The project featured on this website originated as a result of my search into the institutional history of the University of Illinois at Chicago. During my time as a student in UIC's Museum and Exhibition Studies program, I learned how to do the type of archival research which enabled me to complete this project.

 

As I began doing research into the history of some of the art found on the university's campus, I discovered that much of it had a history that traced back to a small student gallery that operated between 1948 and 1965 on the Navy Pier campus. When I dug deeper, I realized that university staff organized over 120 exhibitions during that seventeen year period. Some of these exhibitions featured important works of modern and contemporary art, demonstrating that UIC was a major venue for both living and historical artists in Postwar Chicago. 

 

Using a variety of archival resources, I dug in to the history of over 100 of the exhibitions that took place at the Navy Pier art gallery. Although the level of detail found varies between individual exhibitions, this project seeks to unveil a lesser known aspect of the university's history that might have otherwise been lost to history.