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

Decadence Deux opened during Third Friday in Bridgeport. Top top middle: work by Eric Stephenson. Top row right: September Gray with work by Preston Sampson. Bottom row left: Marryam Moma and work by Kevin Okeith. Decadence Deux is open. September Gray Fine Art, in partnership with Pigment International, launched the second chapter of Decadence of Another Kind at the Bridgeport Art Center during the building’s Third Friday Open Studios. The exhibition brings together an inter

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

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,

Top Row: Cultural Impact Award was given to Lavett Ballard; work by Dwight White and Marryam Moma. Middle Row: Pigment’s Allison Casselberry and Patricia Everett with Norman Teague; Cow Horn Sculpture by Teague, Paul Bacardi Smith’s Watermelanin. Third row: Chicago in Indy; Work by Lavett Ballard and Nyzere Dillon. The 6th Annual BUTTER Fine Art Fair returned to Indianapolis Labor Day Weekend, continuing its evolution as one of the country’s most consequential artist-centere

Issue VI of Pigment International's award-winning magazine issue lands this September, and it is one of our most ambitious editions yet. Inside, readers will find a profile of designer Norman Teague, whose furniture and architectural work continues to reshape how Chicago sees Black craftsmanship. The issue also spotlights Chicago artists connected to the Obama Presidential Center, tracing how the campus is emerging as a new anchor for the city's creative community on the Sout

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

The Pigment International art team - Barrett Keithley, Patricia Andrews-Keenan, Brenda Dickerson, Amorion Bell and Phyliss North; Dickerson and Fred Hampton Jr. view the mural; Barrett Keithley and Ray Thompson, whose University of Iowa number is on the basketball court at Wharton Elementary School; Dickerson and her mother Delilah and with April Kates-Ellison with the Nubian Nine an d The Lights On Collective. (photo credit Doug Kenney) A ribbon cutting at Argo Park marked

What if the Black home could be read as a museum—one filled not with objects behind glass, but with the furniture we inherit, photographs we keep, textiles we make, books we read, and traditions we pass from one generation to the next? That question sits at the center of AfroBohemian Home: An Installation by Zsudayka Nzinga, opening September 2 at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art at Colorado State University. Curated by Louise Cutler, the exhibition transforms the gallery in

Above: Norman Teague in conversation with Pigment International will be one of the featured artists at this year's Butter Art Fair; Bottom row: Bianca Marks will be a curator for Butter. Middle and right, Truss Chair and Ibaaka AKA Mule by Norman Teague Design Studios. (Teague image by Big_X_Tsu. Furniture images courtesy of Norman Teague Design Studio) Guest curator Bianca Marks helps shape an expanded Labor Day weekend fair in Indianapolis, as Teague's full profile debuts i

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

Freedom Monument Sculpture Park features 'Strike" by Hank Willis Thomas From coast-to-coast exhibitions to an outdoor pilgrimage in Alabama, here's how to build culture into your summer plans. Summer doesn't have to mean putting culture on pause. This season, some of the most compelling exhibitions in the country are celebrating Black artistry — and a little planning turns any trip into a pilgrimage worth taking. On the West Coast, the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Fr

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

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

C.O.L.O.U.R.S and Smile Like You Mean It by Edo See His Work This Friday at Revolutionary Among the most intellectually compelling bodies of work in Pigment International's upcoming exhibition Revolutionary, opening July 17 at Vjosa Cafe & Events in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood, is C.O.L.O.U.R.S., a new series of work by Chicago artist Eddie ‘Edo’ Santana White. The exhibition explores the ongoing evolution of Black resistance, identity, and self-determination across Am

Commemorative artwork for this year's Martha's Vineyard Comedy Fest is by artist Paul Branton Artist Paul Branton has created a vibrant commemorative portrait celebrating the 15th Anniversary of the Martha's Vineyard Comedy Fest, honoring longtime host Damon Williams, whose wit and unmistakable stage presence have become synonymous with the festival. Commissioned by festival founder Steve Capers, the painting captures Williams in Branton's signature expressive style, using bo

The Reluctant Ribbon Merchant by Jesse Howard and Patrice Lumumba by Candace Hunter are works in Revolutionary opening July 17th at Vjosa Cafe and Events. Pigment International opens REVOLUNTARY, a bold new group exhibition on July 17 at Vjosa Cafe and Events, 1010 W. 35th Street in Bridgeport. The show runs through August 15th REVOLUNTARY is an extension of Pigment’s February 2026 exhibition Glory! Glory!, which drew national attention for its exploration of the American fl

Blooming Through It by Ingrid Mathurin and bottom work by Alexandria Eregbu. The Art of Blackness at Block 37 is a celebrated exhibition platform that continues its mission of amplifying Black artists while creating space for dialogue around identity, history, and the future. Curated by LaShun Tines, Justin Dwaun Redding, and Anefertiti Bowman, this year's exhibition asks audiences to consider what emerges when truth is honored, memory is preserved, and imagination is embrace

Top left: The Musicians by Loïs Mailou Jones and right God Help America by Maria-Lana Queen. Bottom left Serve and Protect by Kim Rice and Blk Study Apparatus by Nnaemeka (Emeka) Ekwelum. Photos courtesy of Knowhere Art Gallery and the participating artists. This summer, Knowhere Art Gallery on Martha's Vineyard presents two compelling exhibitions that examine Black history, artistic lineage, and the tensions that continue to shape American life. Located in the heart of Oak B

Harmonica & Thelonius by Chris Devins Where music ends, and painting begins, Chicago artist Chris Devins refuses to draw a line. On Friday, July 17, Devins will debut his oil painting “Harmonia and Thelonius” at Bridgeport Art Center’s prestigious 4th Floor Gallery as part of Color Songs: Musicians as Visual Artists, an exhibition curated by Dr. Yaoundé Olu running through September 4, 2026. The work belongs to Devin’s ongoing series “Into the Black,” a body of work committed