<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418923/vwqnhvu24b3wpl1nrqfu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-obama-portraits">The Obama Portraits</a>Exhibition Begins June 18Art Institute of ChicagoOn loan from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the Obama portraits come to Chicago for the first stop of a five-city tour. As the family’s longtime home, Chicago has a unique connection to the Obamas, as does the Art Institute. The First Lady recalls visiting frequently with her family when she was growing up on the South Side, and the museum was also the site of the couple’s first date.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418924/qk9wusrx2loqzneegqlq.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chicago-where-comics-came-to-life-1880-1960">CHICAGO: Where Comics Came to Life (1880-1960)</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Chicago Cultural CenterThe exhibition focuses on the origins of the comics in popular publishing, the immeasurable importance of African-American cartoonists and publishing, the first woman cartoonists and editors, the first daily comic strip, and finally the art and comics of undeservedly forgotten Frank King, who with “Gasoline Alley” captured not only the rhythms and tone of everyday existence in his characters that aged not only at the same daily rate as its newspaper readers, but were also fictionalized versions of real people.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418925/ca5h9uat1wqcyf9yniiw.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ali6-trust-solo-show">Ali6 "Trust" solo show</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Vertical Gallery Project Space and Studios&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418926/lzjzc754dtojvrcy3jej.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/chicago-comics-1960s-to-now">Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now</a>Exhibition Begins June 19Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)The exhibition traces the evolution of comics in Chicago, as cartoonists ventured beyond the pages of newspapers and into experimental territory including long-form storytelling, countercultural critique, and political activism. Chicago Comics examines styles, schools of thought, and modes of publication across six decades of cartooning, including works from artists who are changing the medium today. The exhibition seeks to bring to the fore artists of color who were previously under-recognized throughout their careers. In this pursuit, the exhibition features archival material previously not seen in museums and offers a revised history of the art form. Represented throughout this timeline are special sections that highlight key artists including <a href="https://mcachicago.org/About/Who-We-Are/Artists/Kerry-James-Marshall">Kerry James Marshall</a>, Lynda Barry, and Chris Ware.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418927/ufrt0zmq2vu9hpqiolje.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/confluence-painting-and-sculpture-by-jennifer-vess">Confluence: Painting and Sculpture by Jennifer Vess</a>Opening: Saturday, June 19, 4 – 7&nbsp;pmWantoot Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 18 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ckcennblcwd4ijhlh3v4.png"></figure><a href="http://chicagoarchitecturalclub.org/2021-CHICAGO-PRIZE-JAMES-R-THOMPSON-CENTER">2021 Chicago Prize Competition Calls For New Visions for the State of Illinois / Thompson Center</a>Designed by the late architect Helmut Jahn, the State of Illinois Center, also known as James R. Thompson Center, is facing the threat of complete demolition. Located in Chicago's “Loop” it is a major transportation node, commercial center and workspace. The building has been criticized for being ugly, oversized, inefficient, and poorly maintained. However, the Thompson Center has been pivotal to urban transit and a highly democratic contemporary civic center. At the time of its construction in 1985, Jahn’s State of Illinois Center was a stark contrast to Chicago’s historic and modernist architecture, yet today it is an architectural icon in its own right. For the fourth year in a row, the Thompson Center has been listed in the Landmarks Illinois’ annual Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois and it was included in Preservation Chicago’s Chicago 7 Most Endangered list in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The Chicago Architectural Club and the Chicago Architecture Center ask the 2021 Chicago Prize participants to envision a new life for the building through restorative architecture.The competition brief can be found at the following <a href="https://issuu.com/chicagoarchitecturalclub/docs/chicago_prize_2021_-_thompson_center_-_announcemen">LINK</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-obama-portraits-art-institute-chicago-20210611-5enwhd7f6fehxdbwavzg76slmq-story.html">‘Obama Portraits’ is opening at the Art Institute of Chicago: Expect long waits, and 44 other things to know</a>Since their 2018 unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, the official state portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama have been a pilgrimage for many, a curiosity for others, an argument for contemporary art, a clarion call for Black artists and a startling left-turn after decades of calcified propriety. To James Rondeau, president and director of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Obama portraits are, also, home. Their story, he said, by nature of their local subjects, makes this “a Chicago story, and knowing the Obamas’ history with the city, and their history with the museum, any possibility to show the Obama portraits felt incredibly important.”So, after years of negotiations, starting June 18, “The Obama Portraits” will be shown at the Art Institute for the next two months — the first exhibition of the portraits outside of Washington, and the opening stop of a five-city nationwide tour.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/hmhpa1k4m5asxlobhhht.jpg"><figcaption>Via Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.zillow.com/myzillow/favorites?">Former Dorchester Church for Sale as Condos</a>&nbsp;This 1904 church, built by famed architect Solon Spencer Beman, at 4840 S Dorchester Ave in Hyde Park/Kenwood is eye-catching and trendy. It's for sale for $999,999 (down from $1,250,000)Via Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices&nbsp;<a href="https://news.wttw.com/2021/06/14/chicago-based-scientist-who-helped-find-art-world-frauds">The Chicago-Based Scientist Who Helped Find Art-World Frauds</a>The recently released Netflix documentary series&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH18cKTmwZ8">“This Is a Robbery”</a>&nbsp;explores the twisted story surrounding the theft of 13 pieces of art from Boston’s <a href="https://www.gardnermuseum.org/">Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum</a> in 1990.One of the potential paths to recovering the $500 million in stolen artwork involves scientific analysis of paint chips, with microscopic detective work done by a Chicago-based innovator in the field.Via WTTW&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: 6/15

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ts1tf2otz0dmbwx2xtmh.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-sindhu-project-enigma-of-roots-7f959b32-41ef-4f65-8077-bc9b9a87c283">The Sindhu Project: Enigma of Roots</a>Exhibition Begins June 17South Asia InstituteThe Sindhu Project embodies responses of artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Kumar to explorations of archaeological sites and artifacts in the expansive Sindhu (Indus) watershed, a geographical region stretching across northwest India and much of Pakistan. Through parallel journeys involving familial roots and enigmas of inhabited places across time, Chishty and Kumar bring contemporary art-making into dialogue with excavated forms that contribute to imagining this ancient riverine landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/ekhyjk8ctoavxvczkf6f.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/atmospheric-landscape-paintings-brian-sindler">Atmospheric: Landscape Paintings: Brian Sindler</a>Exhibition Begins June 18Richard Norton GallerySindler is best known for his Plein-Air, Tonalist landscape paintings. He is influenced by the American Tonalist movement of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. He has won numerous awards in Plein-Air painting competitions. Sindler enjoys painting in the Midwest, California, Arizona, Colorado and Virginia. He exhibits regularly at the Salmagundi Club in New York and at the Plein Air Festival in Door County, Wisconsin.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/wlv1iy5uoig69ccjxnlf.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/international-association-of-pastel-societies-iaps-2021-juried-gallery-exhibition">International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) 2021 Juried Gallery Exhibition</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmZhou B Art CenterIAPS is a non-profit organization representing pastel societies worldwide, united in the common goal of the promotion and support of the fine art of pastel. As the international organization representing these societies as their members, IAPS represents thousands of artists worldwide. The 2021 Juried Gallery Exhibition features the best pastel artists working today in this medium. This exhibition received over 1000 entries to the exhibition from countries including China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Belgium, Finland, Ireland, France, Taiwan, Canada and the United States with 175 paintings selected.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/spzjnijagvcpxkljuqbs.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/solo-exhibition-beth-adler">Shape Shift: Works on Paper by Beth Herman Adler</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 5 – 9&nbsp;pmOliva GalleryCurated by Kate Roth, “Shape Shift” highlights the shifts that Chicago-based artist Beth Herman Adler has experienced over the last four years, both in life and in her in her art. The show moves from works created during a difficult personal time through brightly colored, design-friendly monoprints inspired by mid-century modern motifs; it visits her Covid Houses and culminates in her very recent Luna series. All of the work employs Ms. Adler’s printmaking skills and often incorporates, drawing, painting, folded sculpture, collaging, and stitching.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418921/nurdc1gqknji5qls4pmi.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/matt-schommer-tim-anderson">Northwoods</a>Opening: Friday, June 18, 7 – 10&nbsp;pmFirecat ProjectsFeaturing the work of:&nbsp;Dennis Schommer, Tim Anderson &amp; Matthew Schommer**please call or e-mail to reserve a time before attending this event**&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 18 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/piwemfolx8lchh7yxubt.jpg"><figcaption>Installation view of the UIMA permanent collection &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>BY ANNA DOBROWOLSKIArmed with my art gallery guide, mask, and hand sanitizer, I headed out West. West Town, that is. On my mission to rediscover art in a recuperating city, I serendipitously came across the gleamingly white façade of the <a href="https://uima-chicago.org">Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art</a>. Docent Elena Smolynets caught me peeking through the door: “Yes, we are open!” No reservation necessary, I sauntered in. Not only is the UIMA open, it’s also preparing to celebrate 50 years of robust existence.President Motria Melnyk, curator Adrienne Kochman, and Smolynets—three women who help keep UIMA’s legacy in the heart of Chicago’s Ukrainian Village alive—spoke with me about the UIMA’s history and plans for the future.Pre-pandemic, the UIMA had an ongoing rotation every six months displaying select works from their permanent collection, which currently houses around 1,200 objects ranging from photography and artifacts to kinetic sculpture. To date the UIMA earned a reputation for having one of the largest collections of Ukrainian art, globally, housing work by Soviet era Ukrainian Non-Conformists such as Alexander Archipenko, Alexis Gritchenko, Mychajlo Andreenko, and other artists of Ukrainian descent. Notably, it features art created by the first generation of artists ever to exhibit with the UIMA, including work by two of its founders: sculptor Konstantin Milonadis and sculptor/painter Mychajlo Urban. It also boasts a growing collection of Chicago-based artists, such as Martin Hurtig, Morris Barazani and Roland Ginzel. Soon (in September) we will be able to appreciate their collection in the context of UIMA’s fast-approaching 50th anniversary.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/gpka0kugsdpgob3bugnk.jpg"><figcaption>Mykhajlo Urban, Pulsating Form, 1969 Acrylic, light bulbs, steel plates, Gift of Dr. Philip and Mrs. Falk &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Now, playing catch up with a pandemic-caused backlog of shows slated for 2020, they are leaving exhibitions up longer for visitors to enjoy in person. During my visit, the permanent collection that would usually inhabit the east gallery space was replaced by 38 paintings from Work, People, Art (WPA): selections from the Works Progress Administration collection of the Illinois State Museum. The label introducing the exhibits of WPA, a child program of President FDR’s New Deal, invites us to “consider whose work and perspectives are missing.” Contrary to all talk about ‘unprecedented times’, there is an uncanny parallel between the work of artists commissioned by the WPA, and the art produced eight decades later. Though there are similarities in context, we are challenged to look deeper and be better: art—then and now— is on the frontline, responding to a shift in values spurred by crisis, social fractures, and economic strife.Stepping into the west gallery one could relish in Not Afraid, a dual exhibition featuring the abstract, textural sculptural work of Gina Lee Robbins and the bold, expressionist paintings of Janice Elkins. These two self-taught artists hailing form Oak Park regale in the uncertain, and their uninhibited approach to their practice falls in line with the attitudes of the institute’s founding artists.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/jh6pkpqc35bp1ykgla3u.jpg"><figcaption>Ruminate installation</figcaption></figure>The U in UIMASince its genesis, the UIMA existed as an alternative venue for artists. Following WWII, Konstantin Milonadis and Mychajlo Urban emigrated from Ukraine and met while taking courses at the School of the Art Institute under the GI Bill. While they shared a Ukrainian background, what really drew them together was their love for art that did not fit the status-quo. These artists were experimenting with minimalism, geometric abstraction, and even kinetic media—and it was not just a phase. At the time, they were conscious that these modes of expression were not openly practiced in Ukraine. Curator Adrienne Kochman adds, “When they were working in the late 60s and 70s, Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union. In the Ukrainian Republic, at least officially, it was forbidden to pursue Western aesthetic modes, such as abstraction, or they would suffer dire consequences such as loss of income or jobs. The official aesthetic, at least in the late 60s, was Soviet socialist realism.” Many of the literary, artistic, and cultural figures who pushed back faced persecution, imprisonment, or death. This “fueled the need to have a safe haven for artists who wanted to work this kind of aesthetic mode outside of Ukraine.”In Chicago, these artists wanted to explore these ‘modern’ styles without the limitations imposed by larger, often more traditional institutions and sanctioned “academic” styles. To the artists, “Major art institutions like AIC were conservative, and the general feeling was one of ‘If you waited for them to change, they wouldn’t.’”&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/efwoi5eozgl4y6onyu1v.jpg"><figcaption>President Motria Melnyk</figcaption></figure>So, the artists carved out a space for themselves through makeshift art organizations such as the Lion’s Club. The UIMA as we know it was founded through the initiative of prominent doctor and active community member Dr. Achilles and Vera Chreptowsky, and lionhearted artists Konstantin Milonadis and Mychajlo Urban. Thanks to Dr. Achilles and Vera Chreptowsky, who became the patrons, and the efforts of volunteers, the UIMA metamorphosed into a proper institution.From the onset, the founders were interested in establishing a permanent collection. What started as a way to promote Ukrainian artists born in America or abroad, rapidly evolved into an institution that welcomes all walks of art— and has so for the past 50 years. Of the works they have acquired over the years, Adriene Kochman mentions that “Most donors of the artwork to the collection purchased it directly from the artist, or UIMA did through fundraising and grants specifically awarded for an organization to purchase artwork for its permanent collection. Some of course, were donated directly by the artist.” It is a dream for those studying provenance, and a testament to the close relationship between the artist community and UIMA.&nbsp;For the 50th anniversary, Kochman hopes to fill both galleries with art from the permanent exhibition so that we can appreciate its scope. Looking ahead, they will continue to welcome all contemporary artists, regardless of nationality: “We will always support Chicago artists! If you have a proposal, please submit it,” says Kochman.&nbsp;Recent Developments‘Survived first pandemic’ is just another tick off the list that makes UIMA relevant today in Chicago’s art scene. When the art world was upended over a year ago; staff remained in high spirits. On March 5th, after a mandate caused the institute to shut its doors to the public, they moved their permanent collections to a virtual exhibition space. President Motria, seizing the moment to get creative while taking stock of their collection, created “Corona Story,” to playfully present the artwork set to the upbeat instrumental version of Gloria Gaynor’s classic “I Will Survive.” In addition to uploading videos on the museum’s history to their website, she also created a downloadable activity book for children, complete with QR codes linking to the actual art.&nbsp;In our Zoom call, she describes her motivation and vision for the Institute, which includes opening up an educational program for young artists. “The founders of the institute not only envisioned an art museum, but also an institution for learning and teaching. Our dream is to incorporate a children’s art center. As an educator, I feel it is important to give young students the opportunities to explore, discover, learn, and express their appreciation and talent for art, enabling them to become life-long art advocates.” says Motria.Official plans for the 50th anniversary will be announced soon. As ever, plans are tentative, but they will find a way to celebrate and thank all those who made the 50 years possible—artists, patrons, visitors, volunteers. Looking forward, Motria says, “We wait for the day when art exhibition openings, musical concerts, distinguished speakers events, conversations, laughter and energy fills our galleries again.”&nbsp;For more information about UIMA visit their <a href="https://uima-chicago.org">website</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Re-discovering the East in the West: Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art

<a href="https://www.artprize.org">ArtPrize 2021 Visitors, Jurors To Award $250K In Prizes</a>ArtPrize, the international public art competition, announced that this fall, event visitors and a panel of jurors will award a combined total of $250,000. This includes a $150,000 prize pool to be <a href="https://artprize.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=568226b22d477264c2318619f&amp;id=015cc8ae15&amp;e=4296d6b5b0">awarded by visitors</a> directly to the artists of their choosing throughout the 18-day event, $50,000 in juried awards presented by Haworth, and a $50,000 grand prize decided by the public and presented by Wolverine Worldwide, to be awarded to a single artist at the end of the event. Artists interested in participating in ArtPrize 2021 can register online at <a href="https://artprize.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=568226b22d477264c2318619f&amp;id=6a81fab742&amp;e=4296d6b5b0">artprize.org</a> through June 10.&nbsp;<a href="https://loopchicago.com/explore/things-to-do/muralwalk/">Chicago Loop Alliance announces free self-guided Loop Mural Walk, featuring Chicago-based and international artists</a>Chicago Loop Alliance has launched a brand new, free program to give Chicagoans and visitors an outdoor activity that will lead them off the beaten path downtown: a Loop Mural Walk. The self-guided walk features 21 murals on three routes, for a 2.1-mile combined journey through alleys and other oft overlooked spaces in the Loop. The Loop Mural Walk is available through July 4 at <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUXhkX0UhPogPnfTGmCBMoMiKr8jjjV1B2cev1bN6rFDsWMSr8eWjvUy2SLciNx3oSw-3D-3DMIf8_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1XeiuuTDCWCbvFFcP-2BZ-2Ft6yZw0AYl95zT-2FawsXUF9bauiyLu2f9uGoAOVwkthHw50cB1-2FGu7BmBt9wwqKhAVHYSHDUePCEBfVmVWAQ8ZeQlYFuKDwbfijXhOIanGtcXcSDjwZqyyDV6rcG6RGDnF-2Ft5xKC5Ly3OFQWaC-2BN-2FBcFLqSLw-2B4h-2FgIINXJe0sR2n2DgLDXYdtOUKvEIJ8BfgBT-2B21P82jc8sfZrOEcGvWd-2FSiNPRXGX3rkJOGysMFbtYm875Psl4uJl8qpvv3Xd0-2BEab8aETSkHytP6WUnkviIVQun0s-3D">LoopChicago.com/MuralWalk</a>.Featuring work by international household names as well as emerging artists, the Loop Mural Walk highlights a hidden side of the Chicago Loop many may have never seen before. Participants are invited to use their smartphones to follow turn-by-turn directions or forge their own paths to these masterful works of street art, many by artists of color whose perspectives and stories in these spaces are important to witness. While a few of the featured murals are prominent, well-known pieces, many others are more obscure, often left behind after Chicago Loop Alliance’s popular ACTIVATE alley events.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artdesignchicago.org/adcnow/">Art Design Chicago Now Announces Summer 2021 Programming</a>Art Design Chicago Now&nbsp;is a series of free public conversations, hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes collections tours, and digital storytelling amplifying the voices of Chicago's diverse community of makers―past and present. Coming up this summer are IGTV Artist Studio Tours with Anya Davidson, and Chris Pappan. ADC Now also spotlights Andrea Carlson and Juarez Hawkins.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/">Hyde Park Art Center Announces 2nd Phase of New Grant Initiative, Artists Run Chicago Fund</a>&nbsp;Hyde Park Art Center announced the second phase of Artists Run Chicago Fund, a new regranting initiative providing more than half a million dollars ($560,000) to offer unrestricted COVID relief for Chicago’s artist community. Taking place in two phases, the first phase in March granted awards of $8,000 to each of the 50 independent artist-run spaces that participated in the Art Center’s popular 2020 exhibition, <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibition-archive/artists-run-chicago-2-0/">Artists Run Chicago 2.0 (ARC 2.0)</a>. Now, an additional 20 Chicago artist-run spaces that applied for the second phase are receiving grants of $8,000. The Artists Run Chicago Fund initiative is being funded by an anonymous donor and is being fully administered by Hyde Park Art Center.&nbsp;The second phase of the grant supports experimental artist-led spaces and platforms with a particular focus on those that are run by artists who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), women, queer and/or with disabilities. Phase two will also expand the network of support that makes artist-driven projects thrive in Chicago.&nbsp;

CGN Art World Recap: 6/10

<html><head></head><body>By CGN StaffWith many of us eager to stretch our travel legs this summer&nbsp; – to make up for all we missed during the last one&nbsp; –&nbsp; an easy trip, or two, around Wisconsin to visit the state’s many destinations for art will satisfy your wanderlust as well as your cultural cravings.&nbsp;Check out these&nbsp;highlights on now, and hit the road!&nbsp; &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/nzoori6lsqaqdmavmnm4.jpg"><figcaption>Mary Giles, Fading Light, 2007, waxed linen, fine copper wire, and fine iron wire, 13 x 17” D, Racine Art Museum, gift of Jim Harris. Photo: Petronella J. Ytsma. Part of Collection Focus: Mary Giles thru July 3.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.ramart.org">Racine Art Museum</a>The Racine Art Museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects from nationally and internationally recognized artists.&nbsp;A trip to RAM is less than 60 miles from downtown Chicago. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/p7rwfkhvcgv5zthdbofb.png"><figcaption>Robert Indiana, The American&nbsp;LOVE, 1966-99. Photo by Kevin J. Miyazaki / Sculpture Milwaukee &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="sculpturemilwaukee.com">Sculpture Milwaukee</a>Sculpture Milwaukee’s fifth exhibition will be co-curated by Theaster Gates and Michelle Grabner, starting June 25th through fall 2022. One of the largest annual outdoor exhibitions to focus on contemporary sculpture and public art practices, the works selected by Gates and Grabner will be explored through programming and educational initiatives.&nbsp;Also local community and corporate investment has meant that a growing number of works previously exhibited at Sculpture Milwaukee have been purchased and donated so that they stay on public view in the city.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/blb0kuzo2rr8h5mht80m.jpg"><figcaption>The Museum of Wisconsin Art is located about 45 minutes from downtown Milwaukee in West Bend, WI&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="http://wisconsinart.org">Museum of Wisconsin Art (MoWA)</a>For 60 years MoWA has evolved from a small hometown gallery to one of the leading regional museums in the country, devoted to exploring the art and culture of Wisconsin.&nbsp;On view through July 3 is Artists Without Borders, an exhibition that showcases the works of nine artists—all with roots abroad and currently residing in Wisconsin—to explore their distinct takes on the relationship between art and place.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/bnmkve2bhq8gnzt3y14y.jpg"><figcaption>Mary Cassatt, Spanish Girl Leaning on a Window Sill, ca. 1872. Oil on canvas, 24 3/8 × 19 in. Collection of Manuel Piñanes García-Olías, Madrid. Photo, Cuauhtli Gutierrez &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="http://mam.org">Milwaukee Art Museum</a>The Milwaukee Art Museum is open to the public again, with several exhibitions planned for this summer, including Americans in Spain: Painting and Travel, 1820–1920, the first major exhibition to focus on the influence of Spanish art and culture on American painting. Jun 11–Oct 3&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/sr2yzsu3xwipnpk2dkc6.jpg"><figcaption>Nick Cave and Bob Faust, Amends</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.mmoca.org">Madison Museum of Contemporary Art</a>&nbsp;MMoCA's modern building, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, offers 51,500 square feet of interior space, as well as a 7,100-square-foot rooftop sculpture garden. MMoCA also has one of the premier institutional collections of Chicago Imagist works.&nbsp;This summer <a href="https://www.mmoca.org/art/amends-nick-cave-and-bob-faust">AMENDS: Nick Cave and Bob Faust</a> runs Jun 19 – Oct 24. AMENDS is a community-based, interactive art project. The internationally known artists and collaborators created the three-component project in 2020 after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. The ultimate goal of AMENDS is to lay the groundwork for the eradication of racism.&nbsp;AMENDS will bring together the artists, community leaders in the Madison area and the state, and members of the public to complete the three components of the project.<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418921/nue0copvhsmxlxi2ihgk.jpg"><figcaption>Painter Annabeth Marks is equally concerned with acts of construction and of deconstruction. Her work considers the boundaries of painting in both process and form. For her contribution to the Return to the Real Marks presents a new body of work in a site-specific installation paintings.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.jmkac.org">John Michael Kohler Art Center</a>Located along the western shore of Lake Michigan, north of Milwaukee but before you head towards Green Bay and Door County, the John Michael Kohler Art Center (JMKAC) in Sheboygan offers a range of serious, dynamic exhibitions that consider art in Wisconsin and well beyond.&nbsp;Return to the Real, on view through January 9, 2022, responds to the following question: As our lived experience is increasingly mediated by our screens, how can art remind us of the rich rewards of the real? Through a series of exhibitions, performances, and events that foreground the multisensory experience of viewing art in person, the series title is derived from art critic and historian Hal Foster’s influential 1996 book Return of the Real, a theoretical exploration of contemporary art grounded in the materiality of bodies and sites. The work featured in the series affirms the power of objects and human presence, emphasizes the nuances and subtleties that virtual viewing cannot provide or capture, and honors the irreplaceable experience of confronting—and of being confronted by—a physical work of art.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418922/zaylkdvgpf9nhypzo5ih.jpg"></figure><a href="http://artsmp.org">Arts Mineral Point&nbsp;</a>The creative community of Mineral Point offers a haven for working artists as well as a bucolic weekend art destination southwest of Madison, towards the Iowa border. Enjoy late night shopping, live music, workshops, artist receptions and more.&nbsp;The 8th annual Paint the Point live painting fundraiser takes place August 11–14.&nbsp;</body></html>

Head North: Explore Art in Wisconsin This Summer 

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/tmisxwqbz3gjy1eywmy3.jpg"><figcaption><a href="www.dusablemuseum.org">The DuSable Museum</a> will be open until 10 p.m. Friday, June 12 for its DuSummer outdoor concert and entertainment series. The museum officially opens June 19.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-musems-chicago-open-late-20210610-upkfqyokzjhanjxjue3q67lm5q-story.html">5 Chicago museums will be open late Friday to celebrate city’s reopening</a>Some of Chicago’s museums are helping celebrate Chicago’s reopening Friday with late-night hours, staying open until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.In a celebration announced by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office, five Chicago museums will participate to mark the June 11 Open Chicago initiate, when the city follows the State of Illinois in entering phase five of the pandemic recovery, or full reopening. “One of the best ways we can celebrate our city’s reopening is by spending time at our renowned museums, which have undergone so many challenges over the course of this past year,” said Mayor Lightfoot in the announcement. “That’s why I am thrilled that so many of our most iconic museums will be opening their doors until late this Friday night to give residents and visitors a head start on returning to a sense of normalcy.”Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/7/22522751/modernist-building-demolition-chicago-landmark-cenacle-sisters-retreat-historic-preservation?fbclid=IwAR3KKOvSaBq8CIwZZDG37hu10vJfqhJ7xC4b1zK21omBRMnpMNLuQhup__g">Modernist building’s slated demolition exposes weaknesses in Chicago’s landmark laws</a>The building’s official address on Fullerton Parkway is a parking lot, so odds are you’ve never really noticed the beautiful structure on Cleveland Avenue, set half a block back.But take a closer look: Some of the loveliest brickwork you’ll ever see in Chicago forms the 1967 Cenacle Sisters Retreat and Conference Center, at 513 W. Fullerton Parkway, designed by local architect Charles Pope.“It’s a keeper,” I would say. Except that it’s not. See it while you can, because it’s likely about to be smashed to rubble, with the express permission of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.Via Chicago Sun Times&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/met-return-benin-bronzes-1978902">The Metropolitan Museum of Art Will Return Two Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, Putting Pressure on Other Museums to Do the Same</a>The Metropolitan Museum of Art will return three artworks, including two Benin Bronzes, to&nbsp;Nigeria, accelerating a fast-moving development to repatriate the nation’s treasures, which were looted by British forces in the late 19th century.The three artworks headed to the&nbsp;Nigerian national collections are two 16th-century brass plaques created at the Court of Benin and a brass head produced in Ife sometime around the 14th century.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chris-jones/ct-ent-martha-lavey-steppenwolf-mural-20210609-uudulgypgjfq3eucvxlnrkus54-story.html?fbclid=IwAR25fI4ws7ecM8XYWXNLNExEVD1CT1GTE6xcVXqNEL4rzA7ltjeYtiNRhoU">Column: Martha Lavey, sorely missed, will be aptly remembered on the walls of Steppenwolf</a>When Chicago’s famed Steppenwolf Theatre opened its new Lincoln Park home in 1991, it debuted a building intentionally unadorned.The Tribune’s Sid Smith described the dour décor of the fortresslike building on Halsted Street as “deliberately threadbare.” The construction was by way of gray concrete blocks and washed cement, both inside and out...So Monday’s announcement that Tony Fitzpatrick has designed a special mural that will be attached to an exterior wall of the theater was striking news. The mural is part of the theater’s epic expansion over what (in 1991 and long thereafter) was a vacant lot between the theater and a parking garage that budget problems left famously unfinished. (As witnessed close-up by at least two generations of travelers on the CTA Brown Line).Fitzpatrick is anything but glossy or suburban. But his work also is a long way from concrete blocks and water stains. In fact, this commissioned mural (his largest to date and perhaps his crowning career achievement) will be printed digitally on ceramic tiles.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 6/10

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/ldlho92hpc0mwihldq2v.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/marina-black-unseen">MARINA BLACK: UNSEEN</a>Opening: Friday, June 11, 5 – 7:30&nbsp;pmCatherine Edelman GalleryThere are many photographers whose work reveals its intent upon first viewing. Then there are photographers like Marina Black, whose images reveal themselves slowly, allowing the viewer multiple interpretations. Black cites Goya’s The Disasters of War as one of her main influences, which many have interpreted as a protest against violence and the public who remain complicit. Her series Hasard Anticipé (anticipated chance) casts children as the subjects through which fear, joy, trauma and innocence is addressed. In Blacks world, the sanitized assumptions of childhood are replaced by the reality that innocence can be lost when children are not protected. In Hasard Anticipé, Marina Black presents photographs of daily activities – dancing, a soccer game, children swimming – that seem ordinary until wires, ropes and other objects obscure reality and the identity of those pictured. Black invites the viewer to construct their own narratives, while suggesting that innocence is something to attain, and should not be taken for granted.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/htrpzej9gdwghhw3fjvo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/technicolor-constellations-tales-from-the-permanent-collection">Technicolor Constellations: Tales from the Permanent Collection</a>Begins June 11Rockford Art MuseumFeaturing nearly fifty pieces from Rockford Art Museum's Modern and Contemporary Collection. Artist's include: Herman Aguirre, Alice Aycock, Jeff Koons, Kerry James Marshall, Tony Oursler, Diane Simpson and Ken Warneke.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/httvgcquh5ev2kgy6qa7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/joseph-e-yoakum-what-i-saw">Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw</a>Begins June 12Art Institute of ChicagoYoakum was born into poverty, had very little schooling, and at an early age left home to join a circus. He wound up working with several circuses, traveling across the United States as well as abroad and becoming intimately familiar with the world’s various landscapes. These experiences would provide the foundational memories that fueled his deeply spiritual vision decades later.This exhibition follows a shifting progression of Yoakum’s mountainous terrain, arid deserts, and majestic waterways, as well as a selection of his portraits of African American icons, testifying to the rich imagination of an exceptional American artist as well as to the remarkable circumstances that led to his lasting legacy.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/zfjc8a2qkcauikxidlly.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/blow-up-ii-inflatable-contemporary-art">Blow Up II: Inflatable Contemporary Art</a>Begins June 12Krasl Art CenterBLOW UP II: Inflatable Contemporary Art explores the imaginative ways that air is used as a tool to create large-scale sculptures. Inflatable works are often initially regarded as whimsical or humorous, yet they can contain serious critiques of pop-culture, social norms and the politics of space. BLOW UP II explores the complex relationship between the familiarity of the material combined with serious commentary, creating a dialogue around reinterpretation.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/bmzcsjh40gmgwcqr7ebg.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/matthew-metzger-heirloom">Matthew Metzger: Heirloom</a>Begins June 13The Renaissance SocietyMatthew Metzger’s paintings often closely replicate not-quite-familiar images, cultural artifacts, or common objects that signify nauseating conditions of power—conditions that for him leave self-expression feeling inadequate or corrupted, requiring a different way forward. While rendering each painting with an obsessive focus, Metzger relies on abstraction to more than formal ends, using it as an active means of distortion that mirrors the effects of our information ecologies and other aspects of culture today.In Heirloom, Metzger presents a new ensemble of works, conceived as an installation for the Renaissance Society and its space.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 11

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/mh9yrnlzkzr9rn1zqq2k.jpg"><figcaption>Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies by Tony Fitzpatrick</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN Staff via PRMost theaters around the world have been dark for much of the past year. Chicago's famed Steppenwolf Theater Company’s, like many other local theaters, is &nbsp;slowly coming back online once again, welcoming patrons through their doors to enjoy award-winning theater.&nbsp;The theater shared a major announcement that no matter what the status of the theater's operating hours, art will still be prominently on view from the street, 24/7, thanks to a new, massive public mural by celebrated Chicago-based artist and actor Tony Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick has created a vibrant, expansive mural for the exterior of Steppenwolf's new Arts and Education Center at 1646 N. Halsted in Lincoln Park. Commissioned by Steppenwolf as a highly visible public art installation for the southwest wall adjacent to the Center, “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” is, at 12-foot-high by 76-foot-long, Fitzpatrick’s largest work to date and his first outdoor mural.The new work pays homage to the leadership of the company’s former artistic director Martha Lavey, highlighting the evolution of the company over its four decades and the thrilling future as it opens the doors of its new theater building and education center. Steppenwolf is proud to be joining the ranks of esteemed institutions that are home to Fitzpatrick’s art including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art (New York City); The Art Institute of Chicago and Old Town School of Folk Music; the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami) and the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C.).Fitzpatrick shares, “I think of the long and luminous history of Steppenwolf like a garden; every year more color, more thorns, more blooming wonder and more and more seeds planted. The beauty of a garden is the promise it contains—that next year it will be even more unexpectedly luminous and full of wonder and truth.”He goes on to explain his personal connection to Steppenwolf and this project. “This mural is meant to honor Martha Lavey, who was one of my mentors. This company was her garden, and she was the gardener. Spirits like Martha come along maybe once every couple of generations. She was entirely and only like herself, much like this great company.”As Fitzpatrick aims to walk away from institutional exhibitions and pursue more personal artistic endeavors, he adds: “This is my final public artwork for the City of Chicago; I wanted to leave something lasting, life affirming and positive.” &nbsp;He also shared with CGN that he and artist collaborator Danny Torres are planning other murals elsewhere, both around the country and the world.&nbsp;Steppenwolf Theatre Executive Director E. Brooke Flanagan adds, “Steppenwolf’s new Arts and Education Center was designed specifically to contribute to the City of Chicago, not only through the addition of our first-ever dedicated education space, The Loft, but also via this monumental new public art installation that will no doubt provide joy to all who pass by.&nbsp; This mural beautifully symbolizes the Company’s past roots and future growth.”&nbsp;Fabricated on ceramic porcelain tiles, “Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies” was designed by Fitzpatrick over a period of several years and then painstakingly digitized by Danny Torres, his frequent collaborator (and partner in the new public art initiative, Fitzpatrick/Torres Humboldt Caballo).&nbsp;&nbsp;The boldly colored mural is comprised of eight themed vertical panels, encompassing dozens of four-foot square tiles digitally printed in Bologna, Italy by the artisans of Imola Ceramica. The installation process is expected to be completed within a week. &nbsp;&nbsp;About the ArtistTony Fitzpatrick's early artistic career focused primarily on multi-colored drawings on slate, followed by printmaking and now his focus is producing mixed media "drawing/collages." Fitzpatrick's drawing/collages often blend central cartoon-like drawings, found images and ephemera such as baseball cards and matchbooks, and poetic or narrative text. His main subjects have been Chicago and memories of his father, although more recent subjects have included Paris and birds. He is influenced by Chicago street culture, cities he has traveled to, children’s books, tattoo designs and folk art. Fellow Chicago artist Ed Paschke once described his work as "autobiographical," saying that "it's in the true spirit of what art is all about. It is an extension of him."&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/fbtntqdnfsjwsojr0lx3.jpg"><figcaption>Rendering of Steppenwolf’s New Building by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture with Tony Fitzpatrick mural placement pictured to the left</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;About Steppenwolf’s New Arts and Education Center at 1646 N. Halsted StreetDesigned by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture and London-based theater design team Charcoalblue, Steppenwolf’s new Arts and Education Center is a 50,000 sq. ft. building featuring an innovative 400-seat Round Theater only six rows deep—the only one of its kind in Chicago; a dedicated education floor, tripling the reach and impact of Steppenwolf’s nationally recognized education work; a bright and open two-story atrium lobby, a wine bar and a sidewalk lounge, increasing the social gathering spaces where artists and audiences converge.&nbsp;Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater that is home to America’s ensemble. The company began performing in the mid-1970s in the basement of a Highland Park, IL church—today Steppenwolf is the nation’s premier ensemble theater with more than 50 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Tony Fitzpatrick Creates His Largest Ever Mural For Steppenwolf Theatre – Says It's His Last in Chicago

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/wzsiisrlugmblo8empe6.jpg"><figcaption>An-My Lê, November 5, Sugar Cane Field, Houma, Louisiana, 2016, Inkjet print</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By ANNA DOBROWOLSKIWho are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? These are just some of the existential questions tethered to creatives in any age, but this summer, as part of the upcoming multi-site exhibition Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40, 29 artists add another question to the enduring list: Are we paying attention?The exhibition materializes as we emerge from isolation (and general art deprivation) to once again encounter artists’ creative solutions to contemporary issues. Abigail Winograd, MacArthur Fellows Program 40th Anniversary Exhibition Curator, spoke with me about some of the collaborative efforts involved in the project. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/jmuc7te15wjmeb2j8kbl.jpg"><figcaption>Jeffrey Gibson working in the studio. Photo courtesy of the artist. Gibson's exhibition <a href="http://www.newberry.org/sweet-bitter-love-exhibition">Sweet Bitter Love</a> is on view at the Newberry Library thru Sept 18 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;CGN: 29 artists, 19 exhibition venues, and over a dozen research partners and community partners — in only three short years? Can you tell me more about Toward Common Cause and how the initiative unfolded?&nbsp;Abigail Winograd: Three years ago the MacArthur Foundation invited me to propose an exhibition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Fellow’s program. The invitation included an open-ended proposal to present a theme. I made a selection of artists and proposed an exhibition that uses the “commons” as a thematic umbrella to look at four areas of inquiry: human society and communication, the natural environment, the built environment, and identity and representation.&nbsp;The show was a response to what felt like, at the end of 2017 and start of 2018, a moment in which we were, as a society, grappling with the realization that what we had thought was common ground or a common understanding, was being called into question.&nbsp;CGN: One of the first exhibitions to open is Much Unseen is Also Here, which runs from June 3–August 29 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP). Can you tell me more about the process, and some of the conversations you had with the artists An-My Lê and Shahzia Sikander and the curators?&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418919/zuptqecte5rejno7lzma.jpg"><figcaption>Shahzia Sikander, Promiscuous Intimacies, 2020, patinated bronze, 42 x 24 x 18”, edition of 5 with 2 APs. © Shahzia Sikander. Photo: Jason Wyche, New York, Courtesy: the artist and Sean Kelly, New York. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>AW:&nbsp;In the past couple of years, my conversations with artists An-My Lê and Shahzia Sikander involved thinking through their identities and representation as women of color in this moment in history. It developed into a conversation about their relationship to America and American-ness. That was happening in the midst of debates about monuments; the whole world, it seems, has been experiencing this moment of iconoclasm. After the murder of George Floyd, we see monuments literally being pulled off their pedestals because we’ve reached this moment of reckoning.*Both artists were already questioning the role of monuments through their own media and practice—An-My Lê through a 19th century photography apparatus, and Shahzia Sikander through mixed media (drawings, video installations, and patinated sculptures).Since 2015, An-My Lê has been working on a large-scale photography project, The Silent General in which she explores the complicated relationships to landscape, war, and history. As part of her project, she documents the decommissioning of the statues of General Robert E. Lee and General P.G.T. Beauregard Monuments (2017) from their established locations to the Homeland Security Storage in New Orleans, where they were ultimately withdrawn.Shahzia Sikander was interested in monuments from another angle. In 2017 she served on the Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers in New York City, which exposed her to ongoing discussions and competing public opinions surrounding the role of monuments. This culminated in an anti-monument, such as her Promiscuous Intimacies (2020 patinated bronze sculpture) depicting Greco-Roman Venus and the Indian Devata. An anti-monument cross-examines the social tenets underpinning monuments: its historical and classical implications, material structure; the power structures they inherently reveal along with the histories they conceal. Bringing these two bodies of work together into MoCP’s space crescendos into a duet of artistic practices that interrogate how –and whose—history is portrayed.When Winograd conceived the idea three years ago, she could not divine that the project would coincide with a pandemic. If anything, the work by the MacArthur fellows gained another level of urgency. She felt deeply grateful to forge relationships with participating artists who were already using their art as a platform to confront realities and injustices in the world. “In this fraught moment, working with this cohort of artists and spaces is an unimaginable privilege. It’s been all a very humbling experience,” she says.&nbsp;“It’s also been special for me to work on one of the largest exhibitions I’ve ever done in my hometown. It really took a village.” Chicago was the natural choice for the exhibition, not least because it is the home of the MacArthur headquarters, but also because of its wealth of art schools, ethnic diversity, and working-class roots.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418920/qciw9woeygiyxlbixl5w.jpg"><figcaption>Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Well 35°58’16”N -106°5’21”W (Santa Clara Pueblo, NM), 2014. Pictured: Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle. Courtesy of the artist. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>CGN: What is Chicago’s role in this project? Does the initiative underscore the city as an exhibition space?&nbsp;AW: From the beginning, what we hoped to do was try to make the art available to as broad an audience as possible, which means lowering barriers of access. We thought about where museums and cultural resources are located and how we can integrate alternative venues to diffuse art across the city.We are collaborating with the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) for one of the exhibitions. This is the first time the CHA has participated in a contemporary art exhibition. After the last year, we all need more art in our lives. The CHA is another chance to work with organizations that don’t normally participate in these projects.*Due to the number and breadth of the exhibitions distributed across the city, it is impossible to look forward to just one. The fellows in the initiative – such as Jeffrey Gibson, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Kara Walker, and Kerry James Marshall, to name a few – field a spectrum of social, environmental, and political issues in their practice. Toward Common Cause exposes where we are left vulnerable as a society and allows us to reflect and take the necessary steps to move forward.&nbsp;Are we paying attention? If so, how can we unearth common ground? &nbsp;For more information visit <a href="http://towardcommoncause.org">TowardCommonCause.org</a>&nbsp;</body></html>

Seeking Common Cause: The MacArthur Fellows Program at 40

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418918/y2yaxg9ybbqw1zabqzis.jpg"></figure><a href="https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/06/02/chicago-cultural-center-reopens-with-store-selling-locally-made-good-new-exhibits/">Chicago Cultural Center Reopens With Store Selling Locally Made Goods, New Exhibits</a>The Chicago Cultural Center reopened Wednesday after being closed more than a year due to coronavirus.The center also worked with a design team, Made, from Englewood to revamp its Learning Lab. The lab is open to people of all ages and abilities and features an interactive light installation.And the center has a new store, called <a href="https://hi-buddy.org/">BUDDY</a>, where guests can browse goods made in Chicago by local artists and entrepreneurs. The store includes vinyl records, honey, toys for children, perfume and other goods.Via Block Club Chicago&nbsp;<a href="https://links.e.history.com/u/click?_t=3350a610bca54cb8a557dd283bdde91f&amp;_m=a905838e0852431097ae8412efd71632&amp;_e=7M3xs4kXjb2FMoi7qCnO77sNN2wJzFWUdfTFwetuL6UrGyCnlKiAQZz0vZ05NDETFhZMqGSIMOoDp0EtutrrsPj39HWnezBz4_4_3VNK3vGuHpE52orrUcMf0f6yr1Xp1PBODHIVIqQ8szNCAf2H3Zca8UY0cS2XOdPfiKOcoW3Obu5cCS7ppV_K8aysqWP6xi79qprhY3ByLeonYdr-woDh6vXKMste6ZnmP6BIwx2JBFQF7WR3fDGsnWIsKWwDhoAphbXlTQrmoUE0GfB6qa6_cMg9ItnJRtFpCkH9MnMyJMEPSXTjmIUcYyCL6CkljjHKeopr-0ad7X3gbek9tptVM5yTu-pGdU6OvGG9WQsziVQr5pU6fumUnqzQ5Id5y5q76CW9kslqGoibkVnPySsYdRPxlMjb3VsqAIFajcM%3D">How the AIDS Quilt Allowed Millions to Memorialize the Epidemic</a>The AIDS Memorial Quilt—with 1,920 individual panels, each inscribed with the names of people lost to AIDS—was displayed for the first time on October 11, 1987. It has grown ever since.Via History.com&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-christina-quarles-mca-chicago-20210602-xb4jeduo4reypkuxgo727nibqm-story.html">How to see the Christina Quarles show at the MCA? Go with the rising star artist, and forget your glasses.</a>Christina Quarles, rising art world superstar, Chicago native, Los Angeles resident, visited the Museum of Contemporary Art the other morning. It was her first time visiting her new show, which is also her first major solo exhibition. The museum had just opened and the early crowd was a pandemic trickle. No one approached Quarles, though a couple nudged each other and whispered about her clothes: They were trying to decide if this woman, the one in the colorful pajamas, made all of this stuff on the walls. Probably, right?Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/27/arts/design/Art-Preserve-Sheboygan.html">Rescuing Artists of Vision</a>Charles Smith preaches with sculpture, hundreds of hip-height figures that he’s been reworking, repainting and rearranging for decades, first at a small house in Aurora, Ill., and now at his homestead in Hammond, La. Every time this self-taught artist repositions his work he testifies anew to the unfolding history of racial violence in the United States, connecting it to personal traumas, including what he believes was the racially motivated murder of his father when he was 14, and his own combat experiences in Vietnam.On June 26, the 80-year-old artist will star in a new and experimental museum in Sheboygan called the Art Preserve, awaiting his instruction on how his concrete figures will be shown. The preserve is the first museum in the country to focus on artists known as “environment builders,” whose worldviews take immersive and physical form, and who often turn their entire homes into works of art.Via NYTimes&nbsp;<a href="https://news.artnet.com/opinion/ai-weiwei-the-great-big-art-exhibition-1975114?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%209%3A45%20a.m.%20newsletter%20for%206%2F2%2F21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D">Op-Ed by Ai WeiWei: The Organizers of a Major U.K. Exhibition Used My Name to Promote Their Show. But They Were Too Afraid to Embrace My Ideas</a>What is art and what is its purpose? What is its relevance to our post-industrialist and consumption-oriented world? These questions may seem banal, but they are especially pertinent if we look at “The Great Big Art Exhibition,” organised by the U.K. visual arts organisation Firstsite this year. I am very honored to share that my 2021 project Postcard for Political Prisoners was not accepted—and that their rejection gave a real meaning to my artwork.Via Artnet&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 6/3

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/rhi0e4isha77ekidj2qm.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Other Art Fair</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By CGN StaffThe Other Art Fair first came to Chicago in <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/news/2018/8/the-other-art-fair-is-coming-to-chicago">2018</a>, bringing dozens of artists to Mana Contemporary in Pilsen the same weekend as EXPO Chicago. The fair returned in the spring of 2019 and had planned a 2020 edition, which they understandably put off. Now they have announced a return to the fall as well as a new venue.Planned for September 30 – October 3, the delayed third edition of the fair will now occupy the expansive space at Revel Fulton Market in the West Loop.The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, the mega online art gallery company, marks 10 years in 2021. The fair first launched in London in 2011 as a smaller fair that took place once a year. Pre-COVID TOAF had scaled up to exhibit over 1,000 artists and host over two dozen fairs in cities throughout the United States, UK and Australia.&nbsp;Today TOAF emphasizes that it seeks to offer visitors the opportunity to meet a curated, centralized selection of over 110 independent artists and browse thousands of pieces to suit every budget (with prices starting from as little as $100). In particular TOAF is an appealing fair for first-time art buyers hoping to start a collection, especially after a year spent at home staring at the same (bare or boring) walls. It also aims to give artists exposure, the opportunity to grow their practice and to sell their work independently and a chance to connect directly to buyers, curators, collectors and gallerists.&nbsp;In the lead up to September, TOAF is seeking artist applications (they're <a href="https://www.theotherartfair.com/artists-apply/">free and open now</a>, closing June 19)Visit <a href="https://www.theotherartfair.com/">theotherartfair.com</a> for more information.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/f5u30laex3z7hy7d2azm.jpg"><figcaption>Courtesy The Other Art Fair</figcaption></figure></body></html>

The Other Art Fair Returns to Chicago After a 2020 Delay and is Seeking Artists

<html><head></head><body>By GINNY VAN ALYEAJune brings a host of new exhibitions and openings in area galleries and museums, as well as – thankfully, following a mostly closed 2020 – art benefits and art fairs taking place both in person as well as virtually. There are many choices available for participation, engagement and support.&nbsp;Art benefit parties and art fairs have traditionally been the social nexus of the art world. Though Zoom carried us through much of the pandemic, art collectors, industry members and enthusiasts are all eager to reconnect in person through a shared love of art and a desire to support living artists and vital businesses and institutions. Following is a list of events coming up soon.&nbsp;See you at the party!&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ercv2upi2xmxuahk7wc2.png"><figcaption><a href="https://one.bidpal.net/wip2021/browse/2(details:item/19)">Raul De Lara</a> Smile #3 is part of WIP's art auction. Starting bid: $2,400 &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://chicagoartistscoalition.org/get-involved/annual-benefit">Chicago Artist Coalition's Work in Progress 2021</a>JUNE 9 @ 6pm (The auction preview and bidding is live now.)WIP 2021 will be Chicago Artists Coalition’s biggest night of the year, a virtual celebration of its 47 years as a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting contemporary Chicago artists. The event, taking place virtually on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, at 6:00 pm, highlights milestones of Chicago-based artists and curators and their influence both in and beyond the city. The event is free and open to the public and includes an art auction and recognition of the night’s honorees, artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust, and CAC supporter Jeff Shapack. CAC will also give grants to six artists.A ticketed Work In Progress 2021 VIP event will follow the free public portion of the evening and includes a private, virtual tour of Facility, Nick Cave and Bob Faust’s multi-disciplinary creative space in Northwest Chicago. A live conversation with the artists follows the tour. Tickets for both the free and ticketed VIP WIP 2021 events are available at <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/work-in-progress-chicago-artists-coalitions-annual-benefit-tickets-85151282779">Eventbrite</a>.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/dnkg0lica7673hkccfx6.jpg"><figcaption>Part of MoCP's benefit auction: Seunggu Kim, Hanok Swimming Pool, August 2017.</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.mocp.org/get-involved/annual-benefit.php">MoCP's DARKROOM Benefit Auction</a>JUNE 10 @ 5:45 pm (The benefit auction opens one week before the event on <a href="http://sothebys.com/">Sothebys.com</a>)DARKROOM is the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago's (MoCP) annual benefit auction and gala, which will be taking place entirely online. Photography enthusiasts will also have the chance to bid on celebrated contemporary and historical artists, including work by Dawoud Bey, Tabitha Soren, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward J. Steichen, Pete Souza, Victoria Sambunaris, Sandro Miller, Brian Ulrich, and more.&nbsp;The virtual event will kick off with a pre-show DJ set with the founder and owner of famed Metro Chicago, who will be spinning 45s—in honor of the museum’s 45th anniversary year—remotely from The GMan Tavern in Wrigleyville. Attendees will then enjoy a formal program and be able to engage virtually with MoCP staff, artists, fellow supporters, and surprise special guests during an interactive livestream. The evening will conclude with a virtual cocktail party hosted on <a href="http://wonder.me/">Wonder.me</a>General admission to DARKROOM is completely free. VIP tickets start at $250 and go up to $1000, with a range of exclusive benefits. Visit <a href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=23503a7f3b&amp;e=62775191de">mocp.org</a> for more information.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/knmxnqg1pd9mamtfvwua.jpg"></figure><a href="https://one.bidpal.net/intuit/welcome">Intuit's (Virtual) Visionary Ball&nbsp;</a>JUNE 10, 7–7:45pmJoin Intuit from home in celebrating 30 years of being Intuit! Special guest speakers, Intuit's famed silent auction, and profound art-driven stories that will uplift and inspire are all part of a reimagined Visionary Ball, Intuit's annual fundraiser, this year on ZoomRegistration has passed for the special $250 cocktail or wine Party-In-Place Package, but you can register for the free ticket until June 9 and you can browse the <a href="https://one.bidpal.net/intuit/browse/all">silent auction now</a>. Highlights include works by Lee Godie and Wesley Willis, as well as select thrift store finds by unknown artists.&nbsp;This year's Visionary Ball honors artist, art educator and researcher Lisa Stone.&nbsp;Learn more register at the <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001IUlykqRdjrN-R-Fx_zXRI8SRhhjuP22RCTYz_oCvyOGr3X8KdIaOwO8UrP_TPPFWrDSS1NQJivL6TnTIL92kCg2a-CwfTYeQ1M_kEAh1-VubIXlimT5VBOXrK5sAmyD4o0NKJZXnct4eyE_sAYF1vKBi83Cv4PYxZhQp1-GDFhc=&amp;c=VcDXc8hNCDGHRYfsF6v9k-E1VYTFZI3-3UpEp4uJ6Pubc_rZWATdwQ==&amp;ch=832EdJmwHUpFKTRAlxENRbveBhda20K9nKSiWemylClg1OZ3EUiksQ==">Visionary Ball website</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/drkuki7hsj83e7elb6on.png"><figcaption>The Old Town Art Fair is also famous for its garden walk&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">The Old Town Art Fair Returns</a>June 12 and 13After a cancellation in 2020 (the first in the 70-year history) the OTAF is returning to its traditional 2nd weekend in June dates this month (June 12 and 13). &nbsp;Art Fair Chair Anne Giffels announced that all artists from 2020 were invited back for 2021. “We are thrilled that more than 200, out of 250, artists are returning this year. It speaks to the appeal of the OTAF for artists as well as our guests,” Giffels said. “We are committed to holding a Fair that follows strict safety protocols and welcomes everyone back to Old Town.”Safety measures for the 2021 Art Fair include a larger footprint for adequate room to move around as well as to accommodate spaced artist booths, plus other measures that are standard practice by now. There will also be additional space for food vendors.<a href="https://www.oldtownartfair.org">New this year, pre-registration will be required for entry to the Fair and is live now.</a>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/ezwcnlii3odgqqmesgpm.jpg"><figcaption><a href="https://www.artfinder.com/artist/kwaboama/#/">Kwame Boama Mensa-Aborampa</a>, painting</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/virtual-fair">74th annual (Virtual) 57th Street Art Fair</a>Ongoing through May 2022The 57th Street Art Fair was very hopeful for an in-person fair this year but they were not approved in time to meet their planning needs. Instead, they have built a robust virtual fair that is <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/virtual-fair">live online</a> through May, 2022 and features more than 100 artists selling original works of art.&nbsp; You can learn more about different artists featured daily <a href="https://www.57thstreetartfair.org/facebook">here</a>.​The committee and the neighborhood is looking ahead to 2022, when they hope to see everyone in-person to celebrate the fair's 75th Anniversary.&nbsp;&nbsp;Top thumbnail: past Work in Progress party-goers&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

June Preview: Art Auctions and a Return to Parties

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418906/asip7avtpozensflta2z.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/catharine-newell-immersed">Catharine Newell: Immersed</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Ken Saunders Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/jrtug7kmjfsl07acmgnn.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/encaustic-in-america">Encaustic in America</a>Opening: Saturday, Jun 5, 2021 2 – 6&nbsp;pmAddington GalleryDuring the months of June and July, Addington Gallery hosts an exciting rotating exhibition of paintings made by some of the leading voices of encaustic painting in America.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/gmnfpihpf4deckouvmph.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/hyun-jung-jun">Hyun Jung Jun: By Flame By Fog</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;GoldfinchHyun Jung Jun’s work takes many forms, from temporary installations to candles to cakes, and the work often begins and ends as something changed or erased altogether. In the artist’s words, Jun’s creations “take up more time than they do space.” They are often made to disappear. Although Hun’s practice engages familiar, domestic processes (her kitchen serves as a studio space, where she dips candles and experiments with cooking materials) her work seems to exist in a fantastical space where what is absent, shrouded, or entirely imagined is as real as anything else.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/ozagkdfypqi1bs16eg7r.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/summer-show-frida-kahlo">Frida Kahlo: Timeless</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;The Cleve Carney Museum of ArtThe exhibition will be the largest Frida Kahlo exhibition in the Chicago area in more than 40 years, and is hosted by the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) and the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at the College of DuPage (COD). It will feature a 26-piece collection on loan from the Museo Dolores Olmedo as well as a multimedia timeline, 100+ photographic images from the artist’s life, a family-friendly children’s area and a Frida Kahlo inspired garden designed by Ball Horticultural Company, enabling museum-goers of all ages to grasp an understanding of Kahlo’s life and work through a variety of contexts.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/yz4d8ofuqf2s1trbbjzq.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/ania-jaworska-bricks">Ania Jaworska: BRICKS</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Volume GalleryBRICKS engages this elemental unit of construction formally and conceptually to create a homage that is at once sincere, humorous, pragmatic, and seductive.Bricks are both resolutely material and culturally potent. Especially in Chicago, they aggregate to form a backdrop to urban life, and not always elegantly or intentionally. At the same time, bricks provoke an earnestness, even reverence, among architects (Louis Kahn most famously) and lay brick enthusiasts (there are many among us, analyzing the techniques and sources of the brickwork in our neighborhoods). As metaphors, bricks appear in diverse contexts, negative and positive: a basketball that clanks off the rim; a ton of something dropped on us; a mighty-mighty woman; the road we follow to Oz.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 5 (Part II)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/fultlgrl9lpfjfu2qdsb.jpg"><figcaption>A bright painting by the artist Federico Herrero has served as Gary’s Zoom background since last Spring. Displayed on the custom sideboard, from left: Lynda Box by Haas Brothers; Giolight lamp by Johanna Grawunder. On the right wall, clockwise from left: Jake Troyli, Beverly Fishman and Wendy White.</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;By GINNY VAN ALYEAVisiting the home of an art collector has, for me, always been a very personal as well as in-person endeavor. Requesting that someone let me invade their privacy and ask that they divulge what they buy, from where, and why, is an intimate thing – one I feel better about doing face-to-face, in order to find out what collecting art is like for Chicagoans, as well as to show how it is never the same thing for anyone.&nbsp;This past year has taught me to rethink how I do a lot of things, and collector interviews have not been spared the increased distance that so many of us have experienced. But clearing hurdles has meant meeting opportunities.Despite the apparent challenges, connecting with collectors Gary Metzner and Scott Johnson was a pandemic delight. Already Zoom experts, having attended dozens of art events virtually for a year, Gary and Scott and I met from our respective homes and offices, sharing screenshots and Instagram stories to keep the interview going in a way that would not have happened previously. It also allowed me to sit with and study Gary and Scott’s collection for a couple of weeks, enjoying it fully and for repeat visits. While this interview format may not be needed forever, I was surprisingly grateful for it this spring.&nbsp;*&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/lnspewzs9jwn3tmbrfyz.jpg"><figcaption>Gary Metzner and Scott Johnson at home. Pictured: a sculpture by Neil Goodman</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Gary and Scott’s fondness for color is apparent in their home and their art collection. An abundance of saturated, modern hues – which touch most surfaces in their three bedroom River North condo they’ve inhabited for 15 years – dominates a variety of objects, from the orchids, to the linens, to the art. In particular they both love orange. Bold pigment serves as bait, luring the couple to the thing they first admire and then get hooked on, while unifying their taste and lending a vibrancy and sense of fun to the space.Amidst all the first-impression giving colors, I notice a range of artwork and mediums on display in each room, from mid-career contemporary artists who are Chicago-based, to those with international profiles: constructions by Theaster Gates and Nate Young, a text painting by Mel Bochner, an edition of America: A Hymnal by Bethany Collins, photographic portraits by Ayana Jackson, Ian Michael, Hellen van Meene, and Carrie Schneider, among others. Quite a bit of sculpture – pieces by Neil Goodman, Chris Garafalo and Kennedy Yanko – and ceramics, not to mention artist books, are also placed on nearly every available surface.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/xczvxzc0nn4mm8g6d2rz.gif"><figcaption>Photograph by Carrie Schneider; An American Hymnal by Bethany Collins; ceramics by Noah Singer and Jessie Mott. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Though the walls are not yet full, the art, particularly smaller works, has tripped onto tables and sideboards, floating shelves and nightstands. I can imagine reaching for a drink and picking up a four-inch wire sculpture instead, or looking into a corner to discover a glazed piece by Anders Herwald Ruhwald. If I need to iron a shirt, perhaps I can borrow (kidding) a Roger Brown painted 1930s iron, featuring ship passengers visible through yellow-lit portals. I realize a guest can’t see, or appreciate, all the art in a single visit.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/zxjvrbx395vq8hwszwwb.gif"><figcaption>Pictured: Robert Bernier, Ricardo Homen, Joel Ross, Norman Zammitt, Chris Cosnowski, Edie Fake, Jeroen Nelemans.&nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/lx9wooluzhffcxf5rrrs.jpg"><figcaption>Photograph by Izima Koaru, and ceramics by Carolyn Ottmers. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;I asked Gary to give me an idea of the scope and scale of the collection, as I was interested in just how many pieces they had acquired to date and if they considered a focus for their lively assemblage.&nbsp;“We should be a bit more organized,” Gary admits. “We have every invoice of every piece we ever purchased, but we just never made one of those lists for when people come over. It’s taken us a while to think of ourselves as collectors.”&nbsp;Gary and Scott’s reluctance to admit they are collectors sounds familiar. One by one works of art are purchased and then carefully installed. Invoices are filed, and eventually careers are followed, museum donations are made and gifts are promised. Yet many resist the designation of ‘collector.’ It sounds so obligatory. Gary estimates they now have about 80 works in their condominium – he suspects they may be out of room – with another 32 in his Gold Coast office, where he is the head of Sotheby’s Chicago location.&nbsp;Yes, they are definitely collectors.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418911/lq8ggsni1vs6huwixlsw.jpg"><figcaption>Works on display at the Sotheby's Chicago office, where Gary works</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;Gary explains that his very first personal purchase was when he was just ten years old. Having saved some money, he tagged along with his art loving parents at the Beth-El Synagogue Art Fair, found something priced under $500 and convinced his parents he would pay them back the difference. This piece, a 1920’s Belgian poster, was purchased from a dealer Gary would later do business with. &nbsp;Having more or less been a part of the professional art world since he was in graduate school, Gary remembers that on a trip to New York in 1986 – with Lori Kaufman, a great friend and mentor and part of Hokin Kaufman Gallery, where he had his first art world job – he went to visit Marlborough Gallery. It was there he pointedly asked what he could afford, and was told he could buy two Alex Katz prints for $300 each, unframed.&nbsp;He bought them on the spot and still has them on display today.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418912/v3htbckiwaqdsshpp5ba.gif"><figcaption>Metzner's pair of prints by Alex Katz</figcaption></figure>*&nbsp;Scott and Gary began buying art together years ago. Though they got their starts in different ways and at separate times, they have jointly amassed a collection of artists with diverse backgrounds, and they enjoy keeping things varied. As a couple they have adhered to the sage advice to buy what they like, and they have come to enjoy the communal nature of collecting art, soliciting suggestions from colleagues, curators, and advisors. While Gary’s auction background means he is often giving advice to clients, he and Scott rely on shared insights and often check out galleries or auctions to see what might catch their eye next.&nbsp;Scott recalls he has always loved art and he has regularly visited museums around the country ever since he was young. When he began working at the University of Chicago hospital, following graduate school in Boston, and was commuting to Hyde Park from the North Side, he says he was living near art rather than with it. For awhile he was focused only on starting out in an intense career that left little time for anything else. It took meeting Gary to really introduce him to the art world in Chicago.&nbsp;While one was the first to bring the other along, today they both cite local museums as doing an incredible job helping them learn about art. The couple spent their 20’s regularly visiting the Smart Museum in Hyde Park, and today they are formally supportive of most of the museums in the city. They credit these museums, and other area spaces, with hosting high-quality, amazing programming even during the pandemic, something they appreciate as a great source of information as well as activity when they could not be together in person with other collectors and artists. &nbsp;In return for what they’ve learned from these institutions, they also actively give back. Gary is on the board of the Driehaus Museum and Depaul Museum of Art, and they are both a part of Emerge at the MCA, as well as the Society of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. This June they will co-chair the Chicago Artist Coalition’s virtual Work-in-Progress benefit.&nbsp;&nbsp;*Learning about and acquiring art takes a great deal of time, focus and resources. I wondered if they had sold any works in the collection either to adjust their focus or to make more space at home, and of course I was curious if Gary had sold personal pieces at auction.&nbsp;“We sell very little,” he says. “I know I sell people’s art for a living. I guess if we finally run out of space and there are artists that have a market to resell, we could, but not all do.”&nbsp;Charity auctions have been one outlet for deaccessioning while benefitting a good art cause. “We have donated quite a few works this way. It’s a great way to help museums and organizations.” Gary says they have also started to designate some pieces as promised gifts to area museums. He likes that the work will end up being shared with the public some day, but for now they can still enjoy them at home.&nbsp;For the most part, works stay in the collection. Gary credits his Sotheby’s colleague, Helyn Goldenberg, with encouraging him to make something new work. He shares, “She always says, ‘Don’t worry about space. You will find room if you really like it.’ I don’t know how, but it always seems to work.”Gary has held a prominent position with Sotheby’s since 1997 (his 25th anniversary at the auction house is this July). Locally he has a reputation for actively supporting galleries. I asked him what he thought about that old sticking point that auctions and galleries are in competition with each other, particularly now that there is more overlap between the two markets, due to the pandemic and the absence of in-person art fairs and large market events. &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418913/rljg3jejojd1zw4mka2g.gif"><figcaption>A work by Ian Michael centers a wall in Gary and Scott's home, flanked by a piece by Lui Shtini hanging above a pair of small scale pieces by Elizabeth Wilde (left) as well as a painting by Alex Katz (above right) and Walter Spindler's 1894 drawing for the set of Izeyl, starring Sarah Bernhardt</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;He responds, “I think it’s so important to support the local art scene and galleries in general. They make a huge effort to put on exhibitions. Yes, they are for sale, but the effort going into these shows demands they be seen. Scott and I have spent much of the pandemic going to galleries on Saturdays. It’s been masked and safe, and with museums closed [this winter], it was a great activity to do together. I feel one of the things the pandemic has done was to bring galleries, museums and auction houses together to help each other and collaborate. With all the art fairs on hold, Sotheby’s started the Gallery Network last summer as a place for galleries to sell works online to the Sotheby’s audience. Again, it was a way to help each other.”When the fairs do come back, it can’t be soon enough. “We have traveled to Miami many times, and we have never missed an EXPO CHICAGO, ever,” says Gary. “Tony Karman is the king of hospitality. I think we have bought something each year. When we attend an art fair outside Chicago, we end up hanging out with our Chicago gallery friends there too, and we usually buy something as well. It sounds funny, but I think it’s because dealers often bring the best works to a fair, now even a virtual fair.”Clearly art is a social, as well as professional, focus for Scott and Gary, but for now the big art parties are still in the rearview mirror. Gary says it’s hard to recall the last in-person event they went to because they’ve been busy toasting and connecting online. They have also been meeting with co-chairs to plan Chicago Artist Coalition’s June benefit, as well as brainstorm with another area organization to host an event in the fall.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418914/my1c9lmlpuzmaykb33yo.gif"><figcaption>One of Gary and Scott’s newest acquisitions is Black Rice, by Ayana Jackson, purchased from Mariane Ibrahim Gallery. Shown at right: Leaf Face by Brian Bress. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;While ready for a return to in-person, they’ve managed to engage well with virtual talks and events. Gary recalls a Zoom talk he and Scott attended where collector and MCA board member Helen Zell spoke with MCA Director Madeleine Grynsztejn last year. Zell said one of the most rewarding things she has enjoyed about collecting is the relationships with artists. For Gary, “We hadn’t really done that, or at least made a point of it. We love the dealers, but now [during COVID] we’ve had more time to directly connect with artists online, in galleries, or even just on social media. It’s sort of just been happening, and it’s great.”&nbsp;Devoid of an in person social calendar, Gary and Scott have made the effort to buy art throughout the pandemic. Says Gary, “It’s been great to support galleries at a difficult time.” In fact they began buying when the March 2020 lockdown went into effect, acquiring a work by Andrew Holmquist from Carrie Secrist Gallery. Next they selected a piece by Ian Michael, a new artist at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery. As we were on the phone coordinating the interview, they were arranging for delivery of a bright new Beverly Fishman sculpture from Kavi Gupta.There is still one piece, at least, on the way, which Gary confesses he snagged from the Sotheby’s Christo auction in Paris. He says he can’t say any more, or it will ruin the surprise: it’s for Scott’s Birthday this summer. He assured me, “Let’s just say we will have room for it.”&nbsp;Indeed, with a home and art collection that is certainly full, but not yet overflowing, Scott and Gary have focused their collecting enthusiasm on local artists and galleries, supporting so many while adding to the vibrancy of their day-to-day life in a challenging but also suprising year.&nbsp;#&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418915/bdopwlxfmacltk8aegk3.gif"><figcaption>Roger Brown</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418916/ccialkfvapg0ihadtfxw.gif"><figcaption>Andrew Holmquist, above a work by Liliana Porter</figcaption></figure>&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Vibrant Art Enlivens a Home: Collectors Gary Metzner and Scott Johnson

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418078/exjeqeash2xwp7ereuvr.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/tromarama-tromarama-2021">Tromarama: Tromarama 2021</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;DOCUMENTThe exhibition at the gallery will feature Beta, a site-specific installation that questions the standardized elementary education programs that have been implemented since Indonesia’s independence from Japanese occupation in 1945.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418079/urgm2cjo3mksulsujvpk.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/edie-fake-2c3f5155-12ae-40a6-8909-6f27acb41d72">Edie Fake</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Western ExhibitionsEdie Fake’s paintings start as self-portraits, and from there, they make a break for it, referencing elements of the trans and non-binary body through pattern, color and architectural metaphor. His precise, intimately scaled, gouache-and-ink paintings on panel are structured around the physical aspects of transition and adaptation as well as mental and sexual health.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418080/ofmguwcslfonjy5wjesa.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/field-studies">Field Studies: Steven Carrelli &amp; Adam Fung</a>Opening: Saturday, June 5, 1 – 4&nbsp;pmHofheimer GalleryField Studies&nbsp;is a drawing collaboration that began in 2011, when both artists&nbsp;lived in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.&nbsp;Field Studies&nbsp;continues presently as a long-distance collaborative art project with Steven&nbsp;Carrelli residing in Chicago, Illinois and Adam Fung living in Fort Worth, Texas.&nbsp;With few exceptions, the drawings are the size of a postcard and executed in&nbsp;pencil on paper.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418080/dgnqkeiprweid9gqygpi.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/gallery-reception-water-becomes-blood">Gallery Reception: Water Becomes Blood</a>Opening: Saturday, June 5, 3 – 7&nbsp;pmWoman Made Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418081/ealfdidggbgy67fuaaw9.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/dorothy-graden-liminal-spaces">Dorothy Graden: Liminal Spaces</a>Begins June 5&nbsp;Evanston Art CenterDorothy Graden&nbsp;is a contemporary artist whose art is inspired by Ancient Visions, prehistoric art of the Americas. Her mission is to bring awareness of these amazing places and to promote preservation and protection of ancestral sites on this continent, most of which are considered sacred to Native Americans. For over 30 years she has been traveling through the American west to photograph and draw prehistoric rock art.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418082/a0mfxh3sndjfpo1oheop.png"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/modernist-strategies-highlights-from-the-wpa">Modernist Strategies: Highlights from the WPA</a>Begins June 5Krannert Art Museum, University of IllinoisFrom 1935 to 1943, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored the Federal Art Project, which employed as many as 10,000 artists during the Great Depression. In exchange for a modest weekly wage, artists produced paintings, sculptures, prints, and other works to be distributed to federal buildings and other public institutions. The University of Illinois received an extensive cache of works, which were transferred to Krannert Art Museum upon its founding in 1961.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start June 5 (Part I)

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ihvbshybwbq9otz2y8qx.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/the-social-justice-sewing-academy-connecting-generations-through-cloth">The Social Justice Sewing Academy: Connecting Generations through Cloth</a>May 28 – August 22Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider ArtFrom quilts supporting abolition and temperance to signature quilts made to raise money for war efforts to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, quilts have long expressed political beliefs and supported social causes. As quilt scholar Marsha MacDowell said, “Many people think of quilts as a warm, fuzzy domestic art. Yet we see time and time again, artists have used this particular medium to make strong statements that address human rights issues.” Most often, quilts with a message are made by adults, but, today, the tradition of quilting for social justice is being introduced to young artivists—or artist-activists—who pick up a needle and thread for the first time and learn to see quilts in a new way.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/fzxuhv7bxvvhh2z96ns7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/jeffrey-gibson-sweet-bitter-love">Jeffrey Gibson: Sweet Bitter Love</a>May 28 – September 18Newberry LibrarySweet Bitter Love presents Jeffrey Gibson’s <a href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=e2a2ea5b5b&amp;e=a6ad3ea4a5">reflections on representations of Indigenous people in cultural institutions</a>. Gibson, a member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and of Cherokee descent, responds to nineteenth-century portraits of Indigenous people in the Newberry Library’s collection. His paintings and wallpaper refute ethnographic symbolism with vibrant, glittering layers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418908/vefb3vrsasizvlefbwrp.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/theaster-gates-how-to-sell-hardware">Theaster Gates: How to Sell Hardware</a>May 28 – July 31Gray WarehouseHow to Sell Hardware tells the story of Theaster Gates’s ongoing engagement with a family-owned True Value hardware store formerly located on Chicago’s South Side. Once a lively central space for local commerce, the True Value store shared in the growth and prosperity of a thriving community during the 1970s and 80s, filling its practical and social needs. The hardware store similarly mirrored the neighborhood’s downturns as business slowed in the 1990s with the emergence of big-box stores which drastically changed the needs and habits of the once-prosperous Chicago neighborhood.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418909/vaoymxvwkpl26oymi6w7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/susan-hall-and-allison-b-cooke-beneath-the-surface">Susan Hall and Allison B. Cooke: Beneath the Surface</a>Opening: Friday, May 28, 6 – 9&nbsp;pmLily Pad | WestMidwest artists Allison B. Cooke and Susan Hall explore the concept of transformation via the energetic addition and subtraction of materials. While Susan Hall peels away lace designs from hardened gesso to allow her phantasmic figures to take form, Allison B. Cooke combines years' worth of gathered parchments and pigments to build dreamlike renditions of remembered places and times.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/ojfk2zpbixfsy3ijekwo.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/plain-air">PLAIN AIR</a>May 29 – July 17Carrie Secrist GalleryCarrie Secrist Gallery is thrilled to announce our first in-person opening reception of 2021 for&nbsp;Plain Air, a group exhibition featuring nine artists exploring the traditional genre of landscape.&nbsp;Please join us this Saturday May 29th from 12 - 5 PM at our gallery space located at 900 W. Washington BLVD, Chicago, IL.*This exhibition will also be viewable in person by appointment through July 17, 2021. To make an appointment in person, please visit the&nbsp;<a href="http://artlocalapp.com/sendy/l/YHTwzCkUESTHoPlztt892uoQ/EVjsZkMQvqEjK9w7IE3izg/J7KS763vqeureaEnGUs06763aQ">Reservation</a>&nbsp;page on our website. Our online viewing room for&nbsp;Plain Air&nbsp;will go on view Saturday morning, May 29 at 10AM (CST).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418910/dtjfc8steqbgmrdfsssv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events/virginia-carstarphen-wanderings-maps-and-memories">Virginia Carstarphen: Wanderings, Maps and Memories</a>Opening: Saturday, May 29, 4 – 5&nbsp;pmARC Gallery&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

New Exhibitions Start May 28 - 29

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/tkxrbdug3y0ytisctscr.jpg"><figcaption>David Schalliol, "Stateway Gardens (Chicago, Illinois, USA)," 2007. Photo: David Schalliol From the 2021 individual grant to David Schalliol for "Social Landscapes"</figcaption></figure><a href="http://grahamfoundation.org">Graham Foundation Announces 71 New Grants to Individuals for Architecture Projects</a>The Graham Foundation announced the award of 71 new grants to individuals worldwide that support projects on architecture. Grantee projects represent diverse lines of inquiry engaging original ideas that advance our understanding of the designed environment. Selected from nearly 700 proposals, the funded projects include research, exhibitions, publications, films, digital initiatives, and other inventive formats that promote rigorous scholarship, stimulate experimentation, and foster critical discourse in architecture.“This year, as the pandemic forced communities, cities, and countries to close down, the inequities of design and the built environment only intensified,” said Graham Foundation director Sarah Herda. “Through this dynamic grantee cohort, the Graham continues its 65-year commitment to supporting individuals to realize ideas that have the power to change the field of architecture.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418907/ocatsuelwmf9o5tym9gu.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.filterphoto.org">Filter Festival to Take Place In-Person and Online September</a>Filter Photo announced the line-up of portfolio reviewers and workshops for the 2021 Filter Photo Festival!The 13th Annual Filter Photo Festival will take place September 22nd - 26th and will be a mix of in-person and online programming, with the majority of in-person programming happening at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/21cChicago/?__cft__[0]=AZVGIoVs4fdYlAo19zjpY2eSDDP5IJIcRlTevIYB9hDtZM0XY735NYn99wRQ4K4A2ZDMDYs9H0ZHjyjUlD3sXaKGCpdBcS2LOcdPFVDoDMLeR83-aiC0SreJdPqoNPeoTqKmC83ZhhM1hKl3bvrm5FibuVU2BwEjvNiB5coCzGGntBVz_3UgwbRlv_mMiTBaNlg&amp;__tn__=kK-R">21c Museum Hotel Chicago</a>.Registration for the general public begins on June 14th. Filter Photo Members can access early registration on June 7th, as well as many other benefits.&nbsp;<a href="https://dailynorthwestern.com/2021/05/25/lateststories/evanston-made-to-showcase-local-artists-in-annual-art-exhibit/?fbclid=IwAR1Lq1VZf-kkNwOhvFlOXANfqWuNgJC4NVygxiSqMR-Vw6yrldtTiF7SoOw">Evanston Made to showcase local artists in annual art exhibit</a>Evanston Made’s Annual Members Group Show is returning in-person this year, featuring over 175 contemporary art pieces, according to the organization’s website.The in-person exhibit will take place from May 28 to June 30 at the Evanston Art Center. Visitors must wear masks, take their temperature and social distance throughout the exhibit, according to the Evanston Made website.Via The Daily Northwestern&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

Art World Recap: May 27

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721418222/m4jeqexesurqpnuscd07.jpg"></figure><a href="https://p2a.co/nYTksd6?utm_source=CNL+Art+Consulting&amp;utm_campaign=020ec952ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_01_05_43_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_99ec04cd2a-020ec952ec-107428223">A Plea for Illinois's Creative Future Fund: Now is the time for $500M for Arts &amp; Culture</a>COVID has devastated our state’s creative sector, yet the arts remain an economic engine to power a resilient Illinois recovery. Our state must invest in arts and culture in order to come back stronger.Through the Illinois Creative Future Fund campaign, we are advocating for Illinois to invest $500 million from federal American Rescue Plan assistance over the next four years in the relief, recovery, and resilience of Illinois’ creative sector, prioritizing BIPOC, rural, and other communities disproportionately impacted by COVID.&nbsp;Read more and contact your representative <a href="https://p2a.co/nYTksd6?utm_source=CNL+Art+Consulting&amp;utm_campaign=020ec952ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_01_05_43_COPY_01&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_99ec04cd2a-020ec952ec-107428223">here</a> by FRIDAY May 28&nbsp;<a href="https://rejournals.com/pullman-leaders-announce-completion-and-grand-opening-of-new-artspace-lofts/">Pullman leaders, developers announce completion and grand opening of Artspace Lofts</a>On Thursday, May 20, elected officials, local business and nonprofit leaders and Pullman-area community members convened to mark the official grand opening of the Pullman Artspace Lofts development at S. Langley Aveune and E. 112th Street. After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the development is notable for being the first multifamily development in Pullman in 60 years, stakeholders said.Via RE Journals&nbsp;<a href="https://lincolnparkconservancy.org/caldwell-a-brief-history/">Alfred Caldwell: A Brief History – The Man Who Designed Lincoln Park's Lily Pool</a>On May 26th of this year, Alfred Caldwell would have been 118 years old. In honor of his birthday and the 20th anniversary year of the Conservancy and Park District’s Lily Pool restoration, we’re highlighting some of the interesting stories about the man who designed the Lily Pool.Caldwell had a long and varied career primarily focused on landscape architecture, but which also included stints as a city planner, civil engineer, professor, and author.Caldwell’s love of nature was influenced by his experience with his Lakeview High School biology teacher, naturalist Dr. Hermann Silas Pepoon. He then worked under renowned landscape artchitect Jens Jensen, whose style had a lifelong impact on Caldwell’s designs. From Pepoon he learned the value and history of native plants. From Jensen, he learned the properties of Prairie Style landscaping, including playing with areas of light and shade, visual interest through the season, and emphasizing plants that attracted birds. Caldwell was also inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, whose influence can clearly be seen in the design of the Pavilions by the shore of the Lily Pool.Via Lincoln Park Conservancy&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/26

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417745/kv0ytzafq8uhowbxu5xa.jpg"><figcaption>1st Place winning project&nbsp;The Floating Village&nbsp;by ACE Chicago Team 5&nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://chicagoarchitecturebiennial.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=51d9a79e08fd7f7dbb49c27a6&amp;id=35b5c485c1&amp;e=3dc58ca038">Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces Spring 2021 Student Ideas Competition Winners</a>&nbsp;Over 170 7th-12th grade students, representing 46 schools and 35 zip codes across the Chicagoland area, participated in this year’s competition. Since 2015, CAB student competitions have encouraged middle and high school students to explore how design can play a role in creating shared spaces and improving communities. The Spring 2021 prompt—inspired by The Available City led by Artistic Director David Brown—asked young people: How can existing urban spaces be reimagined to better reflect the needs and interests of local residents?The winning projects were selected by a panel of distinguished jurors and present innovative ideas that creatively respond to local contexts: 1st Place: The Floating Village by ACE Chicago Team 5. A homeless shelter that addresses basic, psychological, and self-fulfillment needs. 2nd Place: Perspective Tower by Owen Somers. An elevated public space that helps residents visualize change in their communities. 3rd Place: Grocery Garden - A Bodega for North Lawndale by Rosina Iniguez, Ian Hudson, and Jason Hart A grocery store and garden that provides healthy food and adds beauty to the neighborhood.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417745/b4p5flfr3wg3llrs4wtv.jpg"></figure><a href="https://www.architecture.org">The Chicago Architecture Center Reopens its 10,000 SF Gallery Space And Kicks Off For Summer</a>With the Memorial Day Weekend summer kick-off just days away, the Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) has re-opened with all-new and updated exhibits in its 10,000 square feet of galleries, full of scale models of new building designs from Chicago and around the world. The Chicago Gallery, home to the Chicago City Model Experience, is completely overhauled and all-new exhibits on Current Chicago Projects, Chicago Chicago’s neighborhoods and the new home design exhibit, Housing for a Changing Nation.“All CAC exhibits have been updated with new scale models of exciting architectural designs and we’ve created an all-new exhibit on cutting-edge, affordable, flexible home designs,” said Lynn Osmond, President and CEO of the CAC. “The new exhibit in the Chicago Gallery, Housing for a Changing Nation, highlights innovative architects who are creating homes for a diverse range of needs from live/work spaces to multigenerational families to cohousing.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417746/wvk6xsm8ssim2zifxw9t.jpg"><figcaption>James Mesple</figcaption></figure><a href="https://greektownchicago.org/">Hello Helios: The warming suns of Chicago’s Greektown opens June 5 along Halsted Street</a><a href="https://greektownchicago.org/">Greektown Chicago</a> presents its new outdoor art exhibit Hello Helios: The warming suns of Chicago’s Greektown, with 24 vibrant three-dimensional artworks lining Halsted Street from Monroe to Van Buren Streets, opening on Saturday, June 5, 2021 and running through spring 2022.Painted by a diverse group of Chicago artists and named for Helios, the god of the sun in Greek mythology, the 24 sun sculpture editions celebrate the sun and light up the start of summer in Chicago. Many works in the exhibit draw inspiration from related mythologies, including those in the Greek, Aztec, Yoruba, Japanese and Native American cultures.&nbsp;“Greece is a land of sun and water, with an average of 250 sunny days per year, and we are bringing some of that Mediterranean sunshine to Chicago,” says Greektown Arts Chair and SSA Commissioner Eve Moran. “After a difficult pandemic year that many of us spent primarily indoors, this exhibit encourages everyone to come out and enjoy the outdoor art in Greektown, grab an alfresco dinner or drinks on a patio in our neighborhood, and be newly energized. Here comes the sun!”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417747/cqc1xy9gb7vvycrdwit7.jpg"></figure><a href="https://onetwopru.com/gallery-guichard-exhibition/">Sterling Bay Partners With Gallery Guichard To Showcase Art Of The African Diaspora At One Two Pru</a>Sterling Bay, A Chicago real estate investment and development firm, announced that it is hosting a new art installation at the East Loop office complex, One Two Pru, in partnership with Bronzeville's Gallery Guichard. The installation, entitled <a href="http://email.prnewswire.com/ls/click?upn=OXp-2BEvHp8OzhyU1j9bSWuwMvMWelqIco5RbfBrouY-2BSGnW6MYUer-2Ba3gifAFbAzO-2BhrDE2HOAt9ttfjHnfTwQ3528Kru6M-2FvG0P0PK-2Fh6Q1A5d2wlfjlwxwgGW-2FuRewITS6ybcdv-2F0wvkqcyQpeFn-2BK8sPdhtGj8BqffF9toTypUeF9unFM6X-2B57rTqE4QH3Jwnk_BYLPtpUivDHORxxkVXshLCRT3wjV7CgXbLJWP9J5MP9LJ6jv7-2Bb0c97UF1yE1Xeip-2Bke9JLNrM9Cc0K-2F03pmtC4CAVvGA7MMDMsZZk8Fb6oFBrXTTKwHMuD-2BPkMLv34nVHbPsYnbhLWw10GO15QiffbQPulUrgYJELivigTQvrGsGZupOXF2vmE0AST4-2BlXHdpEw47BZqxQNzfy9mGjpDnbP7nAoZQ-2BQA22x1RVH7c6udPeztUsKVVQyyDo5Ktys2a1jP9GN-2BdicwWbadOBTGYiLJl1jXaLCbcI5x2HVMuihRqGRgP8wkcDSP09bFizouIU4mmwaGJdCuNoSq-2BYo6m7L6lC7pOSiqfpcwlEUXTmnOQHzov7oQGu6P9Lv861V">African Diaspora: Chicago</a>, showcases multicultural artists specializing in African Diaspora, or communities and cultures descended from native Africans, and debuts to the public in the lobby of One Two Pru on Friday, May 28, bringing the space to life as Chicagoans begin their return to the office."We are excited to partner with Gallery Guichard and to transform One Two Pru's lobby into an engaging cultural experience for tenants and visitors as we all begin to emerge from the pandemic," said Andy Gloor, CEO of Sterling Bay. "Sterling Bay is a proud supporter of the arts and incorporates works from local and global artists in a creative and meaningful manner across our commercial spaces. Through our collaboration with Gallery Guichard, we are hoping to expand representation and exposure for Black artists and celebrate the diverse, dynamic cultures that define our city."&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: May 25

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417805/l6roddd2mido4bjxbnjd.gif"><figcaption>Frida Kahlo, The Bus, 1929, oil on canvas, Collection Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico © 2020 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>BY ALISON REILLYIn March of 2020, Justin Witte, curator of the Cleve Carney Museum of Art at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, was working tirelessly with his staff to prepare for the opening of an expansive exhibition featuring the renowned artist, Frida Kahlo. In order to accommodate the 26 works of art that were scheduled to arrive, the college expanded the gallery from a 1,850 square foot exhibition space focused primarily on showing contemporary artists to a 2,500 square foot museum equipped with state of the art lighting, security, and climate control systems.&nbsp;“While the administration of the college was closely monitoring the coronavirus situation, in the museum, we were very focused on our exhibition. The week of March 10th, we were busy with installation plans, working out final aspects of delivery and really moving towards the exhibition,” Witte recalls. “Because we had come so far with the exhibition, our immediate thought was, ‘How do we operate with less access to campus for what we hoped would be a short period of time?’ We had the idea that we may have to pause some of our in-person preparations for a week or two. At worst, a month.”<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417806/uuivfxyhhn5cl169tr5v.gif"><figcaption>Frida Kahlo, The Broken Column, 1944, oil on masonite, Collection Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico © 2020 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York &nbsp;</figcaption></figure>Witte had been working on preparations for the Kahlo exhibition with Diana Martinez, director of the McAninch Arts Center (where the museum is located) since 2017.&nbsp;Alan Peterson, a longtime supporter of the college and the art center, was a close friend of Carlos Phillips, the director of the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Mexico City and son of the collector Dolores Olmedo. “Alan always had the idea that he wanted to bring the collection to the College of DuPage to help bring awareness to all the amazing cultural things happening here,” Witte explained.&nbsp;While Peterson made the introduction, Witte and Martinez developed a proposal for the exhibition and outlined how it could deeply benefit the local community. “Frida was the people’s artist,” Martinez said, “To bring this to a community college with accessibility to students would have been something Frida loved, because she was a teacher herself.” Witte said that even later in her life, when Kahlo was no longer able to teach at school, her students visited her at her home, La Casa Azul, in Mexico City. “Her students were fiercely dedicated to her, and she offered them a lot.”&nbsp;Inspired by Kahlo’s own example, Witte and Martinez worked with faculty to integrate themes from the artist’s life into the college curriculum. Departments offered classes on Mexican art history, the impact of the Mexican Revolution, and the social and economic context of post-revolutionary Mexico. The fashion department organized projects related to Kahlo’s wardrobe that addressed ideas of self-identity and disability, while the culinary school delved deeply into Mexican gastronomy.&nbsp;“As a community college, we have an incredibly diverse population of students from young to old, from a variety of social and economic backgrounds,” Witte said. “DuPage County is an enormous area of land that covers a lot of different areas. The college serves a lot of communities. That idea of wanting to provide accessible education to such a wide range of people very much aligns with Frida’s beliefs.”&nbsp;Kahlo was developing as an artist at a time in Mexico City when the scene was dominated by “Los tres grandes”—the three big Mexican muralists (Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco)—whose goal was to make work for the people. “Not squirreled away for the elites but very much for a broad population,” Witte said. “Those are also strong ideals of a community college. I think that nothing would have made Frida happier than the idea that her work would be serving as such a pivotal point in the education of the students at this college.”&nbsp;When it became apparent to Witte and Martinez that the exhibition could not take place during the summer of 2020, they quickly responded by reaching out to their partners at the college and Museo Olmedo to see if it could be rescheduled for the following summer. “It was never on the table,” Witte said, “maybe in the back of our minds as fears, but it was never discussed by the college or the art center or museum that we would not be doing this exhibit—it was just the focus of when. The commitment of everyone involved never really allowed for the idea that it wouldn’t happen.”&nbsp;Fortunately, with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines across the United States and the support of the College of DuPage and the Museo Olmedo, Witte and Martinez are confident that the exhibition will open this summer on June 5, 2021. Not only have the staff at the museum and the art center worked diligently to move the programming online, many museums in Chicago and throughout Illinois have been able to reopen safely using proper protocols and social distancing. Additionally, Cleve Carney Museum of Art has created a virtual tour so that those who are not able to visit the exhibition in person will still be able to participate.“It’s made us more creative and connected in new ways,” Martinez said. “We hosted a virtual gala where over 460 people tuned in. I think if it had been a regular gala, everyone would have been sitting at their tables, just eating. But we were able to really share information. We had the Consulate General of Mexico speak, and we gave a tour of Frida’s house in Mexico City.”&nbsp;While the museum and the art center at College of DuPage have demonstrated great skill and agility in adapting to the virtual environment, for Witte, who trained as an artist, there is still no substitute for being in a room with Kahlo’s paintings. “I understand how much time is put into each work and how the decisions of the artist are recorded on the surface of the painting in every brushstroke,” he explained. “When you go to see a painting, you’re really spending time in front of something that the artist themselves spent so much time in. The way the paint dries, it captures literally whatever happens to be in the air of the studio at the time—the dust, her cigarette smoke. The opportunity to stand in front of it is the closest we can get to spending time with the artist herself.”The expansion of the space at Cleve Carney Museum of Art will allow visitors to see 19 oil paintings and seven drawings by Kahlo, which is notably the largest exhibition of her work shown in the Chicago area in over 40 years. The paintings and drawings come from the collection of Dolores Olmedo, which was originally owned by one of Kahlo’s major patrons, Eduardo Safa. Visitors may recognize some of the works, iconic self-portraits such as Broken Column or Henry Ford Hospital, which have defined her career. But alongside these notable paintings are lesser known portraits from the late 1920s and early 1930s, which give incredible insight to Kahlo’s development as a painter.“We’re doing all these amazing things for this exhibit,” Witte said, “there’s so many great aspects to it, but in the end, in those galleries, we’re really just creating a platform for Frida to tell her own story.”&nbsp;In the context of the pandemic, Kahlo’s story has taken on even more relevance. As a woman who struggled with chronic pain and illness for most of her life, she confronted the fragility of health in a way that many have experienced this past year. “Even though our time shifted and so much of the world shifted,” Witte said, “we can still find something we can relate to in Frida’s life. Her strength serves as an inspiration for how to navigate this unprecedented time.”&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417807/hpehzxxkymlfivcyhbwt.gif"><figcaption>From left: Frida Kahlo, Portrait of Doña Rosita Morillo, 1944, oil on masonite, Collection Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico © 2020 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Frida Kahlo, Portrait of Luther Burbank, 1931, oil on masonite, Collection Museo Dolores Olmedo, Xochimilco, Mexico © 2020 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Frida on White Bench, Photo by Nickolas Muray; © Nickolas Muray Photo Archives &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><h3>More to See</h3>&nbsp;Accompanying Frida Kahlo: Timeless this summer are several special features designed to enhance a visitor’s experience at the exhibition.&nbsp;&nbsp;Frida in PhotosFrida Kahlo: Timeless features paintings and drawings by the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, which will be installed in the Cleve Carney Museum of Art, but the exhibition will extend beyond the walls of the museum to the entire McAninch Art Center, located on the campus of the College of DuPage. In a space adjacent to the galleries, photographs from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s personal collection will be on display. While visitors may be familiar with the iconic Kodachrome color portraits of Kahlo taken by Nickolas Muray, this selection of photographs will offer a more candid view into the artist’s life with husband Rivera.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Artist’s GardenIn 1931 while in San Francisco, Frida Kahlo painted a portrait of Luther Burbank, a pioneering American botanist and horticulturist. Kahlo was impressed with Burbank’s research related to plant hybridization and memorialized him in the painting holding a philodendron. Inspired by Kahlo’s portrait and others in the Frida Kahlo: Timeless exhibition, local plant grower and distributor Ball Horticultural Company will create and install a garden located on the McAninch Art Center’s south patio near the amphitheater. The installation will showcase flowers and plants that were part of Kahlo’s own personal garden at her home, La Casa Azul, in Mexico City. Featured plants for the garden include: agave, alocasia dark star, bougainvillea, canna cannova bronze orange, old man cactus, oleander, prickly pear, pomegranate tree, and yucca.&nbsp;Kahlo's Corner – Frida &amp; Families“Many aspects of Frida’s work and her life deal with very complex, real issues,” Justin Witte, curator at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art said, “and we thought it was important to offer some contextualization for younger visitors to get a sense of who she was.” Diana Martinez, director of the McAninch Art Center, collaborated with several partners to make a compelling and safe area for families. She befriended local author and illustrator Mike Venezia who helped interpret Kahlo’s life through the lens of a child. Venezia – a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago – has written hundreds of children’s books about artists, as part of The World’s Greatest Artists series. Venezia has also collaborated with the CCMA and the MAC to create “The Frida Kahlo Coloring Book,” for sale at the exhibition’s gift shop. Martinez also partnered with the architectural firm, Wight &amp; Company, to design a full scale replica of La Casa Azul, Kahlo’s home in Mexico City, which visitors can explore. Martinez hopes that the model will allow visitors to understand the particular architecture of the house and the central role that the garden played in Kahlo’s life. Children’s area activities will include an animated video about Kahlo’s life and a mural activity designed by Venezia.Two free printmaking workshops are planned for July 6 and Aug. 21, 10 a.m. -2 p.m., led by printmaking collective Instituto Gráfico de Chicago. Activities are geared for pre-K through third grade.&nbsp;&nbsp;Frida Kahlo: Timeless is on view June 5 – September 6, 2021 from 10am-6pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 10am-10pm Thursday. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit <a href="http://frida2021.org">Frida2021.org</a>Note: On July 5 a new piece, unveiled as part of Art on theMART, will feature several of Kahlo’s most recognizable works, animated by George Berlin and projected onto the Merchandise Mart, accompanied by an orchestral score from Mexican composer Arturo Márquez.&nbsp;</body></html>

Frida Kahlo: Timeless, at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art. A Transformative Exhibition for the Glen Ellyn Community

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417859/kurjngh4ecnndy4svafc.png"></figure>&nbsp;ADAA has announced the addition of 16 new members (including Chicago-based DOCUMENT and PATRON)The Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) today announced the addition of 16 new members from across the country, one of the largest new member classes in the Association’s history: Andrea Crane Fine Art (New York), <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/document">DOCUMENT (Chicago)</a>, Andrew Edlin Gallery (New York), Jenkins Johnson Gallery (San Francisco, Brooklyn), Karma (New York), kurimanzutto (New York), Lisson Gallery (New York),Robert Mann Gallery (New York), Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/patron">PATRON (Chicago)</a>, Nara Roesler (New York), Sprüth Magers (Los Angeles), Cristin Tierney Gallery (New York), TOTAH (New York), Various Small Fires (Los Angeles), and Shoshana Wayne Gallery (Los Angeles). They join over 170 members, from more than 30 cities across the U.S., in the nation’s leading nonprofit organization of fine art dealers, which is dedicated to supporting galleries’ cultural and economic contributions, and serves as a resource on the most important trends and issues in the field. Membership in the Association signifies an established standing within the gallery community and expresses a commitment to upholding the highest standards of connoisseurship and scholarship.&nbsp;Via PR, Resnicow &amp; Associates &nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417860/nqeu9xcqbnazxknagpf2.jpg"></figure><a href="https://mcachicago.org/Calendar/2021/06/Corporate-Vision-Art-Award">MCA’S Corporate Vision Art Award Honors EXPO CHICAGO and Tony Karman</a>On Monday, June 21, 2021, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago honors EXPO CHICAGO with the Corporate Vision Art Award for its longstanding support of arts education in Chicago. Tony Karman, President and Director of EXPO CHICAGO, will accept the award on behalf of the Exposition which draws a vibrant national and international audience to Chicago each year, while engaging the region’s contemporary art community and collector base.Via PR, MCA Chicago&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417860/dhbtb8nfsndhnx8jjfzj.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP">Steppenwolf Theater Opens Dedicated education floor for 2021/22 Season, growing reach of programs from 20K to 30K students annually</a>Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is excited to announce initial programming details for <a href="https://www.steppenwolf.org/loft">The Loft</a>, its first-ever dedicated education space that encompasses the entire fourth floor of Steppenwolf’s trailblazing new Arts and Education Center, designed by world-renowned architect Gordon Gill of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture.Kicking off with a virtual Loft program series this summer and opening to students and educators in the fall, The Loft will inspire the next generation of theater learners and makers, growing the reach of Steppenwolf’s education programming from 20,000 to 30,000 students annually.The Loft includes three dedicated learning spaces for young adults and will feature an expanded range of in-person and digital programming for students and community, as well as showcasing artwork created by Chicagoland youth selected through the Loft Teen Arts Project—a visual art competition for young artists 14–22 years of age that commissions original works for the new education floor. The competition is juried by a panel of acclaimed artists including Nick Cave, Liz Flores, Silvia I. Gonzalez and Santiago X. Submissions are open now through July 1, 2021, with more information at <a href="http://www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP">www.steppenwolf.org/LTAP</a>.Via PR, Silverman Group&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

CGN Art World Recap: May 21

<html><head></head><body><a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/chris-jones/ct-ent-wrightwood-gallery-greek-art-tsarouchis-20210520-vje3rkffj5hlzexmkj4kzug6bm-story.html">At Wrightwood 659 in Lincoln Park, a fascinating study of Greek identity and naked men</a>Ever heard of the artist Yannis Tsarouchis? If the answer is yes, it’s a pretty good bet you have some connection to Greece. His work is well known there. But beyond? Crickets chirp at his name. Especially now.But a remarkably comprehensive new exhibition in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, the first major U.S. retrospective of Tsarouchis’ work, makes the case that this artist was anything but parochial. Bluntly put, this is an experience brimming with arrestingly erotic images of beautiful, naked men, carefully observed in all the erotic complexity of that statement, and mostly bathed in the singular light of the lands that surround the Mediterranean Sea.Via Chicago Tribune&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417873/g2vkexloorsfgnghwnca.jpg"><figcaption>Production still from the Art21 "Extended Play" film, "Theaster Gates: Collecting." © Art21, Inc. 2017. &nbsp;</figcaption></figure><a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/theaster-gates-will-design-2022-serpentine-pavilion-first-non-architect-solely-receive-prestigious-commission-1970600?utm_content=from_&amp;utm_source=Sailthru&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=US%204:30%20p.m.%20newsletter%20for%205/20/21&amp;utm_term=US%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BAFTERNOON%5D">Artist Theaster Gates Will Design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, Becoming the First Non-Architect Solely Awarded the Commission</a>Chicago artist Theaster Gates has been tapped to design the 2022 Serpentine Pavilion, making him the first non-architect solely commissioned for the prestigious project.&nbsp;A spokesperson for Serpentine Gallery confirmed Gate’s commission for the pavilion, which was first reported by<a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/us-urban-planner-turned-artist-lined-up-for-2022-serpentine-pavilion">The Architect’s Journal,</a>&nbsp;but said it was “too early” to discuss the artist’s plans.Gates’s commission will mark the 21st iteration of the pavilion, which has been awarded&nbsp;annually to an international—often up-and-coming—architect or firm since 2000. (The 2020 commission was delayed to this year due to the pandemic.) Those chosen are tasked with designing a temporary structure near Serpentine’s two galleries in London’s Kensington Gardens.Via Artnet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/a-year-after-george-floyd-s-death-art-memorials-are-at-a-crossroads?utm_source=The+Art+Newspaper+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=956eb0b672-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_05_20_02_12&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_c459f924d0-956eb0b672-61117077">A year after George Floyd’s death, art memorials are at a crossroads</a>When George Floyd was killed one year ago, protests against police violence erupted on the streets, first in Minneapolis, and soon across the country. Murals <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/gallery/art-for-a-good-cause-portraits-of-george-floyd-raise-funds-for-his-family-and-activist-groups">dedicated to Floyd</a> and other Black lives lost also started to appear on the streets, a spontaneous creative act to memorise victims, call for justice and celebrate the power of community. Today, <a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/in-minneapolis-plywood-boards-become-protest-art-worth-preserving">efforts to preserve</a>and document these urgent outpourings of street art are growing, including a crowdsourced online database run by the University of St Thomas in Saint Paul.The university’s <a href="https://georgefloydstreetart.omeka.net/">George Floyd and Anti-Racist Street Art</a> open access database now includes more than 2,000 images and descriptions of works, submitted by users from around the world.Via The Art Newspaper&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/frank-lloyd-wright-house-glenview-be-auctioned">Frank Lloyd Wright house in Glenview to be auctioned</a>A Glenview house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright is going up for auction.&nbsp;The house, secluded on a wooded lane called Portage Run, <a href="https://www.chicagobusiness.com/residential-real-estate/secluded-house-frank-lloyd-wright-sale">came on the market in September,</a> priced at a little under $1.7 million. Built in 1950, the house is being sold by Brian Busche, whose now-deceased parents bought it from the first owners 56 years ago.&nbsp;Via Crain's&nbsp;</body></html>

What We're Reading: 5/21

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721417692/gcqmlzfg0dnoq7zieljr.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;Via PRWe’re thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 Joyce Awards! Four impactful collaborations between BIPOC artists and organizations spanning the visual, performing, and multidisciplinary arts that engage diverse communities in Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee will receive this year's annual awards.&nbsp;The 2021 Joyce Award Winners are:<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/sydney-chatman">Sydney Chatman with Congo Square Theatre Company</a> (Chicago) will present a new community-based theatrical work exploring the journey of Black women and girls healing from intracommunal and state-sanctioned violence.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/daniel-minter">Daniel Minter with Lynden Sculpture Garden</a> (Milwaukee) will bring together Milwaukee’s artists, refugee, and local Black communities to create a public outdoor sculpture from an ash borer-ravaged tree that explores nature, ecological threats, and the transformational power of art.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/kameelah-janan-rasheed">Kameelah Janan Rasheed with FRONT International</a> (Cleveland) will collaborate with Cleveland’s teenagers and Cleveland Public Library to create an ambitious civic mural project designed to create space for diverse narratives about lived Black experiences.<a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards/santiago-x">SANTIAGO X with Chicago Public Art Group</a> (Chicago) will create an augmented reality Smartphone app that brings an interactive digital gallery of Native histories, cultures, and languages to Chicago’s 4000N outdoor trail.This year, the Joyce Awards—now in their 18th year—feature projects that take a creative and compelling look at the timely themes of loss and renewal, identity and cultural sustainability, and healing through nature, art, and community. Each partnership will receive $75,000 to produce and present a new commissioned work in collaboration with community members in their respective regions, with at least $25,000 dedicated for artist stipends. &nbsp;Joyce Awards PanelJoin us on Thursday, June 10, 2021 at 4 p.m. CST for a free, virtual panel that will convene all four artist awardees for the first time to discuss their projects. To register for the conversation and learn more, click <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-joyce-award-winners-panel-tickets-154312487805?aff=web">here</a>.2022 Joyce Awards ApplicationsApplications for the 2022 Joyce Awards will open on June 1, 2021, with letters of inquiry due September 13, 2021. There will be a Technical Assistance Information Session on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at noon CST that will offer guidance on the application process. For more information, click <a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/apply">here</a> or contact: <a href="mailto:joyceawards@joycefdn.org">joyceawards@joycefdn.org</a>.&nbsp;About The Joyce AwardsThe Joyce Awards is the only regional program dedicated to supporting artists of color in major Great Lakes cities. Since its inception in 2003, the competition has awarded more than $3.7 million to commission 72 new works and collaborations between emerging and mid-career artists of color and arts and community organizations in six Great Lakes cities: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Read more about the Joyce Awards <a href="https://www.joycefdn.org/joyce-awards">here</a>. &nbsp;About The Joyce FoundationJoyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.&nbsp;&nbsp;</body></html>

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