The Art Institute of Chicago hosted a daylong “block party” celebrating the impact of Chicago art and design on American culture through talks, performances, and art making. The party filled the galleries, gardens, library, and public spaces. 

I joined print curator Mark Pascale for a show-and-tell event in the Prints and Drawings room, where we discussed prints produced under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project in the 1930s and early 40s. Works on displays included etchings, lithographs, and screenprints by printmakers such as Ida Abelman, Hugo Gellert, Blanche Grambs, Carl Hoeckner, Louis Lozowick, Elizabeth Olds, Harry Sternberg, Dox Thrash.