Currently Browsing: Arts: Visual Arts
For decades, Janet Werner has transformed found photographs into fictional women whose identities remain deliberately open. In conversation, she reflects on painting, collage, subjectivity, art history, teaching, and the necessity of simply continuing to work.
The first time I saw Janet’s paintings in person, I found myself doing something I knew I probably shouldn’t: trying to figure out who the women were.… read more.
Once best known for being Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s wife, Frida Kahlo has become a superstar in the past few decades. Her image can be found everywhere. She’s on socks, purses, jewelry, and even in film. Similar to names such as Madonna, Picasso, and Beyoncé, many recognize the world-renowned artist from just her first name: Frida.… read more.
There is an invisible side to advocating for and achieving change. Behind every shiny accomplishment is the often-overlooked hours of work and sacrifice by the activists involved. This collective exhaustion builds over time slowly becoming a fixture of everyday life. Lindsay Adams’s commissioned piece for the Obama Presidential Center, The Weary Blues, encapsulates both the hope and emotional weight that is born when progress is made.… read more.
As we’ve just celebrated America’s 250th birthday and, no doubt, are looking at issues daily that affect how we want to live, it’s probably the perfect time to contemplate freedom. What does being free mean to you as an individual and what would you be willing to do to protect and expand it?
The Obama Presidential Center opened on June 19th (aka Juneteenth) 2026.… read more.
When I first talked to muralists Sam Kirk and Dorian Sylvain about their collaboration for Home Court — one of the Obama Presidential Center’s most visible commissions — I tossed out a quick quip, laughing: “Oh, you’re twins by different mothers.”
Both artists have strong south side of Chicago roots.… read more.
One of my favorite quotes is Annie Dillard’s “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” I felt the power of these simple words so strongly when I visited Tyanna Buie’s print series at Chicago’s new Obama Presidential Center (OPC). Tyanna’s carefully arranged background images command their own attention as they bring out the key messages of three prints she has dropped into the space of a room in the Forum building.… read more.