Exhibits at the Harold Washington Library Center

Capturing the Beauty of Science
May 4, 2013 – September 22, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
Van Buren Corridor, Ground Floor
400 S. State Street

The same scientific research that generates new understanding and innovation also brings unexpected and often breathtaking beauty. Northwestern University’s annual Scientific Images Contest, presented by Science in Society, celebrates and showcases the aesthetic side of research. This exhibit features winning images from the 2012 contest.

Illustrated Press: Chicago
Home in One Place: A South Side Story
Kathy Has a Question
February 23, 2013 – July 28, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
Congress Corridor, Ground Floor
400 S. State Street

The Chicago Public Library presents the exhibits Home in One Place: A South Side Story and Kathy Has a Question by The Illustrated Press. Founded by Chicago journalist Darryl Holliday and graphic artist Erik Nelson Rodriquez, The Illustrated Press produces comics journalism stories. One reviewer called their first book, The Illustrated Press: Chicago, “a love letter” to their city. Work from The Illustrated Press can be found in various Midwest outlets, including WBEZ, The Progressive magazine and Gapersblock.com. Kathy Has a Question was produced in partnership with Curious City, a co-production of Jennifer Brandel, WBEZ and AIR - the Association of Independents in Radio – with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Home in One Place can be found in The Illustrated Press: Chicago.

Horizon
April 5, 2013 – June 30, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
Special Collections Exhibit Hall, Ninth Floor
400 S. State Street

Horizon features the work of 53 book artists. Juried by the Guild of Bookworkers, artists were given the theme “horizon” to interpret. Founded in 1906, the Guild of Book Workers is a national organization dedicated to the book arts, including bookbinding, conservation, printing, papermaking, calligraphy, marbling and artists’ books.

Early Chicago Women Artists: A Video Exhibit Created by the Illinois Women Artists Project
June 3, 2013 – July 8, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
Eighth Floor
400 S. State Street

Early Chicago Women Artists highlights the achievements of early women artists who lived and worked in Chicago between 1840 and 1940. They used their creativity to make art, raise their children, establish community organizations, and to teach and run businesses. They have interesting stories to tell about their desire to create something and their willingness to go beyond societal boundaries to do it. Their achievements contributed significantly to the work of today’s artists. For more information, visit the Illinois Women Artists Project.

Forest for the Trees: An Installation of Book Sculpture by Carolyn Cronin Hughes
May 3, 2013 – June 21, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
North Exhibit Cases, Eighth Floor
400 S. State Street

Chicago Public Library presents an installation by Carolyn Cronin Hughes, a sculptural forest constructed from discarded books. Hughes is inspired by the many lives that books have, and those they touch. She states, “As I re-imagine these books into new art forms, I envision their previous lives and purpose: the heart and soul that went into writing and producing them; the knowledge and information shared and disseminated; the delight of a good story.” The artist was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side.

Bodies and Patterns: A Relationship in Question, the Art of Elizabeth Merritt Kong
April 30, 2013 – June 21, 2013

Harold Washington Library Center
Flat Exhibit Cases, Eighth Floor
400 S. State Street

In honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, the Art Information Center presents an exhibit by Elizabeth Merritt Kong. Her mixed media screen prints represent an ongoing consideration of the relationship between sequence and bodies; social, cellular and otherwise. What does it mean for a life to be formulated by sequence? How do we recognize a shift or disruption in this sequence? These relationships and their possible outcomes are investigated in these images. Originally from southern California, the artist resides in Chicago.

Chicago’s Got Soul Second to None
Ongoing

Harold Washington Library Center
South Wall Case, Eighth Floor
400 S. State Street

This exhibit highlights the history of soul music, with a spotlight on the Chicago scene and such soul and R&B favorites as Jerry Butler, Lou Rawls, Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Quincy Jones and The Staple Singers. The biographical information, personal quotations, photographs, record album covers and advertisements show that our city has enjoyed soul music second to none.

Called to the Challenge: The Legacy of Harold Washington
Ongoing

Harold Washington Library Center
Harold Washington Exhibit Hall, Ninth Floor
400 S. State Street

This exhibit highlights three themes from Washington’s personal and political legacy – his life, his image and his work. Harold Washington, 42nd mayor of Chicago, was the city’s first African American mayor. He was a reformer who changed Chicago politics and a person who never lost sight of the place from which he came and the influences that inspired him. This exhibition is drawn largely from the Harold Washington Archives & Collections of the Special Collections and Preservation Division of the Chicago Public Library.