Join us for a virtual gathering that mixes art-making and conversation inspired by the Smart Museum’s exhibition Take Care.

Led by Rita Alvarez, Lead Museum Educator at the Smart Museum, this Art After Dark program looks at Suellen Rocca’s painting Cha Cha Couple. Using one piece of paper, cardboard from our numerous at home deliveries or from a pizza box, participants will draw/color/create/glue/tape a collage of their own. Join in from home—relax and create together during this guided art-making session and discussion about what it means to "take care" and how we care for ourselves and others.

Rita Alvarez is a former Social Services Coordinator, Community Activist, primary grade CPS Teacher, Dual Language Consultant, TV/Movie Extra, current Non Profit Executive Director of Sunflower Project US, Caregiver, and Lead Museum Educator. She discovered her appreciation for art later in life and believes that art provides an important pathway to expression, activism, social commentary, empowerment, relaxation and fun.

FREE. To help build a community of participants, capacity is limited and advanced registrations is required.

Suggested materials

• Blank paper (several sheets)
• Cardboard
• Construction paper
• Miscellaneous objects—magazines, buttons, etc
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape
• A pen, pencil, crayons, or markers
• Glass of wine/libation of choice/non-alcoholic beverage

Take Care with Art After Dark

Join the Smart Museum of Art on the third Wednesday of each month for Art After Dark, a series of live art-making gatherings led by our Museum Educators via Zoom. Stay tuned for details on future sessions:

• January 20, 6–7:30 pm
• February 17, 6–7:30 pm
• March 17, 6–7:30 pm
• April 21, 6–7:30 pm

Image: Suellen Rocca, Cha Cha Couple (detail), 1967, Oil on canvas. Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Gift of Ruth Horwich 1997.19. © Suellen Rocca.