Chicago as an Art World Competitor

2010s Artists Chicago Global

Former MCA staffer Monique Meloche reflects on the vibrant Chicago arts scene.

Now where you have people like Theaster Gates and Dawoud Bey and Kerry James Marshall who [are] just like, "We can conquer the world with Chicago as our base and we love our life here." And I think that's bringing a lot of attention back on this city. And I just feel like the momentum in the past maybe five years has been rolling in that more positive direction, and when we move to the fall when the art fair happens and the second Chicago Architecture Biennial will happen simultaneously, I just know that I have people from all over the world who are just—who can't wait to come here and visit. And that wasn't always the case.

Performance in conjunction with Theaster Gates: 13th Ballad, MCA Chicago, May 17, 2013. Photo: Jeremy Lawson, © MCA Chicago.

Performance in conjunction with Theaster Gates: 13th Ballad, MCA Chicago, May 17, 2013. Photo: Jeremy Lawson, © MCA Chicago.

Kerry James Marshall, Mementos, 1998. Chromogenic development print; framed: 31 x 27 in. (78.7 x 68.9 cm), sheet: 20 × 24 in. (50.8 × 60.9 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of the Susan and Lewis Manilow Collection of Chicago Artists, 2003.32. © 1998 Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Michal Raz-Russo, © MCA Chicago.

Kerry James Marshall, Mementos, 1998. Chromogenic development print; framed: 31 x 27 in. (78.7 x 68.9 cm), sheet: 20 × 24 in. (50.8 × 60.9 cm). Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, gift of the Susan and Lewis Manilow Collection of Chicago Artists, 2003.32. © 1998 Kerry James Marshall. Photo: Michal Raz-Russo, © MCA Chicago.

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