Culture in Action was an

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhib ...

that took place in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from May to September 1993. It was a landmark event in the development of

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

Exhibition

Mary Jane Jacob Mary Jane Jacob is an American curator, writer, and educator from Chicago, Illinois. She is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is the Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies. She has held posts as Chief C ...

, the curator of the exhibition, originally conceived it in 1991, inspired by

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

' ''House of the Future'' from the 1991

Spoleto Festival USA Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of America's major performing arts festivals. It was founded in 1977 by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who sought to establish a counterpart to the Festival dei Due ...

, which she also curated. The exhibition, which cost $800,000, was sponsored by

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Sculpture Chicago and financially supported by the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

and various private groups. The program consisted of eight separate projects, each of them developed over an extended period of time. The exhibition was originally titled ''New Urban Monuments'', but was renamed upon the suggestion of artist Daniel Martinez. The renaming reflected a conceptual shift from static to dynamic public art.

Artists

All the artists were activists that engaged in collaborations and none were known as object-makers. Aside from Lacy's boulders, all the projects took place in working-class or poor neighborhoods.

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle (born 1961, Madrid, Spain) is an American Conceptual art, conceptual artist known for multidisciplinary, socially oriented sculpture, video and Installation art, installations and urban Community arts, community-based proje ...

organized a

block party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

in West Town displaying local young people's videos.

Daniel Joseph Martinez Daniel Joseph Martinez (born 1957) is a Los Angeles-based contemporary artist. Early life Martinez grew up in Lennox, California, a working-class area of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County near Los Angeles International Airport. A ...

made an installation with the granite blocks of a destroyed plaza. Together with 800 volunteers from Mexican-American and black neighborhoods, Martinez created a joint parade between the neighborhoods.

Suzanne Lacy Suzanne Lacy (born 1945) is an American artist, educator, writer, and professor at the USC Roski School of Art and Design. She has worked in a variety of media, including installation, video, performance, public art, photography, and art books, i ...

distributed 100 boulders with the names of local women of distinction around the

Chicago Loop The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...

Kate Ericson Kate Witte Ericson (1955–1995) was an American artist whose work dealt with sociocultural issues, and it often manifested as public art. Life and education The daughter of Herbert Arthur Ericson and Alma Elaine (née Witte) Ericson, she wa ...

and

Mel Ziegler Mel Ziegler and his wife Patricia Ziegler were the American founders of Banana Republic. Along with William Rosenzweig, they also co-founded The Republic of Tea. They eventually sold both companies. Interview with Mel Ziegler. The Zieglers su ...

asked the residents of a housing project to help them design a paint chart with the colors named after the events in the history of public housing, such as Cabrini Green or Pruitt-Igoe Dust. The Haha artist group created a

hydroponic Hydroponics is a type of horticulture and a subset of hydroculture which involves growing plants, usually crops or medicinal plants, without soil, by using water-based mineral nutrient solutions in aqueous solvents. Terrestrial or aquatic plan ...

garden for

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

volunteers in a storefront in

Rogers Park Rogers Park is the first of Chicago's 77 community areas. Located from the Loop, it is on the city's far north side on the shore of Lake Michigan. The neighborhood is commonly known for its cultural diversity, lush green public spaces, early ...

. Robert Peters collected Chicago slurs in a survey and made them available as recordings on a publicized toll-free telephone number.

Mark Dion Mark Dion (born August 28, 1961) is an American conceptual artist best known for his use of scientific presentations in his installations. His work examines the manner in which prevalent ideologies and institutions influence our understanding ...

and his team made micro-expeditions to the

Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it the fourth oldest zoo in North America. It is also one of a few free admission zoos in the Unit ...

, the lagoon and the surrounding park, collected samples and displayed them in a Lincoln Park indoor site. Finally, Simon Grennan,

Christopher Sperandio Christopher Sperandio (born 1964) is an American artist known for his collaborative work with British artist Simon Grennan. Biography Sperandio was born in Kingwood, West Virginia, and attended West Virginia University, receiving his Bachelor ...

and twelve factory workers made "The Candy of Their Dreams," a chocolate bar with almonds.

Reactions

The event was criticized by some for its often superficial approach to complex problems and for addressing issues that are better addressed by social services. Others hailed it as one of the most important public art events in North America in the twentieth century.Kwon, 103 ''Frieze'' commented: "Culture in Action framed its artists, its communities and its viewers themselves as the structure and content of its art."

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

''Culture in action: a public art program of Sculpture Chicago'', Bay Press, 1995
Contemporary art exhibitions Art exhibitions in the United States Public art in Chicago May 1993 events in the United States