kelli rae adams: Forever in Your Debt
@ Chicago Cultural Center
78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602
On view through Sunday, September 15th
Forever in Your Debt
August 3—September 15, 2024
A Project by kelli rae adams
Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 4th Floor North
The Chicago Cultural Center is proud to present Forever in Your Debt, an innovative and thought-provoking installation by artist kelli rae adams, on view through September 15th, 2024. This project addresses the staggering $1.8 trillion in student loan debt burdening 43 million Americans, including adams herself.
In 2012, adams received an annual loan notice which prompted her to calculate how many ceramic vessels she would need to make and sell to repay her student debt. The resulting vision—a field of bowls filled with coins—led to the inception of Forever in Your Debt.
Launched in 2018, adams’s work translates the abstract concept of debt into a tangible form. Focusing on the average individual student debt of $37,000, adams determined that she would need to craft 925 bowls to illustrate this sum given that each pint-sized bowl typically holds about $40 in mixed change. The current version of the installation includes an additional 140 bowls, accounting for interest accrued during the project’s recent two-year run at MASS MoCA.
Visitor Participation
Visitors are central to the completion of this work. Those who contribute funds sufficient to fill a bowl will be registered to receive one of the vessels when the project concludes in early 2025.
Ways to Participate:
1. In-Person Contributions:
Check the Chicago Cultural Center’s website for dates when the artist will be present to receive contributions.
2. Remote Participation:
Visit the artist’s website at kelliraeadams.com/participate for more details. Half of the collected funds will go towards adams’s student loan debt, while the other half will be donated to organizations working to alleviate debt and reimagine higher education financing
Official Website
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Tags: Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, kelli rae adams, kelli rae adams: Forever in Your Debt, Loop
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