South Side Community Art Center

9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives
2022-10-08 - 2022-12-17
9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives features work by the collective, Dandelion Black Women Artists.

OPENING RECEPTION RSVP HERE

Nine Black women artists engaged in collaborative efforts to create artworks that transcend and transform events in the year 2020. In their eyes, art-making became a transgressive act through activism, documentation and vision. Utilizing book-making, craft-making and works on paper, 9 Artists/9 Months/ 9 Perspectives presents a birth of vision under hardship felt worldwide, collectively allowing us to reckon with our own perspectives, reflections and welfare.

This exhibition presents the conception, gestation, and birth of a collaborative artists’ books created by nine Black women artists of the collective, Dandelion Black Women Artists. Their responses, perspectives, and reflections were inspired by the continuous struggle for health, social, and economic welfare of marginalized people during COVID-19, the lack of response from the federal government, and the political allyship of socio-political grassroots movements like Black Lives Matter. Craft-making became a transgressive act through artivism, perspective, and vision.

Their work embraces Black feminism as theorized by artist/art historians such as Freida High Wasikhongo Tsesfagiorgis, in which art created by Black women artists depict the Black woman as: 1) subject rather than an object; 2) the exclusive or primary subject; 3) active rather than passive; 4) sensitive to the self-recorded realities of Black women; 5) imbued with the aesthetics of the African continuum—sustaining a personal vision that embraces Afrocentric tastes in color, texture, and rhythm.

Exhibiting artists include:
Adjoa J. Burrowes, Julee Dickerson-Thompson, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Michele Godwin, Francine Haskins, Pamela Harris Lawton, Gloria Patton, Gail Shaw-Clemons, and Kamala Subramanian.

9 Artists/ 9 Months/ 9 Perspectives will be on view from October 8 – December 17, 2022.

The Promised Land: Opening Reception
2023-01-20 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Eleven artists with ties to North and South of the Mason-Dixon Line respond to just how much Black life has always been in transit.

The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. It has transformed cities like Chicago, Detroit, New York and Pittsburgh between 1916 and 1970. Chicago received more than 500,000 Black Southern Americans during this time.

To Southern Blacks, Chicago was considered the “Promised Land”. Stories of big city life — jobs with good wages, homes with running water, and basic freedoms denied to Blacks in the South — made the Northern city a prime destination for Blacks coming from below the Mason-Dixon line. As the most documented migration in US history, photographers like Gordon Parks, Florestine Perrault Collins, Moneta Sleet Jr., Roy DeCarava, and Coreen Simpson created imagery that demonstrated Black life in movement.

Today, contemporary artists and image makers respond to the many migrations of African Diaspora peoples and the influences of these movements in their work.

Derrick Woods-Morrow. Non-traditional Acts of Divination: Impression. Photograph. 18 in. x 24 in. 2019.

Featured Artists:

Lawrence Agyei
Anwulika Anigbo
Rose Blouin
Billie Carter-Rankin
Jen Everett
Mandela Hudson
Shabez Jamal
Sulyiman Stokes
Darryl Terrell
Loren Toney
Derrick Woods-Morrow

Darryl DeAngelo Terrell. 279º W 42º21’39” N 83º2’20″W Detroit, MI. Archival inkjet print. 24 in. x 36 in. 2021

Join us for an opening reception as we celebrate a diverse breath of photo and image works from some of the most promising artists exploring the possibilities and realities of Black life in image-making and photography.

Image courtesy (above). Sulyiman Stokes. Untitled (Momma #2). Photograph. 11 in. x 14 in. 2021

"where the light corrupts your face..." | Opening Reception
2023-04-07 17:00 - 20:00
Artists Andres L. Hernandez, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden consider the many definitions of space, site, and home.

Spatial griots Andres L. Hernandez, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Roland Knowlden invite you to consider how socio-economic and geographic oppressions impact the way we see (or don’t see) our environments. Hernandez uncovers embedded histories and systems of power within built and speculative landscapes to imagine these spaces otherwise. Social justice artist Lewis Johnson advocates for urban communities by documenting the disparities among Chicago residents who live on opposite ends of the same streets across the city’s racial and economic divides. Knowlden critically deconstructs the elements of our urban fabric and its architectural histories to reassemble them as cartographic abstractions and imagined landscapes.

Gwendolyn Brooks, a brilliant author, poet, and life-long resident of the historic neighborhood of Bronzeville, becomes the Mecca of these stories as this exhibition interrogates dilapidation, buried histories, and what it could mean to be Black in space. Architecture is an ever-present form of storytelling. The architectural historiographies of Black space have often been written by poets who have elegantly told our stories of spatiality. Brooks gave us a voice we didn’t know we needed while underlining the importance of Black interiority. Like Brooks, June Jordan has used poetry to advocate for Black lives. Jordan was an architect, through a feminist practice that centers how we think about cartographies. Jordan invited us to challenge and redefine prevailing socio-spatial constructs towards dignified spaces for all communities. This is one of many reasons why she is an additional pinnacle of reference for an exhibition which poetically grapples with the many definitions of space, site, and home.

Andres L. Hernandez is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary practitioner. Initially trained as an architect, he has previously worked within architectural offices, community organizations, public schools, museums, and other institutional contexts.

Hernandez’ projects include commissions for the University of Arizona School of Art; 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale; and Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. With Dark Adaptive, he co-developed performances for The Drawing Center; MoMA; Sharjah Biennial; and Performa. Hernandez held artist residencies with MCA Chicago; University of Arizona; Chicago DCASE; and University of Chicago. He participated on design teams for the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial, and the Museum of the Obama Presidential Center. His awards include the Efroymson Family Fund Contemporary Arts Fellowship, and the 3Arts Award in Visual Arts.
Hernandez is currently an Associate Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“My work draws forward the latent potential of words, spaces, sounds, and movement to elicit liberatory ways of being. I explore the embedded attitudes, histories, policies, and systems of power within and beyond our world(s) as a method of imagining and existing otherwise. I site my practice at the intersection of the social and the spatial. I consider the symbiotic, yet, fraught relationships between built and natural environments and their inhabitants, and speculate alternative pasts, presents, and futures for all. My work takes many forms, including collaborative and socially-engaged works, as well as independent, studio-based practices. Drawing, installation, and writing are my preferred media, alongside sound and performance”.

https://andreslhernandez.com/

Tonika Johnson is a photographer, social justice artist and life-long resident of Chicago’s Southside Englewood neighborhood. Her art explores urban segregation and celebrates the nuanced richness of the Black community, countering media depictions of Chicago’s violence. Tonika’s work reveals injustices and inequalities, past and present, evidenced in the built environment and enshrined in real estate and land use practices, including historic preservation. Her Folded Map Project™ brings residents who live at similar addresses but miles apart on Chicago’s racially segregated South and North sides together in conversation about the city’s racial and economic divides. The Folded Map Project™ questions how everyone is socially impacted by racial and institutional conditions segregating the city and challenges viewers to contribute to a solution.

Tonika was selected as the National Public Housing Museum’s 2021 Artist as Instigator to expand her investigation through “Inequity for Sale,” a project highlighting the living history and legacy of greater Englewood homes sold through Land Sale Contracts in the 1950s and 1960s, which led to the unscrupulous loss of people’s homes and equity preventing the generational transfer and building of Black wealth. Tonika’s artistic contributions have gained citywide recognition in the last seven years, including being named a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, being exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Harold Washington Library Center and at Loyola University’s Museum of Art. She is a 2019 Field Foundation “Leader for a New Chicago” and a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Cultural Advisory Council member. In 2022, Landmark Illinois’ named her one of their Influencers for her “Inequity For Sale.”

Tonika is the co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective and Resident Association of Greater Englewood, and she now serves as the Creative Executive Officer of the Folded Map Project™ nonprofit organization.

https://www.tonijphotography.com/

Roland Knowlden is a Liberian American interdisciplinary artist and architectural designer from New Jersey, currently based in Chicago, IL. Knowlden’s architectural background has cultivated his ongoing interest in constructed landscapes, city planning, and the cultural and social implications of racialized spatial mapping. Working across painting and drawing, Knowlden’s approach to abstract and experimental mapping articulates a visual language which makes visible the tensions wrought by erasure, displacement, and palimpsest.

Interrogating notions of origin, belonging, boundaries, and power, Knowlden’s critical cartography aims to not only reproduce existing environmental experiences and affects, but to propose new spatial realities. With each new configuration and composition, Knowlden furthers his practice of imagining otherwise.

https://rolandknowlden.com/

Black Light Cinema Project and Homecoming: Black Craft & Design in Chicago
2023-07-07 17:00 - 20:00
Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our summer exhibitions!

In a world rich with diverse cultures and histories, the concept of belonging and homeplace holds profound significance. Within the tapestry of human experiences, one thread stands out with resilience, creativity, and an indomitable spirit – the Black cinematic experience. SSCAC is debuting the ‘Black Light Cinema Project’ to explore the intricate interconnectedness of Black life through new media and film. This inaugural iteration explores themes of belonging, homeplace, and identity, while celebrating the vibrancy of our urban landscapes, partnered alongside our 2nd floor Cortor gallery exhibition ‘Homecoming: Black Craft & Design in Chicago’.
At its core, ‘Black Light Cinema Project’ seeks to dismantle conventional notions of homeplace and embrace a more nuanced understanding through the exhibiting of the underrepresented medium of film in art space. We invite visitors to venture beyond the physical spaces we call home, encouraging them to delve into the emotional, spiritual, and ancestral landscapes that define our sense of belonging. Through ongoing screenings of film shorts, we offer a multifaceted exploration of the Black experience, revealing the complex interplay of history, memory, and identity.

Featured Artists: Jada Amina , zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, Cameron Granger , Paige Taul, and cai thomas

This exhibition is curated by SSCAC Exhibitions Manager and Curator Lola Ayisha Ogbara.

Cameron Granger. Heavy as Heaven. 2022, 11 mins, 3-channel, Sound, Digital file.

‘Homecoming: Black Craft & Design’ in Chicago utilizes the varying practices of several Black craft artists in Chicago working in the mid to late 20th century and pairs their work with historical archival materials from the socio-political movements in the city during the Black Arts Movement, of the 60’s and 70’s.
Chicago is internationally known as a diverse cultural landscape that is rooted in segregation and discrimination, but this exhibition aims to explore how studio craft artists are using their practices and connections to spaces like the South Side Community Art Center to explore these themes. This exhibition seeks to present the complex multivalent histories of Black artists with varying connections to the South Side Community Art Center during its early years in the mid-twentieth century. These artists all in some way play with the performative presentations of body and self through creating ambiguous figures or forms. These artists have explored complex themes of Black cultural representation, concepts around object functionality and performativity, issues in presentation of self through objects, and methods of socio-cultural identity making through creative expression.
The exhibition will present the biographical backgrounds of the artists included while exploring how they technically executed their works (both professionally and personally), as well as reflecting on the conceptual subjects that fueled their practices.

Featured Artists: Elizabeth Catlett, Irene Clark, Bobbe Cotton, Jeremiah Drake, Espi Eph, Clinton Foreman, Eselean Henderson, William McBride, Geraldine McCullough, El Roi Parker, Marva Jolly Pitchford, Allen Stringfellow, Teresa Staats, and Bill Walker.

This exhibition is curated by SSCAC Archives and Collections Manager LaMar Gayles Jr.

William McBride. Balancers. Oil on canvas. 1945

All of Living is Risk | Opening Reception
2023-07-10 12:00 - 15:30
Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our fall/winter exhibitions alongside curators Rikki Byrd, and Gervais Marsh, with artist Cory Perry!

All of Living is Risk (2nd floor Cortor Gallery) brings together works by Cory Perry (b. 1989, Fayetteville, Arkansas) and Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum (b. 1990, Boston). Drawing on Afrodiasporic textile practices of quilting and weaving, respectively, Perry and Ekwelum explore the juxtaposition of Black queer grief, joy, and belonging. Combining second-hand textiles and deconstructed clothing objects given to them by Black queer people whose voices have been underrepresented across the South – and specifically in their hometown of Fayetteville, Arkansas – Perry pays homage to the region’s traditions of quilting. Strung along and suspended from string, Perry’s installation recalls a clothesline. They critically engage quotidian and gendered gestures of homemaking to reflect on the ways that queer people in the South build relationships and foster collectivity, despite the ruptures and ephemerality of these spaces caused by harmful societal reactions attempting to stifle their existence.

Image courtesy of artist Cory Perry. 2023.

Ekwelum creates grief cloths using a West African upright loom inspired by Nigerian “abata” cloths, which are used to honor the dead during funerals. The artist extends the intent of these cloths as an archive of feeling to consider his life as a Black queer American-born, Nigerian person. Combining weaving, sculpture, and installation, found and purchased art materials, Ekwelum’s practice puts pressure on and blurs the antiquated delineation between craft and fine art. Central to his artistic materials is a plastic lacing known as “gimp.” Often considered a tool for creative experimentation for children, the artist uses it to represent his “inner child work.” In this exhibition and others, Ekwelum “moves according to feeling,” sculpting each cloth in response to gallery architecture, exhibition themes, and history of location. Perry and Ekwelum engage textiles and found objects as conduits for histories imbued with personal memories, delving into the interiority of Black queer life. They meditate on what cannot be immediately “seen” or “known”, and imagine possibilities for healing while creating spaces for living through joy and collective care.

Image courtesy of Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum. 2023.

Visitors are invited to gently move their bodies through Perry’s installation and closely observe Ekwelum’s cloths, inspiring the beauty of wonderment. Please honor their practices while being respectful and careful with their work. This exhibition is titled after scholar Kevin Quashie’s reflection in his essay “Queer. Caribbean. Miami. Boy: A Personal Geography”: “The truth is, all of living is risk, sometimes more so because of one’s age, gender, race, but all of living is deep risk.”

It is organized by independent curators Gervais Marsh and Rikki Byrd with support by the South Side Community Art Center, Art Noir Jar of Love Fund, and the Black Arts Consortium at Northwestern University.

Cory D. Perry (b. 1989, Arkansas) is a multimedia quilting and performance folk artist based in Chicago, IL. My art practice and research investigate the possibilities of what queering Black spiritual space can and could be through textiles, images, beads, and various materials. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas School of Art and attended the Post-baccalaureate program in Sculpture and Museum Research at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Perry received their Master’s degree of Fine Arts and graduate certificate of Black Studies from Northwestern University. Perry is a recipient of the 2019 Windgate-Lamar Fellowship and the 2022 Sexualities Project at Northwestern University Award. In 2019 they were an honorary international artist for Chale Wote Performance Art Festival in Accra, Ghana. Most recently, they were a participant artist for the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, where they created and performed “Queer Black Sunshine” a meditative protest on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
“My art practice and research investigates ways to expand the possibilities of what Black queer space can and could be through textiles, images, beads, and various materials. For me, “to be Black and queer” is the potentiality of another world through self-identifying and self-actualizing gestures. I’m interested in what the materials can tell us through their palimpsest beauty. By layering various translucent textiles and allowing collaged fabrics to shift in composition from different perspectives, windows are created for the seen and unseen. Black queer space is always in a state of flux, and I want to explore that in my work.”

Rikki Byrd is a writer, educator and curator who works across the academy, arts and fashion industries. She has participated in curatorial projects with the Block Museum of Art, SkyART, and most recently curated the fashion presentations in the traveling exhibition The Culture: Hip Hop & Contemporary Art in the 21st Century, co-organized by the Baltimore Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum. Her research focuses on Black aesthetic practices including fashion, performance, and contemporary art, and she has lectured at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, where she created new courses on fashion and race. Her writing appears across exhibition catalogs, academic journals, books, and arts and fashion media such as Hyperallergic, Cultured and Teen Vogue.
She is the co-founder and editor of the Fashion and Race Syllabus, founder of Black Fashion Archive, and an editorial advisory board member for Bloomsbury Fashion Publishing. Rikki is currently completing her PhD in the Department of Black Studies at Northwestern University. Her work has been supported by fellowships from the Modern Ancient Brown Foundation, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Presidential Fellowship at Northwestern University.

Gervais Marsh is a writer, curator and scholar whose work is deeply invested in Black life, concepts of relationality and care. They received a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and are currently a Helena Rubinstein Curatorial Fellow with the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. Their writing, artistic and curatorial work is rooted in Transnational Black feminisms, with recent curatorial projects including To be pained is to have lived through feeling with Canada NYC and Rupture: Interventions of Possibility with Art at a Time Like This. Their writing has been published in several books and exhibition catalogs including Denzil Hurley (monograph), Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, Forgotten Lands Vol. 5, KMAC Museum Triennial (2022), as well as online art publications such as Hyperallergic, C Magazine, Brooklyn Rail, ARTS.BLACK, Musée Magazine, and PREE: Caribbean Writing, among others. They have received fellowships and curatorial support from the Jamaica Art Society, Terra Foundation for American Art, VisArts Center, The Gay and Lesbian Review, Northwestern University, and Independent Curators International.
They have taught undergraduate/graduate courses focused on Black Feminist theory, praxis and performance, and Black queer studies. They are an editor with Ruckus Journal and research interests include Black Studies, Art history, Caribbean Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies. They grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, a home that continues to shape their understanding of self and relationship to the world.

Through a Lens of Beauty & Wonderment: Notes on Collaborative Friendship | Opening Reception
2023-10-07 12:00 - 15:30
Join us for an opening reception to celebrate and kick off our fall/winter exhibition with curator and artist Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum!

…Notes on Collaborative Friendship (First floor Burroughs Gallery) is the culmination of Nnaemeka C. Ekwelum’s doctoral research on friendship, artistic collaboration, and decolonial Black political thought. Through a series of intentional and creative partnerships between him and eight other US-based artists/scholars, this project experiments with the rigor of collaborative friendship as a creative methodology in contemporary art making and knowledge production. It also affectively explores alternative ways to represent Black Studies scholarship within and beyond academic spaces of learning.

Collaborative artist interventions in the exhibition include: Lishan AZ, Shenequa “SHENEQUA” Brooks, Stephen Hamilton, Noor Jones-Bey, Mercy Emelike, Carmen Neely, and Cordelia Rizzo.

*Co-sponsored by Northwestern University’s Department of Black Studies.

Nnaemeka (Emeka) C. Ekwelum is a transnational and multidisciplinary researcher, educator, and artist/curator from Boston, MA. He currently lives in Chicago, IL, where he is a Ph.D. candidate in Black Studies (African American Studies) at Northwestern University. Emeka’s scholarly and creative interests converge at the intersection of history, critical theory, creative expression, curatorial practice, and political education. His dissertation project–“On Artistic Collaboration & Decolonial Black Political Thought”–examines the critical role(s) of beauty, wonderment, and friendship in contemporary and craft art collaborations between and amongst Black creatives. Prior to returning to graduate school, Emeka held a professional career as an educator in his home state of Massachusetts, formally and informally working with youth and adult learners across a range of cultural contexts in the Boston/Greater Boston Area. His teaching philosophy, interpersonal values, and political commitments are a reflection of his academic training in Comparative Ethnic Studies (Columbia University, B.A.) and Arts in Education (Harvard University, Ed.M.), drawing on theories of Black feminist and political thought to interrogate ideas of power, privilege, and personhood through art and artmaking.

Adler and Adler
2024-06-08 - 2024-08-31 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Exhibiting Artist Eli Greene | Curated by Amber Nax
The South Side Community Art Center in partnership with ICI, presents “Adler & Adler”, a poignant artistic response by Chicago-based artist Eli Greene to a selection of archival images from the Adler & Adler Studio: a Black-owned photography studio in what was once the Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit. Founded circa 1910 by Charles and Mamie L. Adler, the studio was one of the earliest Black photographic businesses in Detroit. Adler & Adler Studio was a place where people celebrated and immortalized the joys of everyday life: graduations, weddings, and the arrival of new family members. This site, and Black photography studios across the country just like it, were beacons of empowerment, offering Black communities new agency in self-representation. For the first time, it gave them power over how they were represented in the present, and how they would be remembered by future generations. When the Adlers passed away in 1973, they left no heirs, and the studio, along with its collection of photographs, was left behind. Some of these photographs were later discovered and sold to The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, where they now reside as a testament to the studio’s enduring impact.

Images Courtesy of The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History | Curated by Amber Nax
After being approached by ICI with the idea of responding to the Adler & Adler images, the artist, while visiting family in Detroit, photographed the old studio site, now a park, at 4215 Russell Street. Alongside the Adler & Adler images are (10) contemporary photographs of the site, a drawing inspired by the studio backdrops present in the original images, and a sound/video work. Invested in themes of memory, trace, and ghosts, Eli Greene’s response to these images explores what it means to find something that you did not realize was lost.
About the artist

Eli Greene holds a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from The University of Chicago. Through drawing, film, and performance, her practice traces the act of one thing becoming another. Greene’s recent work has been exhibited in Chicago at The Smart Museum of Art, Hyde Park Art Center, Gallery 400, Regards, Goldfinch and Produce Model. She lives and works in Chicago.
About the curator

Amber Nax (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator native to Detroit, MI. She graduated from Wayne State University, earning an Art History B.F.A with a personal concentration in Black American and African history, contemporary art, culture, and folklore. With a background in arts administration, programming, urban farming, and museum studies.
Amber deals in the archives of art. She is inspired by how an archive will reveal the past, validate the present, and inform the future.
About the partnerships
Dr. Burroughs/Gayden Curatorial Fellowship for African American Curators:
The Dr. Burroughs/Gayden Curatorial Fellowship for African American Curators, a unique initiative between the South Side Community Art Center and Independent Curators International, is a beacon of opportunity for emerging curators. This fellowship, honoring the late Dr. Margaret T. Burroughs, provides a valuable career development opportunity and reflects SSCAC’s commitment to nurturing emerging Black talent through artistic initiatives. It supports curators’ research, the actualization of an exhibition, and the development of their professional networks, offering a curatorial stipend of $1,000 and an exhibition budget of $5,000.
SSCAC:
Founded in 1940, the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) stands as a testament to the resilience and creativity of the Black American art community. As the oldest Black American art center in the United States and a Chicago Historic Landmark, SSCAC is a beacon of cultural heritage and innovation. We take pride in our rich past and continue to build on our legacy, serving as an artist- and community-centered resource with diverse programs and exhibitions. The mission of the South Side Community Art Center is to conserve, preserve, and promote the legacy and future of Black American art and artists while educating the community on the value of art and culture.
About ICI:
Independent Curators International (ICI) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit arts organization that focuses on the role of the curator in contemporary art. We support curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement.
Curators are arts community leaders and organizers who champion artistic practice; build essential infrastructures and institutions; and generate public engagement with art. We work with art spaces in the US and around the world to present exhibitions and public programs for broad audiences; and professional development initiatives for curators.
Our collaborative programs connect curators, artists, and audiences from across social, political, and cultural borders. They form an international framework for sharing knowledge and resources — promoting cultural exchange, access to art, and public awareness for the curator’s role.
The Wright:
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History opens minds and changes lives through the exploration and celebration of African American history and culture. Our vision is of a world in which the adversity and achievement of African American history inspire everyone toward greater understanding, acceptance, and unity.

ReSOURCE
2024-09-14 - 2024-12-21 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Join us for the opening of ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago

Visit the Virtual Experience

Beyond Frames: Black Women Collectors Shaping Cultural Heritage in Chicago
2025-03-28 16:00 - 2025-04-26 00:00 | South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, 60653, United States
Curated by Bethany Hill and rachel dukes
This exhibition highlights a trailblazing group of Black women collectors in Chicago, exploring their practices through care, memory work, and cultural heritage preservation. “Beyond Frames” celebrates an intergenerational group of women who continue this legacy today. Viewers can experience artworks from the personal collections of fourteen different Chicago collectors: Patrica Andrews-Keenan, Carol Briggs, Monique Brinkman-Hill, Faye Edwards, Felicia Grant Preston, Frances Guichard, Eleanor Hambric, Beverly Normand, Cynthia Smith, Arcilla Stahl, Christina Steed, Gail Spann, Sonia Spencer, Alita Tucker, and Shyvette Williams. Each collector was asked:

What piece in your collection brings you the most joy?
What piece represents an aspect of who you are?
What piece best represents your journey as a collector?

Through these reflections and oral interviews, “Beyond Frames” delves into the personal and cultural significance of their collections. These stories reveal how collecting Black art is not only a creative and curatorial act but also an act of cultural preservation, resistance, and community building.
Pictured from top left to bottom right: Sonia Spencer, Patricia Andrews-Keenan, Monique Brinkman-Hill, Faye Edwards, Felicia Grant Preston, Frances Guichard, Gail Spann, Cynthia Smith, Shyvette Williams (photography by Marvin Wells), Beverly Normand, Alita Tucker, Carol Briggs, Christina Steed
The exhibition also honors ancestors Etta Moten Barnett, Margaret Burroughs, Frances Minor, Linda Murray, and Susan Woodson, pioneering female collectors of Black art in Chicago. These women dedicated their lives to preserving the art of the African diaspora, creating galleries and museums in their homes and building invaluable networks to support Black artists.
Pictured from top left to bottom right: Dr. Margaret Burroughs, Etta Moten Barnett, Linda Murray (Photo courtesy of Nubia Murray), Susan Cayton Woodson and Frances Minor at a celebration of Etta Moten Barnett
“Beyond Frames” invites viewers to consider how art transcends traditional frames, engaging with lived experience, ancestral homage, and memory. By celebrating these women, “Beyond Frames” underscores the critical role of Black women collectors in sustaining African diasporic heritage.
Courtesy of the South Side Community Art Center
About the Co-Curators:

Bethany Hill (she/her) is an archivist, curator, and PhD candidate in Art History specializing in Black visual culture and Black feminist spatial practices. Her work explores the ways Black women cultural creators engage in radical spatial thinking and worldbuilding through art and archives. She’s passionate about preserving and celebrating Black cultural heritage by leading archival initiatives, curating exhibitions, and developing research projects that amplify Black creative legacies. She has led numerous curatorial and research projects at the South Side Community Art Center in Chicago, highlighting its rich history and contemporary significance. Currently, Bethany serves as the Community Engagement Coordinator at Duke University’s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library, where she fosters collaborations that center Black voices in archival stewardship and interpretation.

rachel dukes is a writer and curator based in Chicago. rachel has supported numerous curatorial projects across Chicago, including at the South Side Community Art Center, the Hyde Park Art Center, and UIC’s Gallery 400. Her writing has appeared in the Chicago Reader, Sixty Inches From Center, LVL3, and Black Embodiment Studio’s a Year in Black Art. A passionate advocate for community-based arts programming, rachel also serves on the board of Chicago Tap Theatre. In her creative practice, rachel explores the terrain for wonder that is uncovered through art and she is committed to sharing and nurturing this exploration within her community.
About SSCAC:
Founded in 1940, the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) stands as a testament to the resilience and creativity of the Black American art community. As the oldest Black American art center in the United States and a Chicago Historic Landmark, SSCAC is a beacon of cultural heritage and innovation. We take pride in our rich past and continue to build on our legacy, serving as an artist- and community-centered resource with diverse programs and exhibitions. The mission of the South Side Community Art Center is to conserve, preserve, and promote the legacy and future of Black American art and artists while educating the community on the value of art and culture.
