Chicago activists in the 1960s and ’70s used design to create powerful slogans, symbols, and imagery to amplify their visions for social change. The exhibition Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s features over 100 posters, fliers, signs, buttons, newspapers, magazines, and books from the era. These works express radical ideas about race, war, gender equality, and sexuality that challenged mainstream culture. As racism, war, gender inequality, and LGBTQIA+ discrimination remain enduring issues, visitors find works from a new generation of artivists upholding the city’s rich legacy of protest art to fight for social change.
The Art + Activism guide helps viewers further examine six examples of Chicago’s changemaking art in the exhibition.
Chicago activists in the 1960s and ’70s used design to create powerful slogans, symbols, and imagery to amplify their visions for social change.
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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.
