CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- At the corner of Harrison and Michigan in Chicago's Loop sits the Museum of Contemporary Photography. It's a three-story, 8,000 square foot venue with a collection of more than 16,000 works of photography.
"We focus on contemporary photography. It's a loose term. We have a lot of photographs on the wall, but we also look at the role of image in society and how it plays out in whatever the issues are of the time," said Natasha Egan, Executive Director.
"We create exhibitions that speak to the time. We work with artists from around the world."
The venue is celebrating 45 years this year. In that time, they've showcased just about every topic.
"Our mission is to tackle societal topics. We've done exhibitions about war, poverty, red lining in Chicago, race issues, women's reproductive rights, immigration, activism, you name it, we're likely doing it," she said. "We're an academic art museum so we think it's our job to raise awareness through different lenses."
The newest exhibition is called "American Epidemic: Guns in America.
"This exhibit puts a spotlight on school shootings, women and guns, and police violence," she said. "A lot of this work was done recently. We do have some historical work, but the majority of the work was literally made now, up until the minute. We have very current events that influence the works that are on the walls in regards to gun violence in the United States."
In the ground floor gallery is the work of Andres Gonzalez.
"In here there are a mix of photographs of portraits of people who are survivors or parents or school archivists. Gonzalez photographs some of the notes of the archives from these shootings," Egan said.
A booklet sits in the center that contains four presidential speeches that happened after various school shootings.
"It starts with May 20, 1999 with Bill Clinton; April 17, 2007 with George Bush; December 16, 2012 with Barack Obama; and February 15, 2018 with Donald Trump," Egan said.
The text of the presidential speeches are included. Plus, pictures and mementos from the Northern Illinois University mass shooting in Dekalb; Parkland; Virginia Tech; Columbine; and Sandy Hook.
"After the shootings in Sandy Hook, so many people sent memorials at the site. They left candles, sent notes of condolences, and stuffed animals. They received 65,000 stuffed animals. They had to get bigger and bigger warehouses to store them. In the end, they decided to photograph every object and they ended up burning all the items. They put all the ashes from all of the material that was sent and put it into a box. This piece over here is part of the ashes," she said.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography is one of the leading contemporary photography museums in the world and the only in the Midwest; and is known for working with artists who push the boundaries of what defines photography while bringing to light a range of contemporary social and political issues from disparate vantage points.
"You go away with empowerment. Just because you were able to experience a story through a visual lens. It's about discovery and how to read pictures and how to really, what we call it visual literacy. We hope people who come here with a sort of a sense that they've discovered something, something they're thinking about in a new way. We want to communicate what is happening with the world through these diverse perspectives," Egan said.
The museum accepts open portfolio submissions from local, national, and international artists, and is especially dedicated to highlighting Midwest photographers through the Midwest Photographers Project—a revolving collection of portfolios from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Related
