Exhibitions
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PrintDeveloping Authentic Audiences
Through exhibitions, CAPE takes the position that teachers, students and artists working in arts integration are indeed contemporary artists whose practice should be confirmed and showcased to the public in professional spaces. By bringing CAPE teachers, artists and students into the curatorial process, CAPE’s “exhibition-as-curriculum” approach deliberately moves the presentation of collaborative, arts-integrated work beyond the typical student display or art fair.
Origins of Now Historic in More Ways than One
When it was originally suggested that CAPE work with the Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago (JASC), no one foresaw that what would emerge over a year later would be an historic exhibit chronicling the little-known experiences of Chicago’s Japanese Americans; museum-quality contemporary artwork created by CAPE students, reflecting a deep understanding of the curriculum studied; and a community-school partnership that could become a model for future projects.
The much-anticipated opening of Origins of Now: ReBuilding Community provided all attendees with an experience that marked their lives. For some, it was vindicating; for others, liberating. One’s personal relationship with the history portrayed had much to do with the reaction it caused. But all viewers were touched.
At the preview March 9, 2007 for those involved with the year-and-a-half long project, it most assuredly was a triumph. Not only was the story of the Japanese American experience, from immigration to Chicago resettlement, portrayed, but the coupling of history with the artwork created by Chicago Public School children added depth and resonance to the experience.
“The power of the artwork comes from the deep level of identification the students felt with the story of the Japanese Americans, a story both so large and universal that its unforgettable meanings continue to unfold,” Scott Sikkema, CAPE Program Director, said. “Each student could not help but think, ‘how would I feel if I were in their place?’”
As Arnold Aprill, Executive Director of CAPE noted, “this project stands as a model for successful community-education partnership.” Through JASC and CAPE, four Japanese American community leaders, evacuees, internees and resettlers brought their stories to Mark Sheridan Math and Science Academy and Northside College Prep. Through CAPE’s methodology of arts integration which pairs teachers with teaching artists, the students learned about the Japanese American experience and created artwork representing their understanding and feelings about their experience. Although all the community leaders were in their 80s, the students were able to identify with their experiences very well, since many were close to the leaders’ ages (mid-to-late teens) at the time these critical events were unfolding.
On March 10, an estimated 500 people viewed the exhibit. Michael Tanimura, JASC board member and exhibit creative director, noted that for those who had lived the experiences portrayed, the exhibit seemed to be very liberating.
“I heard friends who had known each other over 50 years talk with each other for the first time about their experiences from the internment camps,” he said. “Surviving internees and resettlers were also talking with complete strangers, adding their personal experiences to provide additional insights to the story told on the exhibit scrolls.”
Everyone was struck by the artwork created by the 7th graders from Mark Sheridan and the high schoolers from Northside. The level of complexity of the installations and the depth of understanding of the material they studied were apparent to all. More than one viewer noted that the exhibit compared favorably with offerings at Chicago and West Coast historical and art museums. And having both the history and reflective artwork together added to an unprecedented presentation.
Jacqueline Terrassa, Head of Planning at the Freer & Sackler Galleries of the Smithsonian, and an experienced practitioner and observer of art and CAPE’s integrated arts teaching methodology, was ebullient in her praise of the exhibit.
She was struck by how the historic exhibit, designed by CAPE partner Silver Image Creative, informed the work of the students, and how the art works of the students made that history more palpable and emotional. “I was also struck by how these students had made manifest very complex ideas and historic information in a way that seemed effortless, ” Jackie said. “They clearly absorbed the content, but they also were able to draw from a very sophisticated artistic language that they now call their own.
“And finally, as an adult who sees every day how hard it is for people to work collaboratively and plan together, I was amazed at how well middle-school and high school students pulled the project off, planning organically and working rigorously from beginning to end.”
The Honorable Norman Mineta, one of a handful of individuals who have served in the Cabinets of two Presidents from opposing parties, and who himself was interned as a young boy, was struck by the power of the art created by the students. He was especially moved by the installation “Shadow Window,” created by students from a scene in the novel When the Emperor Was Divine. He said it chillingly brought back memories of lying in his family’s barracks in Heart Mountain Internment Camp, and being afraid of the searchlights and shadows they caused as they passed his window as he tried to go to sleep.
Indivisible: Stories of Chicago Communities
A collaboration between the Terra Museum of American Art and CAPE, in which 16 Chicago public schools looked at concepts of community through contemporary art practice, and prepared their own exhibitions.
Click Indivisible to learn more about this exhibition.
Exchanging Symbols
Seventh graders from two Chicago public schools, working with educators from CAPE, Anchor Graphics, and the Terra Museum of American Art, created their own symbol systems inspired by the work of Jasper Johns.
Click Exchanging Symbols to learn more about this exhibition.
Spiritual Passports/Transformative Journeys
Eleven Chicago public schools, working with CAPE, the Illinois Art Gallery, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Illinois Writing Project, developed an exhibition of student work about transformative moments in the lives of middle schoolers.
Click Spiritual Passports/Transformative Journeys to learn more about this exhibition.
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The hand-stitched Censorship Quilt was generated by the strong reactions 7th grade students at Mark Sheridan had when they learned that internees' mail was opened and censored before it was allowed to leave the camp.
For many visitors, it was their first opportunity to learn about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and the struggles they went through in trying to re-enter society.
- Students at Mark Sheridan used sand to create a map of the United States, then placed rocks at the locations of the 10 internment camps. They wanted to reflect on the harsh conditions at the camp, but also on the spirit of the internees, who took pride in making their environments as beautiful as possible.