Exhibition


The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University
$150,000
Evanston, Illinois
2023

To support Woven Being: Indigenous Art Histories of Chicagoland (working title) (January–July 2025), an exhibition that offers critical perspectives on the art history of the Chicago region by centering the viewpoints of four Indigenous artists with ties to this land: Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe), Kelly Church (Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band Pottawatomi), Nora Moore Lloyd (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), and Jason Wesaw (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi). The grant supports an engagement fellow, who develops programs, co-designs a visitor community room, and assists in building relationships. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Newberry Library
$40,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Immigrant Printing in Chicago (December 2024–March 2025), an exhibition that reflects on the lived experiences of immigrant printers, designers, and bookmakers in Chicago and explores how printing by and for immigrant communities has shaped the city’s cultural landscape. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Design Museum of Chicago
$125,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Letters Beyond Form: Chicago Types (November 2024–April 2025), an exhibition that looks at typography (the shape and design of letters) within Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods to investigate design legacies and their contemporary echoes. The project highlights alternative modernisms by considering how revolutionary movements and concepts like love and safety have shaped the way communities spread and designed information for one another. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who helps build deeper relationships on the South Side and hosts events. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

South Side Community Art Center
$150,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago (October–December 2024), a wide-ranging historical and contemporary exhibition that focuses on Black artists in Chicago who work with found objects and repurposed materials, environmentally sustainable materials and ecological themes, including the space of the city as theme and medium. Forging connections between historical practices of resourcefulness and the urgency of contemporary ecological themes, the exhibition shows how earlier generations of Black artists constitute a powerful source of ideas and traditions for artists working today. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who teaches youth programs and coordinates with partner organizations. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art
$125,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Chicago as Catalyst: Immigrant Communities Nourish Self-Taught Artists (working title) (October 2024–April 2025), an exhibition that focuses on the impact of immigration and the immigrant experience on artists who began a self-taught practice upon arriving in Chicago. It explores how identity relates to artists’ efforts in the context of Chicago’s support for culture and community exchange. Themes include longing for one’s homeland, labor, individual expression, and tendencies toward assimilation. The range of subject matter and artistic styles reflects artists processing distinct cultural traditions and memories, as well as intersecting with the everyday experiences of living in diaspora. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who designs and supports public programming for adults and teens. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN)
$59,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Inverse Surveillance (October 2024–1st quarter 2025), an installation created by Chicago-based artist Assia Boundaoui with the Arab and Muslim American communities in Chicago that takes the shape of a full-scale labyrinth, containing more than 33,000 pages of Freedom of Information Act documents collected during a decade-long FBI surveillance of the community. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

6018North
$75,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Myth of the Organic City (September 2024–June 2025), a broad-ranging exhibition that provides an overview of Chicago’s early designs, historical development, and contemporary usage of its water, land, and air, beginning with its Indigenous roots and extending to present-day climate concerns. Drawing from Chicago’s seal “Urbs in Horto” or “City in a Garden,” the exhibition pairs Chicago’s historical design choices with contemporary artist projects and community-led approaches to offer ways of reimagining our complicated relationship with the city and with nature. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who liaises with community partners and develops community-responsive public-engagement activities. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
$108,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond (September–December 2024), an exhibition primarily focused on fiber, ceramics, jewelry, wood, and glass that highlights the contributions to Chicago’s visual and cultural fabric made by immigrants, artists of color, and artists who have operated outside of mainstream contexts. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who oversees the development of educational programming and community outreach. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
$50,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support beLONGING: Lithuanian Artists in Chicago 1900 to Now (September 2024–December 2025), an exhibition exploring identity and place through the diverse work, perspectives, and legacy of three waves of Lithuanian immigrant artists in Chicago. This exhibition and its associated programs and publications consider the causes and consequences of immigration/migration, including displacement, colonization, trauma, and assimilation. The cost of belonging is choosing what to leave behind; its reward, creating new connections in this culturally diverse and evolving city. The grant supports an engagement fellow, who identifies partners for community-engagement initiatives and develops audience-engagement and educational programs. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

DePaul Art Museum
$110,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917–1967 (September 2024–February 2025), the first retrospective and most comprehensive solo presentation of Edgar Miller’s work to date. This exhibition situates his work within the broader socio-cultural histories of Chicago and the communities in which he operated. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Newberry Library
$125,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Indigenous Chicago (September 2024–January 2025), part of a multifaceted initiative developed in a partnership involving the Newberry, representatives from several tribal nations, and Native community members in Chicago. This exhibition explores Indigenous history in Chicago across five centuries to highlight the way that the city’s development has been shaped by Indigenous lives and land. Indigenous Chicago centers the voices and impacts of Indigenous leaders, activists, and artists to tell a new history of Chicago. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
$124,000
Chicago, Illinois
2023

To support Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889–1935 (September 2024–July 2025), an exhibition, catalogue, and series of craft workshops that explore the history and legacy of arts education at Hull-House in the early 20th century. Together with a companion exhibition at Gallery 400, the projects tell the first broad history of arts education and artist-educators in Chicago. The project is part of the Terra Foundation initiative Art Design Chicago.