THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW DEBUTS

Photos courtesy of Janelle Nelson

Opening on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 19, 2026, The Fierce Urgency of Now launched at IMAN’s IMANifest Arts Studios Gallery with a powerful gathering of artists, cultural leaders, and community members. Presented by IMAN in partnership with the Terra Foundation for American Art, the exhibition commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Chicago Freedom Movement’s historic 1966 march through Marquette Park, using art as a lens to confront the moral crisis of the present.



The opening reception featured a panel conversation with exhibiting artists, alongside remarks from Chicago historian Sherman “Dilla” Thomas, photographer Bernard J. Kleina, and Katanya Raby, grounding the evening in both historical memory and contemporary urgency. Curated by Janell Nelson of the Englewood Arts Collective, the exhibition is anchored by Kleina’s photographs documenting the Freedom Movement, images that bear witness to a city—and a nation—at a crossroads. 

Contemporary artists including Sonja Henderson, Sadie Woods, Kayla Mahaffey, Darius Dennis, Max Sansing, Shirien Damra, and Tubs presented new pieces that explore faith, liberation, and collective action. On view from January 19, 2026, through January 2027, The Fierce Urgency of Now unfolds as a living site of reflection, calling viewers to reckon with unfinished struggles for justice and to imagine what moral courage demands today.