Growing Up Now Opening Reception, Friday, Oct 27, 5:00-8:00pm

As we examine our daddy issues and lament our own childhoods, kids today see school shootings, melting ice caps, and politicians more interested in taking away their rights than taking on true threats to their lives. Will no one protect and honor the experience of kids growing up now?

Every power dynamic a child faces is one that positions them as powerless.

Artists of all backgrounds explore the challenges and threats faced by children growing up in the world today. From the looming threat of global warming and natural disasters to the rise of school shootings and the erosion of civil rights, young people today face unprecedented challenges that will shape their lives and the future of the planet they inhabit.

Young people have little agency to decide their futures, but they will undoubtedly experience the consequences of decisions made by today’s adults in power. Artists reflect on this power imbalance in their work and consider the ways in which children are often overlooked and marginalized in discussions about their own lives.

Artists draw on personal experiences and observations. This exhibition showcases a diverse range of perspectives and styles that highlight the complex and multifaceted nature of these issues, and shining a light on the challenges faced by children today and inspiring greater awareness and empathy for this historical time.

Exhibiting Artists: Mallory Avalon, Michael Callaghan, Helen Celewicz, Abigail Engstrand, Susan Page Estes, David Feingold, Nancy Fritz, Laura Gilmore, Robert Hilger, Deborah Hirshfield, Johnson Hunt, Laurel A Izard, Lindsay Johnson, Katsy Johnson, Olivia Lee, Huaqi Liu, Kathleen Maltese, Linda Marcus, Ruti Modlin, Aaron Pickens, Victoria Smits, Joan Stolz, Victoria L Tasch, Lydia Wood

About the Curator:

Danielle Andress is a Chicago based artist and educator. She primarily produces non-functional weavings and assemblages that investigate our relationships with digital architectures, consumable images, siloed spheres of influence, and the circulation of information through the poetics of weaving and everyday objects. As a bi-racial practitioner, her work considers identity politics and relational objecthood via slow craft and material artifacts through a multicultural lens. She earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the California College of the Arts. Danielle Andress is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Fiber and Material Studies department where she teaches hand and digital weaving. She has exhibited widely both nationally and internationally including at the Central Museum of Textiles (Lódź, Poland), John Michael Kohler Art Center (Sheboygan, WI), Yunnan Provincial Museum (Kunming, China), SPACES (Cleveland, OH), Lowe Mill (Huntsville, AL), and the Anchorage Museum of Art (Anchorage, AK).

Opening Reception, Friday, Oct 27, 5:00-8:00pm
Exhibition dates: October 26 – November 17, 2023

Gallery hours: Thurs – Fri 2-6pm, Sat – Sun 12-4 pm

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Official Website

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Tags: Aaron Pickens, Abigail Engstrand, ARC Gallery, Chicago, David Feingold, Deborah Hirshfield, Helen Celewicz, Huaqi Liu, Joan Stolz, Johnson Hunt, Kathleen Maltese, Katsy Johnson, Laura Gilmore, Laurel A Izard, Linda Marcus, Lindsay Johnson, Lydia Wood, Mallory Avalon, Michael Callaghan, Nancy Fritz, Olivia Lee, Robert Hilger, Ruti Modlin, Susan Page Estes, Victoria L Tasch, Victoria Smits, West Town