UChicago Arts

First impressions can be deceptive. When Miuccia Prada initially encountered Theaster Gates at the jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in London, Gates was performing on stage with his band The Black Monks. “I thought, my God! He looks so intimidating and unreachable,” says the co-chief executive officer and co-creative director of Italian fashion house Prada, who is also the creative director of Miu Miu. Gates, a multidisciplinary artist whose oeuvre spans sculpture, performance, installation, space theory and land development, laughs at the memory: “We had been rehearsing so much I had lost my voice. I was concentrating on making sure the notes that came out were good.” Read more

Vanja V. Malloy, an accomplished museum director, curator, scholar and community builder, has been appointed as the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum of Art, effective Oct. 1. She will lead the University of Chicago’s fine arts museum and its exhibitions, public and arts education programs, and student and faculty collaborations. Read more

Theaster Gates Jr., professor in the Department of Visual Arts and the College and a world-renowned artist, has been appointed Special Advisor to the President for Arts Initiatives at the University of Chicago. Gates is a social innovator whose work demonstrates the intricacies of Blackness through space theory, land development, sculpture, and performance. As Special Advisor to the President for Arts Initiatives, reporting to President Paul Alivisatos, he will build partnerships and plan the infrastructure for various arts initiatives, including those located off-campus in the neighboring University community. Read more

This year’s edition of the Lit 50, our first in two years thanks to the pandemic, might seem long, but it reflects a mere fraction of the accomplishments of the individuals and organizations we write about. The literary community is more vibrant than ever, whether it’s in the programming of an increasing number of venues, in the organizations providing support and advocacy for writers and readers or in the resurging strength and expansion of independent bookstores, it’s a great time to be a book lover in Chicago. Read more