Children's Museum of Art and Social Justice

11/29/2021

On day SIX of our celebration and retrospective, we’re looking at one of our favorite exhibitions, Springtime on Neptune, an exhibition exploring ideas of Afrofuturism and radical imagination. The title, Springtime on Neptune is derived from a composition created by Sun Ra, often referred to as the pioneer of Afrofuturism. The song, titled “Have you Heard the News from Neptune,” feeds into Sun Ra’s larger body of work, which brings news of a utopian other world and was created to “wake up” a culture. Springtime on Neptune is answering his call and providing the “news” to the public from the voices of kids.

The artists that created this show were given space to alter their imagined futures and their imagined worlds. The skill of imagining is absolutely essential in being able to evaluate current conditions in order to initiate radical change.

10/12/2021

On day FIVE of our celebration and retrospective, we’re looking at one of our most impactful exhibitions, Just Add Water. Just Add Water is an exhibition featuring a series of installation-based artworks made by artists, ages 5-13. These works investigate and illustrate both historic and contemporary conditions around water access and its relationship to systemic inequality. This show explores the questions: what are the implications of nearly 800 million people worldwide having no access to clean water? How does a study of water access highlight social justice issues? Where and how do environmental concerns intersect with social justice issues?

09/28/2021

Day four of our celebration and retrospective. Our 4th exhibition, Listening through the Walls, is a look at the architecture, urban planning, politics, and city policy that present larger human rights issues. Students also reimagined vacant lots in their neighborhoods, studied the art of Amanda Williams and completed a photo art walk through Englewood, and wrote poetry to imagine the stories of old homes.

09/27/2021

On day three, we are taking a look at our first art benefit! To support continued learning in our KIPP schools and at the museum, we hosted an exhibition with work for sale during the summer of 2017.

Students learned about how the people coming from West Africa, enslaved in the American south, introduced the indigo plant to the slaveholders. The grueling process of growing and harvesting was all done by enslaved people, the rich blue dye then being used for many things synonymous with American culture today; police uniforms, the blue of our American flag, and blue jeans. The introduction and use of indigo is part of a forgotten history.

09/21/2021

Up next! To celebrate 5 YEARS we are looking back at each of our exhibitions. Our second show in the winter of 2016 asked the question, who belongs where? And why? Students learned from artists, Mark Bradford and Tintin Wulia as they explored ideas of space, borders, and boundaries.

09/15/2021

This year marks 5 YEARS since the opening of our Children’s Museum of Art and Social Justice! To celebrate, we’ll be posting about each of our past shows, starting with the very first, Expressions of Peace. To read more and to see accompanying lesson plans, visit our website (link below)


https://kippchicago.org/museum/

08/26/2020

07/23/2020

It isn't yet clear when we will be back in school buildings, but when our students walk in for the first time, I want them to LOVE their school environment even more. We believe student-created work should always be on display so installing these Activist portraits, along with the bios of each person, will be a beautiful, meaningful permanent fixture at schools.

One of KIPP Chicago's Whole Child Initiative priorities is to create school enviro… Joslyn Villalpando needs your support for Art Installations in Our Schools

07/08/2020

Help us install artwork from past shows in schools where 3000+ students will be able to see the work they made

One of KIPP Chicago's Whole Child Initiative priorities is to create school enviro… Joslyn Villalpando needs your support for Art Installations in Our Schools

07/07/2020

07/07/2020

Our partners at The Conscious Kid created a list of teacher materials & evaluation criteria to affirm and reflect students’ identities and to help facilitate important conversations about belonging, discrimination and equity. Bookmark it today: g.co/inclusivereads