This collaborative installation is inspired by the moving and powerful expressions of solidarity that emerged as chalky sidewalk slogans and impassioned murals throughout Chicago in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. Walls, sidewalks, front yards, and windows throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods reflected individual and community values. These public yet personal affirmations bring awareness to social injustices that have long impacted our city and nation.
RE-WIRED explores the role that art, craft, and making can play in facilitating communication and humanizing the other. As a material for self-expression, wire is a conduit for transmitting energy and facilitating communication across borders. Here, wire is the primary material for voices that often go unheard. These panels are the result of a collaborative process by individual artists and makers with widely varied backgrounds. They worked together to conceive the installation during creative workshops at the PO Box Collective in Rogers Park and at Access Living, a service, advocacy, and disability cultural center for disabled individuals run and led by disabled people.
Special Thanks: Collaborators & Makers
Lucia Andrade, Beth Bendsten, Katelin Skye Bennett, Betsy Bennifeld, Sumant Chugh, Bona Chun, Jaime Jay Cornejo, Mark Alcazar Diaz, Sarah Doe, Isissia Drake, Larryah Fletcher, Rea Gan, Abla Gharib, Mohammed Gharib, Charlotte “Chuck” Gruman, Curtis Harris, Javier Hernandez, Heayoung Jeng, Lance Johnson, Anke Loh, Alisa Mailboroda, Andreea Maxim, Cesar Mendez, Yuqing Ren, Iliana Rivera, Bahra Pustar, Leo Salazar, Sharon Shoji, Alexis Smith, Warocha Soontornsiri, Jaime Studenroth, Nikhaar Surti, Savneet Talwar, Liz Troy, Valeria Watson, Sandie Yi
Access Living: Karen Tamley, Sandie Yi, Beth Bendtsen
PO Box Collective: Savneet Talwar
Art Supplies provided by Barbara Koenen, The Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange (CCRx)
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and is supported by a DCASE Individual Artists Program Grant. The contents of this exhibition were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTCP0005). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this exhibition do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Shirly Ryan Ability Lab and Bodies of Work: Network Of Disability Art and Culture.
