Conversations with the Collection: Building/Environments
August 29, 2017 - January 28, 2018

Building/Environments is a collection-based exhibition that questions the ways we occupy and perceive the built environment. The project dramatically reconfigures the Smart’s collection and own interior environment, opening up new perspectives on beloved artists and art objects.

Emmanuel Pratt: Radical [Re]Constructions
September 12, 2017 – Summer 2018

Emmanuel Pratt’s interdisciplinary approach to regenerative place making on the South Side of Chicago mixes art, architecture, community, and economic development. His new, site-specific installation transforms the Smart Museum’s lobby and courtyard. The installation features a large, three-dimensional representation of a house, set against the Museum’s central lobby wall, and constructed from salvaged materials by master craftspeople and youth apprentices from the Sweet Water Foundation. Other features include architectural wall drawings, video elements, and a functional front porch stoop. The installation extends to the sculpture garden, where a network of sculptural furniture made from reclaimed wood provides inclusive spaces to sit, meet, and eat.