City of Chicago

Photo credits to Isadore Howard and Vanessa Hobson Pigment International participated in the inaugural Spectrum Chicago Art Fair held at the Merchandise Mart, and came away with Spectrum’s 2026 Inaugural Partner Award. Many thanks to the amazing creatives who showcased their work - Steve Bravo, Edo, Jesse Howard, Candace Hunter, Salome Jaffe, Max Sansing and Howard Simmons. Photo credit to Isadore Howard and Vanessa Hobson Students from Gary Comer Youth Center (GCYC) attend

Pigment International dedicates Black Fine Art Month 2026 to the sculptor whose work reached the world and never left home. Richard Hunt with artist Chris Devins who recently completed the hunt mural in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. [photo credit Chris Devins] It is fitting and proper that we dedicate Black Fine Art Month 2026 to Richard Hunt. His influence on art was profound and international, yet he remained devoted to his hometown of Chicago, the South Side where he w

Every October, Black Fine Art Month turns a national spotlight on Black artists, galleries, and collectors, honoring a legacy of creative excellence that Pigment International has championed since founding the observance. Throughout the month, look for exhibitions, artist talks, studio visits, and collecting opportunities across Chicago and beyond, each one a chance to support working artists and deepen the public's connection to Black visual culture. Join us for the events

Top row left Ra Joy, Executive Director of BCA, artists Della Wells and Evelyn Patricia Terry, Pigment's Patricia Andrews-Keenan, curator Phoenix Brown, artist and art advocate Freida High W. Tesfagiorgis, and artist Mutópe Johnson; Works from the exhibit Building Bronzeville. Bottom row middle Brad Pruitt, Executive Director Milwaukee African American Holocaust Museum and Tina Johnson, President African American Art Alliance at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Bronzeville Center fo

Candace Hunter's Intentionality opens September 24th The Dan Ryan Expressway carries Chicagoans across the city every day. For artist Candace Hunter, it also marks a rupture. On September 24, Hunter opens Intentionality 1960, Whose Dreams?, an exhibition that asks viewers to look past the familiar story of urban development and confront the communities erased to make it possible. The project begins with a number: 50,831. It represents the estimated number of African Americans

Artist Kari Blak's work appears on the east side of the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) On the east garage doors of the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC), a flower with a face is crying while a bumblebee moves to console it. It is a small gesture inside a large question, and it sits at the heart of Nature of Reality, the mural series by Chicago artist Kari Blak. Blak merged five distinct vignettes into one cohesive narrative, each addressing a different facet of the relationship betwee

From top row middle - Artists Howard Simmons, Candace Hunter, Edo, Salome Jaffe and Jesse Howard. The inaugural fair opens at THE MART, October 7–10 Pigment International will exhibit at the first-ever Spectrum Chicago Show, October 7–10 at THE MART (formerly the Merchandise Mart) — a new fair joining Chicago's fall art calendar with an opening night preview and three days of public programming. Pigment's presentation features five artists, listed alphabetically: Edo, Jesse H

Top row middle D. Lamar Preston and Patricia Andrews-Keenan. Right - Gwen Yen Chiu and D. Lamar Preston, past Richard Hunt Award winners, in conversation with Christie's Steven Zick. Bottom row - Gwen Yen Chiu, Steven Zick of Christies and D. Lamar Preston. Middle: a maquette of Preston's work Gifted to Me. Right - Sculptor Eric Stephenson and Naomi Davis, Blacks in Green. Anniversary gala honored Richard Hunt Award winners at Theater on the Lake Chicago Sculpture Exhibit (CS

Middle row right - President of Columbia College Chicago Shantay N. Bolton. Bottom row - Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr., foreground; background curator Sarah Elizabeth Lewis. An exhibition that imagines a life, not a loss Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago opened "If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground" with an emotionally moving convening. The exhibition imagines the life Emmett Till might have lived had he safely returned home to Chicago,

Phyliss North, Rhonda Sewell and Patricia Andrews-Keenan during the Museum Leaders Meet & Greet at the Vjosa Café in Bridgeport during Pigment International’s exhibition Revolutionary. On Friday, August 14, Pigment International welcomed a distinguished group of museum professionals and DEI practitioners to Vjosa Café & Events in Bridgeport for an intimate meet-and-greet focused on Black art, cultural leadership and the work of building more inclusive museum spaces. Organized

Edo will be in conversation with D. E. Simmons about his series C.O.L.O.U.R.S. exploring racism in animation this Friday at Vjosa Cafe. Board games, good company, and a conversation that matters — that's the lineup for Pigment International's Revolutionary Game Night on Friday, August 14, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Vjosa aCafe 1010 W. 35th Street in Bridgeport. Bring your competitive spirit for an evening of games, then settle in for a special artist talk with longtime Pigment colla

Top: Barrett Keithley, Cassandra Wilson, Patricia Andrews-Keenan and Edo; Middle: Edo; Bottom: Ruby Simmons and Gyamfuah Melisiziwe; Right: Jesse Howard. Photos by Tafari Melisiziwe The conversation continues at REVOLUTIONARY, Pigment International's thought-provoking summer exhibition at Vjosa Café & Events. Curated by P. Andrews-Keenan, the exhibition features an extraordinary roster of painters, photographers, and mixed-media artists whose work examines 250 years of Black

The mural and pavilion refresh at Wharton Elementary in Summit's Argo Park arrives in time for the 85th Anniversary of Emmitt Till's birth. For the past six months, the Village of Summit has demonstrated what can happen when artists, residents, and community organizations come together with a shared vision. Through the Creative Placemaking Initiative, funded by Cook County Arts, local partners have worked to reimagine public spaces while placing community voices at the center

Top left - Patricia Andrews-Keenan, September Gray and Diane Dinkins Carr; Revolutionary opened at Vjose Cafe and continues through August 15; Middle row - Sculptor Joseph Kersey, great uncle of Anita Mauro board member of Chicago Sculpture Exhibit. The public art group is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. More scenes from Revolutionary - Phyliss North and Audra Wilson; and bottom row the Simmons - D.E., Ruben and Ruby. New Pigmented merch includes our bucket hat. Orders your

44th created by James Nelson. In the Land of the Free T-Shirts created by Reggie McFly honor the escaped slave Gordon, aka "Whipped Peter". Pigment International is proud to participate in the Obama Presidential Center's (OPC) Grand Opening Ceremony Official Watch Party on Thursday, June 18, at Midway Plaisance Park in Chicago's Hyde Park community. As one of a select group of local businesses, cultural organizations, and restaurants invited to be part of this historic commun

Pigment International artists Marlon Tobias, Brenda Dickerson and Jeff Koonz guided residents through an exercise that will inform creative placemaking in Summit. On Saturday, April 25th, the Summit Community Network's creative placemaking initiative came alive with color, conversation, and community. Approximately 30 Summit residents gathered for a preliminary visioning session — painting, crafting mosaics, and assembling collages that will directly inform the design directi

Pastor John Hannah's New Life Covenant Church is actualizing the creation of Life in Color Gallery in the city's Grand Crossing neighborhood. A House Blessing ceremony marks the beginning of a new cultural chapter on Chicago's South Side Before a single painting is hung or a sculpture placed, the floor of Life in Color Gallery was already carrying something sacred. In a special ceremony, community members gathered at 7644 S. Greenwood Avenue in Chicago's Grand Crossing neighb

Pigment Salon Talk Glory! Glory! at Adler University. From left Phyliss North, Patricia Andrews-Keenan, Jane Carpenter-Rock, Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM); State Rep. Kimberly du Buclet; Lisa Coleman, PhD. President of Adler University; Artist D. Lammie-Hanson; Patrica Jones Blessman, PhD.; Valerie Francis, Knowhere Gallery, and Allison Casselberry. Spring Art Week Chicago 2026: A Roundup We go deeper on specifics in later issues — this week, let the photos do the

Martha Wade at William Blair, her 3D chair, and work by Briana McNeil Scott. On Wednesday, at William Blair , Martha Wade debuted not just new work, but her work took new form when she created a chair. Wade's calm, consistency and commitment to community shone through in her interview with Blair’s curator Isidora K. Lagos under the theme Expressive Journeys: The panel of self-taught artists also included Grace Federighi, Briana McNeil, and O’Neil Scott.

Sonja Henderson and Sadie Wood's Lakefront installation. Sadie Woods and Sonja Henderson’s We Still Here is a temporal monument response situated along Chicago’s lakefront at Lake Shore Drive and Belmont, in the shadow of General Philip Sheridan. The installation reclaims space through an evocative assembly of bones, metal, and feathers, honoring layered histories while challenging dominant narratives. A diverse crowd gathered in celebration of spirituality and environmental