![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789517637/noxz9olp47gfneafz8xg.jpg\")
Each week CGN interviews a local art-industry professional to discuss the ins and outs of running a space in the city of Chicago. This week we caught up with Ellen Philips Katz Director of the Block Museum of Art, Lisa Graziose Corrin.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Current Position: Ellen Philips Katz Director, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University
\r\n\r\nHometown: I was born in Queens, New York and raised on Long Island, 52 miles east of Manhattan. My professional career has taken me to Izmir, Turkey, Baltimore, London, Seattle, Williamstown Massachusetts and now Chicagoland.
\r\n\r\nPrevious Occupations:
\r\n\r\nDirector, Williams College Museum of Art
\r\nDeputy Director of Art/Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum
\r\nChief Curator, Serpentine Gallery, London
\r\nAssistant Director/Curator of The Contemporary, Baltimore
\r\n\r\n
5 favorites from the past week
\r\n\r\nRestaurant: Piccolo Sogno, West Loop and North Pond, Lincoln Park
\r\n\r\nShop: Turley Road, Andersonville
\r\n\r\nBook: Outliers and American Vanguard Art, a catalog of a 2018 exhibition organized by the National Gallery of Art traveling to LACMA and the High Museum.
\r\n\r\nNeighborhood: Evanston! My husband and I chose to live in Evanston because we felt it was important to be part of the community that the Block serves. We admire Evanston’s activist spirit; the City nurtures and supports its organizations and businesses and residents are unafraid to speak their mind. When we take walks in our neighborhood, the peace poles, signs of solidarity with our immigrant population, and commitment to diversity all remind us that we made the right choice of where to pitch our tent.
\r\n\r\nMusic: Anything at the Lyric (we are season ticket holders) by David Lang, my favorite contemporary composer, or jazz pianist Keith Jarrett.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Tell us a little bit about your background and how your position at the Block Museum of Art came to be?
\r\n\r\nNorthwestern’s legacy in the arts is extraordinary and it has been meaningful to me to be one of its champions. In 2012, when I came to the museum, the Block was ready to become an even stronger bridge between the campus and the community. I relished the opportunity to create a new model for an academic art museum within a research university, a model that is focused on collaboration, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, rigorous research, and innovative exhibitions and programs.
\r\n\r\nNorthwestern is on the move! It is an exciting time to be at a future-focused institution that believes the experience of art should be part of the education of every student. It is a privilege too, to be doing this work in the greater context of Chicago, one of our nation’s great cultural capitals, along with brilliant colleagues at the helms of so many dynamic institutions throughout the city.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What's the first thing you do each morning when you get to the museum?
\r\n\r\nAs I enter the museum I say hello to Aaron Chapman, our Assistant Manager of Visitor Services and Visitors Services Associate, Rocio Olasimbo and have a chat. Our front-line staff are our greatest ambassadors and the anecdotes they share with me about our visitor’s responses ensure I don’t forget what we are here to do.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Do you have a favorite exhibition or collection from the past?
\r\n\r\nI am a great fan of the Ornithology Galleries at the Field Museum of Natural History, but my favorite collection in Chicago is most likely that of the Chicago Botanic Gardens. People don’t think of this extraordinarily diverse collection on 385 acres as a cultural collection but it is. The research and conservation science that is going on in this living museum is world class…. Not to mention the pure joy of listening to the carillon bells now that the weather is warm.
\r\n\r\nI grew up inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. To this day when I walk through the front door of that museum I behave as though it is my own home. That’s how comfortable I feel there. I am a great believer in getting lost inside museums so that you have unexpected encounters with works of art. I remember going to the Met and seeing a small study of Monet’s Women in the Garden, which is now in the Musee d’Orsay, and seeing the shadow on the back of a train on a woman’s dress and the hundreds of shades of green and grey that composed this picture. I realized Monet was not painting women’s dresses at all, he was painting the effects of light. It was like a veil had been lifted from my eyes and everything I looked at around me after that changed. I saw how art could be a window onto other ways of perceiving and understanding the world. At that moment I thought “Wow I want to be looking through those windows for the rest of my life.”
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Any major successes this year? Any challenges?
\r\n\r\n2018 has been an extraordinary year for the Block Museum so far with over 20,000 visitors in just three months for the groundbreaking exhibition Paint the Eyes Softer: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt. The exhibition became a true case study exemplifying our role of as an innovation hub and campus catalyst. In the creation of the exhibition we convened student research and faculty expertise from across the University—including contributions from classics, art history, sound arts, materials science, computer science, medicine, archaeology, and art history—all to investigate the mummy of a 5-year old girl buried nearly 2000 years ago. The exhibition included the first museum use of Apple’s augmented reality toolkit, an experiment at the Argonne National Laboratory, a student sound design competition, and a class co-taught in Classics and Material Science, to name just a few of the related projects. The fact that our resulting exhibition was covered by Time Magazine, BBC, PBS NewsHour, and made the front page of the Chicago Tribune – is just icing on the cake, evidence of the power and endless possibilities that can come out of interdisciplinary collaboration.
\r\n\r\n2018 also saw the release of our new Strategic Plan – The Block Museum as a Frame of Mind. I see this plan as the Block team’s great success, representing almost a year’s worth of conversation, planning and stakeholder interviews. The plan lays out ambitious actions for impact over the next five years. I think our greatest challenge is keeping up with the rising tide of participation in the Block’s program from faculty, students, and the broader community. We are living in a time when our visitors are seeking a way to understand the complexities of our contemporary world. We have a responsibility to connect to connect art to their lives so that the important contributions of artists across time and cultures resonate and are valued.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What do you want to tell a young person considering this career path?
\r\n\r\nI am a first generation college graduate so a career as a museum director was atypical in my family. Of course being an art history major was great preparation but is not on its own what prepares one for being a museum director. Leadership is a process—learning from the twists and turns in the road, from my mistakes and, especially from the feedback of those with whom I work, have all been critical.
\r\n\r\nThe museum field needs more diversity at the top. If museums are going to speak to everyone – then leadership positions need to be held by individuals with a greater range of backgrounds. I talk often to my students about cultivating the belief that change is possible. On my desk is this quote:…”It had long since some to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them, they went out and happened to things.” --Leonardo da Vinci
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What are your interests outside of the art world?
\r\n\r\nI have an unwieldy cookbook collection and am fascinated by global food culture. I am also a voracious reader of history and a compulsive viewer of television political commentary. My husband Peter and I have embraced Chicago’s extraordinary cultural offerings. We are season ticket holders for the Lyric, regular theater-goers, support the Chicago Humanities Festival, and are members of The Chicago Botanical Gardens, the Field Museum, the Art Institute and the MCA. Kayaking is also a passion for both of us and we are eagerly anticipating another summer season out on the water.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What do you look for in an artwork? What speaks to you?
\r\n\r\nAs a curator of contemporary art, I have occasionally had the experience in a studio in which an artist’s work struck a chord deep within me. I got disoriented and thrown off balance. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I knew I was in the presence of something significant. If that experience lingers the second time I see the work, I am likely to want to do an exhibition or to write about it in order to explore that response and to understand what in the work provoked it.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
What’s coming up next at the Block Museum of Art?
\r\n\r\nIn Fall of 2018 we are thrilled to be partnering with the Terra Foundation and with institutions around the city on Art Design Chicago, our city-wide celebration of Chicago as America’s crossroads of creativity and commerce. Our exhibition Up is Down: Mid-century Experiments in Advertising and Film at the Goldsholl studio is the first to examine the pioneering work of the Morton and Millie Goldsholl and their Chicago advertising firm, Goldsholl Design Associates, which brought Bauhaus design to a broad American audience, and created some of the nation’s most iconic brand images including the Motorola logo and the 7Up “See the Light” campaign. In January 2018 we will present Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time, an exhibition about art and cultural exchange along the trans-Saharan trade routes connecting Africa, the Middle East and Europe during the medieval period. Loans are coming from some of the world’s greatest museums and the exhibition is traveling to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. This is quite an achievement for the small but mighty Block Museum of Art.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Lisa Graziose Corrin is the Ellen Philips Katz Director of the Block Museum of Art. For more information about the museum please visit: Block Museum of Art.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Photo Copyright: Joe Mazza, Brave Lux
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n\r\n
\r\n","published_at":"2018-05-22 00:00:00","state":"published","slug":"an-interview-with-lisa-graziose-corrin-director-of-the-block-mueseum-of-art","type":"NewsPost","meta_description":"","text":null,"created_at":"2018-05-22 17:05:04","updated_at":"2018-10-22 21:08:24.336264","category_id":3,"highlighted":null,"searchable":"'000':848B '20':847B '2000':932B '2012':335B '2018':168B,833B,1023B,1546B,1654B '385':592B '5':138B,926B '52':83B '7up':1647B 'aaron':490B 'academ':369B 'accomplish':1301B 'achiev':1718B 'acr':593B 'across':899B,1143B 'action':1069B 'activist':215B 'admir':212B 'advertis':1592B,1616B 'africa':1679B 'african':1712B 'ago':934B 'almost':1053B 'along':451B,1671B 'also':1024B,1345B,1407B 'ambassador':516B 'ambiti':1068B 'america':1575B 'american':161B,1628B 'andersonvill':157B 'anecdot':519B 'anoth':1419B 'anticip':1418B 'anyth':271B 'appl':943B 'archaeolog':915B 'argonn':952B 'around':784B,1560B 'art':13A,21B,54B,67B,112B,121B,125B,163B,176B,309B,318B,370B,417B,643B,695B,792B,906B,909B,917B,1132B,1187B,1328B,1400B,1443B,1542B,1564B,1667B,1713B,1727B,1742B,1754B 'art-industri':20B 'art/curator':116B 'artist':1142B,1456B 'artwork':1433B 'assist':132B,493B 'associ':501B,1620B 'attent':1297B 'atyp':1179B 'audienc':1629B 'augment':945B 'back':728B,1304B,1476B 'background':299B,1269B 'balanc':1471B 'baltimor':97B,137B 'bauhaus':1623B 'bbc':991B 'becam':869B 'becom':347B 'behav':661B 'belief':1279B 'believ':413B,680B 'bell':628B 'bit':296B 'block':10A,51B,64B,209B,306B,343B,841B,1034B,1047B,1093B,1539B,1724B,1739B,1751B 'book':158B 'born':73B 'botan':580B,1394B 'brand':1639B 'brave':1759B 'bridg':351B 'brilliant':453B 'broad':1627B 'broader':1101B 'brought':1622B 'buri':930B 'busi':225B 'cake':1008B 'came':310B,338B 'campaign':1651B 'campus':354B,883B 'capit':450B 'caravan':1658B 'career':90B,1162B,1173B 'carillon':627B 'case':872B 'catalog':165B 'catalyst':884B 'caught':42B 'celebr':1571B 'centuri':1589B 'cgn':16B 'challeng':832B,1081B 'champion':333B 'chang':788B,1281B 'chapman':491B 'chat':507B 'chicago':38B,442B,572B,579B,1001B,1366B,1385B,1393B,1566B,1573B,1615B 'chicagoland':104B 'chief':127B 'choic':263B 'chord':1461B 'chose':190B 'citi':36B,218B,465B,1562B,1569B 'city-wid':1568B 'class':616B,962B 'classic':905B,967B 'co':964B 'co-taught':963B 'collabor':382B,1022B 'colleagu':454B 'collect':547B,570B,590B,597B,1335B 'colleg':109B,1169B 'come':1018B,1534B,1691B 'comfort':672B 'commentari':1358B 'commerc':1581B 'commit':252B 'communiti':206B,357B,1102B 'competit':959B 'complex':1119B 'compos':286B,747B 'compuls':1353B 'comput':912B 'connect':1129B,1131B,1678B 'conserv':604B 'consid':1160B 'contemporari':120B,136B,285B,1122B,1442B 'context':440B 'contribut':903B,1140B 'conven':892B 'convers':1059B 'cookbook':1334B 'copyright':1756B 'corrin':6A,57B,1730B 'could':793B 'cours':1184B 'cover':987B 'creat':363B,1631B 'creation':887B 'creativ':1579B 'critic':1237B 'crossroad':1577B 'cultiv':1277B 'cultur':449B,596B,1146B,1342B,1369B,1669B 'curat':128B,1440B 'current':58B 'd':720B 'da':1319B 'david':281B 'day':649B 'deep':1462B 'deputi':113B 'design':958B,1565B,1619B,1624B 'desk':1286B 'director':7A,48B,63B,107B,114B,1177B,1206B,1736B 'director/curator':133B 'discuss':25B 'disori':1467B 'divers':254B,589B,1243B 'door':656B 'dress':736B,758B 'dynam':461B 'eager':1417B 'east':85B,1682B 'educ':423B 'effect':765B 'egypt':866B 'ellen':45B,60B,1733B 'embrac':1365B 'encount':691B 'endless':1014B 'ensur':529B 'enter':483B 'especi':1224B 'europ':1684B 'evanston':185B,194B,213B 'even':349B 'everi':425B 'everyon':1254B 'everyth':780B 'evid':1009B 'examin':1603B 'exchang':1670B 'excit':402B 'exemplifi':874B 'exhibit':169B,391B,545B,857B,868B,890B,936B,985B,1511B,1583B,1665B,1702B 'experi':415B,949B,1449B,1494B,1590B 'expertis':897B 'explor':1520B 'extraordinari':320B,837B,1368B 'extraordinarili':588B 'eye':778B,860B 'fact':981B 'faculti':896B,1097B 'fall':1544B 'famili':1182B 'fan':555B 'far':844B 'fascin':1338B 'favorit':139B,284B,544B,569B 'feedback':1227B 'feel':674B 'felt':197B 'festiv':1387B 'field':562B,1240B,1397B 'film':1594B 'firm':1617B 'first':469B,939B,1167B,1601B 'five':1075B 'focus':380B,410B 'food':1341B 'forget':533B 'foundat':1556B 'fragment':1661B 'frame':1038B 'front':510B,655B,997B 'front-lin':509B 'futur':409B 'future-focus':408B 'galleri':130B,174B,559B 'garden':581B,713B,1395B 'generat':1168B 'get':477B,682B 'girl':929B 'global':1340B 'go':608B,698B,1250B 'goer':1382B 'gold':1660B 'goldshol':1597B,1612B,1618B 'got':1466B 'graduat':1170B 'grazios':5A,56B,1729B 'great':448B,554B,679B,1050B,1191B 'greater':439B,1266B 'greatest':515B,1080B,1698B 'green':743B 'grew':636B 'grey':745B 'groundbreak':856B 'hair':1473B 'happen':1308B,1315B 'held':1261B 'hello':488B 'helm':457B 'high':182B 'histori':566B,907B,918B,1188B,1350B 'holder':279B,1375B 'home':668B 'hometown':70B 'hub':881B 'human':1386B 'hundr':739B 'husband':187B,1360B 'ice':1005B 'icon':1638B 'imag':1640B 'immigr':249B 'impact':1071B 'import':200B,1139B 'in':27B 'includ':902B,937B,1641B 'individu':1263B 'industri':22B 'inform':1745B 'innov':390B,880B 'insid':638B,684B 'institut':411B,462B,1401B,1559B 'interdisciplinari':383B,1021B 'interest':1324B 'interview':2A,17B,1063B 'investig':921B 'island':82B 'izmir':95B 'januari':1653B 'jarrett':291B 'jazz':288B 'joe':1757B 'joy':622B 'katz':47B,62B,1735B 'kayak':1405B 'keep':1083B 'keith':290B 'knew':1483B 'laboratori':954B 'lacma':179B 'lang':282B 'lay':1066B 'leadership':1207B,1256B 'learn':386B,1211B 'legaci':315B 'leonardo':1318B 'let':1306B 'life':825B 'lift':775B 'light':767B,1650B 'like':575B,770B,1505B 'lincoln':152B 'line':511B 'linger':1495B 'lisa':4A,55B,1728B 'listen':624B 'littl':295B 'live':192B,612B,1105B,1135B 'loan':1689B 'local':19B 'logo':1644B 'london':98B,131B 'long':81B,1292B 'look':782B,816B,1429B 'loop':148B 'lost':683B 'lux':1760B 'lyric':274B,1378B 'made':260B,995B 'magazin':990B 'major':827B,1189B 'manag':494B 'manhattan':87B 'mani':460B 'massachusett':101B 'materi':910B,969B 'mazza':1758B 'mca':1404B 'meaning':325B 'medicin':914B 'mediev':1687B 'member':1390B 'mention':619B 'met':701B 'metropolitan':640B 'mid':1588B 'mid-centuri':1587B 'middl':1681B 'mighti':1723B 'mile':84B 'milli':1611B 'mind':233B,1040B 'mistak':1222B 'model':366B,377B 'modern':118B 'moment':808B 'monet':708B,752B 'month':853B 'morn':474B 'morton':1609B 'motorola':1643B 'move':398B 'mueseum':11A 'mummi':862B,923B 'muse':719B 'museum':52B,65B,110B,126B,183B,307B,341B,371B,480B,485B,563B,613B,641B,659B,685B,842B,940B,1035B,1176B,1205B,1239B,1248B,1398B,1540B,1699B,1710B,1725B,1740B,1748B,1752B 'music':270B 'name':972B 'nation':173B,446B,953B,1635B,1709B 'natur':565B 'near':931B 'neck':1479B 'need':1241B,1258B 'neighborhood':184B,240B 'new':76B,365B,645B,1030B 'newshour':993B 'next':1074B,1536B 'north':150B 'northwestern':68B,313B,394B 'nurtur':219B 'occasion':1446B 'occup':106B 'offer':1370B 'often':1272B 'olasimbo':503B 'old':928B 'one':330B,443B,1201B 'onto':797B 'opportun':361B 'order':1518B 'organ':170B,223B 'ornitholog':558B 'orsay':721B 'out':29B 'outlier':159B 'outsid':1325B 'page':998B 'paint':755B,763B,858B 'park':153B 'part':203B,420B 'particip':1090B 'partner':1552B 'passion':1409B 'past':142B,550B 'path':1163B 'pbs':992B 'peac':242B 'peopl':582B,1299B 'perceiv':801B 'period':1688B 'person':1159B 'peter':1361B 'philip':46B,61B,1734B 'photo':1755B 'pianist':289B 'piccolo':145B 'pictur':749B 'pioneer':1605B 'pitch':267B 'plan':1032B,1044B,1060B,1065B 'pleas':1749B 'pole':243B 'polit':1357B 'pond':151B 'popul':250B 'portrait':863B 'posit':59B,303B,1257B 'possibl':1015B,1283B 'power':1012B 'prepar':1192B,1200B 'presenc':1488B 'present':1657B 'previous':105B 'privileg':430B 'process':1210B 'profession':23B,89B 'program':393B,1095B 'project':979B 'provok':1530B 'pure':621B 'queen':75B 'quit':1716B 'quot':1289B 'rais':79B 'rang':1267B 'rare':1302B 'reader':1348B 'readi':345B 'realiti':946B 'realiz':751B 'regular':1379B 'relat':978B 'releas':1027B 'relish':359B 'rememb':697B 'remind':256B 'repres':1052B 'research':374B,388B,602B,894B 'resid':227B 'reson':1147B 'respons':528B,1127B,1522B 'rest':822B 'restaur':144B 'result':984B 'right':262B 'rigor':387B 'rise':1087B 'road':156B,1219B 'rocio':502B 'role':876B 'roman':865B 'rout':1677B 'run':31B 'saharan':1675B 'sat':1303B 'saw':790B,1025B 'say':487B 'scienc':605B,911B,913B,970B 'season':277B,1373B,1421B 'seattl':99B,124B 'second':1497B 'see':703B,723B,1042B,1500B,1648B 'seek':1113B 'serpentin':129B 'serv':210B 'servic':497B,500B 'shade':741B 'shadow':725B 'share':521B 'shop':154B 'sign':244B 'signific':1491B 'sinc':1293B 'small':705B,1721B 'smithsonian':1707B 'softer':861B 'sogno':146B 'solidar':246B 'someth':1490B 'sound':908B,957B 'space':33B 'speak':231B,1252B,1435B 'spirit':216B 'staff':512B 'stakehold':1062B 'stood':1480B 'strateg':1031B 'stronger':350B 'struck':1459B 'student':426B,893B,956B,1098B,1275B 'studi':706B,873B 'studio':1452B,1598B 'success':828B,1051B 'summer':1420B 'support':221B,1383B 'take':236B 'taken':92B 'talk':1271B 'taught':965B 'teach':384B 'team':1048B 'televis':1356B 'tell':292B,1156B 'tent':269B 'terra':1555B 'theater':1381B 'theater-go':1380B 'thing':470B,1307B,1317B 'think':585B,1078B 'though':663B 'thought':810B 'three':852B 'thrill':1549B 'throughout':463B 'thrown':1469B 'ticket':278B,1374B 'tide':1088B 'time':403B,989B,1108B,1144B,1498B,1663B 'toolkit':947B 'top':1246B 'trade':1676B 'train':731B 'tran':1674B 'trans-saharan':1673B 'travel':177B,1704B 'tribun':1002B 'true':871B 'turkey':96B 'turley':155B 'turn':1216B 'twist':1214B 'unafraid':229B 'understand':803B,1117B,1525B 'unexpect':690B 'univers':69B,375B,901B 'unwieldi':1333B 'us':257B,293B,1413B 'use':941B 'valu':1150B 'vanguard':162B 'veil':772B 'viewer':1354B 'vinci':1320B 'visit':1750B 'visitor':496B,499B,526B,849B,1111B 'voraci':1347B 'walk':237B,652B 'want':813B,1154B,1507B 'warm':634B 'water':1425B 'way':799B,1115B 'weather':632B 'week':15B,40B,143B 'went':1312B 'west':147B 'wide':1570B 'william':108B 'williamstown':100B 'window':796B,819B 'within':372B,1463B 'woman':734B 'women':710B,756B 'work':436B,693B,1233B,1458B,1502B,1529B,1606B 'world':615B,805B,1123B,1329B,1696B 'worth':1057B 'wow':811B 'write':1514B 'year':830B,838B,927B,933B,1055B,1076B 'york':77B,646B 'young':1158B","thumbnail":null,"editor_pick":false,"category_name":"Interviews"},"related":[{"id":13767,"title":"Anticipating a Season of Art: Five to Talk to – Nikko Washington","excerpt":"","body":"
Fall offers a full slate of exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke with five insiders about what excites them now and what they anticipate next.
The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition click here.
“I’m thrilled to further expand my artistic and design practice by introducing other mediums into the mix. I’m looking forward to watching the seasons change and devoting a lot of time in the studio as well. Fall/winter is my favorite time to create new works.
I have an upcoming solo show with VSG Contemporary that I am excited about. The work will delve further into the topics of cultural mythology and how these tales and narratives have helped shape my worldview.
Also, it wouldn’t be right if I left out my excitement for this upcoming season of Chicago sports.”
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961823/s3lp0uull2s8mvd8funj.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Extension Cords, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher
This interview is part of CGN's Fall 2026 issue. Purchase a copy or subscribe.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961824/mghrpnghxd9j9ko2dsjt.jpg\")
Andi Crist
BY ALISON REILLY
Andi Crist’s warm, engaging demeanor is evident in the first few minutes of our conversation. Generous with her time and forthcoming in her observations, she cares deeply about building relationships through her art making. Crist grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, devoured art classes, wrote songs and played music in high school, and moved to Chicago to study visual art at Columbia College. In 2024, she received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a woodworker, sculptor, ceramicist, and conceptual artist, and she teaches at Illinois Institute of Technology. We discussed her multidisciplinary practice, her experience working as an art handler, preparator, and fabricator, and how she thinks about labor, creativity, and value in the art world.
CGN: You grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. How did that environment shape your point of view as an artist?
Andi Crist: That’s such a funny question. Nobody’s ever really asked.
CGN: Oh, really?
AC: Yeah, maybe because I never was super connected with the arts community down in Birmingham. I moved to Chicago in 2007, so it’s been 20 years since I lived in the South. I was definitely one of those art kids—one art credit was required in high school, and I graduated with like seven. I was surrounded by artists who had a big impact on me, because they were working artists. All my art teachers were trained in Alabama and then continued to teach and work in Alabama, which gave me this desire to try to expand my community outside of what I was familiar with.
CGN: Do you identify as a Chicagoan?
AC: My family still lives in Alabama, and I go back every year. I love being in Alabama. Maybe now being in Chicago for almost 20 years, I identify as a southerner living in the city. I carry on the social qualities of a friendly southern person [laughs].
CGN: You have a varied art practice—woodwork, ceramics, mold making. What drew you to those types of fabrication methods and that type of art making?
AC: My dad is a carpenter and a hobbyist woodworker, but his career was psychology, and my mom was a professor and an incredible craftswoman. I absorbed my mom’s model of creativity, which is to try a bunch of different things and not necessarily finish them but to try to learn as much as I can by just going for it. My practice over the years has become an exploration of conceptual elements of what makes art art and not just craft. Do you have to be a master craftsperson or a professional artist in order to make something that resonates with people?
I make a lot of work that references the mode of making and requires a variety of different media. I just finished teaching a ceramics production class where students learned how to produce molds, think about positives and negatives, and get into a level of production rather than just handicraft as a way to multiply their output.
I got into fabrication because I’ve always liked working with other artists. I have a background in theater and gallery work. I’m a voracious learner, and I like being able to share those skills with my community. Then I end up making work about that. It’s a self-feeding cycle.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961825/zzejqwibga5f5wk6einh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Artist’s Ladder, 2023. Photo: Jeff Perlman
CGN: Thinking about your background as an art handler and preparator—how did you get to the point where you were making work about that experience?
AC: In 2010, right before I graduated from Columbia, I was living in a storefront in West Logan Square with my partner at the time. We started a gallery called Autotelic in the space and had to build it out using the worst tools with very minimal resources. Then we started curating shows there and that meant helping other artists figure out how to install their work in our unusual space. Eventually, I gained the reputation for knowing how to do that type of work. I started getting invited to work in museums and galleries.
The Holocaust Museum was the first museum I worked at, and as difficult as that subject matter is, that experience was really important to me because I was learning more about the larger world of gallery work. As an artist working as a preparator, you’re straddling both sides of that space. You’re really seeing how the sausage is made. You’re hearing all the conversations about artists, curators, the process of exhibition making. There is a lot of information you can gather about the economics of the art world by just being the person that has the know-how to touch and handle artwork. Eventually that started feeding into my art practice because I wanted to make work that was contributing to a conversation around art as a type of job. It fueled a methodology of seeing everything in the world as the result of a long line of processes that required effort and thoughtfulness by many hands.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961826/uv5bysb5fbne30gr5czh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Fair Warning, 2025.
CGN: The title of your recent exhibition at the Cleve Carney Museum—Live, Laugh, Lo—sorry, not Live, Laugh, Love—Live, Laugh, Labor.
AC: [Laughs] That’s what everybody does.
CGN: I love the title—it’s perfect. You incorporate humor along with thoughtful critiques about labor and value in your work. What role does humor play? How does it help you connect with your audience?
AC: One of my biggest criticisms of art with a capital A is how easily it can be overly intellectualized. I think that’s why I end up making a lot of work that references things that already exist or have some kind of real purpose. It’s important to give people a foothold so there’s an obvious place to board that train of thought. As an artist—maybe this is me getting into a sweeping argument about what artists should be—but I personally believe in intellectual accessibility. Humor is a swift way to drop defenses and allow people to come in without feeling like they are not getting the joke or not understanding. I like to make work that can hold both of those things at the same time—it’s funny on the surface level, it’s kind of cheeky, but there’s also another way to look at it that is intellectually clever. There is a joy in the attempt to “get it”. Like the satisfaction of grasping how a crossword puzzle actually works.
It’s also so much a part of my personality. I take myself seriously as an artist, but my ego isn’t at the heart of it. It’s really something that I do because I love to make things, and I love to connect with other people. My parents raised me on puns, creating those language relationships between things and people and space. Understanding a joke is the same way that we understand art, and while neither of my parents would consider themselves artists, they taught me how to think about art.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961828/gnotyfijabr7e15kb6hm.jpg\")
Andi Crist, 69 Bananas
CGN: Your work, Artist’s Ladder, explores hierarchies, workplace cultures, and institutional values. What experiences shaped your reflections on these themes?
AC: The ladder piece distinctly represents the complicated relationship between front of house, back of house, and the hierarchy of labor. Who is the artist in those relationships? How much does another person’s knowledge and expertise contribute to the success of another artist?
There are enormous, industrialized art practices out there, warehouses full of people making things, and those people are also artists. When you make work that involves other people, it’s important to acknowledge their contributions. I’ve had complicated interactions with other artists who are like, ‘Hey, do you want to collaborate with me on this thing?’ but really they just want me to make their idea. I made Artist’s Ladder while I was in grad school at UIC, and it really represented my relationship with a lot of other artists, because I could be an actual support structure for them. Then it turned into this absurd physical thing. It’s extremely overbuilt with inlaid racing stripes made of exotic hardwood, and a butcher’s block-style plaid top. It’s not really like an FU as much as it is asking for acknowledgement of my skills and the essential support structures that exist.
CGN: I want to ask you about another piece, Five O’Clock Somewhere, a wool rug that resembles a children’s play mat. I work at a library, and it reminded me of rugs I see all the time. It’s a peaceful image of an office park with a large fountain surrounded by a parking lot. I’m curious why you chose a rug as the medium to depict that image.
AC: To me the heart of that joke was that it was a landscape. I wanted it to be physically traversable. And that was, I don’t want to say controversial, but it was something that I had to talk about a lot. The critique of that work was the fact that I didn’t want to hang it on the wall and turn it into a tapestry. I really wanted it to be a rug that people could walk on. When I showed that work at Chicago Artists Coalition for the New City Breakout Artists show. There was a lot of pushback about having it on the floor and allowing people to walk on it.
That, to me, was such an important conversation, because, in my mind, the fact that you could walk across it and traverse it was part of how I was thinking about the object. Rugs are utilitarian–they are floor coverings. When you make art that doesn’t do anything, you don’t get to participate in that part of the conversation.
I enjoy sparring around art like that. I am totally tickled by the pushback. The critique of display is exciting, and sorting through the politics of utilitarianism in art spaces is fun to me. And then—it was so crazy—we ended up showing it halfway on the wall and halfway on the ground.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961829/r1zylkwfw9rkw191skdl.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Five O’Clock Somewhere, on display at Live, Laugh, Labor: Thoughts on Usefulness and Other Myths at The Cleve Carney Museum of Art, 2025.
CGN: Oh, wow.
AC: I was like, this is the epitome of compromise! I had to build a structure so that it could hang that way safely.
CGN: I would say just put it on the ground if that’s what you want to do. It’s interesting that there are still very fixed ideas about the way that art should be displayed.
AC: That preparator part of it, that’s what I’m all about. I was having that conversation about what physically supports the work or what conceptually supports it in the way that it’s shown.
CGN: Have you always been a writer? How do your art and writing practices work together?
AC: I can’t say that I’m a writer, it’s probably the same way that it can feel weird to call yourself an artist. But I feel like I’ve always been relatively good at writing. The first time I ever did any kind of professional writing was contributing, a long time ago, to a website called eHow. The editors would send me a title, and then I would have to research how to do that thing. Then I would write out step-by-step instructions for how to do that.
I think that’s how I had to make myself think through my conceptual practice—I had to do the research, coagulate that into some kind of document, and then I would have stream-of-consciousness conversations with myself. “Why are we interested in this? Why would we make it this way? What would I want to talk about if someone were to ask me about this?” It’s almost like I was pre-interviewing myself.
I think the writing is just another way for me to process that idea before I put in all of the time and energy to actually accomplish it.
CGN: What are you working on right now? What projects do you have coming up?
AC: The biggest project that I have right now is my house. My family and I suffered a major house fire on New Year’s Day. We’ve been displaced since then and are navigating rebuilding our house. It was a total loss.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961830/kekfqzf9f87fq48juogh.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Single-Use Fireplace, 2025. Photo: Mikey Mosher.
CGN: I’m so sorry to hear that.
AC: Thank you. We’re all okay, but it’s been a really tumultuous year. I moved my studio into a storefront last summer, and so most of my, at least relatively recent, work is safe, and I still have all of my materials, but my home life is starting over. I just had my first full year at this space, and it’s got a little gallery built out in the front called Coming Soon. It’s beautiful with floor-to-ceiling windows on Division and Central Park. I’ve been inviting people into the space to try things out.
After teaching the ceramics class, I came into a bunch of nice slip casting molds, and I’m making some really playful, weird, ceramic stuff. I want to be open and not put too much pressure on myself. Having a big studio by myself is very expensive, so it’s easy to want to make it feel like it’s worth it. But if for now all I can do is make it a resource for other people, then that will be the thing I do. Be less selfish, but more selfish with my time. Saying I can’t do that, or I don’t want to do that. It’s not my nature to say no—I’m such a yes man. I’m learning how to be a yes man for myself.
CGN: That makes sense after going through something so traumatic.
AC: I have an amazing support system. Our friends started a GoFundMe. It was incredible. I’m so humbled and floored by how held I felt by Chicago. I can’t help but throw a little shout out to my Chicago people. I can see how people’s lives get totally ruined by this kind of tragedy. I feel so lucky. Chicago definitely showed its love back.
CGN: For your project Coming Soon, are you bringing in other artists?
AC: My philosophy is that I want to be involved as little as possible. I am thinking about it more as a hosted than curated space. I’m actively soliciting proposals or ideas for workshops, meetings, book clubs—I’m down for making it a resource, whatever that means. I don’t want to over-think it, I want it to be an intuitive and organic thing, which is why I call it Coming Soon—it can be a placeholder for anything. It’s exciting. Taking my hands off the reins is a good exercise for me.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961831/gno5dhliwfnzpuaim78s.jpg\")
Andi Crist, Extension Cords, Glazed stoneware, chrome, Sizes vary 2021-present. Photo: Mikey Mosher
Fall offers a full slate of exhibitions across galleries and museums throughout the Midwest. Behind the scenes, many people in the community are working tirelessly to support artists and bring fresh perspectives to the public. We spoke with five insiders about what excites them now and what they anticipate next.
The following preview is one of five conversations that appear in CGN's Fall 2026 magazine. To receive a copy of the print edition click here.
![](\"https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789516769/izokunnmrufdyjbjnypk.jpg\")
“Intuit Art Museum’s renovated, expanded spaces give audiences the chance to connect with art through daily art-making, third Thursday Art After Work, group Slow Looks designed to provide a mindful experience with a single work and upcoming conversations with sculptor Bill Brady (Oct. 3) and Dr. Mary Trent (Oct. 15), who curated our current exhibition on the role of scrapbook-making in Henry Darger’s art.
On view is the thought-provoking Monumental: The Sculpture of Dr. Charles Smith, which encourages guests to consider the lack of historical representation of African Americans and Black people in America. Dr. Smith’s memorials champion Black history and stories of everyday life he sees missing in mainstream narratives.
This fall we’re opening an exhibition of paintings by Karla Wong, an artist who immigrated from Oaxaca and who explores themes of life and death, gender identity and self-discovery.”