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Upcoming Events

Three photo portraits side-by-side, from left to right. A Black man wearing glasses, a patterned scarf and a blue blazer in front of a lake. Second, a Black woman wearing a tri-color woven hat, cowrie shell earrings, and an embroidered-blue blouse in front of a bright geometric backdrop. And last, a South Asian Woman in a leather jacket; her hair tied up in a bun, with long bangs framing her face.

2 November 2026 6:00 P.M. – 7:30 P.M.

Never The Same River Film Screenings and Conversation

A performance of a dancer sitting on a sculptural rocking chair, with her feet pointed and arms spread outward. She poses amidst large ceramic sculptures in a brightly-lit gallery with open windows.

6 NOVEMBER 2026 2:00 P.M. & 5:00 P.M.

Contract and Release / Still Release, a performance by Brendan Fernandes

Past Events

A gray-scale image of a group of figures with stylized, pale masks on their faces, standing on a boat. The boat is partially submerged in wavy water, and a suitcase rests on top of the head of one of the figures.

Exhibition Opening: Never The Same River

A reflective lake with mossy stones against a great fog. Three brass metal instruments lay on top of the rocks; their reflections ripple in the water.

Transverse Waves Symposium

A tiny pink toy-car on top of historical maps, collaged with archival photos of people working on a river.

Transverse Waves with Archivo Familiar del Río Colorado

A bustling street scene with a man pushing a cart of large baskets filled with ice. Vehicles and more baskets are seen in the busy and industrious background.

Visita Guiada en español junto al curador – Humid Traces / Curator-Led Tour in Spanish- Humid Traces

A 3-D topographical model showcasing a mountainous terrain with a red path, illuminated against a dark background, and a desk with several documents and tools.

Curator-led Tour in English – Humid Traces

A photo of a short-haired older-woman swimming with white text overlaid "women here are raised to be mothers"

Exhibition Opening: Humid Traces

A Black woman shaping a vertical, clay vase in front of an audience.

Ladi Kwali Teaching in Chicago: A Visual Lecture by ebere agwuncha

A square grid of 4 headshots featuring Jareh Das, Adebunmi Gbadebo, Lauren Tate Baeza, and Anina Major

Clay as Living Archive

An installation view of a gallery exhibition featuring various ceramic sculptures and clay pots that differ in size, texture and color.

Curatorial Walkthrough – Body Vessel Clay

An entrance with doors propped open into a gallery exhibition. The left wall has geometric designs and text that reads “Body Vessel Clay”

Exhibition Opening: Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art

A green gallery interior with artworks of various mediums including canvas, photography, sculpture and mixed media.

Curatorial Walkthrough – THIS IS NOT A RETREAT!

Headshot of artist Africanus Okokon

Sonic Performance by Artist Africanus Okokon

A painted rainbow artwork next to the entrance of the Ford Foundation Gallery.

Exhibition Opening: THIS IS NOT A RETREAT! NXTHVN Through the Years

Two people smiling in front of a garden background. Both people are wearing necklaces; one is wearing a black blazer and the other a red sweater.

Reverberations in Dialogue: Collaboration and Community in Design

A collage of maps, posters, and images with various colors, scripts and fonts.

Reverberations in Dialogue: Lineages of Design and Design History

An exhibition wall displays colorful posters, framed artworks, and smaller items and publications on a shelf. The centerpiece is a vibrant, text-heavy poster. To the right, posters on wooden sticks say “Water is Life”.

Exhibition Opening: Reverberations: Lineages in Design History

Installation of a grand piano with framed photos on the lid and on the wall behind it.

Visita Guiada en español de la exposición Cantando Bajito: Chorus junto a la curadora / Spanish Curator-Led Tour – Cantando Bajito: Chorus

A white gallery interior with cement floors. There are multiple artworks in the gallery including a living room-inspired installation with a vintage television and floral wallpaper; a row of four photographs of women braiding their hair; a gold mannequin in a black dress, a pink curtain installation, a colorful canvas with paint.

Curatorial Walkthrough – Cantando Bajito: Chorus

Close-up of two people holding hands in a circle, with others in the background, outdoors in a wooded area. The people are wearing pale earthy-tone t-shirts and leafy head pieces.

Cantando Bajito: Convening in Chorus

Gallery interior with white walls and a gray cement floor. A white desk is next to the entry doors. And to the right are three red tapestries featuring silhouettes of women protesters.

Exhibition Opening: Cantando Bajito: Chorus

Gallery interior with terracotta red walls. There are multiple sculptural artworks, multiple tv monitors playing videos, and some historical photographs.

Visita Guiada en español de la exposición Cantando Bajito: Encantamientos junto a la curadora / Spanish Curator-Led Tour – Cantando Bajito: Incantations

Dr. Akiko Mizoguchu with short dark hair is wearing a black outfit, standing against a dark, textured background, looking slightly to her right.

The Power of Boys’ Love, a Talk by Dr. Akiko Mizoguchi

Gallery interior with terracotta red walls featuring exhibition text to the left and mixed media installation resembling a shrine with soft sculpture, pillows, fabric chains, and wax molds to the right.

「輕聲歌唱：咒語」策展人普通話導賞 / Mandarin Curator-Led Tour – Cantando Bajito: Incantations

Hui Serene’s artwork, Gossip, is a white paper, accordion-folded, with English black text and Nüshu letter-pressed.

Curatorial Walkthrough – Cantando Bajito: Incantations

A sculptural artwork before the entrance of the Ford Foundation Gallery that stands before a blue painted wall and on top of a wood floor. The sculpture is made up of piled gourds and straw, and stands 8 feet tall.

Exhibition Opening: Cantando Bajito: Incantations

Gallery interior with light lavender walls and a gray floor. There are several artworks hung on the wall such as three printed photographs, a red monitor, and an arrangement of fifteen framed black-and-white photographs. A three by three steel-tray installation sits in the middle of the floor and a long-ribbon papered installation hangs to the left corner of the photo. In the background above a white desk, the wall has text with header “Cantando Bajito: Testimonies”.

Visita Guiada en Español de la Exposición Cantando Bajito: Testimonios Junto a la Curadora / Spanish Curator-Led Tour – Cantando Bajito: Testimonies

A black and white photograph of a woman standing in a field of dirt and a body of water in the far background. She is walking towards the opposite direction of the camera, in a long floral-like patterned dress with long sleeves. A piece of cloth is tied diagonally across her shoulder, and she is balancing what appears to be a bundle of branches on top of her head.

Eshina lyo ku topa topa / Typewriter, a performance by Tuli Mekondjo

Glass vessel with prongs resting in a basin filled with dirt. Some dirt has been swept aside, revealing the metal bottom of the basin.

Curatorial Walkthrough – Cantando Bajito: Testimonies

Grey-scaled headshot images of Gabrielle Goliath to the left wearing a black shirt and black-circular frame glasses. And Tina Campt to the right wearing a knit-patterned shirt and various bead necklaces.

In Conversation: Gabrielle Goliath and Tina Campt

An installation of a brick-lady sculpture on a gray pedestal in front of a dark purple wall with text “Cantando Bajito: Testimonies”. To the right of the wall is a gold-metallic door frame; and a white wall with some text, titled with the header “Ford Foundation Gallery”.

Exhibition Opening: Cantando Bajito: Testimonies

A pair of photographs, one of speaker Ruha Benjamin and the other of moderator Paul Holdengräber. They are speaking and listening respectively, Benjamin with hands raised in gesture, and Holdengräber with an expression of intent listening, from left to right against black backgrounds.

In Conversation: Ruha Benjamin and Paul Holdengräber

Three headshots on an event flyer with a black background: one of artist Mimi Ọnụọha in partial profile against a white and gray background with faint lines of text transposed across the image; another of artist Stephanie Dinkins smiling wearing a pale floral blouse against an orange background; and a third in black and white of moderator Salome Asega gazing to the right in a white turtleneck and layered jacket.

In Conversation: Stephanie Dinkins and Mimi Ọnụọha Moderated by Salome Asega

A hand reaches for a dark-gray file from a white-steel filing cabinet. This cabinet is crammed with numerous files, which are all tabbed of different “missing data sets.” The chosen file is tabbed “Global web user measurements that include VPNs.”

Curator-led tour: What Models Make Worlds: Critical Imaginaries of AI

An installation on two walls, a large window, and a section of floor at the end of a hallway. There are wallpapered elements in geometric patterns on all surfaces. A rug hangs vertically on the back wall and there are two sculpted pillars on the floor at waist height.

Exhibition Opening: What Models Make Worlds: Critical Imaginaries of AI

A collage of black and white pages from a book

In Conversation: For Freedoms x The Writing on the Wall

A graphic with photographs of artists Jared Owens and Sherrill Roland.

In Conversation: Jared Owens & Sherrill Roland

Interior of the Ford Foundation Gallery showcasing the "No Justice Without Love" exhibition. A white partition displays a vibrant painting of two women, while the back wall is covered in a floor-to-ceiling document-style mural.

Exhibition Opening: No Justice Without Love

Smiling figure in fuschia satin shirt and head wrap, holding a microphone.

Clown Moods

Several people sit in a circle with backstrap looms connecting them together.

Weaving Care: A Panel on Disability and Craft

A person is standing in a jungle surrounded by palm trees with a blue plastic tarp over their head.

Exhibition Opening: Indisposable: Tactics for Care and Mourning

Stylized and shaped text reads WE DO NOT BREAK, BECAUSE WE CAN BEND

We do not break, because we can bend: How we organize in the face of anti Asian, anti femme violence

A photograph of the exhibition everything slackens in a wreck

everything slackens in a wreck – Curator led tour July 23

A painting by Kelly Sinnapah Mary of a woman with black hair and white puffy sleeves emerging from a field of snake plants.

Artist Talk: Kelly Sinnapah Mary

A blue-child figure with white wings and a painted gold headband holding a rainbow

Andil Gosine and Rajiv Mohabir: A Pride Love-Up Moderated by Tzarina Prater

everything slackens in a wreck Ford Foundation gallery exhibition photo 1

Exhibition opening: everything slackens in a wreck

Image of a digital textile using multiple images and text into a woven grid-like pattern.

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 8

Silhouette of artist Allison Leigh Holt looking over water-filled glass spheres and objects that are casting shapes and shadows of refracted light onto the wall.

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 7

A triptych of images zoomed in to soil, grass, and orange fungus.

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 6

An outline of a black rectangle on top of a light gray background. On either side of the black rectangle are slightly blurry vertical hot pink and dark gray lines.

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 5

People in colorful clothing and face masks weave multicolored yarn onto a geometric structure outside at a spacious green park

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 4

Three actors in colorful flowing garments sit next to one another and lean against one other

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 3

Sami Schalk wearing a bright colored sparkling bodysuit, eyeglasses, and an iridescent sequin face mask leaning over a supermarket shopping cart

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 2

Artist Vanessa German wearing a white dress with black spots stands in a garden path under a landscaped arch, surrounded by orange, purple, red, and yellow flowers

Listening as an Act of Love / Dispatches from the Future with vanessa german – Sessions #1-3

Person lying on the grass looking at a mountain range.

Indisposable: Structures of Support After the ADA, Chapter 1

Musician Spirit McIntyre wearing glasses and a short-sleeved collared shirt performing on stage, singing into a microphone while holding an upright double bass. Nick Turner, Executive Vice President, Programs

PerSister in Song – Virtual Concert

The Graduates, founded in 2012, is a performance ensemble composed of four formerly incarcerated women from Louisiana.

Life, a performance by The Graduates

Epaul Julien, 13th, 2018 Mixed media photo collage, encaustic wax, acrylic, gesso and resin on wood 28 x 24 inches

Curator-led tour: March 3

PerSister portraits by Allison Beondé

Exhibition opening: PerSister

Photographic artwork titled "Syzygy" (2019) by Lola Flash, depicting a person in an orange jumpsuit and astronaut helmet with red handcuffs, standing outdoors before a large body of water. Lola Flash, Syzygy, 2019

Curator-led tour: November 16

Interior view of the Ford Foundation Gallery featuring the "Utopian Imagination" exhibition. The wide-angle shot shows a patterned astronaut mannequin, a futuristic aircraft sculpture, and white pedestals with small artworks against light blue walls.

Utopian Imagination | Artists in Conversation

Digital artwork titled "Iftin" (2017) by Farxiyo Jaamac, showing a young girl in a red headscarf standing in front of a stone wall with circular portal openings revealing celestial space scenes. Farxiyo Jaamac, IFTIN, 2017, Private Collection

Curator-led tour: October 5

Alt Text: Underwater photograph by Sue Austin titled "Creating the Spectacle!" featuring a woman in a floral dress leaning back while operating a submerged wheelchair in deep blue water, shown in Perilous Bodies. Sue Austin | Creating the Spectacle! Part 1: Finding Freedom, 2012 | Video

Curator-led tour: August 17

Elaborate installation artwork by Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt featuring foiled panels with skeletal figures and small metallic objects arranged across a red gallery wall, displayed in the Perilous Bodies art exhibition. Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt | The Preying Hands: In a Little Corner Chapel to Mammon in the Cathedral of Moloch, Greed Makes Human Sacrifice Expedient Upon the Altar of Racism, Displacement and Gentrification, 1985 | Mixed-media installation

Curator-led tour: July 13

Artwork by Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry featuring six framed mugshot-style portraits of Black men mounted against a deep red gallery wall in the Perilous Bodies art exhibition.

Curator-led tour: July 10

Collaged artwork by María Berrío featuring women, children, birds, an owl, and an elephant amidst textured fabrics set against a starry night sky in the Perilous Bodies art exhibition. Maria Berrio | Nativity, 2014 | Collage with Japanese paper, acrylic and watercolor paint, pencil, and rhinestones

Curator-led tour: June 15

Alt Text: Wide installation view of the Ford Foundation Gallery featuring vibrant artworks mounted on red walls, including botanical wall sculptures, paintings, and a beadwork installation from the Perilous Bodies exhibition. Interior view of the Ford Foundation Gallery exhibition, "Radical Love." Vibrant red walls feature lush botanical installations, contemporary photography, and a large-scale beaded tapestry. The space showcases social justice art and multimedia works exploring themes of love and liberation.

Exhibition opening: Radical Love

Installation view of the "Perilous Bodies" exhibition at Ford Foundation Gallery, featuring a wooden ladder sculpture, colorful woven textiles on pallets, wall art, and Margarita Cabrera's fabric cactus.

Curator-led tour: May

Alt Text: Spacious art gallery featuring mixed-media artworks, including textured American flag pieces on white walls, a ceiling installation, floor displays, and colorful paintings, showcased in the Perilous Bodies exhibition.

Perilous Bodies: Artists in Conversation

Gallery view of the "Perilous Bodies" exhibition featuring Otobong Nkanga's large blue tapestry, Margarita Cabrera's fabric cactus, and decorative textile installations highlighting themes of migration and social movement.

Curator-led tour: March

Artist Vanessa German performing onstage under vibrant blue lighting in the Aetna Theater, wearing a wide pattern-printed dress with one arm raised high.

Exhibition opening: Perilous Bodies

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