The University of Illinois Springfield Center for Lincoln Studies’ exhibit “Making Our History: Artists Render Lincoln’s Legacies” will be on display Feb. 10 to March 3 at the Beverly Arts Center, located at 2407 W. 111th St., Chicago. The exhibit will be open 2-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 12-5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. A reception will be held from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, with cocktails and live music.
The exhibit, which features the work of 20 Illinois artists, depicts the life story and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. The artists address the many Lincolns that inhabit our culture and speak to us still: the frontier Lincoln, the family man, the politician, the military chieftain, the emancipator, the icon, the saint, the pop culture figure and cultural artifact, the Land of Lincoln and Lincoln’s still resounding political legacy. The artwork comes in many forms, including paintings, sculptures, prints, photography, virtual reality, conceptual and video art. Short videos documenting the artistic process and the artists’ interpretations of Lincoln’s legacies accompany the artwork.
“Visitors to the exhibit will leave with a new appreciation for Lincoln, and a newfound visual and conceptual vocabulary with which to think about his legacy,” said Graham Peck, the Wepner distinguished professor of Lincoln studies at UIS.
Artists participating in the exhibit include William Blake, Julie Cowan, Keenan Dailey, David Hinds, Danny Houk, Larsen Husby, Jordan Fein, Lori Fuller, Industry of the Ordinary (Adam Brooks & Mathew Wilson), Lindsay Johnson, Kelly Kristin Jones, Judith Joseph, Judith Mayer, Alexander Martin, Mark Nelson, Nathan Peck, Don Pollack, Krista Shelton, Corey Smith and Billie Theide.
Funded by the University of Illinois System Presidential Initiative to Expand the Impact of Arts, the artists took part in a year-long virtual residency with the UIS Center for Lincoln Studies and Visual Arts Program to create 20 original works, under the guidance of Professors Peck and Brytton Bjorngaard. The exhibit was first presented in Springfield this past fall.
The Beverly Arts Center welcomes visits by K-12 teachers and their students. By the summer of 2023, age-appropriate curriculum projects that address state standards will be built into a digital “Making Our History” exhibit to provide teachers throughout the state with engaging and accessible curriculum about Lincoln’s legacies.
In addition to the exhibit and reception, Professor Peck will present “Finding the Antislavery Lincoln in Art,” a free public lecture at the Simmerling Gallery of the Beverly Arts Center at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10.
For more information, visit the Beverly Arts Center website.