Art Design Chicago's Legacy Continues Through Publications

WDCB’s Gary Zidek sits down with some of the people involved with the publication of two stand-out books that were released under the Art Design Chicago Initiative.

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WDCB's Gary Zideksits down with Jenny Siegenthaler, program director of Education, Grants & Initiatives at the Terra Foundation, Maggie Taft, independent scholar & co-editor of ART IN CHICAGO: FROM THE FIRE TO NOW and Kim Coventry, the executive director of the Driehaus Foundation & co-chair of the Caxton Club’s publications committee, for a roundtable discussion about the two Art Design Chicago coffee table books.

“I also hope people will walk away asking what’s next? Now that we have these histories of Chicago’s art world, I think there’s an opportunity to ask where do we go from here? What are the new directions for this city’s art production, art world and creative life generally.” - ART IN CHICAGO co-editor Maggie Taft hopes the book inspires new questions moving forward.

From left to right: Maggie Taft co-editor of the new book ART IN CHICAGO, Jenny Siegenthaler, program director of Education Grants & Initiatives at the Terra Foundation, and Kim Coventry, executive director of the Driehaus Foundation & co-chair of the Caxton Club’s publications committee.

WDCB’s Gary Zidek leads a roundtable discussion about two recently-released coffee table books that provide comprehensive looks at different parts of Chicago’s creative landscape.

ART IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY FROM THE FIRE TO NOW covers almost 150 years, offering an accessible history of Chicago’s visual arts.  And CHICAGO BY THE BOOK: 101 PUBLICATIONS THAT SHAPED THE CITY AND ITS IMAGE profiles 101 landmark publications about the city from the past 170 years.  The books provide readers with a new opportunities to explore Chicago’s rich visual arts and literary histories. And both were made possible by the Terra Foundation-led initiative, ART DESIGN CHICAGO.

Participating in the discussion are: Jenny Siegenthaler, program director of Education Grants & Initiatives at the Terra Foundation, Maggie Taft, independent scholar & co-editor of ART IN CHICAGO: FROM THE FIRE TO NOW and Kim Coventry, the executive director of the Driehaus Foundation & co-chair of the Caxton Club’s publications committee (the organization behind CHICAGO BY THE BOOK).

From left to right: Jenny Siegenthaler, Maggie Taft and Kim Coventry

A look at ART IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY FROM THE FIRE TO NOW

OBAC Visual Artists Workshop and others, Wall of Respect (detail showing Eda’s Black Power fist), 1968 (now destroyed). Photograph: Georg Stahl Mural Collection, University of Chicago Library

Ted Halkin, Angel, 1953

Amanda Williams, Crown Royal Bag, from Color(ed) Theory Suite. 2014-2016. Images courtesy of the artist and McCormick Gallery

A look inside CHICAGO BY THE BOOK: 101 PUBLICATIONS THAT SHAPED THE CITY AND ITS IMAGE

ART IN CHICAGO: A HISTORY FROM THE FIRE TO NOW and CHICAGO BY THE BOOK: 101 PUBLICATIONS THAT SHAPED THE CITY AND ITS IMAGE are available at select book stores. You can also find them online. Both books are published by the University of Chicago Press, check out press.uchicago.edu.

And you can always find more info at artdesignchicago.org

Left to right: WDCB’s Gary Zidek, the Terra Foundation’s Jenny Siegenthaler, editor Maggie Taft and the Driehaus Foundation’s Kim Coventry.