Harvey B. Gantt Center’s Black Carolina Cohort Visits Chicago
At Friday’s event, members engaged in an intimate program of introductions, reflections, and shared visioning for the future of Black art in the South. The gallery setting — known for spotlighting diasporic voices — served as a fitting backdrop for the BCC’s cross-regional exchange.
The momentum continued Saturday with a visit to the historic South Side Community Art Center, a beacon for Black creativity since the 1940s. There, the collective explored legacies of resistance and artistic excellence rooted in Chicago’s South Side, drawing connections to their own practices and communities.
Through curated gatherings, exclusive development opportunities, and a strong network of Black creatives, the BCC remains committed to expanding access, amplifying voices, and nurturing sustainable, artist-led change. As the 2025 cohort steps into this next chapter, their Chicago visit signals a bold step toward national dialogue and deeper interregional solidarity in the arts.
Chicago Public Art Group Welcomes Janice Bond as Executive Director Amidst Vibrant New Projects
The Chicago Public Art Group (CPAG) has announced the appointment of Janice Bond as its new Executive Director, effective May 22, 2025. Bond, a respected arts leader and cultural strategist, brings a dynamic vision to CPAG’s mission of fostering community through collaborative public art. Her leadership is expected to invigorate CPAG’s longstanding commitment to transforming urban spaces into canvases for collective expression.
This leadership transition coincides with the unveiling of 19 new artworks in Hyde Park’s “Viaduct Galleries” along 53rd Street. Curated by CPAG and funded by Hyde Park’s Special Service Area №61, the project showcases a diverse array of artists, from self-taught creatives to internationally recognized muralists. Each artist received a $3,000 stipend, affirming CPAG’s dedication to supporting artists financially. The selected pieces were chosen from over 600 submissions, reflecting the community’s rich artistic talent.
Artists like Andy Bellomo, whose “Stained Glass Pride Flag” adorns the viaduct, emphasize the power of collective creativity. “When a whole bunch of artists get together, there’s a collective energy… giving back to the community,” Bellomo noted.
Under Bond’s leadership, CPAG is poised to continue its legacy of enriching Chicago’s neighborhoods with art that resonates, inspires, and unites.
UNDER THE FLICKERING LIGHT OF THE NORTH STAR BY MICI MEKO
Under the Flickering Light of the North Star, currently on view at Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, presents a compelling body of work by Alabama-born artist Michi Meko. Drawing from the haunting beauty of southern swamplands and moonlit bayous, Meko’s nighttime renderings of flora and fauna are at once atmospheric, deeply evocative and most of all message laden. Executed on paper and illuminated with gold leaf and glitter, these works shimmer with a spectral quality, embodying both the delicacy and tension found in nature.
Meko, whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, and installation, utilizes spray paint, found objects, and handmade tools to build complex, layered compositions. His visual language is rooted in a powerful interplay of light and texture, channeling themes of survival, resistance, and memory. By reimagining the American landscape through the lens of fugitivity and resilience, Meko challenges viewers to confront histories — both personal and collective — etched into the land. The exhibition becomes a meditation on Black identity, ecological connection, and ancestral presence, revealing a space where beauty and violence, rebellion and contemplation, coexist. Meko’s art does more than depict; it invites us to feel through the layers of history that flicker just beneath the surface.
The works are on exhibit through May 31st.
DIASPORAL RHYTHMS VISITS CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY PRINTMAKING SHOP
Diasporal Rhythms, a collectors consortium based in Chicago, visited Chicago State University for a Printmaking Workshop with Thomas Lucas, head of Art & Design at the university. at CSU. Joining the group was artist in residence Paul Branton. The discussion centered on the process of printmaking, and key points for those collecting prints. In addition, the group got a sneak peek of works on paper by Joyce Owens for upcoming exhibition at the school. Learn more about CSU’s Art & Design school here.
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