To Washington Park, With Love

FEB 11 - MAR 19, 2022

ROSE BLOUIN SOLO EXHIBITION

To Washington Park, With Love: Photography from the Summer of 1987

FEB 11 - MAR 19, 2022

Arts Incubator, 301 E Garfield Blvd, Chicago, IL 60637
Eventbrite reservation

In the summer of 1987, South Side photographer Rose Blouin visited Washington Park every weekend. Blouin initially set out to capture how important the eponymous park is to its surrounding neighborhood, but as she worked it became a study of how we interact with – or become a part of – our environment.

The resulting body of work is one of great intimacy, even amid a crowd of hundreds, and reflects Blouin’s skill to commune with others and the park. Blouin’s sharp eye has taken everyday scenes that are familiar to anyone who frequents Washington Park, and returns them to us so that we are compelled to see the park anew. These images allow us to see a conversation unfolding, about the relationship between the community of Washington Park and the land itself.

Blouin is as at home in portraiture as she is in landscapes. In her fluid mastery between the two we are able to see the power of the park to embrace the multi-dimensionality of Black life, and the very unique magic of a public space that is fully, and truly, embraced as ours.

In line with Arts + Public Life’s (APL) values and mission, this exhibition was co-curated between the artist and APL staff Nootan Bharani, Isis Ferguson, Gabe Moreno, and Kate Schlachter.

Gallery Hours:
3:00 - 7:00 pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday

45-minute reserved viewing slots for groups up to (20) .

PRESS

**MARCH 12, 2022**

*NBC 5, LeeAnn Trotter*

In today’s edition of “Celebrating Women’s History,” NBC 5’s LeeAnn Trotter talks to photographer Rose Blouin … [read more]

“During the period of June through September 1987, I shot nearly 3,000 images in Washington Park in order to document the activities there. These photographic images, however, accomplished much more than mere documentation; they represented a profile of Chicago’s African American community at a place where they come together for recreation, arts and cultural events, festivals, sports, community events, parades and even weddings. I believe there is historical value in this type of looking back. The 1987 No Crime Day and Black on Black Love campaigns held in Washington Park aren’t far removed from today’s urgent insistence that Black Lives Matter.”

Rose Blouin

About the Artist

Rose Blouin

Rose Blouin has created documentary and fine art photography since 1980. Blouin’s work has been exhibited in a number of museums and galleries including Woman Made Gallery, Nicole Gallery, The South Side Community Art Center, Artemesia Gallery, The North Suburban Fine Arts Center, Evanston Arts Center, the State of Illinois Art Gallery, Bridgeport Art Center and the Chicago Cultural Center. Her work has received awards in juried exhibitions including Tall Grass Arts “From Earth” exhibition, Black Creativity (Museum of Science and Industry), University of Chicago Logan Center for the Arts “Chicago Jazz: A Photographer’s View,” DuSable Museum Annual Art Fair, and the Milwaukee Inner City Art Fair. Her photographs have been published on the covers of South Side Stories (City Stoop Press), Columbia Poetry Review (Columbia College Chicago), and Blue Lyra Review. Photos of Gwendolyn Brooks are included in Revise the Psalm: Work Celebrating The Writing Of Gwendolyn Brooks (Curbside Splendor, 2017.)

Blouin has had solo exhibitions at the South Side Community Art Center and at the Ferguson Gallery of Concordia University featuring photographs from South Africa, and The New Studio in Evanston featuring photographs of Havana. She has done presentations for Columbia College, SkyArt and the Chicago Historical Society. Blouin is a founding member of Sapphire & Crystals, a collective of African-American women artists active since 1987.

To Washington Park, With Love features over 30 images from Blouin’s Washington Park Summer 1987 series as part of a project partially supported by an Individual Artists Program Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Rose Blouin

Contact artist for purchase inquiries.

Email | Website

Artist Photo by Tony Smith

The following History of Washington Park timeline was created by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), as part of a collaborative project with Elevated Chicago’s Green Line South Community Table and the Regional Transit Authority.

Visit the CMAP website to get more information on this project.