Elizabeth Catlett, My right is a future of equality with other Americans, from the series The Negro Woman, 1947. Ink and graphite on paper. Collection of University of Northern Colorado.
Of Her Becoming highlights the printmaking, work, and impact of influential artist and activist Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012) within an important site in Catlett’s career: Chicago’s South Side. The exhibition includes several of Catlett’s lithograph and woodcut prints as well as work of contemporary Black women printmakers on the South Side. Of Her Becoming sheds new light on the significance of Catlett’s time on Chicago’s South Side, how this period revolutionized her artistic practice, and how her practice still impacts artists and community organizers on the South Side.
Presented at Arts + Public Life’s (APL’s) Arts Incubator Gallery, an important community keystone of APL’s Arts Block, Of Her Becoming engages APL’s neighbors, youth enrolled in APL’s programs, and local and regional artistic and scholarly communities. This exhibition and related programs offer lessons for today from Catlett’s legacy of advocating, through her artwork, for the well–being and advancement of her communities.
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An initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art in partnership with artists and organizations across the city, Art Design Chicago is a series of events and exhibitions that highlight the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
