay and Graham Hobart.

Amy Morrison Heinrich, Honorary Chair &amp;&nbsp;Elizabeth Pruett, Chair Honoring 2026 Environmental Leadership Award RecipientKARENNA GOREAuthor, Climate Activist, and Founder of the Center for Earth Ethics ​​SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20266:00 PMCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL <a href="https://brushwoodcenter.org/43rd-annual-smith-nature-symposium/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIP</a>

43rd Annual Smith Nature Symposium Awards Dinner

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to our upcoming exhibition, <a href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/exhibitions/nancy-good-layl-mcdill-and-jemsy-pradunn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unseen Connections | Nancy Good, Layl McDill, and Jemsy Pradunn</a>. The exhibition will be on display from September 12 - October 11, 2026 with a closing reception on Sunday, October&nbsp; 11, 1-3pm and an artist talk on Saturday, September 12, 2026 from 1-3pm. Mostly known for mural-sized, physically-interactive/immersive conceptual abstracts, Las Vegas artist Nancy Good's practice is rooted in an unwavering passion to create strong contemporary art that invites dialogue and human connection. Layl McDill grew up in Gillette, Wyoming, where her early works were dollhouses, marionettes, and even an entire “Smurf Village.” Polymer clay has been her medium of choice, using the millefiori technique and mixed media materials. Jemsy Pradunn is a Chicago born and based artist currently attending the School of the Art Institute. Pradunn uses markers, crayons, and paint markers on paper to inspire others to open their perspective and imagination.

Unseen Connections | Nancy Good, Layl McDill, and Jemsy Pradunn

Butterfly Disco is an installation by Brian Keith Stephens in the JK Art House Parlor. This is a fun, immersive experience with black lights and artwork on mylar. It can only be seen at JK Art House. The opening reception is on Thursday, September 3, 2026, from 6–8 p.m. The exhibition dates are from September 2 to October 11, 2026. Private appointments are available now through the opening; contact the gallery to schedule. Please RSVP for the Opening Reception.

Brian Keith Stephens: Butterfly Disco

The annual exhibition highlighting paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, prints, animation, and multimedia work by young artists participating in Hyde Park Art Center’s Teen programs&nbsp;opens June 27!Each year, the Teen programs provide a structured independence that encourages young artists to develop their creative voices, learn new skills, and build relationships in the context of a community-based art center, where artists of all ages and backgrounds do the same.&nbsp;﻿The exhibition celebrates the evolution of these young artists, who have taken on the challenge of expressing perplexed thoughts, feelings, and emotions into individual works of art.<a href="https://oq8cplyab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Wqw2lXqKHjJMAiBTkE6UO4TiVroLZtRn2GPPCnysGocIMq16gCBCtVXI6Y9vNV4LnxnPaVVHOZWnzKTe-l23USIalPSlI06q5CL7CzRgNCeEoIk6f7wocRTKcxxQJ886DpVJ4VVccxRgQYJOzCB737DkeFGJtOWQxufxv6JTBtuqw7Y7PRy9b_FQSdyKkR949er9HwE-dA-10TaeUmQwb8xXNBu8915h&amp;c=uqF6ZiMKOJ3BPb8W17UMdPyQHbxBcvaEGSDlq7ILbiojHbm2qfxegw==&amp;ch=_7JCnwZR1ujgh7H7gi0opkTxAvwTXcSXYBZo_WloBO8fhoTgu8aUJg==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LEARN MORE HERE</a>

Off the Wall! Teen Show

Gloria Contreras: Corazón de Papel, Mexican Cartonería Sculpture is an event running from September 15 to October 14. There will be a public reception on Wednesday, September 16, from 11am to 1pm.

Gloria Contreras: Corazón de Papel, Mexican Cartonería Sculpture

Charlotte Kaplan: This is Knot Art!

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4 from 5-8pm<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-92BXv-L8fcaeNeQJUw_iVoKmqL_aWsSQXxFYZvb0MQX89lZJs2VUL3iEgPhEMoDe_1pUOYVCuLv4WOIWwkrE24tcJvu4gLygmkn8HKd21nEDnotKPrcOBbNW029DRHSr8AC2bwOf9WPP_pGQaDDxD279ipFIaCCOB&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">All Is Fish That Comes to the Net</a>, a four-person exhibition by 2025 Artist Residents&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9HjTDMRi5wlIP7pnXQFb4YgtLBGJsBRWckh_1r6mdLd4hnsnNzBF-mnDr-HUI-QH5iCg1G74aUEL021zJBfsx1B_1PiNvMEmf6nBI5tx0Xdx0H_iPcl_Lr7tVLlFHmVnAyfRV0_PQ7LAMObfrYJlcLGEFy3dvde_S&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sebastian Bruno-Harris</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9B40u__HIQzrjY5jARDPoHxh4xjMUNEPSVw7VHkzDFUV8EeBGTjWCglJZdmp5LyiGPOQiG_tL5b3n8Q6lzxRHr7AAy5sGuVhk2nM8pcUN6Hu_pCAKkT68llcGHDkeOLCICyMYnAw6kWY=&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rob Croll</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1Q7_sFJRx_rFXU7LBHC8LpnIugfW7dYlWPnWT5dieKmfYOn7thGxA4xQ94SlBrl6EI9cz9rVMhhKfdzbIURYmXvKdfRDvj88X9Mb4LUsOjh-lag-UOdQ7YzVxU-9Pcx2Ujx90d4fGuK0H29KSIs_YvgqdZR82rjLnA==&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nick D'Alessandro</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9HbyGU15aOZdofSFLUAKHx6uoko4HDuARKO17GXB0L8-Ste1EkjCW_xORmFSXDKy-WMFG4P8A3J1f58o5Pv7R9BoZSBfqwwHzh7fCtxDH1KvcWGY33DTAejst6p28q-kA3XBEnWPl7Fc=&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Van Payne</a>, curated by 2025 Curatorial Resident&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9ENyyQmSfWYYJNuHwQiAqQ6Poudb_qcznZOs1v0KO8Nx98MzOtDAHvUaKCx5JIUHP0_NjHKmhoOUdJhhPIoJUHQ4krX8sF_TPLbmIC-21bEmOAg7MKXZb_XrgDp2F-Ld4JxHsgPP3IynFfQoS_yth8Q==&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Taj Richardson</a>.Collage Making Workshop: Thursday, September 17 from 4-6pmRSVP for free admission&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9nbY2QWxQ7NZbMXadjhLVlny3A6cLGZjBgzK4Z6OtGKXE6_JmSMH-qRvgQ7xYaZdioBgRncMzXfO7bR3yfzlbaEdcKg3MXtoiCfjfrUlfhBFTP3EqlJjbkJgZWPub4WBSlOW-Gza7qJFH117F9gKXmHwyc_xCkGSU&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HERE</a>Image: Sebastian Bruno-Harris,&nbsp;A Wild Sheep Chase,&nbsp;2018, Charcoal, graphite, and correction tape on vellum, 30” x 52.5”

All Is Fish That Comes to the Net

Inspired by artist Lenore Tawney's postcard correspondence, participants will create one-of-a-kind collage postcards. Using papers, photographs, newspaper clippings, musical scores, and nature guides, they will construct miniature collages ready to mail anywhere in the world. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center holds hundreds of key components from Tawney’s last studio environment, some of which are on display at the Art Preserve.

Treasured Postcards

JOIN US FOR&nbsp;<a href="https://bridgeportartistcommunity.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEPTEMBER THIRD FRIDAY!</a> THIRD FRIDAY ART WALK MAP View the map route featuring:45+ galleries, artist studios, shops, and cultural spaces View full map <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/13KAtAKkPp6z4WFSX663RuS3xy_9l72R5/view" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>

Bridgeport Third Friday Art Walk

Guest Curated by Dan CameronBert Green Fine Art&nbsp;is pleased to present a solo show by Chicago-based artist Kevin Blake, guest curated by Dan Cameron.Kevin Blake&nbsp;grew up on the far south side of Chicago, and while young bore witness to the unique fraternity of white male power that was the Chicago Police Department, where his father and grandfather both enjoyed long careers, while forbidding him to follow in their footsteps. Instead, he studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was inspired by its emphasis on art that reflects the specific paradoxes of one’s time and place. Thus incentivized to investigate subject matter close to home, Blake began the challenging process of minutely examining the psychological and cultural effects of toxic masculinity left over from his personal history and presumed cultural identity, to see how they might be reassembled into something more redemptive.&nbsp;The poignant results of Blake’s intensive cross-examination of (mostly) male identity can be seen in “Sundowning,” a word that typically refers to the dramatic mood shifts experienced by Alzheimer’s patients when daylight ends. Its use here is metaphorical, a reference to the crumbling of certain longstanding myths about what male roles are appropriate in today’s increasingly pluralistic society. If what first strikes one about Blake’s work is his impressive level of skill and creativity, that technical aspect is soon overtaken by our gradual discovery that the characters he depicts so unerringly can evoke our capacity to empathize with their suffering, no matter how unappetizing they first appear.In Blake’s compositions, the male of the species is typically portrayed performing a social role fully in accord with societal expectations, only something isn’t going the way it should. A round of golf is swept away by a typhoon, a poolside reverie is harshly interrupted, a gym bro grimaces in our direction: while his subjects aspire to maintain their male privilege in the material world, Blake invites us to see through the bravado, and perceive them within a framework of near-desperate social isolation, worsened by their inability to drop their deeply ingrained roles. — Dan CameronAll gallery events are free and open to the public. Additional information found at the gallery website at&nbsp;<a href="https://bgfa.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://bgfa.us</a> A Third Degree Witness, Graphite, oil pastel, oil paint, and collage on paper mounted on canvas, 29.5 x 21", 2024

Kevin Blake: Sundowning

South Gallery IGOR &amp; MARINA

Igor and Marina: The Shadow Lives Where There is Light

<a href="https://nmprac.org/exhibitions/diasporic-collage-puerto-rico-and-the-survival-of-a-people/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details</a> <h4>The Puerto Rican diaspora is a collage of overlapping histories of colonialism, resistance, and survival.</h4> Diasporic Collage: Puerto Rico and the Survival of a People honors Puerto Rican identities in the archipelago and its diasporas. Puerto Rico’s colonial status and geographical location situate it as a locus of global encounters and ongoing displacement. As such, the Puerto Rican diaspora can be understood as a collage of overlapping histories of colonialism, resistance, and survival. This exhibition engages with collage as both practice and metaphor. A collage is an assemblage, an art technique that uses discrete materials, images, or text to create a whole picture. Countering the concept of a melting pot, which emphasizes assimilation and loss of culture, the idea of a collaged community allows for the celebration of roots and relations. This exhibition also considers the close relationship between photography and collage, both notable 20th-century art forms. It takes the first major documentary initiative on the Puerto Rican diaspora as a point of departure to examine the enduring legacy of survival and migration. The Puerto Rican Diaspora Documentary Project by community organizer, activist, educator, and documentary photographer Frank Espada (1930–2014, Puerto Rico) was funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities from 1979 to 1981. The resulting collection of over 4,000 photos and 130 interviews led to the 2007 publication The Puerto Rican Diaspora: Themes in the Survival of a People, from which this exhibition takes its subtitle. The artists featured in this exhibition consider the Puerto Rican diaspora in a fluid and expansive way. While several focus on the diaspora in the traditional sense—Puerto Ricans who migrate to the United States—many honor the different diasporas that intersect with the archipelago of Puerto Rico, documenting their communities with care and showing us a collage of Puerto Rican and Caribbean experiences. Diaspora scatters; collage connects. Diasporic Collage: Puerto Rico and the Survival of a People is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University (MSU Broad Art Museum) and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO) at Hunter College, in collaboration with the Diaspora Solidarities Lab (DSL), and curated by Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez, directora of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO), formerly associate professor at MSU; Dr. Windy M. Cosme Rosario, instructor, University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras; and Dalina A. Perdomo Álvarez, assistant curator, MSU Broad Art Museum; with support from DSL fellows Melanie Rodríguez Vázquez, Ariana Costales Del Toro, Yafrainy Familia, Nicole Hernández, Stephany Bravo, Imaida M. Durán Mariñez, Alana Cordero Montesinos, Meleny González, Olivia M. Ramírez, Jaden Morales, and Yuleysy Ortiz. Support for this series is provided by the MSU Federal Credit Union. The Diaspora Solidarities Lab is made possible with financial support from the Mellon Foundation. This exhibition, being presented by&nbsp;The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture, is the result of collaborative research and community projects produced since 2022 by the&nbsp;Diaspora Solidarities Lab (DSL), a Black feminist–led partnership between&nbsp;Michigan State University,&nbsp;Johns Hopkins University, and&nbsp;Hunter College.&nbsp;The DSL is directed by Dr. Yomaira Figueroa-Vásquez, professor and directora of the&nbsp;Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO)&nbsp;at Hunter College, formerly an associate professor at MSU, and&nbsp;Dr. Jessica Marie Johnson, associate professor at&nbsp;Johns Hopkins University. Artists featured in the exhibition include&nbsp;La Vaughn Belle, Rebel Betty, Mónica Ching, Frank Espada, Alia Farid, Glorimar Garcia, Daniel Lind Ramos, María Martínez-Cañas, Luis Rivera Jiménez, Edra Soto, Brenda Torres-Figueroa, and Nitza Tufiño.

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