Benefactor and Patron Curator-led Exhibition Tour | Theaster Gates: Unto Thee

Join Dana Feitler, Director, and exhibition co-curator Vanja Malloy for a guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee at the Smart Museum of Art on Saturday, January 17, from 2:00-3:00 pm. Unto Thee is Theaster Gates's first major solo museum exhibition in his hometown of Chicago, reflecting the artist's longtime engagement with the University of Chicago and the care he has taken to nurture the arts on campus. It features several core collections of objects that Theaster has acquired through the University, including the Department of Art History’s glass lantern slides, display vitrines from the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (formerly the Oriental Institute), paint-stained concrete from the floors of Midway Studios, and wooden pews made for Bond Chapel—collections of materials and objects once deemed no longer useful, now taken into Theaster’s stewardship. Rooted in materials and the artist's interest in the process of making, Unto Thee embodies the relationships Gates has fostered within the University of Chicago, local communities, the South Side, and broader Chicago.