Many accounts of queer history and activism often focus on the legacies of cities like San Francisco and New York City.
But the Museum of Contemporary Art's newest exhibit aims to bring Chicago into that conversation.
"The exhibition examines Chicago's essential, but often under recognized or even overlooked role in the histories of queer art and activism," said Jack Schneider, who curated the exhibit along with curatorial assistant Korina Hernandez.
He said the exhibit, titled "City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago," aims to "fill the gap in scholarship" of queer art and history by highlighting some of the activism that happened between San Francisco and New York City — in this case, Chicago.
"Chicago is this Mecca, really, for people from throughout the region and beyond, who move here," he said. "I've called it a metropolitan sanctuary."
"City in a Garden" is separated into five sections: Garden, Club, Street, Cinema and Utopia. Together, they take visitors on a journey through a paradigm shift in LGBTQ+ history with the help of the work of more than 30 artists and collectives working in Chicago from the 1980s to now.
These artists address queerness through diverse media and methods.
"You're going to see painting, sculptures and photography," Schneider said. "There's a lot of social documentary, photography in the exhibition. We have performances, ephemera related to activist groups, video work."
Schneider said he was initially inspired to create the exhibit about two years ago, after visiting art exhibitions by leading HIV specialist and art collector Dr. Daniel S. Berger. In 2010, Berger founded Iceberg Projects, a non-commercial gallery for emerging artists, artists of color and queer artists, in Rogers Park.
"I started going there when I moved here in 2010 to these shows ... And that was kind of my introduction to queer art in Chicago," he said. "I said something like, 'Someone should really do an exhibition about his collection.' And then my next thought was like, 'Oh, maybe I should do that.'"
He said he was fascinated by the intersection of art and activism, specifically from groups like ACT UP, which used artistic strategies to challenge institutional responses to AIDS.
"They were essentially putting on theatrical productions in the street to call attention to these issues," Schneider said. "They were making these really creative posters and stickers and sticking them up all over the city, and I found that really fascinating."
At "City in a Garden," visitors can see some examples of this, along with other pieces that challenge normative depictions of gender and sexuality and explore queer intimacy.
"There's so much history to be told that's here," Schneider said. "I think with this project, I hope that Chicago's queer art history can kind of shine more on a national or even international stage."
And in the current political climate, as the Trump administration continues to target the the rights of the queer community, specifically transgender individuals, Schneider said this exhibit is even more poignant.
"It's, of course, scary, but it's also interesting looking at these historical parallels," he said. "I think, or I hope, that maybe by looking at how queer people responded to these threats in the past, we might have a better idea, or see a path forward for how we react now."
But most of all, he said, he hopes visitors take away a sense of "civic pride."
"I think that everyone can feel proud that they live in a city that people flock to, not just queer people, but people who might not fit these expectations or normative molds of the places that they came from," he said.
"City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago" is open now through May 31, 2026.