{"article":{"id":12113,"title":"Art at The Obama Center: Raising the Future of Art and Possibility ","excerpt":"","body":"

A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center site and Julie Mehretu’s commissioned artwork, an 83-foot-tall painted glass window titled Uprising of the Sun. 

Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation.



This feature appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 issue. To purchase a copy or subscribe click here.



By ALISON REILLY 


The expansive, 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park will open to the public on June 19 after nearly five years of construction. The Center features an ambitious art program with more than 25 commissions of new work from some of today’s most prominent contemporary artists – like Carrie Mae Weems, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Jenny Holzer, and Richard Hunt – along with recent School of the Art Institute graduate Lindsay Adams, Washington D.C.-based artist Nekisha Durrett, and Mexican and American painter Aliza Nisenbaum. These permanent works will be installed throughout the campus. For example, Maya Lin’s Seeing Through the Universe serves as a focal point in an outdoor space dedicated to President Obama’s mother, while Mark Bradford’s immense City of the Big Shoulders scales the three-story west wall of the museum atrium. Together, the commissions articulate a vision of the Center as a cultural hub where art, civic life, and education intersect. 


I spoke with Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum, and Virginia Shore, Curator of the Obama Presidential Center Art Commissions about the Center’s innovative art program. Our conversation explored how these commissions shape the institution’s identity, reflect the Obamas’ longstanding commitment to artists and arts education, and expand the possibilities of what a civic and cultural institution can achieve.


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Installation in progress of Julie Mehretu’s Uprising of the Sun at the Obama Presidential Center. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation.



CGN: How do the artist commissions for the Obama Presidential Center shape the institution’s identity compared to what we think of as a traditional presidential library?


Louise Bernard: The Obama Presidential Center is in many ways a living legacy. We think about the continued work of the Obama administration, the work that the Obamas did together in the White House, the relationship between the West Wing and the East Wing, and Mrs. Obama’s initiatives. The Obamas lifted up the importance of art, not only rehanging the collection within the White House, but really thinking about the important relationship between the arts and education. We know that there is a positive impact through arts education in terms of curricular development, the impact that it has on young people, and so that was a particular focus and emphasis for the Obamas, thinking not only about the visual arts, but the arts across disciplines. That’s something that we wanted to continue and lift up through the foundation’s mission, which is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We’re building this 19.3-acre complex rooted in community on the South Side of Chicago. We know the arts are engaging, uplifting, and energizing. We really thought about how art in public spaces can continue to foster that sense of connection and possibility. 


Virginia Shore: It is a community center. It is a cultural hub. It’s a museum, library, auditorium, recording studio, cafe. It’s the first of its kind in terms of calling it a presidential center and what that means. The spaces are spectacular, and the art brings it to life in this whole other way. Each artist has a different vision, different materials, and a different focus.


CGN: When you look at the breadth of artists involved from Carrie Mae Weems to Theaster Gates to Nick Cave, is there a unifying vision that connects them? You spoke about possibility, but are there other themes that emerge from bringing these artists with very different practices together?


VS: There’s an underlying thread that connects them all. They are changemakers, civically engaged, and trying to build community. Through each one of the works, regardless of theme or material, the artists themselves are changemakers in their own right. 


LB: We wanted to ensure that we had a mix of luminary figures as well as emerging artists. To your point, there is a real mix of materiality, the various practices that the artists bring to bear on very site-specific spaces. Virginia was also thinking about artists in relationship to space and scale. We were often asking artists to really push their own practice, working in materials that they hadn’t necessarily worked in before. Julie Mehretu was working in glass for the first time, which has impacted and shaped her continued practice as she’s working with new materiality around transparency or translucency. We also thought about the full range of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, queer identity, Indigenous representation. We wanted to ensure that we had artists from Chicago with a connection back to the city and its rich history of the arts and civic engagement. 


It’s also important to note that while the commissions are understood to be permanent, they’re site specific, they will have real longevity and presence at the Center. They will be activated programmatically so that they are brought to life in new ways. We really think about placing these artists in dialogue with other artists, across disciplines. 


CGN: For Julie Mehretu’s work, Uprising of the Sun, what guided your decision to commission her for that significant space in the museum tower? What made her work and her approach right for the Obama Presidential Center? 


VS: One of the many exciting things about working on this project was that it really became a dialogue. The President, Louise, and the team were open to my suggestions. That window wall looked like this perfect space for art to transform the museum tower and become a beacon of hope for the Center, the north facing wall of the museum. I presented a couple of ideas in terms of artists that might be able to address that window wall, and we all landed on Julie. Julie was both excited and, as she has said, a little daunted by it, because she had never worked in glass before. But there’s an incredible fabricator [Franz Mayer Studio] that I had the opportunity to work with a few times in my previous career. They are one of the most renowned artist glass makers in the world. I think that helped allay her fears as well. She was really excited by the challenge. 


Aliza Nisenbaum, Reading Circles/ Weaving Dreams/ Seeding Futures (detail), 2025. Oil on linen. Photo by Izzy Leung. Courtesy the artist, Anton Kern gallery, and Regen Projects.



CGN: When you are commissioning someone like Mark Bradford for a monumental painting, what is the process like? Where do you begin?


VS: Mark was unique because that space inside the museum is incredibly complicated. From the ground level all the way looking up, it’s interrupted by floors and balconies jutting out, so it’s not a symmetrical space. But Mark is so fluid, he’s able to take over monumental spaces.


LB: With Mark we saw the evolution of his piece. He worked and reworked it for several years with rounds of concepting, testing, prototyping, and modeling. He built a model of the space in his studio so that he could really understand the scale and how the idea of the mapping played out–the connection between Chicago, the city and the lake. I think it’s been a remarkable journey for him. He also worked on other projects simultaneously and so his work evolved across time and these pieces spoke to each other. That was also remarkable to see. 


CGN: Did anything surprise you in the way the artists responded to the Obama legacy or to Chicago itself?


VS: There are so many thoughtful concepts that we did not anticipate. Spencer Finch [Memory Landscape (Nairobi, Chicago, Honolulu, Jakarta)], the way that he incorporated the president’s story, by reading all of the President’s books and using color [in the tile wall mural installation] to connect back to place, history, and his personal memories. The artists who have been commissioned for this project have spent serious time thinking about how best to make this connection to the Center. 


LB: I would add one example of the frieze, the large-scale works by Theaster Gates [To See What They Could See and American Vista in the Forum Atrium]. Theaster is local to Chicago, born and raised on the West Side, very much rooted on the South Side in terms of his artistic practice and Rebuild Foundation. But within Theaster’s practice, he thinks a lot about the figure of the Black woman, the idea of the Black Madonna, being able to lift up this idea of blackness and beauty, Black modernity is central to his practice. He is thinking through the legacy, the idea of the first Black first lady and how that resonates in terms of Mrs. Obama being born and raised in South Shore, adjacent to the Center itself. We see these references to the idea of blackness and beauty and power and presence in these wonderful archival images drawn from the Johnson Publishing Company archive and from the personal collection of Howard Simmons.



Theaster Gates, Studies for Gates’ installation at his studio in Chicago, 2025. Courtesy of Theaster Gates Studio.



CGN: You have commissioned works that are tied directly to Chicago’s cultural history, like the Gates frieze you mentioned. How did you approach selecting work that referenced Chicago and its history?


VS: There was always intent to include artists with connections to Chicago. Aliza Nisenbaum, for example, is creating this fantastic expansive mural for the public library. She works in community and shines light on people who are not always front and center through her portraiture. She spent so much time doing research about librarians, about the purpose of the libraries in Chicago, how expansive they are, thinking of it as a place for people without homes, and then what is possible inside a library and looking at it as this community space that’s free and open and a space to go and learn and feel welcome. 


To an artist like Tyanna J. Buie who has done a screenprint piece [Be the Change!] inside the Forum building. She grew up in many different foster homes. Now she is the head of printmaking at RISD. She was in a Bud Billiken parade [on the South Side of Chicago] when President Obama was running for Senate, and so her work has this other history of being connected to him in this way as a young adult. There’s so many different stories like that where there’s a connection that maybe wouldn’t be anticipated. 


LB: We think again about the power of place in the most dynamic sense. The Center is rooted in community. The connection to Chicago’s rich history is very much front and center. But at the same time, we tell a national story with an international reach. We’re always thinking about the synergy between the local and the global, the way in which we’re drawing people in, we’re bringing the world to the South Side and the South Side to the world. There is that exchange that takes place. I think that is embedded throughout many of the works.



Spencer Finch, Obama Presidential Center Forum Garden Level, Rendering. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation.



CGN: Chicago has a long history of investing in and supporting public art. I’m curious how you see the Center’s art program entering into that civic tradition.


LB: We are obviously not a traditional art museum, we’re a non-traditional platform for the arts. But we have this global reach in terms of the foundation’s international sensibility as well as a connection to the idea of locality and proximity. We have a public high school literally across the street. We think about how through our engagement with the arts, we’re also able to lift up the idea of the business of the arts, which is to say that the arts are themselves a billion-dollar, international industry, and there’s a whole ecosystem of career pathways within this industry, which continues to evolve and change over time. Through the foundation’s mission, we’re able to model for young people connections to careers they may not have anticipated and really lift the hood, so to speak, on how this particular ecosystem works. We think about the city as a school. We want to ensure that young people have a behind-the-scenes understanding of how different cultural institutions work. 


CGN: In what ways does the art program reflect President Obama and Mrs. Obama’s own relationship to culture, creativity, and civic imagination?


VS: Looking back at their time during the White House and all the artists that they included, both in the residences and in the West Wing, they highlighted the arts throughout their eight years in office. There were more artists that performed in the White House during the Obama administration than at any other time. This is their legacy. It feels like an extension of their time in the White House and of the power of arts to transform possibility.


LB: We saw how the National Portrait Gallery portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald looked unlike any other presidential portraiture before them. Kim Sajet, who was then the director of the National Portrait Gallery, talked about the “pilgrimage effect” of those portraits, their power to draw people to the National Portrait Gallery, to the museum, to pay homage to that history and everything they represent. At the same time, President and Mrs. Obama speak about the idea of on whose shoulders we stand. They’re very mindful of the fact that their journeys were only made possible because of the many people, the movements, the milestones that came before them. The arts are tapping into that sense of possibility and collectivity, but they have a way, as we saw with the National Portrait Gallery portraits, of pushing the envelope of what is possible and how that resonates with the power of representation itself. We think of that wonderful photo of the little girl captured looking up at the Amy Sherald portrait with a sense of wonder and awe and also seeing herself reflected back.


While the President and Mrs. Obama are phenomenal figures and iconic in their own right, we always want to ensure for the museum experience that everyday people, visitors, see themselves reflected in their stories. The President began his career as a community organizer. Mrs. Obama was born and raised on the South Side. And so, again, there is that sense of possibility. 


VS: The President said, “We believe that the arts and the humanities are, in many ways, reflective of our national soul. They’re central to who we are as Americans–dreamers and storytellers, and innovators and visionaries.” I feel like that says it all.


Visit obama.org

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Stargazer (I remember you)

18\" x 16\" x 1 3/4\"

colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass

photo credit: Nathan Keay




By SUSAN GESCHEIDLE


Duncan Robert Anderson has long been a steady presence in the Chicago art scene, carrying an identity that is impossible to miss. He stands well over six feet and is consistently dressed in black from head to toe, complete with boots and a signature wide-brimmed cowboy hat. His silhouette has remained unchanged since he arrived from East Tennessee in 1998, save for his long hair slowly turning grey. Since we first met back in 2002, I have never once seen him out of this attire. Yet whether encountering him at gallery openings or during visits to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, where he works as building operations manager, that imposing visual style is always balanced by an easy, genuine warmth and impeccable manners rooted in his Appalachian upbringing. It’s an unpretentious demeanor that has earned him a quiet, lasting respect across the community.


Anderson is best known as a dedicated artist and a vital behind-the-scenes force at the MCA. His current solo exhibition, Messengers and Oracles, at the West Town Chamber of Commerce, offers a welcome look into his personal and creative practice. Featuring nineteen drawings, the exhibition focuses heavily on memory and how we are shaped by places and people. The majority of the works were already sold, despite being exhibited outside of a traditional commercial gallery space. Opening night also celebrated the release of his beautiful monograph of the same name, which is now officially available for purchase at the MCA Store. The artwork leans into Anderson’s Appalachian roots, bringing his childhood background into a direct conversation with his decades of lived experience in Chicago.


Stormlight

24\" x 20\" x 1 3/4\"

colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass

photo credit: Nathan Keay


Anderson’s geography isn't just a straight line from the South to the Midwest, though. His marriage has introduced a deep Japanese influence to his life, adding another layer to the work. You can see this cultural mix directly in some of the drawings, portraits of anonymous Japanese figures set against a backdrop of familiar Chicago architecture and cityscapes.

While Anderson’s drawings have always stemmed from his own life and memories, this newest body of work has a profound focus on loss and grief. The exhibition serves as a tribute to his mother, as Anderson recently reached the exact age she was at her passing. This enduring grief is compounded by the consecutive losses of his dog Smokey, his artistic brother-in-arms Tony Fitzpatrick, and his art hero Don Meckley between 2025 and 2026. In light of these profound losses, his signature technique of mark-making on black paper feels especially fitting, giving these deeply personal images a darker, more forlorn feel.


Anderson's process makes perfect sense when you understand a love for German Expressionism that dates back to his childhood. In the spirit of that movement, his technique of coloring on black paper makes the bright colors jump, letting his animals emerge directly out of the deep shadows. You can see this dramatic mood across his landscapes and cityscapes—whether capturing weathered old houses, the dark silhouette of the John Hancock Center, or the towering form of the Willis Tower.


Anderson notes he is a \"huge fan of Symbolism and Romanticism,\" blending those traditions with \"a bit of dream-like revelation and vision\" to create a magical world of his own. He imagines solitary animals as protectors keeping watch over the people and places he has lost. Although only a few pieces on display feature human figures, many drawings are filled with bears, elk, wolves, birds, and dogs. By dropping these creatures directly into man-made settings, he creates a strange visual tension—granting the animals a powerful presence that disrupts an otherwise quiet human environment.


The Hospital Escape

24\" x 20\" x 1 3/4\"

colored pencil on archival paper, framed with museum glass

photo credit: Nathan Keay


Many of these drawings focus on a single, isolated figure. The Hospital Escape (18” x 15”) features a massive elk standing under a glowing streetlamp. This powerful image hints at a wild animal breaking free from an institutional space and stepping out into the city, tapping into timeless themes of survival and freedom.


Storm Light (18” x 15”) shifts into a quieter, more tense atmosphere, focusing on the weathered Victorian house where Anderson lived in the attic while a student at East Tennessee State University. Warm sunlight hits the front steps and grass, bathing the home in a serene beauty that contrasts with the dark, stormy sky. Perched on the peak of the roof is a massive black heron with its wings spread wide—completely dominating the structure as both a menacing hunter and a fierce, protective shield: an oracle keeping watch.


The mood shifts with The Pact (18” x 15”), created in memory of Fitzpatrick. A well-worn tombstone stands in an overgrown cemetery with a wolf sleeping peacefully in front of it. Rather than feeling ominous or macabre, the image carries a serene beauty, and the sleeping animal brings a gentle ease to Fitzpatrick's passing. Through this peaceful presence at the grave, Anderson cuts through the heavy grief of the exhibition with a rare moment of comfort.


The Silent City (18” x 15”) blends his two worlds through an intentional ambiguity. Featuring a female face rendered in deep purple and adorned with traditional hair ornaments, an anonymous Japanese figure looks directly at the viewer with a calm expression against the dark silhouette of the Willis Tower. Anderson notes she “may or may not be a ghost or emissary,” juxtaposing her against the landmark to seamlessly connect his current life with his family’s heritage.


Sunday Morning

20\" x 18\" x 1 3/4\"

colored pencil on paper, framed with museum glass

photo credit: Nathan Keay



A direct tribute to his mother is Sunday Morning (18” x 15”). Dressed in her Sunday best—a coat, scarf, gloves, and pumps—she stands against a soft blue glow as a white owl swoops toward her. The lights of the John Hancock Center glow as the iconic building rises in the background against a crimson and orange sky. This stunning juxtaposition brings her memory directly into the urban landscape he has inhabited for decades.


An atmospheric touch to the show is a collaborative sound loop by Paul Deuth. Anderson designed the audio to match the mood of what is on the walls, with Deuth shaping the sounds to be \"dark, magical, and other-worldly.\" It is a beautiful blend of sight and sound that completely pulls the room together. Ultimately, the exhibition stands as a quiet reminder of profound artwork built on real human issues, ignoring the fleeting, superficial trends that too often dictate the whims of the contemporary art world. 


#


Messengers and Oracles runs through October 23, 2026.

West Town Chamber of Commerce | 1819 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL


Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.


Meet the artist for a special book signing on Saturday, October 17, from noon to 4:00 PM.

@DuncanRobertAnderson


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Professor Tony Jones and artist Andy Scott in the Driehaus Museum's Murphy Auditorium on August 29, 2026.



By GINNY VAN ALYEA


“Now in Chicago, we have a tradition of significant public sculptures, not without controversy,” Professor Tony Jones CBE observed during an August 29 conversation with Scottish sculptor Andy Scott OBE at the Driehaus Museum.


Hosted by Chicago Scots, the evening brought together artists, preservation specialists and members of Chicago’s Scottish community for a dinner and discussion about the cultural and economic importance of public art. It also recognized the restoration underway at the Robert Burns monument in Garfield Park, a gift to Chicago from its Scottish community in 1906.


Gary Maclean, National Chef of Scotland, prepared an exceptional three-course tasting menu with whisky pairings. Following dinner in the museum’s newly-restored auditorium, Jones and Scott turned to the work behind public sculpture, from securing funding and solving engineering problems to seeing an artwork become part of a community’s identity.


Jones and Scott met during Scott's student years at the Glasgow School of Art, which Jones then led. A sculptor himself, Jones later served as president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a Chicago Scots board member.


A view of Scott's The Kelpies in Falkirk, Scotland



Scott is best known for The Kelpies, two 100-foot steel horse heads in Falkirk, Scotland, inspired by the Clydesdales that worked along the canals and on the land. Chicago audiences encountered their maquettes on the lakefront during the 2012–13 Chicago Sculpture International exhibition.


Chicago, of course, offered an example of what ambitious public art could accomplish. Scott recalled using the city’s large-scale artworks as inspiration and to give his client team confidence in the project that became The Kelpies. That confidence was tested, he says. Scott described an eight-and-a-half-year process, prolonged by political impasses and funding difficulties. Some coverage became hostile. As the sculptures began to rise, however, opinions shifted in their favor.



Scott during fabrication of the Kelpies



“You need to tough it out,” he shared.


At one point, financial pressures prompted suggestions to reduce the sculptures to roughly a third of their intended size, or build only one horse head. Scott and his wife, Hanneke, resisted.


“We drew a line in the sand and said absolutely not,” he recalled.


The finished sculptures became a tourism landmark and appeared in campaigns promoting Britain, including advertisements in China and at a London airport. In April 2025, Falkirk Council reported that The Helix, the park home to The Kelpies, had welcomed one million visitors in the preceding year, helping attract business to the area. Over a decade since their construction there are measurable benefits directly attributed to the Kelpies, including a tourism boost to Falkirk of 73% and 1,380 local annual jobs. Falkirk's population is just 40,000 residents.


For Scott, the response extended beyond visitor numbers. He pointed to “that passion and ownership and pride” among people who had embraced the sculptures.



Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the Kelpies when the Queen officially opened the Queen Elizabeth II Canal in 2017.



Jones described a similar sense of attachment in Chicago. Recalling the opening of Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain, he noted how quickly children adopted its shallow pool, learning to anticipate the water pouring from the faces on its towers.


“It was an amazing moment that we could never have predicted,” he said.


Jones went on to highlight the numbers that back up the impact of Millennium Park and its public art on the City of Chicago. From 2003-2026 the estimated impact is $2.5 billion. The Kelpies have not been in existence quite as long but their impact will last for decades to come.



Jones shared a photo of the parking lot that Millennium Park and its public art replaced.


*


Public art was the theme of the evening, and not just because an internationally known artist from Scotland was in Chicago to discuss the Kelpies. The Chicago Scots have their own long history of supporting art that is part of the community. Chicago Scots, founded in 1845 as the Illinois Saint Andrew Society, joined other Scottish organizations in supporting William Grant Stevenson’s Robert Burns monument more than a century ago. Today, the organization is raising funds to supplement the Chicago Park District’s restoration budget and support ongoing maintenance of the ode to Scotland's national poet here in has a long history in Garfield Park.


Conservator and sculptor Andrzej Dajnowski, who attended the dinner, is in the process of recreating four stolen bronze relief panels that once belonged on the sculpture, as Burns’s missing quill. Dajnowski will quite literally help put a pen back into the poet's hand soon.


Andrew Schneider, the Park District’s director of historic assets, described its long-term stewardship partnership with Chicago Scots as the first of its kind in the district’s history and one that connects the creation of new landmarks with the responsibility of caring for those Chicago already has so that the public may enjoy art and its impact for the ages.


#


Publisher's note: Ginny Van Alyea has served on the Chicago Scots Board of Governors since 2009 and also attended the Glasgow School of Art in 2001.


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Collectors and artists attend the Not Just Another Pretty Face unveiling at the Hyde Park Art Center.




By JACQUELINE LEWIS


This year, Hyde Park Art Center is hosting the latest installment of Not Just Another Pretty Face (NJAPF). This special experience and exhibition began in the mid-1990s and occurs only every three years.


Not Just Another Pretty Face uses a matchmaking program to connect local patrons with artists. During this experience, patrons and artists choose each other, and the artist creates artwork specifically for that patron. Works range from traditional to experimental, depending on the artist chosen and the desires of the patron. At the end of the experience, the pieces are unveiled in an exhibition later this year before being purchased and taken home by the patron.


This matchmaking process differs from traditional art purchasing. Instead of collectors looking for works that already exist, purchasing them, and moving on, they become part of the artistic process and the work’s origin. Once matched, patrons meet with artists to discuss what they like and what they hope for from the final work, and the artist melds those desires with their own style.


The process cultivates a sense of generosity between artist and patron as they mutually share themselves and allow each other into their individual worlds. It facilitates lasting relationships that do not often develop naturally in gallery spaces and plays an important role in establishing broader financial support for the artistic community.


Director of Development Eric Thompson has been with Hyde Park Art Center since 2023, making this his second iteration of NJAPF. As this year’s program nears completion, Thompson offered insight into how the experience comes together.




A commission being unveiled at Hyde Park Art Center



Jackie Lewis: What is the process for artists and patrons to sign up for this experience?


Eric Thompson: For the artists, our team begins reaching out to invite them to participate about 18 months before the unveiling. For this iteration, conversations began in late spring 2025. They provide information on their artistic process, image examples of their work, and their commission rate. Our team then publicizes this information on our website and presents the artists at various salons throughout the city.


Several supporters of the Art Center host NJAPF salons and invite their own guests. Potential patrons learn about the artists and the project at large and express interest with our team. From there, we work to get the commission started!


JL: Once artists and patrons are chosen, what does the matchmaking process look like? Is there any process beyond the salons?


Eric Thompson: Much of the process happens after the salons. Patrons and the Hyde Park Art Center staff discuss artists who have piqued their interest. The HPAC staff sets up studio visits with the artists, giving the patron and artist a chance to meet, learn about each other, and discuss a possible commission. Sometimes artists may meet with multiple patrons through the project, and patrons will visit multiple studios before making a decision. Once a patron and artist agree to work together, the artist begins the work.


JL: What is your role in the process? How does HPAC support both the artists and the patrons?


Eric Thompson: NJAPF is a win-win-win situation for all parties. The patron has the opportunity to meet amazing Chicago artists, receives a unique commissioned work, and has that piece included in a public exhibition at the Art Center. The artist receives payment for the work, has the opportunity to expand their network of collectors, and often pushes their own practice through this process. The Art Center also benefits, as half of the commission serves as a tax-deductible donation that supports our mission to sustain Chicago art and artists.


JL: What aspect of NJAPF do you think has the greatest impact on the Chicago art community?


Eric Thompson: The project itself embodies the mission of the Art Center: it is designed for artists in Chicago to flourish. I think the greatest impact from the program’s ten iterations is the access it has created between artists and patrons. Relationships have been built. It is all about connection—a personal connection to the art and the connection between the artist and the patron. As a staff member, it is a wonderful thing to observe.



*

Sarah Nishiura, Inching



D. Lammie-Hanson, Agility to Surrender, 14k gold on Acrylic (wood panel)



A Word From the Artists


For a deeper understanding of the experience, artists D. Lammie-Hanson and Sarah Nishiura shared their own perspectives. Both have completed commissions for NJAPF in the past and are currently creating work for this year’s iteration.


JL: How did you first learn about NJAPF, and how did you become involved?


Sarah Nishiura: I have been teaching and exhibiting with the Hyde Park Art Center for over 15 years now, and I think it was through this affiliation that I was first invited to participate in NJAPF. I was lucky enough to receive two commissions the first year that I participated, and I think this success led to repeat invitations through the years.


D. Lammie-Hanson: I learned about NJAPF through an email invitation from Hyde Park Art Center. After I responded that I was interested, they placed me in their rotation to be presented to their patrons.


JL: How has working with NJAPF affected your artistic career? Did it fit within your practice?


Sarah Nishiura: My favorite thing about NJAPF is the opportunity to step outside my usual practice to try something different. Many of the commissions I have done in the past have involved working with materials given to me by the patron. This presents technical challenges that I wouldn’t normally take on, but I learn so much from stepping outside my comfort zone every few years. I have had continued relationships with patrons, and I have appreciated seeing the commissioned pieces in their homes. There is nothing better than seeing your work be part of someone’s life.


D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron trusted me to interpret their direction through my own lens. They gave me the subject and overall intent, and I stayed grounded by making creative choices around composition and focus that matched their goals while keeping my personal approach. Because metalpoint/silverpoint isn’t a widely known medium, working with NJAPF and Hyde Park Art Center helped me present my process to a wider audience. It also strengthened my broader portfolio by giving my work a strong platform and context.


JL: What was your experience working with a patron? How did it differ from your usual process?


Sarah Nishiura: The two patrons came by my studio, and we immediately found we had a lot in common and a lot to talk about. We shared some of our favorite artists, our experiences with travel, our love of craft and nature, and from these conversations they came up with great ideas for jumping-off points for the commission. At the same time, they let me know they really wanted me to have the freedom to go in any direction I wanted with the final piece. This experience only differed from my usual process because it began with conversations with other people rather than the conversation that usually happens in my own head!


D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron visited my studio while I was an artist in residence at Little Black Pearl, and we discussed his vision. He chose my silverpoint-on-black/metalpoint technique, and we developed the direction together. This differed from my usual process because I don’t usually enjoy doing commissions, but I enjoyed working with Hyde Park Art Center through this program. After we aligned on the creative direction for the artwork, the patron gave me the freedom to carry out the piece according to my own vision.


JL: Since you have participated in NJAPF before, what made you decide to do it again?


Sarah Nishiura: I love HPAC, and I feel like this is a great program that allows me to support their mission while also giving me a wonderful opportunity to work with collectors I might never meet otherwise. It is a win-win!


D. Lammie-Hanson: I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Hyde Park Art Center again. I submitted my interests without knowing which new collectors would be interested, but I was willing to take the chance, and I’m glad I did.


*


Unveiling party attendees at Hyde Park Art Center



From the Collectors


To understand more about another side of the program, Ginny Van Alyea, CGN’s publisher and a past participant of NJAPF, shared her perspective as a patron who commissioned a work by artist Mel Watkin several years ago.


JL: Before NJAPF, did you consider yourself an art collector? Had you ever commissioned a work before?


GV: NJAPF appealed to my husband and me because we had bought art separately and together, but we hadn’t commissioned anything. My parents gave us the commission as a wedding gift, so it was especially meaningful.


JL: Before meeting with the artist, did you have a specific idea for the artwork you wanted?


GV: We looked through a lot of artwork before deciding whose work would be the best fit. There were so many choices, but we liked Mel Watkin’s particular focus. It felt like a good fit for creating something that spoke to both of us and our families when we got married.


JL: What was your experience working with the artist like? Did it feel collaborative?


GV: Working with Mel on a piece that was just for us was so cool. We sent images, ideas, and references back and forth. We met for coffee. We gave a little feedback but also listened to what she suggested. It was definitely a collaborative experience, but ultimately it was still the artist who made the art.


JL: Have you continued your relationship with your paired artist?


GV: Yes! A few years later, for a milestone birthday, I commissioned Mel again to make two more works: one about our daughter and one about our son. Now all three works hang together at home.


JL: Is there anything else you’d like to add about the experience?


GV: I know many collectors who have participated in the program more than once, and I can see us doing it again someday. It’s a wonderful chance to work with a local artist while also setting the parameters—like price and size—up front, which is another unique benefit of the program. It’s also terrific to support HPAC and local artists at the same time. While there are some big artist names in the program, NJAPF is also a wonderful way to discover emerging artists.


*


This year’s unveiling reception will take place on December 11, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Hyde Park Art Center. Following the reception, the artwork will remain on display and will be accompanied by a catalogue documenting the entire process for patrons, artists, and visitors alike.


The success of NJAPF has extended beyond Chicago, with similar exhibitions adapted in Boise, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. To date, the program has generated more than $2 million in sales. Half of the proceeds go directly to participating artists, while the other half supports Hyde Park Art Center’s programs and mission. With more than 400 works commissioned by over 300 new and established collectors, NJAPF has cultivated an ecosystem of patronage that enables artists to thrive.


By embracing and encouraging the idea of patronage in contemporary art, NJAPF has built a community of people who value not only finished works of art, but also the creative process behind them. If you missed your opportunity to participate this year, consider becoming a patron for the next iteration.


More details at hydeparkart.org/njapf-2026/

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