Lumanary 2018 Winter Issue

Message from the Curator 2 Dear Members and Friends: This holiday season LUMA will exhibit the Art and Faith of the Crèche: The Collection of James and Emilia Govan for its eleventh consecutive year. Each year’s exhibition is distinct from the last, with a combination of old favorites and new acquisitions. This year we worked with artist David Csicsko to include six new crèches created by Chicagoland artists. Join us at the opening reception on November 30 th to meet these local artists and view their new creations designed specifically for this exhibition. 2018 has proven to be a highly successful year for LUMA’s exhibitions and programs. Thousands of visitors came through the galleries to view our exhibitions focusing on local and global social justice issues. Tonika Lewis Johnson’s multimedia exhibition, Folded Map , brought in visitors and the media from across the city to open a dialogue about urban segregation and its effects on Chicago residents. Gregory Beals’ photography exhibition, They Arrived Last Night shed light on the global refugee crisis. Milwaukee artist Della Wells’ exhibition Her Story, My Dreams featured collages, drawings, and dolls reflecting personal narratives, political struggles, and contemporary issues of race and gender. Celestial House , Victoria Martinez’s exhibition of vibrant mixed media works inspired by her childhood home in the Pilsen community, evoked the poetics of the urban environment and memories of home. In our Following the Box exhibition, guest curators Jerri Zbiral and Alan Teller invited a group of contemporary Indian artists to visually respond to a box of photographs taken in West Bengal by an American soldier in 1945. Each work drew inspiration from the original photographs, addressing the elusive nature of memory, political and military histories, and cultural identities. This year a record number of attendees came to our public programs featuring our artists. Notable presenters included: artists Amanda Williams and Edra Soto; poets Tara Betts and Josè Olivarez; and scholars Wendy Pearlman, Jock McLane, and Ralph Nicholas. In addition, we developed new partnerships with organizations, such as the Metropolitan Planning Council, Urban Gateways, and SkyART, as well as strengthened existing partnerships with the Poetry Foundation, Intuit: Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, and Filter Photo Festival. LUMA has also become a contributing member of two new local art and culture organizations, the Water Tower Arts District and the Chicago Association of Specialized Museums. LUMA also hosted two multimedia exhibitions this year in the Jean Morman Unsworth Art Expressway Gallery showcasing hundreds of art projects by K-12 Chicagoland school children. In the spring, SkyART premiered i am because you are, a range of work responding to DellaWells’ collages and Tonika Lewis Johnson’s photographs of Englewood. This fall LUMA invited Urban Gateways to display more than a hundred works of art representing schools in LUMA would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to everyone who has helped make this year a success. We couldn’t have done it without you! Special thanks to: LUMA docents and volunteers; LUMA’s 2018 student interns and gallery managers; Paola Aguirre, Valerie Wong, and Borderless Studio; Carrie Ruckel and CAN- TV; Jennifer Murray and Filter Photo; Metropolitan Planning Council; Jerri Zbiral, Alan Teller, Sarbajit Sen, and Chhatrapatti Dutta; Fred Sasaki and The Poetry Foundation; Lamin8; Debra Brehmer and Portrait Studio; James Govan; and Loyola professors: Melissa Bradshaw, Marilyn Dunn, Matt Groves, Sarita Heer, Robert Morrison, Catherine Nichols, Betsy Odom, and Kyle Roberts. Thank you! essage fro the Curator 2 Dear Members and Friends: This holiday season LUMA will exhibit the Art and Faith of the Crèche: The Collection of James and Emilia Govan for its eleventh consecutive year. Each year’s exhibition is distinct from the last, with a combination of old favorites and new acquisitions. This year we worked with artist David Csicsko to include six new crèches created by Chicagoland artists. Join us at the opening reception on November 30 th to meet these local artists and view their new creations designed specifically for this exhibition. 2018 has proven to be a highly successful year for LUMA’s exhibitions a d r gra s. ousands of visitors came through t e galleries to view our ibitions focusing on local and global social justice issue . Tonika Lewis J son’s ultimedia exhib tion, Folde Map , brought in visitors and the e ia fro across the city to pen a dialogue about rban segregation and its effects on Chicago residents. Gregory Beals’ photography exhibition, They rrived Last Night shed light on the global refugee crisis. Milwaukee artist Della ells’ exhibition Her Story, My Dreams featured collages, drawings, and dolls reflecting personal narratives, political struggles, and contemporary issues of race and gender. Celestial House , Victoria Martinez’s exhibition of vibrant mixed media works inspired by her childhood home in the Pilsen community, evoked the poetics of the urban environment and memories of home. In our Following the Box exhibition, guest curators Jerri Zbiral and Alan Teller invited a group of contemporary Indian artists to visually respond to a box of photographs taken in West Bengal by an American soldier in 1945. Each work drew inspiration from the original photographs, addressing the elusive nature of memory, political and military histories, and cultural identities. This year a record number of attendees came to our public programs featuring our artists. Notable presenters inclu ed: artists Amanda Williams and Edra Soto; poets Tara Betts and Josè Olivarez; and scholars Wendy Pearlman, Jock McLane, and Ralph Nicholas. In addition, we developed new partnerships with organizations, such as the Metrop litan Planning Council, Urban Ga eways, d SkyART, as well as strengthened existing part erships with the Poetry Foundation, Intuit: Center for I tuitive and Outsider Art, and Filter hoto Festival. LUMA has also become a contributing member of two ew local art and culture organizations, the Water Tower Arts District and the Chicago Association of Specialized Museums. LUMA also hosted two multimedia exhibitions this year in the Jean Morman Unsworth Art Expressway Gallery showcasing hundreds of art projects by K-12 Chicagoland school children. In the spring, SkyART premiered i am because you are, a range of work responding to DellaWells’ collages and Tonika Lewis Johnson’s photographs of Englewood. This fall LUMA invited Urban Gateways to display more than a hundred works of art representing schools in LUMA would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to everyone who has helped make this year a success. We couldn’t have done it without you! Special thanks to: LUMA docents and volunteers; LUMA’s 2018 student interns and gallery managers; Paola Aguirre, V lerie Wong, and Borderless Studio; Carrie Ruckel and CAN- TV; Jennifer Murray and Filter Photo; Metropolitan Planning Council; Jerri Zbiral, Alan Teller, Sarbajit Sen, and Chhatrapatti Dutta; Fred Sasaki and The Poetry Foundation; Lamin8; Debra Brehmer and Portrait Studio; James Govan; and Loyola professors: Melissa Bradshaw, Marilyn Dunn, Matt Groves, Sarita Heer, Robert Morrison, Catherine Nichols, Betsy Odom, and Kyle Roberts. a