In response to the collision of COVID-19, institutional racism, police brutality, and economic inequality, Justice Hotel at 6018North has transformed into an experimental, outdoor platform to encourage communal discussion about justice. We invite you, the public, and other organizations to do the same.

Windows to the World is an outdoor, street-facing exhibition. Installed in 6018North’s windows and exterior spaces, it features work by Rohan Ayinde, Jane Georges, Efrat Hakimi, Audra Jacot, Jiwon Ham, Mashaun Hendricks, Tshab Her, Angela Lopez, AJ McClenon, Dorian Sylvain, and Sadie Woods. Curated by Wisdom Baty, Ciera McKissick, Caroline K. Ng, Ji Yang, and S.Y Lim, with 6018North, the exhibition advances communal solutions to systemic problems. The show asks: How can we use this time to empower artists to advance both personal and communal transformation? How can we respond to this universal experience to create something together?

Daily quarantine living and the ongoing uncertainty of when and how this would end, we turned to the visionaries around us who are always contemplating new realities and possibilities, the artists.

In March, as Chicago entered a total lockdown, 6018North and the curatorial team built during Justice Hotel at 6018North gathered together to lean into the changes as they roiled through day by day, creating the exhibit Windows to the World as a way to engage with our neighborhood and support Chicago artists.

Months in the making, Windows to the World is an extension of the socially responsive, cooperative work of Justice Hotel at 6018North. When the state of Illinois-ordered shut-down occurred, we pivoted from creating Justice Hotel 2.0 to an investigation of social justice that opens up a collective dialogue through our windows to the world. Reaching out to artists through virtual studio visits, we asked the prompt: Viewing this time as a portal: How do we want to see the world when we get out? Who do we want to be individually and collectively? Working together we ask: What are you and we doing to advance this vision?

While confined to our homes, our doors and windows act as portals, not only to the outside but to the future. How do we want to see the world when we go out again?

During the Summer artists have been answering these questions, progressively installing work in our windows, on our fences, our porch, and lawn. At the same time, we are asking the public – through our online portal – to talk to us about systemic inequity and other messes that need to be solved. We encourage you to use your own windows to dream, to share, to do.

Curatorial collective (from Justice Hotel at 6018North)

Wisdom Baty is an artist, curator, and mother, interested in reimagining physical space and historical accuracy for black bodies. Baty currently serves as the Director of Development and Community Relations at CO:LAB 7100, a neighborhood co-working space, and runs Wild Yams, an experimental artist studio space in South Shore.

S.Y Lim (Su Yeon Lim) is an artist and a founder of 062, a non-profit art gallery based in Chicago. Lim received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2017.

Ciera Mckissick is a freelance writer, independent curator and cultural producer, and the founder of AMFM, a creative arts brand based in Chicago that supports emerging and established artists by offering them a platform to showcase their work and passions on a larger scale through exhibitions, web content and curated events. She is also the coordinator of public programs at the Hyde Park Art Center, and Communications Associate at Ox-Bow School of Art.

Caroline K. Ng is an arts administrator, curator, and project manager based in Chicago, Illinois, with special focus on improvisation and sensory immersion in arts programming. An advocate of “low-class” cultural pride, her current research investigates food and new media in pop culture as collaborative political agents.

JI Yang is an artist, curator, writer whose works try to code and decode systems and rethink globalization.

6018North is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of culture and the arts in Chicago. Windows to the World is generously supported by an anonymous donor and the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. 6018North projects are partially supported by 3Arts, the AD3 Innovation Bootcamp Grant, an anonymous donor advised fund at The Chicago Community Foundation, a CityArts Innovation Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, the Gen Ops Plus Grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Field Foundation of Illinois, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, IL Humanities, the Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Arts Council Youth Employment Grant, the Joyce Foundation, The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and individual donations. For more info visit us at 6018North.org.

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More events on this date

Tags: 6018NORTH, AJ McClenon, and Sadie Woods. Curated by Wisdom Baty, Angela Lopez, Audra Jacot, Caroline K. Ng, Ciera McKissick, Dorian Sylvain, Edgewater, Efrat Hakimi, Jane Georges, Ji Yang, Jiwon Ham, Mashaun Hendricks, ohan Ayinde, S.Y Lim, Tshab Her, Windows to the World