Public Practice Projects
Addressing issues in institutional practice
Public Practice Projects directly investigate issues that are critical to the Smart Museum and its publics.
Whether gallery-based, site-specific, ephemeral, or durational, these projects catalyze discourse about the nature of the Museum’s work and how our ongoing operations can shift in response to the lessons learned. Often conducted in deep partnership with our campus and community partners, Public Practice Projects are usually participatory in nature and responsive to the Museum’s place and context.
Top: Making a Place of Purpose, 2017, photo by Joel Wintermantle. Above: Gathering around Emmanuel Pratt’s Living Bench Sculpture, Photo by Erik L. Peterson.
The [Re]Construction House project focuses on the year-long renovation and activation of an abandoned house located at 5731 S. Lafayette Avenue in the heart of the Perry Ave Commons. The…
As the 2014–2015 Interpreters in Residence, Adrian Danzig and Rebecca Stevens debuted The Art of Experience: The Smart Museum, the first visual arts project from Chicago’s 500 Clown . With…
Though graduation came without the expected pomp and circumstance, this year gave the Class of 2020 plenty to think about. We graduated remotely, as the pandemic kept Chicago under a…
Emmanuel Pratt’s interdisciplinary approach to regenerative placemaking on the South Side of Chicago mixes art, architecture, and community and economic development. As 2017–2018 Interpreter in Residence, Pratt hosts a series…
As the Smart Museum’s 2015–2016 Interpreter in Residence, Erika Dudley, convenes diverse communities around shared passions—namely, food and art. Dudley will welcome guests from different walks of life to the…
The Artist in Residence program was developed by the Public Practice team during the disruptive year of 2020 in response to an urgent need to connect with artists, art, and…
In 2013, the city of Chicago shuttered 49 public schools. Through a set of coincidences, artist John Preus gained access to the furniture that was bound for the landfill as…
As the first Interpreter in Residence, Chicago-based artist Matt Austin brought a new iteration of The Perch —his experimental forum for social exchange—to the Smart in 2013–2014. Austin created a…
Throughout the pandemic, the Smart Museum of Art has remained dedicated to fostering opportunities for inquiry and exchange through our collections, exhibitions, and programs. We’ve gathered together resources—some newly created…
Join in the Smart Museum of Art’s virtual book club, Smart Reads! Smart Reads returns in 2023 with monthly gatherings and an updated format. Launched in fall 2020 with the…
Marking the end of the Smart Museum’s exhibition Take Care , and situated one year after Chicago’s stay-at-home order, “Take Care, Be Well” is a day-long series of live-streamed experiences…
The Smart Museum’s 2016–2017 Interpreters in Residence are a newly formed collective made up of individuals and community partners who collaborated with us on the project In Anticipation of Belonging…