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Past Exhibitions

S is for Soul Sister Exhibition

January 17, 2020 –March 20, 2020

S is for Soul Sister is an exhibition showcasing photographs by Okunola Jeyifous, an independent photographer and neurobiologist, at the University of Chicago, of the children of the “Black ABCs” today as adults, celebrating the beauty and historic impact that those images and individuals still hold. This blend of artistic, medical, and clinical styles of portraiture raises questions and critiques about the complicated and often problematic history of science, medicine and Black subjectivity..

In Spirit + Structure

September 20, 2019 –November 22, 2019

in Spirit + Structure solo exhibition presenting works by Nathan Miller, marking a moment in Miller’s continual examination of the sacred–in object and in place. The Black church operating in and occupying multiple planes, becomes a subject, a landscape, and a purpose in Miller’s work.

Amid Kinship

July 26, 2019 –August 30, 2019

Amid Kinship is the culminating exhibition for the 2018-19 resident artists, Jarvis Boyland, Brandon Breaux , and Amina Ross, featuring new works the artists created during their ten-month residency at the Arts Incubator in Washington Park that collectively reflect on relationships, everyday divinity, and transformative spaces.

Between Vision + Principle

May 17, 2019 –June 21, 2019

MAY 17–JUN 21, 2019

Between Vision + Principle brings together artists who are exploring self and black collective determination through localized identity, the body, gender, concepts of beauty, the mundane, resistance, and triumph.

Still Here: Torture, Resiliency and the Art of Memorializing

March 15, 2019 –April 26, 2019

Still Here: Torture, Resiliency and the Art of Memorializing is an exhibition showcasing six design proposals submitted by commissioned artists to become the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial. The public memorial brings awareness to the torture of more than 120 Black men and women from 1972 to 1991 by the Chicago Police Department under the direction of former Police Commander Jon Burge. The memorial is intended to honor the decades-long struggle for justice, as well as the survivors, families, and communities targeted by Burge and his midnight crew.

South Side Speculations

January 18, 2019 –March 1, 2019

South Side Speculations grew out of a two-year intergenerational collaboration among Chicago-based high school students, arts and humanities scholars, and practicing artists and storytellers, and investigates the impact of structural violence on health and wellness across the South Side, with a particular focus on Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, Washington Park, and Woodlawn.

The Long Term

September 21, 2018 –November 20, 2018

The Long Term is series of thematic works around long-term sentencing policies and the other long terms they produce. Presented by Arts + Public Life in partnership with the Prison + Neighborhood Arts Project.

Carrying A Place Called Home: Artist-in-Residence Exhibition

July 20, 2018

A Place Called Home is the culminating program for the 2017-18 resident artists, Victoria Martinez, Arif Smith, and Brittney Leeanne Williams. The exhibition features new works the artists produced during their ten-month residency at the Arts Incubator in Washington Park that reflect on identity, memory, and place through painting, collage, dance and video.

Everyday Resistance: The Art of Living in Black Chicago

May 23, 2018 –July 6, 2018

Everyday Resistance The South Side Home Movie Project presents an exhibition of private film footage gathered from residents of Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.

I’m Down For Whatever: The Teen Perception

APR 6–MAY 10, 2018

Curated by the Teen Arts Council, I'm Down For Whatever is centered around the teen experience. As teens living here, how do we view our past, present and future? How do we respond to certain situations? How do we explore our artistic views?

Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light

JAN 26–MAR 16, 2018

Challenging assumptions of darkness, Eclipsing: the politics of night, the politics of light is a group exhibition that implicates the eclipse as a metaphor, exploring conversations of power, landscape, language, space and visibility.

Rare Earth

September 22, 2017 –November 17, 2017

Rare Earth invites the viewer to experience chance arrangements and discover new correlations between built environments from around the world. The exhibition mines a broad survey of architectural and design images from the archives of Rebuild Foundation.

Remain To Be Seen

JULY 13–AUG 25, 2017

Remain To Be Seen showcases the culminating work of Yaw Agyeman, Lauren Ash, and Stephen Flemister as part of their participation in the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life and Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture Artists-in-Residence program.

The Petty Biennial

MAY 19–JUN 23, 2017

Curated by La Keisha Leek and Sadie Woods, Arts + Public Life's Inaugural Curatorial Collective. The Petty Biennial complicates dominant narratives of contemporary cultural, social, political norms. It is a response to classist views towards communities of color and marginalized art practices.

Correct Opinions

MAR 15–APR 29, 2017

Correct Opinions is a Teen Arts Council-curated exhibition of works created by more than 50 teen artists from After School Matters programs across Chicago. Painting, sculpture, photography, multimedia, and mixed media explore varied personal interpretations of “value” and the impact this concept has on how we perceive our voices in the world.

Chicago on My Mind

JAN 20–FEB 26, 2017

Chicago on My Mind is the inaugural exhibition from Arts + Public Life's Resident Curatorial Collective. Expanding on the intended curatorial vision of the 1969 exhibition Harlem on My Mind presented at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chicago on My Mind explores cultural values driven by Chicago-based social and civic-minded collection practices.

Resonant Objects

JUL 8–AUG 28, 2016

Resonant Objects showcases the breadth of production by Chicago-based artists Greg Bray, Aquil Charlton, and Nazafarin Lotfi during their participation in the University of Chicago’s Arts + Public Life and Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture Artists-in-Residence Program.

Family Business

JUL 8–AUG 26, 2016

Family Business showcases the works of Arts + Public Life (APL) staff and teaching artists. Featured art works include a range of mediums, including sculptures, photography, poetry, mixed media, woodwork, and other installations.

Runway to Reality: Exhibition

MAR 25–JUN 10, 2016

Runway to Reality is a collaborative exhibition featuring work by photographer Helen Maurene Cooper and fashion designer Suzette Opara. This exhibition highlights the cultural significance of prom on the South Side of Chicago

Flex Gallery: Dayo Laoye + J. Johari Palacio

MAR 25–JUN 10, 2016

Doors have served a symbolic purpose across cultures throughout history. In religion and mythology, they have been used as emblems of transition, new beginnings, welcomed endings, or the passage from one world to another. This Flex Exhibition series focuses on doors and all of their functions through the work of Dayo Laoye and J. Johari Palacio.

Shared Language: A Community Classroom

FEB 1–MAR 11, 2016

Shared Language is a community classroom and exhibition that uses a broad definition of language to investigate modes of communication and the transfer of knowledge through experimental learning.

Forms of Imagination

Sept 8–Jan 8, 2016

Forms of Imagination explores the way Arts + Public Life creates ambitious public design and architecture projects that foster creative communities in Chicago's mid-South Side.

Mom & Pops: Family Business in Art and Life

JUL 17- SEP 11, 2015

Mom & Pops is a group exhibition that raises questions about community, capitalism and the ways in which family business can influence artistic production and act as daily reminders of ethnic, social, religious and economic difference.

Spray, Spin, Snap: Urban Arts Exhibition and Performance

JUN 13 - SEP 11, 2015

Students present a multisited final showcase of work created through spring Urban Arts courses in beginner and intermediate graffiti (taught by Miguel "Kane One" Aguilar) DJ-ing (DJ Scend), and street photography (Ruslana Lichtzier). These classes cultivate and sustain social practices historically significant to Chicago's urban landscape.

Felicia Grant Preston

APR 3- JUN 5, 2015

Flex Exhibitions: Felicia Grant Preston is a visual artist whose work is rooted in pure abstraction and an electric color palette.

Test/Move/Play Ability

MAY 8- JUN 5, 2015

A culmination of Alberto Aguilar's Crossing Boundaries residency, Test/Move/Play Ability invites the viewer to participate through traveling to multiple sites in and around the Arts incubator to view his work.

Windy City Breakdown

MAY 8-29, 2015

Windy City Breakdown explores the process and research of Ayana Contreras while exploring the collision among arts, entrepreneurship, and Black Power in Black Chicago.

exceptional/respectable

APR 3- 24. 2015

In exceptional/respectable, conceptual artist Green’s work becomes his visceral output towards the barrage of the 24-hour news cycle, respectability politics, and the conflict between contemplation and action

Exodus

JAN 16–MAR 20, 2015

Exodus is a two-person exhibition featuring the works of Alexandria Eregbu and Alfredo Salazar-Caro, that addresses the artists’ personal interpretations of flight, im/migration, and belonging.

How to Make A Hood

AUG 1–OCT 10, 2014

How to Make A Hood unfolds a wide canon of stereotypes that foster misconceptions as they relate to black bodies and their environments.

Forum as Form

JUN 13–JUL 18, 2014

Forum as Form is an evolving installation of physical and social sculpture prototypes for communal dialogue and exchange.

Black Ink Book Exchange

APR 15–MAY 31, 2014

Created by Savannah Wood, the Black Ink Book Exchange is a pop up library that will host workshops over the summer of 2014 in several South Side Chicago locations.

Library of Love

FEB 13–MAY 31, 2014

Library of Love is a visual love letter to Chicago that consists of a collection of books, artwork, and objects wherein the community is invited to read, write, and contemplate the power of love in its many manifestations.

Black Power! In Tribute to Fred Hampton is a project of exhibitions, film screenings, performances and discussions honoring the legacy of Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party.

Ebony G. Patterson: Illuminated Presence

NOV 18–22, 2013

Illuminated Presence is a youth-focused project created by artist Ebony G. Patterson that explores how students assert their individuality amongst their peers and within their wider community.

Ethnographic Terminalia is a curatorial collective that exhibits new forms of anthropology engaged with contemporary art practice.

Avery R. Young: Groun(d)

OCT 11–NOV 13, 2013

Through the use of linguistics, sound, and material, Groun(d) examines the murder of Trayvon Martin.

The Distance Between

AUG 27–SEP 29, 2013

A culminating exhibition showcasing the works of the five Arts + Public Life/Center for the Study of Race Politics & Culture 2012/2013 artists-in-residence.

Public Dialogue

JUL 12–AUG 12, 2013

Public Dialogue explored the ever-increasing role that artists, creative professionals, cultural organizations, and anchor institutions play in the growth and fostering of communities.

TURNT UP! The Design Apprenticeship Program Exhibition

JUN 12–30, 2013

The Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP) is a design-based mentorship and skills building initiative that encourages teens and young adults to invest in the improvement of the physical and social conditions of their community.

Free & Me: Reflections from a New School of Historians examines ideals of fear, courage, freedom, and Jim Crow.

Kellie Romany: Gestate

MAY 8–JUN 9, 2013

Gestate is an exhibition of paintings that have an ethereal, bodily presence. Romany layers, smudges, and drips paint onto the canvas, creating an illusion of transparency and lightness.

Feedback

MAR 8–APR 28, 2013

Feedback is comprised of artwork, programs, and a public dinner that engage with the concept of “feedback” as a mechanism for collaboration and exchange.

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