Opening Celebration

Join the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago for the opening event of the Chicago-wide exhibition Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40. Combining a gallery walkthrough with remarks and performances from local artists, museum representatives, and community partners, the opening promises to be a joyful celebration of four decades of meaningful artistic work, dialogue, and exchange, and our partners and community coming together ‘toward common cause.’


Welcome video


On the South Side

Visit Toward Common Cause venues across the South Side and the city of Chicago, many of which will also be open on Saturday:

Toward Common Cause
Hyde Park Art Center
Saturday, July 17, 10:30 am–2:30 pm • Make a reservation to visit »

Kara Walker: Presenting Negro Scenes Drawn Upon My Passage through the South and Reconfigured for the Benefit of Enlightened Audiences Wherever Such May Be Found, By Myself, Missus K.E.B. Walker, Colored
DuSable Museum of African American History
Saturday, July 17, 11 am–4 pm • Make a reservation to visit »

Black Wall Street Journey: 51st Street Pop-Up Gallery Opening
Urban Juncture
Saturday, July 17, 12–4 pm • Learn more about this free event »

Carrie Mae Weems: A Land of Broken Dreams
Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago
Saturday, July 17, 12–4 pm • RSVP for the opening reception »

Whitfield Lovell: The Spell Suite
South Side Community Art Center
Saturday, July 17, 12–4 pm • Make a reservation to visit »

Dawoud Bey: Portraits from Chicago (1993–2001)
Arts + Public Life
Saturday, July 17, 3:30–7 pm • Make a reservation to visit »

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