Chicago Narratives: Finding a Creative Home

PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT TAKES PLACE AT THE SOUTH ASIA INSTITUTE, NOT UIMA

Join Art Design Chicago exhibiting artists Vida Sačić, Melissa Leandro, Indira Freitas Johnson, and Carlos Barberena for an in-depth conversation about their journeys of immigration and migration, and ways in which those life experiences have shaped their work. In this panel moderated by Hyde Park Art Center ‘s Mariela Acuña, the artists discuss how Chicago and its culture have affected them and their art practices.  

Designed to trace a connective thread through several Art Design Chicago projects, Chicago Narratives: Finding a Creative Home, features artists included in four Art Design Chicago exhibitions including UIMA’s Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s-80s and Beyond, each of which touches on the ways that artists with origins in other places have contributed to Chicago’s creative ecosystem. 

Following the discussion, attendees are invited to engage with the artists via a Q&A session and light refreshments. 

Vida Sačić is a multidisciplinary Croatia-born, Chicago-based artist. Her work in print media explores issues of gender, immigration, and labor, with an emphasis on research, process, and community. Her work will be shown in Making an Impression: Immigrant Printing in Chicago at the Newberry Library starting December 12, 2024.  

Melissa Leandro is a first-generation US Latinx artist of Costa Rican heritage whose practice lies between the media of drawing, painting, and textiles. Her work is currently on view in Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond at The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art.  

Indira Freitas Johnson identifies as a sculptor, cultural worker, peace activist and educator from Mumbai, India. The combination of art and activism has been a major thread of influence that is interwoven into her art and life. Her work is currently on view at Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art’s Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond and South Asia Institute’s What is Seen and Unseen: Mapping South Asian American Art in Chicago exhibition. 

Carlos Barberena is a Nicaraguan born, Chicago-based contemporary printmaker known for his relief prints and the use of images from pop culture, as well as from political and cultural tragedies. His work will be shown at Intuit: the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago as Catalyst: Immigrant Communities Nourish Self-Taught Artists beginning in April 2025.  

Mariela Acuña is an art administrator and curator from San José, Costa Rica currently based in Chicago. As Exhibitions and Residency Manager at Hyde Park Art Center, her primary role is to steward the Jackman Goldwasser Residency, which invites local, national, and international artists and curators to hone their practice, develop research, and expand their networks in the context of a community-focused contemporary art center.

Please RSVP.