Rose Blouin Solo Exhibition

To Washington Park, With Love
Photography from the Summer of 1987

February 11 – March 19, 2022

Arts Incubator Gallery, 301 E Garfield Blvd, Chicago, IL 60637
Gallery Hours (with Eventbrite reservation): Thu, Fri, and Sat from 3:00pm – 7:00pm

Make your reservation now at https://artsandpubliclife.org/roseblouin

In the summer of 1987, South Side photographer Rose Blouin visited Washington Park every weekend. Blouin initially set out to capture how important the eponymous park is to its surrounding neighborhood, but as she worked it became a study of how we interact with – or become a part of – our environment.
The resulting body of work is one of great intimacy, even amid a crowd of hundreds, and reflects Blouin’s skill to commune with others and the park. Blouin’s sharp eye takes familiar, everyday scenes of Washington Park and returns them to us, allowing us to see the park, anew. These images allow us to see a conversation unfolding, about the relationship between the community of Washington Park and the land itself.
Blouin is as at home in portraiture as she is in landscapes. In her fluid mastery between the two we are able to see the power of the park to embrace the multi-dimensionality of Black life, and the very unique magic of a public space that is fully, and truly, embraced as ours.
In line with the Arts + Public Life’s (APL) values and mission, this exhibition was co-curated between the artist and APL staff Nootan Bharani, Isis Ferguson, Gabe Moreno, and Kate Schlachter.

Due to current Covid-19 safety restrictions, visitation to the Arts Incubator will be limited capacity, timed 45-minute reservations for groups of no more than (20) during the hours of 3:00pm – 7:00pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Please review Covid-19 safety protocols below.
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To Washington Park, With Love features over 30 images from Blouin’s Washington Park Summer 1987 series as part of a project partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information on Blouin’s project or to purchase photographs, contact her at rblouin@colum.edu or visit her website at roseblouinphotography.com.

About the Artist

Rose Blouin has created documentary and fine art photography since 1980. Blouin’s work has been exhibited in a number of museums and galleries including Woman Made Gallery, Nicole Gallery, The South Side Community Art Center, Artemesia Gallery, The North Suburban Fine Arts Center, Evanston Arts Center, the State of Illinois Art Gallery, Bridgeport Art Center and the Chicago Cultural Center. Her work has received awards in juried exhibitions including Tall Grass Arts “From Earth” exhibition, Black Creativity (Museum of Science and Industry), University of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts “Chicago Jazz: A Photographer’s View,” DuSable Museum Annual Art Fair, and the Milwaukee Inner City Art Fair. Her photographs have been published on the covers of South Side Stories (City Stoop Press), Columbia Poetry Review (Columbia College Chicago), and Blue Lyra Review. Photos of Gwendolyn Brooks are included in Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating The Writing Of Gwendolyn Brooks (Curbside Splendor, 2017.) Blouin has had solo exhibitions at the South Side Community Art Center and at the Ferguson Gallery of Concordia University featuring photographs from South Africa, and The New Studio in Evanston featuring photographs of Havana. She has done presentations for Columbia College, SkyArt and the Chicago Historical Society. Blouin is a founding member of Sapphire & Crystals, a collective of African-American women artists active since 1987.

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Important COVID safety event info and University of Chicago policies: All visitors aged 5+ attending public events with fixed audience seating inside of a University of Chicago building must provide proof of vaccination, or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of event, or a positive COVID-19 test within 14-90 days of event and affirm no symptoms. UChicago faculty, students, and staff may present their UCID as proof.

This convening is open to all invitees who are compliant with UChicago vaccination requirements and, because of ongoing health risks, particularly to the unvaccinated, participants are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures (masking and social distancing, etc.) appropriate to their vaccination status as advised by public health officials or to their individual vulnerabilities as advised by a medical professional. Public convening may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.

Detailed information on the University of Chicago health and safety guidelines are outlined at https://goforward.uchicago.edu.