What did the dynamic world of booming Chicago look like to Art Institute students back in 1909? That’s what you’ll discover in this unique exhibit of recently restored murals from Lane Tech High School. It was all the result of a competition sponsored by Kate Buckingham (she who gave us the very big fountain). The four winners reflect the surprising diversity of the student body back then: two were women, one was African American—and all four were very talented, especially under the direction of their firebrand young instructor, Thomas Wood Stevens, (who was 27 at the time, had studied with Sorolla, and would later go on to run the Goodman Theatre and found the first theater department in an American university.) They were really having fun—and you can feel their thrill at the smoking factories and busy docks they were depicting. As something of a coda to this project, a much older student, German-born Henry Brandt came back five years later to paint a cycle celebrating the life of Native Americans—very decorative, very Romantic and perhaps a bit goofy—but the work of all five artists has fared well with the patina of time. (Chris Miller)
Fleeing Desperation: A Review of Ada Trillo at Chicago Center for Photojournalism In this heartbreaking yet visually beautiful exhibition, Ada Trillo implicates herself within her subjects to shine a light on both the hope and the hopelessness of their lives. If you are not moved by these images, surely your heart is made of stone.
The Roots of Pride: A Review of Jerry Pritikin at The Chicago Center for Photojournalism The show “When Then Was Now” gives a glimpse of early LGBTQ+ life in San Francisco—Harvey Milk became mayor and gay activism was gaining momentum. Pritikin, a legend of reportage, takes us back to a time before AIDS reared its ugly head and shows us how the movement looked all those decades ago.
Home Is Where the Family Is: A Review of Chicago Chiquito at Bridgeport Art Center This small but significant exhibition shows the history of Chicago Chiquito, or little Chicago, the nickname given to La Hacienda, a small town in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Its families have migrated north to find work for over one hundred years.
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