<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778993301/xovfepb4czoypx9ulf2w.jpg"> By CGN Staff Entrepreneur Heiji Choy Black and artist Theaster Gates are launching a new hospitality experience at Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank with the debut of Han Cha, a Korean-inspired high tea salon, and Yunomi, a companion cocktail bar rooted in Japanese ceramic traditions. Opening June 5, the concepts transform the South Side cultural landmark into an immersive destination where tea culture, art, craft, and hospitality intersect. Han Cha will offer a prix fixe tea service inspired by East Asian tea traditions and British high tea, while Yunomi will serve cocktails and spirits in handcrafted ceramic vessels created by Gates’s studio. The project marks a new chapter for the Stony Island Arts Bank, one of Gates’s most celebrated civic and cultural spaces, known for exhibitions, artist residencies, and preservation of major Black cultural archives including the Johnson Publishing Company collection and Frankie Knuckles archive. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778993302/hi8mgcy5pmkcx9ia92vn.jpg"> “Heiji Choy Black is one of Chicago’s great culture-makers,” Gates said. “Han Cha and Yunomi are reflections on hospitality, beauty, and ceremony. We hope people come to the South Side, spend time together, and experience one of the most compelling cultural spaces Chicago has to offer.” Former Momotaro pastry chef Jessica Vasquez and partner Marguerite Singson will serve as Han Cha’s inaugural visiting chefs. Beverage offerings will include teas from Chicago-based Spirit Tea and cocktails featuring locally crafted spirits from Judson &amp; Moore and Half Acre Beer Co. Han Cha and Yunomi open by reservation June 5, 2026, at the <a href="https://stonyislandartsbank.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago</a>.

Heiji Choy Black and Theaster Gates Launch New High Tea and Cocktail Experience at Stony Island Arts Bank

<h3>This weekend we have a series of new exhibitions opening throughout the city: in River North, Bridgeport, Edgewater, Old Irving, Humboldt Park, Michigan Ave. and Waukegan. We also have a film screening, a benefit gala in Evanston, and a cross-gallery tour and talk in two spaces in West Town. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>View the full calendar <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">here</a>.</h3><h3> </h3><h3>–&nbsp;CGN</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790686/vexlg8p86ay1vig1ksi9.jpg"><h3> </h3><h3>Joseph Raffael: Moving Toward the Light – A Retrospective</h3> May 14, 2026 - Jul 10, 2026Opening: Thursday, May 14, 2026 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/joseph-raffael-moving-toward-the-light" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rosenthal Fine Art, Inc.</a>• RIVER NORTH <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790687/ytxbi400pxtcseyun2oj.jpg"><h3> </h3><h3>Art Shay: An America So Real - 1st Sneak Peek of the Movie</h3> Thursday, May 14, 2026 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/art-shay-an-america-so-real-1st-sneak-peek-of-the-movie" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gallery Victor&nbsp;</a>• RIVER NORTH <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790688/jz3ndnhuu5aaliqzlmoq.png"><h3>14th Annual Juried Art Competition</h3> May 15, 2026 - Jun 26, 2026Opening: Friday, May 15, 2026 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/14th-annual-juried-art-competition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bridgeport Art Center</a>• BRIDGEPORT <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790689/fsh1ouqogmxwo1j2pemn.png"><h3> </h3><h3>What We Saved: Femmage Revisited</h3> May 15, 2026 - Jul 18, 2026Opening: Friday, May 15, 2026 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/gallery-of-contemporary-mosaics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics</a>• EDGEWATER <h1> </h1><h1><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790690/kemxjjpej5rjwt80jg9g.jpg"></h1><h3>Jenal Dolson: Interrobang</h3> May 15, 2026 - Sep 26, 2026Opening: Friday, May 15, 2026 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jenal-dolson-interrobang" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">65GRAND</a>• HUMBOLDT PARK <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790690/ayvqof2jfcqavsgbeiah.jpg"> <h3>Ink &amp; Outrage: 18th Century Satirical Prints in London &amp; Dublin</h3> May 15, 2026 - Sep 13, 2026 <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ink-outrage-18th-century-satirical-prints-in-london-dublin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Driehaus Museum</a>• MICHIGAN AVE. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790691/htwlsdm481uj7fhrkegc.jpg"> <h3>Feel Free</h3> May 15, 2026 - Jun 27, 2026Opening: Friday, May 15, 2026 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/feel-free" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joy Machine</a>• OLD IRVING <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790692/raxnwwelafddctdpic8v.png"> <h3>Cross-Gallery Walkthrough with GRAY and moniquemeloche</h3> Saturday, May 16, 2026 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/cross-gallery-walkthrough-with-moniquemeloche" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">GRAY</a> and <a href="https://www.moniquemeloche.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">moniquemeloche</a>• WEST TOWN <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790693/mdwxngxttzmifyh0rxpz.jpg"><h3> </h3><h3>Conflict of Interests</h3> May 16, 2026 - Jun 13, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 16, 2026 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/conflict-of-interests" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ShadowBoxX Gallery</a>• WAUKEGAN, IL <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778790694/k4ia33ar0qd9qqu8gyoq.jpg"> <h3>Evanston Art Center’s The Art Party 2026</h3> Saturday, May 16, 2026 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/evanston-art-centers-the-art-party-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Evanston Art Center</a>• EVANSTON, IL

New Exhibitions and Events: May 14–16

<h3>Several area galleries and institutions are hosting exhibitions in 2026 timed for the 250th birthday of the United States. Inspired by permanent holdings as well as contemporary themes, several exhibitions demonstrate how art can be a bridge between the past and the future.&nbsp;Following are a few exhibitions, in Chicago and beyond, that are not your typical sesquicentennial celebration. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>– CGN</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778788875/ifn9i38rvbnfxwtwykiv.jpg"> Cutting and Pasting a World: The Paper Craft of Henry Darger at Intuit Art Museum is part of the 250th anniversary celebration of American craft, Handwork 2026, organized by Craft in America. The exhibition explores the connection between Henry Darger’s art and traditional American paper crafts. Drawing on research by guest curator and art historian Dr. Mary Trent (College of Charleston), the exhibition illustrates how the turn-of-the-century practices of making paper dolls and paper dollhouse scrapbooks may have influenced Darger’s evolution as an artist and maker. By showcasing both finished artworks and original source materials, the exhibition demonstrates how Darger adapted these humble pastimes into sophisticated methods for constructing large-scale, mixed-media narratives. The exhibition provides context for these crafts within the early 20th-century movement to instill middle-class American&nbsp;​“taste” in a burgeoning immigrant population. Likely exposed to these practices within social welfare institutions as a child, Darger ultimately subverted them—transforming decorative domestic crafts into a profound and complex commentary on the vulnerabilities of marginalized children.&nbsp; Apr 22–Jan 31, 2027<a href="https://art.org/exhibitions/cutting-and-pasting-a-world-the-paper-craft-of-henry-darger" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Intuit Art Museum</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778788875/xmxpzdhbgdrqixt28l58.jpg"> Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and&nbsp;Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918 draws on the Newberry’s collection to show how artists living through wartime “conceived” cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations that grappled with questions about liberty. Whether patriotic or dissenting, available to the masses or only to a few, wartime imagery reveals in dramatic, visually compelling ways how the people of the US have used the occasion of war to question, revise, challenge, and champion this core value of the country since its founding 250 years ago. Jun 11–Sept 19<a href="https://www.newberry.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Newberry Library </a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778788876/tgbqavnr0kcpaym0gket.jpg"> For the People, By the People: America at 250&nbsp;looks to the nation’s impending semiquincentennial as an opportunity to reflect on America’s enduring ties to liberty, justice, and identity. Drawing inspiration from the democratic ideals articulated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, this exhibition considers how the promise of freedom has been expressed, questioned, and reimagined across generations. Organized into four thematic sections,&nbsp;For the People, By the People&nbsp;brings together artworks from the KIA’s collection and loans of historic significance and bold contemporary voices to examine the symbols, struggles, and aspirations that shaped and continue to inform American life. Spanning photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation-based works, this exhibition juxtaposes notable artists such as Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alfred Stieglitz, Hank Willis Thomas, and Andy Warhol with rising artists like Erica Lord, Julio Cesar Morales, and Cara Romero, among many others.&nbsp; Jun 27, 2026 - Oct 4, 2026<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/kalamazoo-institute-of-arts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kalamazoo Institute of Arts</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778788877/vripczrw1calyl1pkfpe.jpg"> On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Chicago History Museum is asking questions about our nation’s democracy in progress. Are all people equal in our city? What happens in Chicago when workers or people of color stand up for their rights? How do we honor the Indigenous stewards of the land we now call Chicago? What can we do to create “a more perfect union” today in Chicago and the United States? Anchored in CHM’s collection materials relating to the United States’ founding and Chicago’s civic legacies,&nbsp;US at 250: Civic Action in Chicago&nbsp;invites visitors to engage with these questions and their own lived experiences through artistic interpretation, exhibitions, and educational programming, including lessons from historical clothing and stories of ongoing civic participation. Ongoing in 2026<a href="https://www.chicagohistory.org/us-at-250-civic-action-in-chicago/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chicago History Museum</a>

Using Art to View History America’s 250th Birthday

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778779503/pmitmqzvhmroqkbmqqxf.jpg">Images courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. Photos: Bob. Publisher’s Note: Earlier this year Dana Randall, Communications and Alumni Relations Manager at the Chicago Artists Coalition, sat down with CAC resident artist Pedro Montilla and Alyssa Brubaker, Director of <a href="https://www.moniquemeloche.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">moniquemeloche</a> to discuss Montilla's practice and the process of working together. By DANA RANDALL Pedro Montilla’s work has been gaining traction over the last year, and he isn’t planning to slow down anytime soon. During a conversation with Montilla and Alyssa Brubaker, Director of Monique Meloche Gallery, the two discussed Pedro’s recent solo exhibition, *Mirar abajo*—which translates loosely to “look below”—, as well as EXPO Chicago, and what lies ahead for Montilla. Regarding the development of *Mirar abajo*, Brubaker first encountered Montilla’s work during his Graduate Thesis Show at SAIC in 2025 while accompanying Monique Meloche and her husband, Evan Boris, a partner of the gallery and a collector. The visit came after a recommendation from Staci Boris, curator and Director of Exhibitions at SAIC. “We were really struck by his sensibility as a painter and his approach to material, subject matter, and composition,” shares Brubaker. “From there, we invited Pedro to do a solo show in our viewing room last fall, which was adjacent to our exhibition with Maia Cruz Palileo, an artist on our roster.” The exhibition was curated with an underlying trust in Montilla’s work and support for his ideas. As Montilla describes, “being given a lot of freedom to just do my work as I normally do, very organically,” as well as “knowing the gallery’s program and also feeling very welcomed by them,” contributed to his decision to fully invest himself in the exhibition. Following his graduation, a summer fellowship at Ox-Bow in Saugatuck, Michigan further prepared him for the solo presentation and allowed him to concentrate on building a cohesive body of work. Born in the Colombian Andes, Montilla works primarily with fique, a coarse fiber often associated with systems of transportation. In his work, the material resists functioning as a neutral support, producing images that remain open, porous, and unstable. “Fique is the main material in the work because it allows painting to be loud, to breathe, and to condition the image,” he says. Montilla’s work behaves like a story to be unwoven. “I like poetry a lot, and I like words a lot. I wanted to aspire to do a body of work that could behave a little bit like a fable,” he shares. “The two big themes that were meaningful at the time—and archetypal themes—were both the shadow and the ground. So I gave a lot of time and attention to creating this nonlinear fable surrounding these two beings.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778779504/ii2o6ciuvrpiyfjfcsfn.jpg"> Brubaker also reflected on the relationship between Montilla’s work and Maia Cruz Palileo’s exhibition, which was on view concurrently. “Serendipitously, these two shows were sort of interacting with each other, and these are two artists that hadn't met each other, but the works had so much synergy,” she shares, noting how both artists were “thinking about the land, thinking about histories, thinking about bodies being moved through borders, and even color-palette wise.” The opening included a conversation between Montilla and Palileo moderated by curator Mariela Acuña, Director of Exhibitions and Residency at Hyde Park Art Center, where the artists discussed their approaches to painting through the lens of their respective histories. “I think that there is a very important way for me to work where I need to be able to thread ideas and images together with things that actually happen either in my life or in my dreams or things that I envision,” Montilla shares regarding his studio process and the storytelling behind his work. “But I also like to make those things broad enough that they are not specific to my own experience. That’s where I think a lot about poetry, because poetry is a way of presenting ideas that is not necessarily linear. It has a linear context for me, for sure, but I also like that images can work separately while still belonging to and behaving within a larger body of work.” Montilla has several upcoming projects on the horizon. He recently showed work during EXPO Chicago this year in the viewing room at Monique Meloche Gallery, where a piece was acquired by a prominent private collector. His work was also included in a special group exhibition at Chicago Artists Coalition during EXPO Art Week, where he is currently an artist in residence. Additionally, this May he will participate in *Summer Delight*, a group exhibition at Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery in West Palm Beach on view from May 20–September 12, 2026. He is also preparing for a solo exhibition with Policroma Galería in Medellín, Colombia, opening June 4, 2026, and will make his debut at Art Basel Miami Beach through Monique Meloche Gallery later this year. Next year, he will exhibit work alongside Yehimi Cambrón Álvarez and Gunjan Chawla Kumar in a group exhibition curated by Jordan Barrant at Chicago Artists Coalition in March 2027. Montilla is currently a Lecturer in the Painting and Drawing Department at SAIC. You can follow Montilla’s work through his website or on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pedro.montilla/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> as well as at <a href="https://www.pedromontilla.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pedromontilla.com</a>

An Interview with Pedro Montilla + Alyssa Brubaker

<h3> </h3><h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174412/aedtvsaw2b7enya9kbvf.jpg"></h3><h3> </h3><h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gelsy-verna-mother-father-please-help-me" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gelsy Verna: Mother, Father, Please Help Me</a></h3> May 7, 2026 - Sep 27, 2026Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA)• Madison, WI <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174414/miinuiyzjelcarcwy8nn.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/art-theory-and-practice-26" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">We can make any two stories touch: 2026 Art Theory and Practice MFA Thesis Exhibition</a></h3>May 8, 2026 - Jun 14, 2026Opening: Thursday, May 7, 2026 5:00 PM – 8:00 PMBlock Museum of Art• Evanston, IL <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174415/dhgenyuwp4dartbwoaej.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/senior-capstone-exhibition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Senior Capstone Exhibition</a></h3>May 7, 2026 - May 17, 2026Opening: Thursday, May 7, 2026 7:00 PM – 9:00 PMWadsworth Family Gallery at Lewis University• Romeoville, IL <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174416/xfix7cznarxup3coviez.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/spring-benefit-2026" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steppenwolf 50: Through the Eye of Sandro Miller</a></h3>May 8, 2026 - Jun 13, 2026Opening: Friday, May 15, 2026 5:30 PM – 8:00 PMThe Art Center Highland Park• Highland Park, IL <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174417/sgkeayma1oeojfusm4gc.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/vanessa-filley-flying-kites-in-a-windless-world" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vanessa Filley: Flying Kites in a Windless World</a></h3>May 9, 2026 - Jul 11, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 9, 2026 1:00 PM – 3:00 PMOS Projects• Racine, WI<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174418/hmjogfucsxx4b8pd7ebb.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/wallace-bowling-artist-talk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wallace Bowling Artist Talk</a></h3>Saturday, May 9, 2026 2:00 PM – 4:00 PMBert Green Fine Art• Loop/Michigan Ave. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174419/drbdrrggmhrmgqymngeq.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/mother-earth-market" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mother Earth Market</a></h3>May 9, 2026 - May 10, 2026Brushwood Center• Riverwoods, IL <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174420/ezmp4ctbrqqvsbib1cqm.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/family-day-let-loose" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Family Day | Let Loose</a></h3>Saturday, May 9, 2026 11:00 AM – 3:00 PMMuseum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)• Streeterville <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778174421/yea8rz6blkoymzc6yfnu.jpg"> <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/artist-talk-for-pieces-too-short-to-save-a-survey-of-contemporary-collage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Artist Talk for Pieces Too Short To Save: A Survey of Contemporary Collage</a></h3>Saturday, May 9, 2026 12:00 PM – 1:00 PMOpening: Saturday, May 9, 2026 12:00 PM – 12:00 PMSoNa Chicago Contemporary Art• West Town/Wicker Park # <h3><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=upcoming&amp;page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VIEW FULL CGN CALENDAR HERE</a></h3>

New Exhibitions and Events: May 7–11

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778089982/nh8kxevp4ddricwapcoq.jpg">A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center site and Julie Mehretu’s commissioned artwork, an 83-foot-tall painted glass window titled Uprising of the Sun.&nbsp;Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. By ALISON REILLY&nbsp; The expansive, 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park will open to the public on June 19 after nearly five years of construction. The Center features an ambitious art program with more than 25 commissions of new work from some of today’s most prominent contemporary artists – like Carrie Mae Weems, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Jenny Holzer, and Richard Hunt – along with recent School of the Art Institute graduate Lindsay Adams, Washington D.C.-based artist Nekisha Durrett, and Mexican and American painter Aliza Nisenbaum. These permanent works will be installed throughout the campus. For example, Maya Lin’s Seeing Through the Universe serves as a focal point in an outdoor space dedicated to President Obama’s mother, while Mark Bradford’s immense City of the Big Shoulders scales the three-story west wall of the museum atrium. Together, the commissions articulate a vision of the Center as a cultural hub where art, civic life, and education intersect.&nbsp; I spoke with Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum, and Virginia Shore, Curator of the Obama Presidential Center Art Commissions about the Center’s innovative art program. Our conversation explored how these commissions shape the institution’s identity, reflect the Obamas’ longstanding commitment to artists and arts education, and expand the possibilities of what a civic and cultural institution can achieve. * <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778089984/ououbwcnfs4lxvmwrlrn.jpg">Installation in progress of Julie Mehretu’s Uprising of the Sun at the Obama Presidential Center. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. CGN: How do the artist commissions for the Obama Presidential Center shape the institution’s identity compared to what we think of as a traditional presidential library? Louise Bernard: The Obama Presidential Center is in many ways a living legacy. We think about the continued work of the Obama administration, the work that the Obamas did together in the White House, the relationship between the West Wing and the East Wing, and Mrs. Obama’s initiatives. The Obamas lifted up the importance of art, not only rehanging the collection within the White House, but really thinking about the important relationship between the arts and education. We know that there is a positive impact through arts education in terms of curricular development, the impact that it has on young people, and so that was a particular focus and emphasis for the Obamas, thinking not only about the visual arts, but the arts across disciplines. That’s something that we wanted to continue and lift up through the foundation’s mission, which is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We’re building this 19.3-acre complex rooted in community on the South Side of Chicago. We know the arts are engaging, uplifting, and energizing. We really thought about how art in public spaces can continue to foster that sense of connection and possibility.&nbsp; Virginia Shore: It is a community center. It is a cultural hub. It’s a museum, library, auditorium, recording studio, cafe. It’s the first of its kind in terms of calling it a presidential center and what that means. The spaces are spectacular, and the art brings it to life in this whole other way. Each artist has a different vision, different materials, and a different focus. CGN: When you look at the breadth of artists involved from Carrie Mae Weems to Theaster Gates to Nick Cave, is there a unifying vision that connects them? You spoke about possibility, but are there other themes that emerge from bringing these artists with very different practices together? VS: There’s an underlying thread that connects them all. They are changemakers, civically engaged, and trying to build community. Through each one of the works, regardless of theme or material, the artists themselves are changemakers in their own right.&nbsp; LB: We wanted to ensure that we had a mix of luminary figures as well as emerging artists. To your point, there is a real mix of materiality, the various practices that the artists bring to bear on very site-specific spaces. Virginia was also thinking about artists in relationship to space and scale. We were often asking artists to really push their own practice, working in materials that they hadn’t necessarily worked in before. Julie Mehretu was working in glass for the first time, which has impacted and shaped her continued practice as she’s working with new materiality around transparency or translucency. We also thought about the full range of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, queer identity, Indigenous representation. We wanted to ensure that we had artists from Chicago with a connection back to the city and its rich history of the arts and civic engagement. &nbsp; It’s also important to note that while the commissions are understood to be permanent, they’re site specific, they will have real longevity and presence at the Center. They will be activated programmatically so that they are brought to life in new ways. We really think about placing these artists in dialogue with other artists, across disciplines.&nbsp; CGN: For Julie Mehretu’s work, Uprising of the Sun, what guided your decision to commission her for that significant space in the museum tower? What made her work and her approach right for the Obama Presidential Center? &nbsp; VS: One of the many exciting things about working on this project was that it really became a dialogue. The President, Louise, and the team were open to my suggestions. That window wall looked like this perfect space for art to transform the museum tower and become a beacon of hope for the Center, the north facing wall of the museum. I presented a couple of ideas in terms of artists that might be able to address that window wall, and we all landed on Julie. Julie was both excited and, as she has said, a little daunted by it, because she had never worked in glass before. But there’s an incredible fabricator [Franz Mayer Studio] that I had the opportunity to work with a few times in my previous career. They are one of the most renowned artist glass makers in the world. I think that helped allay her fears as well. She was really excited by the challenge. &nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778089985/qro0sstogxlnl8mm5xul.jpg">Aliza Nisenbaum, Reading Circles/ Weaving Dreams/ Seeding Futures (detail), 2025. Oil on linen. Photo by Izzy Leung. Courtesy the artist, Anton Kern gallery, and Regen Projects. CGN: When you are commissioning someone like Mark Bradford for a monumental painting, what is the process like? Where do you begin? VS: Mark was unique because that space inside the museum is incredibly complicated. From the ground level all the way looking up, it’s interrupted by floors and balconies jutting out, so it’s not a symmetrical space. But Mark is so fluid, he’s able to take over monumental spaces. LB: With Mark we saw the evolution of his piece. He worked and reworked it for several years with rounds of concepting, testing, prototyping, and modeling. He built a model of the space in his studio so that he could really understand the scale and how the idea of the mapping played out–the connection between Chicago, the city and the lake. I think it’s been a remarkable journey for him. He also worked on other projects simultaneously and so his work evolved across time and these pieces spoke to each other. That was also remarkable to see.&nbsp; CGN: Did anything surprise you in the way the artists responded to the Obama legacy or to Chicago itself? VS: There are so many thoughtful concepts that we did not anticipate. Spencer Finch [Memory Landscape (Nairobi, Chicago, Honolulu, Jakarta)], the way that he incorporated the president’s story, by reading all of the President’s books and using color [in the tile wall mural installation] to connect back to place, history, and his personal memories. The artists who have been commissioned for this project have spent serious time thinking about how best to make this connection to the Center.&nbsp; LB: I would add one example of the frieze, the large-scale works by Theaster Gates [To See What They Could See and American Vista in the Forum Atrium]. Theaster is local to Chicago, born and raised on the West Side, very much rooted on the South Side in terms of his artistic practice and Rebuild Foundation. But within Theaster’s practice, he thinks a lot about the figure of the Black woman, the idea of the Black Madonna, being able to lift up this idea of blackness and beauty, Black modernity is central to his practice. He is thinking through the legacy, the idea of the first Black first lady and how that resonates in terms of Mrs. Obama being born and raised in South Shore, adjacent to the Center itself. We see these references to the idea of blackness and beauty and power and presence in these wonderful archival images drawn from the Johnson Publishing Company archive and from the personal collection of Howard Simmons. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778089985/vwmkxh94h5aex6s0wfqe.jpg">Theaster Gates, Studies for Gates’ installation at his studio in Chicago, 2025. Courtesy of Theaster Gates Studio. CGN: You have commissioned works that are tied directly to Chicago’s cultural history, like the Gates frieze you mentioned. How did you approach selecting work that referenced Chicago and its history? VS: There was always intent to include artists with connections to Chicago. Aliza Nisenbaum, for example, is creating this fantastic expansive mural for the public library. She works in community and shines light on people who are not always front and center through her portraiture. She spent so much time doing research about librarians, about the purpose of the libraries in Chicago, how expansive they are, thinking of it as a place for people without homes, and then what is possible inside a library and looking at it as this community space that’s free and open and a space to go and learn and feel welcome.&nbsp; To an artist like Tyanna J. Buie who has done a screenprint piece [Be the Change!] inside the Forum building. She grew up in many different foster homes. Now she is the head of printmaking at RISD. She was in a Bud Billiken parade [on the South Side of Chicago] when President Obama was running for Senate, and so her work has this other history of being connected to him in this way as a young adult. There’s so many different stories like that where there’s a connection that maybe wouldn’t be anticipated.&nbsp; LB: We think again about the power of place in the most dynamic sense. The Center is rooted in community. The connection to Chicago’s rich history is very much front and center. But at the same time, we tell a national story with an international reach. We’re always thinking about the synergy between the local and the global, the way in which we’re drawing people in, we’re bringing the world to the South Side and the South Side to the world. There is that exchange that takes place. I think that is embedded throughout many of the works. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1778089986/gmnsndqmtlkezbjnhjg3.jpg">Spencer Finch, Obama Presidential Center Forum Garden Level, Rendering. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. CGN: Chicago has a long history of investing in and supporting public art. I’m curious how you see the Center’s art program entering into that civic tradition. LB: We are obviously not a traditional art museum, we’re a non-traditional platform for the arts. But we have this global reach in terms of the foundation’s international sensibility as well as a connection to the idea of locality and proximity. We have a public high school literally across the street. We think about how through our engagement with the arts, we’re also able to lift up the idea of the business of the arts, which is to say that the arts are themselves a billion-dollar, international industry, and there’s a whole ecosystem of career pathways within this industry, which continues to evolve and change over time. Through the foundation’s mission, we’re able to model for young people connections to careers they may not have anticipated and really lift the hood, so to speak, on how this particular ecosystem works. We think about the city as a school. We want to ensure that young people have a behind-the-scenes understanding of how different cultural institutions work.&nbsp; CGN: In what ways does the art program reflect President Obama and Mrs. Obama’s own relationship to culture, creativity, and civic imagination? VS: Looking back at their time during the White House and all the artists that they included, both in the residences and in the West Wing, they highlighted the arts throughout their eight years in office. There were more artists that performed in the White House during the Obama administration than at any other time. This is their legacy. It feels like an extension of their time in the White House and of the power of arts to transform possibility. LB: We saw how the National Portrait Gallery portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald looked unlike any other presidential portraiture before them. Kim Sajet, who was then the director of the National Portrait Gallery, talked about the “pilgrimage effect” of those portraits, their power to draw people to the National Portrait Gallery, to the museum, to pay homage to that history and everything they represent. At the same time, President and Mrs. Obama speak about the idea of on whose shoulders we stand. They’re very mindful of the fact that their journeys were only made possible because of the many people, the movements, the milestones that came before them. The arts are tapping into that sense of possibility and collectivity, but they have a way, as we saw with the National Portrait Gallery portraits, of pushing the envelope of what is possible and how that resonates with the power of representation itself. We think of that wonderful photo of the little girl captured looking up at the Amy Sherald portrait with a sense of wonder and awe and also seeing herself reflected back. While the President and Mrs. Obama are phenomenal figures and iconic in their own right, we always want to ensure for the museum experience that everyday people, visitors, see themselves reflected in their stories. The President began his career as a community organizer. Mrs. Obama was born and raised on the South Side. And so, again, there is that sense of possibility.&nbsp; VS: The President said, “We believe that the arts and the humanities are, in many ways, reflective of our national soul. They’re central to who we are as Americans–dreamers and storytellers, and innovators and visionaries.” I feel like that says it all. Visit <a href="https://obama.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">obama.org</a>

Art at The Obama Center: Raising the Future of Art and Possibility 

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926686/szvfe3br7napolrmxkzi.jpg">Neisser’s minimalist living room in her 19th Century home. All photos by CGN. By GINNY VAN ALYEA Some art collections live in grand, purpose-built spaces. Others come together more organically over time, shaped by travel, taste, and different chapters of life. One I had the chance to see this winter fills the walls and shelves of Kate Neisser’s sunny, 19th Century, Lincoln Park row house, reflecting a personal and generational affection for living with art in the city of Chicago. Most collections I visit offer a window into someone’s passions and personality. Occasionally, though, they can feel more assembled than lived with — technically sound but missing a certain ease. Neisser’s collection feels as relaxed and welcoming as she is. The art doesn’t feel staged. It feels at home.&nbsp; Following is our conversation, edited for clarity. *CGN: Are you from Chicago? Kate Neisser: I’ve lived elsewhere, but I’m very much of Chicago having grown up about a block away from here in a similar house. CGN: When you saw this house, what did you think?&nbsp; KN: I fell in love with it immediately, it simply felt like home. It’s neither too big, nor too small—it’s just right. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926687/acdntk8echu6giuqv0sg.jpg">A view of Neisser’s dining room. Above the fireplace is a painting by Canadian artist James Brown. On the wall to the right of bookcase, sculpture by Richard Nonas. CGN: Today it’s quite modern inside, with some original details. Did you do any renovations?&nbsp; KN: Before we moved in 1999, we made adjustments that aligned with our taste and way of living. For instance, we customized a long kitchen banquet with drawers beneath for toys and built book shelves in the dining room. What better dinner partners than the characters populating books and the authors who created them? CGN: When you updated the house, was it with art in mind? KN: Definitely. We removed the picture moldings because they can distract from art hanging within their confines, and we also changed out the lighting so it wasn’t so much decorative as it was conducive to enhancing work. Art is always in the back of my mind, if not at the forefront. CGN: You grew up around art—and you’re from a collecting family. KN: We should start with the fact that I was named after my grandmother’s closest friend curator Katharine Kuh.&nbsp;And some of my earliest memories are of the original MCA store where my mother was the first book buyer. xI’d spend school holidays miscalculating the change from transactions at the cash register or coloring at a desk in the cave-like office. To this day I’m not sure it didn’t have a dirt floor. That’s a question for store founders Rhona Hoffman, Dorie Sternberg and Helyn Goldenberg. I actually remember Helyn telling me that one of my drawings looked like a Dubuffet. Imagine the impression that leaves on an eight-year-old. CGN: Did you wonder who Dubuffet was? KN: If memory serves, Helyn showed me a picture of the artist’s work. From then on, every time I see a Dubuffet, I think of Helyn. In fact, to me, art is as much about the work as it is about the people who’ve taught me how to see and appreciate it. &nbsp; CGN: How else do you think your parents influenced your interest in art and eventually collecting?&nbsp; KN: My parents derived a great deal of joy from collecting and learning together. They also set a terrific example for me in terms of building relationships with people who are on the same art journey. CGN: Did they get started together or separately? KN: Before he met my mother, my father collected antique maps from Asia and Japanese block prints many of which hang in this house. My mother always had an amazing eye. Together, they explored the Chicago art scene and developed a collection.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926688/c4yjvodlcm3m3eupqkuj.jpg">Works by Robert Mangold installed in Neisser’s kitchen. CGN: When did your interest become more focused?&nbsp; KN: While I collect contemporary art, there isn’t a rigid focus. I have a profound appreciation for art of all types though my collecting was oriented by living with the art in my childhood home and then later my mother’s stunning collection of minimalist work. I like what I like because it touches me. CGN: So you’re not trying to fill in some to-dos. KN: No to-dos. None. CGN: You’ve mentioned that sometimes when you encounter a work of art you feel, “I really have to have this.” KN: Yes. Falling in love is probably the factor that contributes most to an acquisition. When I fall in love with something, that’s it. I’m a relatively restrained person, so when I have that feeling — that’s the one— I go with it. CGN: Does that happen often? KN: It’s more frequent than a lightning strike but certainly not hard to keep up with. When I pass on a potential purchase, I’m gratified knowing it’s out there and that other people are deriving pleasure from it. I think art should be shared. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926689/vireorhle5w5hqonwlbk.jpg">Another living room view. * CGN: You support many organizations and institutions in Chicago, including the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Design Museum of Chicago. It sounds like your parents made friends by supporting art and artists and that you have too. KN: Through my involvement, I’ve met some of my favorite people who were with me at an art fair or gallery when I made a purchase. The art you see here is about those relationships, too.&nbsp;And I’m always happy to support young artists and young people. Both of my kids are professional musicians and this house is still full of their friends who, passing through town, keep me open, interested and fueled. CGN: How much time do you spend outside of Chicago? KN: I spend the summer and winter in Aspen, so I’m here six months out of the year.&nbsp; CGN: Are you involved in the art community in Aspen?&nbsp; KN: In Aspen I’m more of an outdoor dog. Though I periodically stop by the galleries or the museum, I’m generally on skis, a bike or hiking. &nbsp; Beyond that, I travel. I went to Japan last May, which blew my mind and then met my kids in London in July.&nbsp;I love going to museums and galleries with them. It’s amazing to see what they’re drawn to, what they notice, and what they respond to. CGN: Being from Chicago and connected to the arts for your whole life, how do you see the arc of the contemporary scene here right now, especially considering a new generation of galleries, some transitions from the old guard, and new ways of doing things? KN: It’s a thrill to be in Chicago. There’s art literally coming out of the walls in nearly every neighborhood with buildings punctuated with murals and parks dotted by public art. In terms of the gallery scene, it’s evolving at an accelerated pace with multiple transitions. &nbsp; And with those transitions, there’s also the loss of great galleries like Rhona Hoffman. I feel like I grew up there. I dated Rhona’s son, and I worked for her one summer. There will never be another Rhona. We’re in a different time. And I love the idea of younger people trying their hand and seeing what sticks. It’s also a completely different period because there’s so much online consumption. The hooks are going to have to be different for a gallery to have longevity. CGN: There have been conversations for years about the Chicago collecting community and whether galleries can rely on the local collector base. KN: Yes, but I think there’s a lot to be said about Chicago as a community. To me, the galleries that will enjoy the most success will be those that serve as community centers—places that feel open, where people can engage in discourse. Not only for collectors, but for visual artists, musicians, writers, and designers. * CGN: Can you talk a little bit about the Design Museum of Chicago and your relationship to it, since it’s a newer museum here? KN: DMoC isn’t just a design museum as in, ‘I love your Arne Jacobsen chair.” It’s also about elevating design born and bred in Chicago. It can be house music, an urban garden in Garfield Park or something in Ukrainian Village. The Design Museum is about makers and communities, and how that affects the design ecosystem in Chicago — graphic design, typography, beer — you name it.&nbsp; And it not only features “good” design, but it also examines “bad” design in order to consider what invites people in? What pushes people out?&nbsp; * CGN: You’re drawn to conceptual pieces and minimalist works. What draws you to that aesthetic? KN: I’m fascinated by how a simple angle or curve can evoke a feeling and create depth in space. There’s something tender and oddly human to me about minimalism.&nbsp; CGN: Tell me about these [geometric] pieces in your kitchen? KN: These are a set of works by Robert Mangold, whom I love. They’re at once architectural and extremely human with each one feeling a little bit “off.” CGN: It almost recalls a family portrait—there are nine single works, but they’re all related. KN: They are all related, and each is perfect in its own peculiarity. CGN: Were you able to choose the installation? KN: I did. It was so long ago that I’m not sure what made me do it that way. Maybe the color, maybe the shapes. You could spend forever rearranging them. But I chose the placement of everything in this house. It has to do with intuition and what feels aligned with something I feel. These particular works have been here for 12 years now. I see them so much that sometimes they’re just part of the wall, part of the woodwork. CGN: Do you move things around or reinstall works?&nbsp; KN: Well, there’s a Rodney Graham in our house in Aspen—an upside-down tree. Last winter I’d been in the house for about a week and one of my kids called at 11:00 pm to ask if it was still there. I said, “Of course, I would have noticed if it weren’t.” He said, “No, I really don’t think it’s there.”&nbsp; I didn’t want to get up, but I went to the kitchen and discovered that he and his friend had turned it right-side-up from its intended inversion. He and I laughed until we cried. &nbsp; So sometimes you live with something for so long, you know it’s there—it feels right knowing it’s there. But you don’t always notice it in the way you think you do. CGN: Once you realized it was actually upside down, did you turn it back? KN: I certainly did!&nbsp; * <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926690/uaiznmgnnqc5m49mwlk5.jpg">Works are tucked into private spaces as well as public in Neisser's home. Neisser led me on a tour of her home, sharing details about small sculptures tucked among books, antiques placed on fireplace mantels, works on paper installed in stairwells, and even a book wrapped in clear plastic by the artist Christo. Ambling through her home, she shared stories about why certain works are placed in specific spots, as well as how she came to acquire much of her art. Art occupies prime wall space beyond the entertaining areas. It complements the fashion in Neisser’s dressing room, welcomes her children home when they return to visit, and populates every hallway. Altogether, there is a loosely cohesive contemporary mixture of faces and architectural shapes in the art Neisser has acquired, displayed symbiotically with older pieces such as maps and prints her father loved. CGN: You have a lot more than art displayed in your dining room, and I know you are also a writer. Tell me about these bookshelves.&nbsp; KN: I love books. I love the idea of the people who are in books, the people who own books. It’s another way of populating the house with history and stories. I’m not too picky about how things are displayed—I love having a bit of “past” in the bookcase. It becomes part of the family. CGN: Bookshelves can invite people to spend time examining all that is displayed on them. KN: This sculpture, which looks like wood but is metal, is by Richard Nonas. My mom and I bought that together. I think Rhona had it at EXPO—maybe 2016. We both fell in love with it. CGN: Tell me about this drawing.&nbsp; KN: This is by Hannah Wilke who had spent much of her career photographing her body which, I understand, was quite sexy. The drawing was made after a cancer diagnosis and treatment that left her somewhat disfigured.&nbsp;I think it’s beautiful and achingly human.&nbsp;I found it on an acquisition trip in New York with the Society for Contemporary Art (SCA). We walked into the Andrea Rosen Gallery and Andrea turned to [Art Institute of Chicago President and Director] James Rondeau and said, “Oh, I wanted to show this one to Judith.” I didn’t know who Judith was, but I loved it and wanted it. It turned out she was actually thinking of it for my mother’s collection. CGN: Was your mother was still alive? KN: Yes. And she loved it, too. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926690/hjramgvokeva1hhgonsn.jpg">Above: on table: a Christo wrapped Chicago magazine; a sculpture by Martin Puryear. On wall: a work by Robert Mangold that Neisser says reminds her of the shape of her father’s face. CGN: I see more geometric shapes, as well as more round or oval shapes. Are they connected to architecture or design for you?&nbsp; KN: They’re connected to both.&nbsp; CGN: They also recall the fondness for people you mentioned. What about this face in the dining room?&nbsp; KN: Right. This was from my parents collection by the Canadian artist James Brown. CGN: He has such a great expression — the narrowing of the eyes, there is this sense he is observing or judging what is actually going on.&nbsp; KN: I just think he’s hilarious. It reminds me of a novel by Roald Dahl called, “My Uncle Oswald.” He belongs here overseeing the mantle like some august self-important relative. CGN: I think people sometimes assume minimalism has to feel hard or spare, but these works aren’t — they’re beautifully soft and many are also fun.&nbsp; KN: Right. Some people may see restraint, but I see sheer beauty.&nbsp;&nbsp; # <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777926691/ztzrq2cfdqalkurb4r9d.jpg"> <h3>This interview appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 issue. To purchase a copy or subscribe <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here.</a> </h3>

Falling In Love: How Collector Kate Neisser Discovers Art

<h3>Spring and summer offer a full slate of&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout&nbsp;the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. – CGN</h3> Read our 5TTT with Jay Krehbiel&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-jay-krehbiel-executive-chairman-freemans" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with Michelle T. Boone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-michelle-t-boone-president-and-ceo-the-poetry-foundation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with Monique Meloche&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-monique-meloche" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with “Easy” Otabor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-isimeme-easy-otabor-anthony-gallery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. To subscribe to the spring/summer magazine click&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. <h3>James Mesplé – Artist</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777921736/oe9egelzcbhceqh0rtfg.jpg"> “While exhibiting at the Cliff Dwellers, Morton College, Triton College, and The Arts Club of Chicago in 2025 and 2026, I realized that all of my [exhibited] paintings contained figures. It made me hungry to create landscapes focusing on vegetation. However, I was invited to create a diptych for Duality (March-April 2026) at Jackson/Junge Gallery, and my ideas returned to figuration. After finishing a small and larger diptych for Duality, I began a new series focusing on landscapes. Will figures suddenly reappear in the landscapes in diminutive form? Maybe. In the meantime, I am drawing and painting flowers, plants, and trees and thinking about our Earth and humanity’s place upon it. I am also taking out time to create a Painted Sculpture for Greek Town, which will be displayed for the public on Halsted Street during the Summer, Fall, and Winter of 2026. My exhibition, “One Thing Leads to Another,” at Morton College last year got me interested in the Morton Arboretum. I will spend my summer at both the Arboretum and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Here’s hoping Flora and Demeter give Chicago a pleasant Summer and that Ceres and Pomona provide a bountiful Autumn Harvest of paintings.”

Anticipating a Season of Art: Arist James Mesplé

<h3>In spite of the influencer times we are living in, where daily life is shared and documented by everyone with a phone, fine art photographers still have wide-reaching power to accessibly share viewpoints and realities through images that, not long ago, were not even considered art. A handful of photo-centric exhibitions take place this season amidst some big milestones and news. –CGN</h3><h3> </h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777864478/tistmommwstclzrgvc2o.jpg">Nelson W. Armour, Teaching #2 Perspective Photo Gallery in Evanston presents Teaching, Nelson W. Armour’s ode to the challenges, triumphs, hard work and effort of classroom teachers. This photographic essay resulted from a two-year residency with Artists in the Public Schools, formerly CPSLives. On view Apr 2-May 3. Opening: Sa, Apr 4, 5–7pm&nbsp; <a href="https://perspectivegallery.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">perspectivegallery.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777864479/xgaf2zvcmy5dmrrkqmwz.jpg">Widline Cadet (Haitian, b. 1992), Seremoni Disparisyon #1&nbsp;(Ritual [Dis]Appearance #1), 2019. Inkjet print. 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.64 cm). Collection of Anne-Laure Lemaitre © Widline Cadet&nbsp; Currents 40: Widline Cadet is the first solo museum exhibition in the U.S. by artist Widline Cadet and the first full presentation of her nearly decade-long project Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance). Coming to the Milwaukee Art Museum the exhibition is both a defining moment in Cadet’s career and a major contribution to contemporary photography and media-based art Cadet explores Black diasporic life through themes of migration, memory, absence, and belonging in her photography, video, and installation. On view May 8–Aug 9 <a href="https://mam.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mam.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777864480/wlvzhr1ybvskkloodroq.jpg">Dan Tamarkin at Tamarkin Camera Tamarkin Camera has been a family business since 1971, and it was Dan Tamarkin who took over the oldest Leica dealership in the U.S. in 2010 and moved Tamarkin Camera to Chicago. An authorized Leica Camera and Sport Optics dealer, today Dan also runs Rangefinder Gallery in River North, which showcases images made with the legendary Leica M. Dan sometimes offers neighborhood walking tours, and you can bring or borrow a Leica to take photos. And while you can visit Tamarkin Camera online, Dan says he doesn’t have an e-commerce site, since he prefers to talk to customers and fellow Leicaphiles face-to-face. The German-made Leica has endured as a coveted and collectible brand, and there is much to talk about and admire in-person. Don’t miss Dan’s alter-ego on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bosco_arnack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram @bosco_arnack</a> <a href="https://www.tamarkin.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tamarkin.com</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp;(800) BUY-LEICA <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777864480/yvahquiuxvf8nvwb5re0.jpg">Raul Corrales, Maria and Mario. Dos Fotografos, Dos Epocas, Dos Estados, 1980. 2006:296 The Museum of Contemporary&nbsp;Photography turns 50 in 2026. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, the MoCP has acquired over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists. The variety of work collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes. The milestone exhibition MoCP at Fifty examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection that reflects on the role of cultural institutions in shaping the photographic canon.&nbsp;•&nbsp;Thru May 16 <a href="https://www.mocp.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mocp.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777864481/jlpdbo22pvhgvq4kpd9r.jpg">Photo by&nbsp;Nolis&nbsp;Anderson Newly open in Chicago is the&nbsp;Leica Store and Gallery Chicago, the newest addition to Leica’s global network of corporate-owned stores. Situated on Michigan Avenue near the historic Water Tower, the flagship location aims be a space where visitors and tourists will find rotating gallery exhibitions showcasing established and emerging artists as well as workshops and educational programs offered through the Leica Akademie.&nbsp;The Leica gallery in Chicago is directed by Lucas Zenk, who previously worked at Stephen Daiter Gallery in River North for 20 years. <a href="https://leicacamerausa.com/leica-store-chicago/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">leicacamerausa.com</a>

Photography Focus

<h1><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652387/j9vxajdqn2tjyuwx8ijs.jpg"></h1> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/she-is-sitting-on-her-own-shadow" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Manuela García: She is sitting on her own shadow</a></h2>May 2, 2026 - Jun 5, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 2, 2026 5:00 PM – 7:30 PMPATRON• West Town <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652388/dgfnq50arcei1f5fzkxx.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/garden-of-prayer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nour Malas: Garden of Prayer</a></h2>May 2, 2026 - Jun 5, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 2, 2026 5:00 PM – 7:30 PMPATRON• West Town <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652388/wpbpogx0hebpa3r1ukv7.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/palomar-part-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Palomar (Part 1)</a></h2>May 2, 2026 - Jun 7, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 2, 2026 4:00 PM – 7:00 PMThe Renaissance Society• Hyde Park <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652389/rcdzxphl7klyvqevsyst.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/horizons-the-waterscapes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Horizons: the Waterscapes</a></h2>May 2, 2026 - May 24, 2026Opening: Saturday, May 2, 2026 2:00 PM – 5:00 PMThe Grove Gallery• Evanston <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652389/ckvqbpqlrdkbdhlmsfzx.png"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chihuly" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CHIHULY</a></h2>May 2, 2026 - Nov 1, 2026Frederik Meijer Gardens &amp; Sculpture Park• Grand Rapids, MI # <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VIEW FULL CGN CALENDAR</a>

New Exhibitions Open May 2

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652163/uoupfbmwvhladwhii2h4.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/between-voice-and-silence" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Between Voice and Silence</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - May 30, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 6:00 PM – 9:00 PMUkrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA)•&nbsp;West Town/Ukrainian Village <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652164/ptzuls9gqbvda7kwjm7e.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/joan-holleb-woodland-tales" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Holleb: Woodland Tales</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - Jul 1, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 5:00 PM – 8:00 PMAddington Gallery•&nbsp;River North <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652164/eckwsnwcpz4mr5txrpam.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/golden-vision-zollalieberman-gallery-celebrates-50-years" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Golden Vision: Zolla/Lieberman Gallery Celebrates 50 Years</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - Jun 13, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 3:00 PM – 7:00 PMZolla / Lieberman Gallery•&nbsp;River North <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652165/k7qeqp0y2subckjsrvos.png"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/athena-2026-solo-shows" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ATHENA 2026 Solo Shows</a></h2>Apr 26, 2026 - May 30, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 6:00 PM – 8:00 PMARC Gallery•&nbsp;West Town <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652166/onr9ngrhr5qa7okqbbkq.png"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/homeward-unbound" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">homeward (un)bound</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - Jun 18, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 5:00 PM – 8:00 PMChicago Artists Coalition (CAC)• West Town <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652166/jzitqm631stzl6n4k0eg.jpg"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/without-permission" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">﻿Without Permission</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - May 29, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 6:00 PM – 10:00 PMChicago Grand Gallery• Humboldt Park <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777652167/ynqslji2wlsk5mcrhkwk.png"> <h2><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/erin-kaya-atmospheric-geometry" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Erin Kaya: Atmospheric Geometry</a></h2>May 1, 2026 - May 28, 2026Opening: Friday, May 1, 2026 5:00 PM – 7:00 PMVivid Art Gallery• Winnetka # <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VIEW FULL CGN CALENDAR</a>

New Exhibitions Open May 1

<h3><a href="https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/fine-art/warhol-is-out-gulfstreams-are-in-the-superrich-are-souring-on-art-58f231e6?st=J5sYw8&amp;reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Warhol Is Out, Gulfstreams Are In: The Superrich Are Souring on Art</a></h3><h3> </h3>Something unusual is happening in the art market. Sales are stagnant while other businesses that cater to the superrich, like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/airlines/wheels-up-wants-high-end-travelers-to-see-flying-private-as-not-so-far-out-of-reach-5ee39031?page=1&amp;mod=article_inline" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" target="_blank">private jet</a>&nbsp;companies, are booming.The wealthy might simply be putting their cash into other assets because paintings turned out to be a disappointing investment. Weak sales could also be a sign that the art world has become too reliant on baby boomer collectors who are past their peak buying years. Via WSJ <h3>$102 Million Verdict Over Robert Indiana Artwork May End Years-Long Legal Battle</h3> Over $102 million in damages has been awarded to&nbsp;Robert Indiana‘s former business partner in a verdict that may end a protracted legal battle over the rights to some of the late Pop artist’s best-known works. The partner,&nbsp;Morgan Art Foundation, won its lawsuit against art publisher&nbsp;Michael McKenzie&nbsp;on April 23, when a jury in Manhattan federal court found him guilty of making and selling unauthorized Indiana artworks for millions of dollars. McKenzie and&nbsp;Jamie Thomas, the caretaker to whom Indiana gave power of attorney over his estate, have both also been accused by Morgan of&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/robert-indiana-lawsuit-claims-squalor-1627561" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31);" target="_blank">taking advantage</a>&nbsp;of the elderly artist in his final years. The latest verdict follows a knotty legal saga centering around accusations of exploitation, fraud, and copyright infringement that commenced just one day before&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pop-art-hero-robert-indiana-dies-at-89-1289993" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(31, 31, 31);" target="_blank">Indiana’s death</a>&nbsp;on May 19, 2018. Via Artnet <h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777352375/fkaj4kflvlwkdfsottjg.jpg"></h3>$30,000 in cuts – Chicago Architecture Center. NEA funding was cut for the popular Open House program <h3><a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/forum/ccb-forum-chicago-arts-funding-cuts-20260427/?utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Newsletter-editorial-promo-20260427" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">How Chicago arts and culture orgs plan to stay strong despite federal cuts</a></h3> Months before last September’s Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Kate Dumbleton learned that a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts had been canceled.Dumbleton, the festival’s artistic and executive director, scrambled to raise the funds needed to cover artist fees. But the ordeal left her skeptical as to whether government funding could be a reliable source in the future. “The bigger question is whether the NEA is going to be there for arts organizations,” she says. Via Crain's Chicago

What We're Reading: April 28, 2026

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306499/onkkvpxeqieqqrmsnkli.jpg">Andrea Carlson, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. Photo: Philip Maisel. Note: this interview is the cover feature for CGN's spring/summer 2026 magazine. To purchase a print copy or subscription&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">click here</a>. By ALISON REILLY Andrea Carlson’s layered, large-scale paintings explore the liminality of the shoreline–specifically the Great Lakes. Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Carlson’s complex landscapes pulse with repeated geometric patterns, portraits of animals, and the products of art making such as pottery, baskets, and statues set against a persistent horizon line. Through her work, she challenges the colonial cannibalism of Indigenous peoples and cultures and presents new, counter narratives. Carlson, who exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in 2024-2025, has been busy preparing her upcoming exhibition at the <a href="https://camstl.org/exhibitions/andrea-carlson-endless-sunshine/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis</a>, which will feature a new series of paintings on birchbark along with screenprints and sculpture. CGN: What are some of your earliest memories making art? Andrea Carlson: I doubt there was a single day growing up when I didn’t draw, so it is really hard for me to isolate specific memories. Typically I’d draw horses as a kid, because they were the most beautiful animal I could imagine. When I was about six years old, my dad was going to throw away some roller window blinds that were made of thick paper. I remember that he cut off the metal rods on the ends of the blinds and gave me the paper part. I was able to draw large horses on those, and that was his idea. He told me that I had to fill the whole sheet. It seemed like every birthday or Christmas, someone would give me a RoseArt box set of artists’ pens, pencils, and watercolors, and I would burn through those supplies pretty quickly.&nbsp; CGN: When did you know that you wanted to be an artist?&nbsp; AC: I come from a family of artists going all the way back. I was always an artist, there was no realization, no story. In college I had a moment of doubt when thinking about my employment prospects as an artist. I thought maybe I should pursue linguistics for grad school, because I learned Ojibwe in undergrad, and I really loved teaching the language. In the end, art school won out, and I went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design for my MFA and have been working as an artist ever since.&nbsp; CGN: What is a typical day in your studio like?&nbsp; AC: The image of me in my studio is so bleak: it is just my broken body sitting, hunched over a table for 12 hours a day including weekends. That has been going on for years now. Sometimes I have online meetings and take calls, but generally I’m in a trance while making work. I’m able to listen to audiobooks while I work, and I solicit everyone for book recommendations. I’m on a horror kick right now, but I’ll go through entire genres of books. I’ll listen to anything. Recently, I was able to hire a studio manager, and it is so odd to have another person in my space. It might be better to work with people, because when I spend so much time by myself I get a little socially odd and then, in total contrast, I’ll be hoisted out on stage for artist talks and openings.&nbsp; My studio is on Lake Superior now and that is helpful as far as feeling a sense of belonging and security. Looking over the lake before I start my day and in the evening is very grounding for me. It is a privilege and honor to be so close to that lake.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306500/x6e1tlz6iex7yyxcldux.jpg">Andrea Carlson, The Buffet, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. Photo: Philip Maisel. CGN: How does your location–Chicago, Minneapolis, or northern Minnesota–affect the work you create? AC: Many of my paintings are organized against the backdrop of the endless horizon of the Great Lakes. Although place is very important, many people can relate to a body of water, a mountain range, or other natural landmarks as having personhood or a sense of being. The land I reference in the work is not as specific as these post-settler place names, but more general, as if land could be seen as an access point to infinity. We all live on a sphere, a seemingly infinite surface, or infinite horizon. But there is also deep time under our feet. I live on the Laurentian Shield, on the north shore of what is now called Minnesota. The land is older than dinosaurs, and there are very few fossils here because the land mass at the surface came into existence before most life forms came into being.&nbsp; One view of my work is how the earth buries narratives and takes things back. People, objects, the lives of animals, films, stories, books, teachings can all move across the surface, everything can have a diaspora, but it usually ends with things being put into the ground. In my work, the objects, film, and animal references are pre-internment, temporary, and out-of-context to the land. They are passengers heightened by the seeming oddness of their presence and arrangement against the land, or the shore of the seascape I put them on. I often refer to the shore as a liminal space, not fully water or land. It is a space of transition where I hold things in relation to each other, but it is also a space of the Great Lakes. There is so much shoreline in the middle of this continent, so much liminality. CGN: What is your process for making these intricate, complex paintings and drawings? AC: My process starts with observation and conversations, reading, collecting imagery that is important to the subject of the work, or looking into a museum’s collection. Writing is a big part of my process. After I have collected the ideas I draw in light sketches and organize each figure on the paper. To complete the process for the work to have meaning it has to be seen by people. It starts in conversation and is completed in conversation.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306500/cv1jblgvv3qxgsqxzsg2.jpg">Andrea Carlson, The Buffet (detail), 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. Photo: Philip Maisel. CGN: Can you tell me about some of the most important objects that appear in your large-scale works like The Buffet?&nbsp; AC: There isn’t any one object or reference I feel is more important than another, but in the center of this painting you will see Namadjii (brand) pottery and black ash baskets that have an interesting history. Namadjii is an Ojibwe word taken from a place name in Minnesota where the clay was harvested. The pottery was meant to “look native” even though it was made by settlers. Nevertheless, those vessels are still made from Ojibwe land, and the appropriation is an act of violence. The black ash baskets reference a form of basket making that is threatened by the invasive emerald ash borer. At the center of the piece, where the baskets and pottery are placed, animals are hiding under and around the table, as a depiction of “The Last Supper” or in this case that moment before the meteors strike.&nbsp; CGN: Cannibalism appears as a recurring motif in your work. How did you first become interested in exploring it? Why is it important to your work?&nbsp; AC: I got interested in cannibalism, as a metaphor, because I got pissed off. I watched a horror film called Cannibal Holocaust while an undergrad, and it bothered me so terribly. I was also researching a lot of decolonial and post-colonial theory then and had noticed how the idea of cannibalism was used by scholars to describe settlers and aspects of colonization that dangerously consumed Indigenous people. Cannibalism was a metaphor for assimilation policies: consuming the other and making it part of the colonial body and identity. Jack D. Forbes wrote Columbus and Other Cannibals, bell hooks wrote an essay called “Eating the Other,” Cannibal Tours and Glass Boxes by Michael Ames, Deborah Root’s Cannibal Culture, to name a few. These books also referenced an Ojibwe monster, the Windigo, to talk about the cannibal sickness of settler colonialism. All of these pieces of information were coming to me at the same time, and I felt that my VORE series could act as a witness, almost an “I witness the continuation of these things” in my landscapes.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306501/mviaxmmuitit9vswcqkq.jpg">Andrea Carlson, Low Relief Mound, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman. Photo: Philip Maisel. CGN: When did you start incorporating sculpture and video into your art practice? What motivated you to do so?&nbsp; AC: In 2014 I made a few videos of masks being dissected for a solo exhibition at Plug In ICA in Winnipeg. A few years before that I had made film props and assisted in production for Shezad Dawood’s film A Mystery Play. That film was also produced at Plug In ICA. I enjoy making sculptures, and I’m a tremendous fan of film works, but painting and drawing on paper has taken precedence in my career. That will more-than-likely change in the coming years. I have plans to make more sculptures. When it comes to film, I think the element of movement and time is interesting. Non-static art forms can’t be held all at once in the mind or can’t be observed in a fixed state because it’s always changing. I wanted my large-scale paintings and sculpture to work in a way that has to be traversed. The sculpture is relatively new in my professional work, but I have always done sculptural things, whether the mentioned film props or putting things together in a three-dimensional way. The large scale wooden column work came about through the Toronto Biennial, when I started doing sculpture as standalone work.&nbsp; CGN: Can you tell me about your upcoming exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis? What other projects are you currently working on? AC: The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis will feature a few new works including Red Welcome, a ten-foot tall and eighteen-foot long work, as well as some work that I’ve been making for my Creative Capital grant. I also have a traveling exhibition organized by the Denver Art Museum that will be going to the Ringling Museum [Sarasota, FL] and Nasher Museum of Art [at Duke University]. I’m also developing some paintings on canvas and sculptural works for an upcoming museum exhibition that isn’t announced yet. I have a lot on my plate, but I am getting ready to have a few weeks off after the CAM St. Louis opening. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306502/vhsqnov9mzh5jpqn26nz.jpg">Andrea Carlson, The Host, 2025,&nbsp;Detail view. Courtesy of the&nbsp;artist and Jessica Silverman.&nbsp;Photo: Philip Maisel. CGN: What motivated you to co-found the Center for Native Futures in Chicago? How has your work with the Center influenced your own art practice?&nbsp; AC: The Center for Native Futures was a COVID baby. During the pandemic, Debra Yepa-Pappan organized online weekly meetings amongst a few Native artists in Chicago. At the time she was working at the Field Museum. We all missed each other, and we all wanted proximity to each other again. Through these meetings, Debra, her husband Chris Pappan, and Monica Rickert-Bolter shared their long-time dream of making a gallery where Native people had a say in what was on the walls, agency and space. The Terra Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation agreed and generously supported us. There is an irony in Native people asking for space in a land where we were forcibly removed, and a city seemingly hell bent on depicting Native people through stereotypical imagery. We wanted to contribute to healing through this space. I’m not sure that co-founding CfNF has influenced my own art practice in a direct sense, but I’ve become more sensitive to the love and care people put into the spaces I exhibit in. There is a lot of labor that goes into supporting artists’ work. Every time we exhibit as artists, there is unseen labor and people who are advocating and lifting behind the scenes. * Andrea Carlson: Endless Sunshine is on view at&nbsp;the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, March 6-August 9, 2026.&nbsp; For more information, visit <a href="https://www.mikinaak.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mikinaak.com</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://jessicasilvermangallery.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jessicasilvermangallery.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777306503/hmabspdbyzvdw33psrs8.jpg"> Note: this interview is the cover feature for CGN's spring/summer 2026 magazine. To purchase a print copy or subscription&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">click here</a>.

Andrea Carlson: Mapping New Futures

Zolla/Lieberman: A Golden Vision for a 50th Anniversary

<h3>Spring and summer offer a full slate of&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout&nbsp;the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. – CGN</h3> Read our 5TTT with Michelle T. Boone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-michelle-t-boone-president-and-ceo-the-poetry-foundation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with Monique Meloche&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-monique-meloche" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with “Easy” Otabor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-isimeme-easy-otabor-anthony-gallery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. To subscribe to the spring/summer magazine click&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. <h3>Jay Krehbiel –&nbsp;</h3><h3>Executive Chairman, Freeman’s</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302854/koi0x7hn8ylzpb5xhmwq.jpg"> “I’m especially excited about the season ahead at Freeman’s, as our spring calendar brings together collectors, scholars, and the broader arts community through a dynamic series of auctions and events. Our partnership with EXPO CHICAGO remains a highlight, including Art After Hours at our Chicago gallery, where we enjoyed welcoming friends and colleagues from across the art world [earlier this month]. This season features a rediscovered Josef Šíma masterpiece leading our Impressionist and Modern Art auction, alongside specialized sales spanning Native American Art, Modern Design, and Western Art—each offering collectors meaningful opportunities to engage with exceptional objects and the stories they carry.”

Anticipating a Season of Art: Jay Krehbiel –  Executive Chairman, Freeman’s

<h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302033/wagjkphjxks0oib6rahj.jpg"></h3><h3> </h3><h3>Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas –</h3><h3>SMART MUSEUM OF ART</h3> Alma Thomas (1891–1978) is a singular figure of twentieth-century American art. She developed her form of abstraction – characterized by the dazzling interplay of pattern and hue – late in life, after retiring from a long career as a schoolteacher. Her vibrant and rhythmic art transcended established genres, incorporating elements of gestural abstraction and color field painting and creating a style distinctly her own. Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas draws on the extensive holdings of the artist’s paintings at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and offers an intimate view of Thomas’s evolving practice during her most prolific period, from 1959 to 1978. At a deeply politicized moment in American life, Thomas’s abiding sources of inspiration became the cosmos, nature, and music. As she stated, “Through color I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.”&nbsp; Thru July 5, 2026&nbsp;5550 S. Greenwood (60637)&nbsp;<a href="https://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">smartmuseum.uchicago.edu</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302035/shepxlmfzvhpwskll6ai.jpg">The Murphy Auditorium at the Driehaus Museum <h3>Brendan Fernandes: In The Round –&nbsp;</h3><h3>The Driehaus Museum</h3> Brendan Fernandes: In the Round&nbsp; is the Driehaus Museum’s next iteration of its A Tale of Today series that places contemporary art in dialogue with the art, architecture, and design of the Gilded-Age Museum. Fernandes, the Museum’s first artist-in-residence, will transform the 1926 Murphy Auditorium into a dynamic site for sculptural installation, movement, sound, and dance. Conceived as an evolving, episodic residency, In the Round will unfold throughout 2026 with performances and public programs and is organized by guest curator Stephanie Cristello. “In the Round,” says Cristello, “invites us to experience contemporary art and dance as a shared architectural and social space—one shaped by bodies moving together through history. Reactivating the radical spirit of the Judson Dance Theater within the Murphy Auditorium, Brendan Fernandes asks us to see history itself as something lived, collective, and continually re-made.” 50 E. Erie&nbsp;Apr 9–Nov 14, 2026<a href="https://driehausmuseum.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">driehausmuseum.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302036/gbr78qanuzr9oxbrpnsc.jpg">Sarah and Joseph Belknap, 4 Months of the Sun, 2014 <h3>Palomar (Part 1) –</h3><h3>The Renaissance Society</h3> The sun was formed 4.6 billion years ago. It takes 8 minutes and 20 seconds for its light to travel to Earth. The calendar as we know it, based on cycles of the solar year, was first implemented four and a half centuries ago in 1582...Time used to be local, based on the sun’s position. That changed on “The Day of Two Noons,” in 1883, when U.S. railroads adopted standardized time zones....Palomar Observatory, on a California mountain, once had the largest optical telescope in the world...Italo Calvino wrote a book about a person, a seeker of the cosmic in the everyday, who shares his name with that place...Palomar is a group exhibition in two parts. Curated by Karsten Lund. May 2–Jun 7 • 5811 S. Ellis Ave. (60637)<a href="https://renaissancesociety.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">renaissancesociety.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302037/zo81qh9bfcugqnlhxcua.jpg">Denzil Forrester (b. 1956, Grenada; lives in Cornwall, United Kingdom), Duppy Deh, 2018. Oil on linen; 79 1/8 × 120 1/8 in. (201 × 305 cm). Collection of Margot and George Greig. © Denzil Forrester. Courtesy of the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo: Stephen White &amp; Co. <h3>Dancing The Revolution–&nbsp;</h3><h3>Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)</h3> Dancing the Revolution explores and expands the visual, political and spiritual histories of dancehall and reggaetón through contemporary art—two dynamic genres that have transcended their grassroots origins to shape global culture. From Kingston to San Juan through London, Toronto, New York City and Panama, Dancing the Revolution positions music and dance as a revolutionary practice for collective liberation rooted in the struggle against colonial oppression. Dancehall and reggaetón are reminders of the Caribbean’s centuries-old traditions of dance and music as means of liberation and protest rooted in Black Atlantic history and culture. Dancing the Revolution showcases pivotal moments and themes from these histories, starting with the sound system—a mobile disco that embodies both a community experience and a vital civic institution.&nbsp; The exhibition features more than 35 artists, including Isaac Julien, Jean Michel Basquiat, Edra Soto, Alberta Whittle, Carolina Caycedo, supakid and Lee “Scratch” Perry. A special commissioned mixtape project invites visitors to learn about the evolution of these popular genres in Panama and hear iconic songs that paved the way for the global phenomenon of reggaetón.. Apr 14–Sept 20220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago<a href="https://mcachicago.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mcachicago.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302038/ypubukd5cjeml1tt1fd2.jpg"> <h3>CHIHULY–&nbsp;</h3><h3>Frederik Meijer Gardens &amp; Sculpture Park</h3> One of only two Chihuly exhibitions in the world in 2026, this exhibition spans both the outdoor gardens and indoor Sculpture Galleries, creating a dynamic dialogue between glass, landscape, and architecture. Outdoors, guests will encounter monumental glass sculptures, vibrant Reeds, and striking site-responsive installations that appear to grow from the landscape, amplifying color, light, and form. Indoors, the separately ticketed exhibition Chihuly: Radiant Forms traces more than 40 years of Chihuly’s creative journey.&nbsp; May 2–Nov 1Grand Rapids, MI<a href="https://www.meijergardens.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">meijergardens.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302040/zcyb7euxxrtedn4o6s95.jpg"> <h3>Randolph Street Market Festival–&nbsp;</h3> Touted as a “mecca of cool,” the iconic Randolph Street Market&nbsp;Festival returns to the bustling West Loop, where the world-famous&nbsp;event first began at 1341 W. Randolph, over Memorial Day weekend . The premier destination for one–of–a–kind finds, the Randolph Street Market Festival offers an ultra-curated, high-quality selection of antiques, vintage and modern goods ranging from fashion to art, jewelry, décor, retro home furnishings, global goods and more. Treasure hunters&nbsp;and entertainment-seekers alike will be delighted by the continuous lineup of live musical acts, unique food vendors, fun cocktails and more to enjoy throughout the weekend. Another summer market takes place in July.&nbsp; May 23 and 24; July 25 and 26<a href="https://randolphstreetmarket.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">randolphstreetmarket.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302041/b7doixxat1mzlvfue1zw.jpg"> <h3>Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford:&nbsp;Near Eternity–</h3><h3>Elmhurst Art Museum</h3> In his first exhibition at EAM, artist Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford presents a series of outdoor sculptures in Wilder Park as well as an immersive installation within the iconic McCormick House. Bridging handcrafted techniques and digital fabrication, featured works serve as a low-carbon alternative to traditional monumental sculpture as a way of reflecting on labor, materiality, the internet age, and architectural legacies. Near Immortality features new sculptures created from 3D scans of important design items in EAM’s collection. May 30–Aug 23<a href="https://elmhurstartmuseum.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">elmhurstartmuseum.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302041/nvsxhkcbhnmrucfv0nlw.jpg"> <h3>Door County Contemporary –</h3> The Door County Contemporary Art Fair will be held at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, Wisconsin for the second year. The three-day program introduces art to art enthusiasts in Wisconsin, and it was born from the desire to address a lack of contemporary art in an otherwise culturally enriched and dynamic destination. DCC will host galleries from Wisconsin and beyond while welcoming thousands of art lovers from around the United States. It will also feature a wealth of site-specific art works and projects, plenty of Wisconsin-centric food and drink, and curated events and art-related projects. June 4–7Peninsula School of Art, Fish Creek, WI<a href="https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">doorcountycontemporary.com</a> # <h3>See CGN's full calendar <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a></h3>

This Season’s Highlights: Spring/Summer 2026

By CGN Staff, Art + spring festivity + crazy candy creations is the Racine Art Museum's annual RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition art contest in a nutshell. RAM announced that thousands of guests visited the museum during the three-week run of&nbsp;<a href="https://ramart.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=286bbfcd21ba3ead3b774ac22&amp;id=34f7dce65d&amp;e=fdf4080af0" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(247, 143, 57);" target="_blank">RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026</a>&nbsp;and made the "almost-impossible decision of choosing their favorite piece." Art-submissions often nod to current events, and this year after tallying more than 2,600 votes, RAM announced the winner of the coveted&nbsp;PEEPle’s Choice Award, Nancy Costello and Dave Strickland, for&nbsp;Peepal Conclave. Their piece wasn’t the only contender though. RAM also revealed the runners-up for PEEPle’s Choice:<ul><li>Second place: Laura and Steve Grayson,&nbsp;The Peepeux Tapestry: An Epic Bunny Adventure</li><li>Third place: Brittany Stalker,&nbsp;PEEPachu, I Choose You!</li><li>Fourth place: Addi Cooke, Hailey Cooke, Nana Julie Swanson, Auntie Jojo, Baba Del Swanson, and Auntie Hannah,&nbsp;The Three Little Peeps</li><li>Fifth place: Dawn Carillo and Michelle Kieweg,&nbsp;A Day at the Market</li></ul> <a href="https://ramart.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=286bbfcd21ba3ead3b774ac22&amp;id=0feb63c9c9&amp;e=fdf4080af0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777348313/io3yfaelfxaw4jbmitcg.jpg" height="auto" width="313.5"></a> If you were unable to visit the exhibition in person, you can still experience it from the comfort of home through a&nbsp;<a href="https://ramart.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=286bbfcd21ba3ead3b774ac22&amp;id=9011c4b7fa&amp;e=fdf4080af0" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(247, 143, 57);" target="_blank">virtual tour on RAM’s YouTube channel</a>. If you’re interested in submitting a piece to be a future PEEPle’s Choice contender, stay tuned to RAM's newsletter and social media channels to be the first to know about next year’s sweet exhibition.

Racine Art Museum Announces 2026 PEEPS Winner

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777350921/ymnhnalqicefy4vftbsr.jpg"> By GINNY VAN ALYEA An art experience centered on scent may seem unexpected—but that sense of discovery is part of what makes the Alliance Française de Chicago’s 2026 Symposium on the Arts of France especially compelling. Titled Scent: The Invisible Art, this year’s three-part series considers fragrance as a creative medium—one that operates beyond the visual to shape memory, emotion, and perception. While the opening lecture took place in April, two upcoming programs continue the exploration, offering Chicago audiences an opportunity to engage with art through a more immersive, multisensory lens. The May 13 program, A Journey into the Artistry and Passion of Fragrance, features Linda G. Levy, President of The Fragrance Foundation, who frames scent as a form of artistic expression shaped by the vision of the perfumer. Drawing on the work of influential figures such as master perfumer Carlos Benaïm and fragrance curator Frédéric Malle, Levy explores the idea of “perfumery as art”—from Benaïm’s inspiration in Van Gogh’s Starry Night to Malle’s approach of composing fragrances as one might a work of art, giving perfumers complete creative freedom. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777350922/dtykbavpcpyetc77c3f5.jpg"> Her talk also traces connections between disciplines, comparing the perfumer’s palette of ingredients to the materials of painters and sculptors, while highlighting collaborations that translate scent into other forms, including graphic design, portraiture, and poetry. The program further touches on synesthesia—the blending of sensory experiences—inviting audiences to consider how fragrance might be perceived as color or emotion. The series concludes on June 10 with Senteurs et Émotions, led by renowned French perfumer Camille Goutal. Both lectures take place from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Alliance Française de Chicago and are presented in English. For more than two decades, the Symposium on the Arts of France has been a cornerstone of the Alliance’s cultural programming, bringing internationally recognized voices to Chicago while highlighting the enduring influence of French art and thought. This year’s focus on scent expands that tradition, offering a fresh perspective on how art can be experienced—and understood. A limited number of complimentary tickets are available for students, reflecting the Alliance’s commitment to accessibility and education. The series is offered in person and available online. More information and tickets are available at <a href="https://www.af-chicago.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">af-chicago.org</a>.

A Three-Part Series on the Art of Scent Comes to Alliance Française de Chicago

<h3>Spring and summer offer a full slate of&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout&nbsp;the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. – CGN</h3> Read our 5TTT with Monique Meloche&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-monique-meloche" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.Read our 5TTT with “Easy” Otabor&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-isimeme-easy-otabor-anthony-gallery" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. To subscribe to the spring/summer magazine click&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. <h3>Michelle T. Boone</h3><h3>–&nbsp;<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">President&nbsp;and CEO, the Poetry Foundation</a></h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1777302468/b0dzw57y5qldijdb9p77.jpg"> “This April, which is National Poetry Month, Poetry magazine unveils Bold Type, a new design series. The poem “First Light” by CAConrad fills the Poetry Foundation’s exhibition space wall as the first iteration of the series. Bold Type encourages visitors to linger and reflect on Conrad’s piercing visual poem, from which the line “no one can afford to lose love” serves as the theme for our 2026 spring event season.&nbsp; Nothing says spring like EXPO Chicago, which I’m always excited about attending. It’s a great platform to see many Chicago galleries under one roof and get introduced to artists and galleries from around the world. But it’s also a time to explore neighborhood galleries, and at the top of my list is heading to the Hyde Park Art Center to see “Cyndey M. Lewis: Weeds Grow In All Directions.” Her work gives a whole new meaning to “...one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, crafting rubbish, plastics, and paper into the most beautiful artworks.”

Anticipating a Season of Art: Michelle T. Boone – President  and CEO, the Poetry Foundation

<h3>Spring and summer offer a full slate of&nbsp;exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout&nbsp;the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke&nbsp;with five insiders about what excites them now&nbsp;and what they anticipate next. – CGN</h3> Read our 5TTT with Monique Meloche <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/anticipating-a-season-of-art-five-to-talk-to-monique-meloche" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. To subscribe to the spring/summer magazine click <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. <h3>Isimeme “Easy” Otabor&nbsp;</h3><h3>– <a href="https://anthonygallery.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Anthony Gallery</a></h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776223764/flritkilw8ggffaxmhvj.jpg"> "I’m looking forward to building on the momentum of our newly opened Anthony Gallery location in Amsterdam and continuing to expand its programming. The response to the space has been incredibly energizing, and we’re excited to deepen our presence there through thoughtful curatorial initiatives.&nbsp; At the same time, we’re preparing to extend that vision with plans to open a new space in Japan, creating further opportunities to connect artists and audiences across regions. Our goal has always been to establish a strong foundation in Chicago and grow outward strategically, and we’re accomplishing that in real time.” #

Anticipating a Season of Art: Isimeme “Easy” Otabor – Anthony Gallery

<h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776195255/vqifdosb1xmnldgyehio.jpg"></h3>Maurizio Cattelan and Myriam Ben Salah.&nbsp;Matthew Reeves/BFA.com <h3><a href="https://observer.com/2026/04/artist-maurizio-cattelan-renben-2026-renaissance-society-chicago/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maurizio Cattelan Turned This Years RenBen Gala into a Silent Party</a></h3><h3> </h3>What a blessing to have silence not just available but imposed at an art event—to finally be able to focus on the experience of the art without the distraction of social interaction. For a writer like myself, who hopes for exactly that condition every time I visit a show, this year’s Renaissance Society gala in Chicago was simply perfect. “A lot of events mistake noise for energy, and I wanted to undo that confusion,” artist&nbsp;<a href="https://observer.com/person/maurizio-cattelan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">Maurizio Cattelan</a>, who designed the event, tells me, adding that silence changes how people receive things. “It is not that communication stops altogether; it just becomes less efficient and more exposed. People write, they wait, they look longer.” To him, it felt like a good premise for an art event, though he acknowledged that many artists have engaged with silence far better than he ever could, from&nbsp;<a href="https://observer.com/person/john-cage/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">John Cage</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;<a href="https://observer.com/person/joseph-grigely/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(26, 26, 26); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">Joseph Grigely</a>. “I was not trying to make a statement so much as interrupt an automatic behavior. A gala usually runs on social reflex, and silence makes that reflex visible.”<h3> </h3>Via Observer <h3><a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/expo-chicago-sales-vip-day-report-1234780810/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dealers Are Doing Brisk Business at a Smaller and ‘More Intentional’ Expo Chicago</a>&nbsp;</h3> Tears of joy are not the first thing you expect to hear about at art fairs, but that was the order of the day for Tennessee artist Annie Brito Hodgin at Thursday’s VIP preview at the thirteenth edition of Expo Chicago (April 9–12), where she is showing her paintings with&nbsp;Red Arrow Gallery. Via ARTnews <h3> </h3><h3><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/arts/design/lacma-peter-zumthor-los-angeles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.a1A.wcg8.MJ0AUVAlSjf9&amp;smid=url-share" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daring and Dazzling, a New LACMA Floats Above Los Angeles</a></h3> Forecasts were dire about what’s officially called the David Geffen Galleries, after the donor who gave $150 million. “The blob that ate Wilshire Boulevard,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/5897-the-blob-that-ate-wilshire-boulevard" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;Architectural Record in 2014. “Suicide by architecture,”&nbsp;<a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/lacma-suicide-by-architecture/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(50, 104, 145);" target="_blank">lamented</a>&nbsp;The L.A. Review of Books five years later.The building opens to museum members in the coming weeks and to the general public on May 4. I expect it will be wildly popular. Via NYT <h3><a href="https://www.wbez.org/arts/2026/04/11/black-collectors-guild-expo-chicago-diversity-in-art" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">At Expo Chicago, a crew of collectors bond over Black art</a></h3> For one group of collectors,&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/arts-and-culture/2026/04/03/expo-chicago-art-fair-obama-center-contemporary-galleries-navy-pier-tickets" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(4, 130, 130);" target="_blank">Expo Chicago</a>&nbsp;is not just an art fair but a family reunion. On Thursday afternoon, they trickled into Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, offering enthusiastic hugs and handshakes. The cohort included everyone from health care professionals to military veterans, who traveled from Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Kansas City, Mo., and other major cities. Before touring the galleries, they gathered in the center of the venue for a champagne toast to “building together.” Via WBEZ

What We're Reading: April 14, 2026

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776203157/pxun6r1q9zeswfo2zf9y.jpg">A detail view of the installation of painted stained glass by artist Julie Mehretu By CGN Staff The Obama Foundation has announced the final group of major artist commissions for the Obama Presidential Center, set to open June 19 on Chicago’s South Side. The newly revealed artists—Njideka Akunyili Crosby, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Hugo McCloud, Martin Puryear, Lorna Simpson, and Norman Teague—will contribute large-scale, site-specific works across the 19.3-acre campus. The commissions expand an already robust roster of artists and underscore the Center’s mission to integrate art into civic life. Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, emphasized that the artworks are intended to “deepen visitors’ curiosity and inspiration,” while reflecting shared values and encouraging community engagement. Installed throughout gathering spaces, exhibition areas, and outdoor environments, the works draw on a wide range of materials and cultural references—from Indigenous drum-making traditions to Afro-Asian Cuban symbolism and conceptual photography. Together, they embed narratives of place, identity, and collective memory into the daily experience of the Center. Highlights include a layered portrait of President and Mrs. Obama by Njideka Akunyili Crosby; María Magdalena Campos-Pons’ immersive interpretation of the White House Rose Garden; and Martin Puryear’s monumental sculpture Bending the Arc, inspired by the legacy of John Lewis and the ongoing pursuit of justice. Rashid Johnson’s mosaic Broken Men and Jeffrey Gibson’s politically charged installation Yet With a Steady Beat further explore themes of community and cultural expression. Chicago-based designer Norman Teague contributes a series of sculptural wooden benches rooted in South Side traditions, while Lorna Simpson’s atmospheric “Ice” work and Hugo McCloud’s layered painting reflect on memory, landscape, and personal history.“These artists…showcase the depth and breadth of President and Mrs. Obama’s commitment to public art,” said Dr. Louise Bernard, founding director of the Center’s museum, noting that the works will transform public spaces into sites of “reflection, joy, and connection.” The Obama Presidential Center will include a museum, library, garden, athletic facilities, and public programming spaces. Its art program—featuring more than 30 artists in total—continues the Obamas’ vision of the “People’s House,” extending their White House legacy of cultural openness and public engagement into a new civic landmark. More info at <a href="https://obama.org/visit/grand-opening/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Obama.org</a>

Obama Presidential Center Announces Final Major Artist Commissions

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121427/qka5vhmala60qrah6uei.jpg">Visitors to EXPO CHICAGO Thursday afternoon during preview hours By GINNY VAN ALYEA <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);" target="_blank">EXPO CHICAGO</a> 2026 wrapped with a steady energy that held throughout the week—consistently busy, but not overwhelming, and with a sense that people were there to look closely and engage. Early sales set a confident tone: GRAY reported placements including Theaster Gates’s 3 Women (2025) at $340,000, works by Candida Alvarez at $100,000 and $55,000, Torkwase Dyson at $55,000, McArthur Binion at $35,000, and a Rashid Johnson work at $25,000. Secrist | Beach, meanwhile, placed Luftwerk’s Open Frame (2025) with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art at $150,000, underscoring strong institutional activity from the outset. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121428/dt0iynns5f6kpkcbkjtb.jpg">A viewer studies Luftwerk's work at SECRIST | BEACH This year’s edition felt more streamlined, and that shift paid off. The fair was easier to navigate, and the overall rhythm encouraged longer conversations and repeat encounters. Familiar collectors were out in force, but there was also a noticeable presence of new faces—always a promising sign for the city’s ecosystem. Across the floor, the quality of work felt strong and cohesive. What stood out most, though, was a subtle but persistent thread: many artists seemed to be looking toward nature. In some cases it was direct—landscapes, organic forms, environmental references—but just as often it came through in palette, with earthy tones and atmospheric color dominating booth after booth. It’s a direction that feels very much in sync with the current moment, as artists continue to process instability, climate concerns, and a broader cultural shift toward reflection and recalibration. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121430/hebk2pyhshg36h5jbbnf.jpg">Youngwook Choi, Galley Dasun, Korea There was also a stronger sense of curatorial intention this year, with more tightly conceived presentations and projects that added texture without overwhelming the fair. Institutional presence felt particularly active, and conversations around placements and future collaborations seemed to be happening at every turn. As Sibylle Friche, Partner at DOCUMENT, noted, “The 2026 edition of EXPO was a real success for us; we placed several artists from our program into good collections. We enjoyed meeting new clients and connecting with the many curators participating in the curatorial and directors' program.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121431/ecsu4qfut860mhbgnrlo.jpg"><a href="https://www.regenprojects.com/artists/aliza-nisenbaum" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Aliza Nisenbaum</a> at a joint booth by Regen Projects and Anton Kern. Nisenbaum will have a monumental mural at the Obama Presidential Center when it opens. That sense of momentum extended to galleries across the fair, alongside positive feedback from collectors and museum groups. Valerie Carberry, President &amp; CEO of GRAY, pointed to the impact of new leadership, noting that Director Kate Sierzputowski’s first year has brought “dynamic partnerships” that reflect the collaborative energy Chicago is known for. Sales remained steady across a wide range of price points, with a mix of major placements and quieter, consistent activity—another indicator of a healthy, engaged market. Outside of the commercial market, EXPO also gave an early preview of the Obama Presidential Center's June opening, inviting fair visitors to view a scale model of the campus and to look more closely at works that have been commissioned for the collection. Taken together, this year’s EXPO CHICAGO felt grounded but optimistic: a fair that’s refining its identity while staying closely attuned to both its audience and the larger cultural climate shaping the work on view. Through its collaboration with the Obama Presidential Center, EXPO CHICAGO presented&nbsp;Embodiment,&nbsp;a curated section by&nbsp;Dr. Louise Bernard,&nbsp;Founding Director of the&nbsp;Obama Presidential Center Museum. The section presented a selection of galleries inspired by the architecture and commissioned artists of the Obama Presidential Center, offering visitors an early preview ahead of the Center's public opening on June 19, 2026.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121432/n6cvihvqqbruh4merh25.jpg">An installation of work by Melissa Leandro at Andrew Rafacz's booth Strong programming of course continues to be an important and centralizing element of EXPO CHICAGO. Curated by&nbsp;Katie A. Pfohl of the Detroit Institute of Arts,&nbsp;Focus&nbsp;highlighted emerging galleries and artistic practices, creating an accessible entry point to the fair. Titled&nbsp;Gathering of Waters, the section explored landscape, migration, and adaptive practices of craft and care, connecting artists and galleries from the Mississippi River Basin with work from across the African, Latin American, and Caribbean diasporas. Curated by&nbsp;Essence Harden,&nbsp;Profile&nbsp;presented solo booths and focused group projects by established international galleries, offering depth, context, and sustained engagement. The fair’s success has always mattered to Chicago and the broader Midwest art community, and even in a year without some of its usual components—like the nonprofit and print sections—its role remains essential. EXPO continues to serve as a central gathering point and calendar anchor, around which so much of the season takes shape, from the RenBen to the Intuit Art Museum gala, alongside the return of Barely Fair and the debut of Neighbors in the Gold Coast. It’s worth recognizing how important that consistency is—and to be grateful for the continued evolution of the fair under new leadership and ideas. # <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1776121433/z3epe9i5nbwgw2y0rmek.jpg">Michael DuMontier and Neil Farber at Patel Brown from Montreal

EXPO CHICAGO 2026: Focused, Busy, and In Step

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1775670246/jyceod0gd0nkivw8wkxh.jpg">Photos by CGN By CGN Staff The sixth edition of the <a href="https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chicago Architecture Biennial</a>, SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, wrapped up earlier this year and marked a significant evolution for the international exhibition—extending beyond traditional venues into public spaces across Chicago and broadening access to architecture, design, and civic dialogue. Organizers report millions of engagement opportunities citywide, underscoring the Biennial’s growing reach and impact. A forthcoming catalogue, set for release this summer, will document the full scope of installations, programs, and global perspectives that shaped this milestone edition. While the Biennial has concluded, its influence continues through reinstalled works, ongoing conversations, and new initiatives still to come. By the numbers: The Biennial brought together 100+ artists and designers from 30+ countries, with 80+ installations presented in partnership with 86 organizations. Additional programming included 30+ partner exhibitions and 90+ public programs across Chicago. Digital engagement reached 7,700+ Bloomberg Connects users and 12,000+ onsite QR scans. A catalogue documenting the full scope of SHIFT will be released this summer. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1775670247/kogdlo4imksirha9yqub.jpg"> CAB Currently on View Latinitudes: A Collection of Modern Latin Architecture April 2–July 18 | Graham Foundation Featuring more than 100 photographs by Leonardo Finotti, Latinitudes surveys modern architecture across 12 Latin American cities. Curated by Michelle Jean de Castro, the exhibition continues the Biennial’s focus on Latin American architecture.

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