October 2025

Oct 13

Written By Gene Skala

News | Exhibitions | Opportunities

Current Exhibitions

Sculpture & Film

at CSI Project Space

Opening Reception: Saturday, October 18, 6-9PM

Exhibit Dates: October 18 - November 14, 2025

About the Exhibit:
Filmmaking has long been described as sculptural—shaping sets, arranging spatial movement, and constructing rhythm through editing. Sculpture & Film highlights this intersection, presenting works that incorporate film imagery, stills, objects, or materials; explore projection or video installation; or arise from collaborative projects examining cinematic and sculptural space.

The exhibition celebrates film as both medium and inspiration within sculpture, ranging from traditional to experimental approaches. Sculpture & Film will be on view concurrently with the 61st edition of the Chicago International Film Festival.

Exhibiting Artists:
Roland Biermann, Kara Cobb-Johnson, Gertah, Yvette Kaiser-Smith, Kasia Kay, Beatriz Ledesma, Connie Noyes, Kelly Pelka, Thomas Plum, Asher Retech, and Chris Wubbena.

Curated by Chris Wubbena.

Location:
CSI Project Space, 1912 N. Damen Ave., Chicago, IL (at the corner of Damen and Cortland)

Gallery hours: Fri. 2-6 pm; Sat. 12–8 pm; Sun. 1-5 pm or by appointment

Inquiries: projectspace@chicagosculpture.org

Chicago Sculpture International 2025 Biennale

Materiality in Sculpture: A Dialogue Between Substance and Form

Exhibition runs through November 9th, 2025

This exhibition explores the interplay of materials in the realm of sculpture, showcasing works that challenge, celebrate, and redefine our understanding of material substance. To connect your own work to this theme, consider how your choice of medium and subject matter can simultaneously reflect the physical and conceptual aspects. Formats include freestanding, wall hung, interactive, installation & video. Open interpretations of the exhibit theme are welcomed.

Juror: Debra Favre

Important Dates:

Exhibition: September 27th, 2025 through November 9th, 2025
Closing Date: Sunday, November 9th, 2025
Pick-up Dates: Monday, November 10th and Tuesday, November 11th, 9am to 6pm
(Assistance available until 4pm)

Exhibition Location:
Evanston Art Center
1717 Central St.
Evanston, IL 60201

Questions? Contact info@chicagosculptors.com

Call for Entries

**Call for Art: Little, but Bold - 2025**

at CSI Project Space Gallery
1912 N Damen Ave., Chicago, IL.

Deadline: Friday, November 21, 2025

Exhibit Dates: December 13, 2025 – January 30, 2026

Chicago Sculpture International (CSI) announces an open call for the Holiday Members Exhibit of small works at our member gallery space in Bucktown.

Little, but BOLD! is in celebration of all things unmonumental. Often flying under the radar, small things have the special ability to bridge private and public spaces. Within the sculpture field, there has been a projected narrative that bigger is better. We are here to assert that small things can hold the same importance as the largest monument.

Guidelines:

Applicants must be current CSI members.
If you are not a current member, click here to Become A Member
Contact Info: Name, address, phone, email, website
Title, medium, size, price (with 30% donation added) or NFS
Submit one image only
All submissions must be smaller than 12 in. x 12 in.
2D and 3D work accepted - Wall-mounted sculptures or sculptural work encouraged
The artist is responsible for all shipping costs related to the delivery and return of the sculpture. A pre-paid return shipping label must be included inside the package in a clearly visible location for the installers.

Please note: We are requesting exhibiting artists to cover 1 or 2 gallery sitting shifts during the duration of this show.

Learn more about requirements and submit your entry here,

https://forms.gle/f7HLTtXvne8g96Bn9

Member News

CSI member Wenyu Zheng and Chicago art legend, Nick Cave at the opening recepiton of By Degrees IV on September 13th.

Image: Doug DeWitt, *Distance Equals Space Times Time*

Doug DeWitt in Lure of the Local IV group exhibit

Opening Reception: Friday, October 17, 2025, 6 to 9PM

CSI member Doug DeWitt has several sculptures in the the new group exhibit, Local IV, located inside a commercial space at 175 N. Archer Ave., Mundelein, IL

Live music, food, drinks, raffles and lots of artwork to look at.

This even is Free and Open to the Public

Kara Cobb Johnson’s Mana Highlights: Materiality, Absurdity, and the Architecture of Attention at Mana Contemporary

Now through October 31, 2025

Open to the public 10/18/2025

DM for appointment @karacobbjohnson

In her latest exhibition Mana Highlights at Mana Contemporary Chicago, CSI member and founder of CSI’s Inclusion Fellowship program, Kara Cobb Johnson presents four new works that challenge the boundaries between construction and contemplation, commodity and creation. Curated by Ysabel Pinyol Blasi for the Monira Foundation, the show occupies the ninth floor of the industrial complex—a fitting stage for Johnson’s exploration of form, material, and meaning.

From Hardware Store to High Art

Johnson’s process begins not in the studio, but in the aisles of a hardware store. Her materials—construction-grade DIY supplies, screenprint ink, and spackle—are chosen not for their prestige but for their potential. This act of selection is itself a form of artistic research, a tactile and visual engagement with the everyday. She lives in what she calls a “constant state of visuality,”absorbing the works of her peers while collecting supplies, allowing inspiration to flow freely and without agenda.

The result is a series of works that resist polish and permanence. They struggle to maintain viable form, as if caught mid-construction or mid-collapse. This tension is not a flaw—it’s the point. Johnson’s art exists in the liminal space “where the commodity ends and art begins,” a phrase that captures her refusal to let materials settle into their expected roles.

Drapes, Shadows, and the Language of Form

In these new pieces, Johnson introduces a formalist vocabulary that includes reflective surfaces, shadow play, and linear drapes that fall off the main structures like gestures frozen in motion. These elements evoke drawing, architecture, and sculpture simultaneously, creating a hybrid visual language that is both delicate and industrial.

Her use of common building materials—normally hidden beneath drywall or behind façades—becomes a way to examine the “distances hidden” within the materials themselves. By stripping away layers, she forces viewers to confront the absurdity of the built environment, the politics embedded in plumb lines and load-bearing walls.

A Goldfish in a Filtration Plant

Perhaps the most poetic metaphor in Johnson’s exhibition is the idea of her work as a “domestic goldfish swimming in a water filtration plant.” She uses the titles “A School of Fish, Buffalo, Giraffe, and Ram Dass” as monikers to reveal that philosophy. This juxtaposition of fragility and function, domesticity and industry, captures the essence of her practice. Her sculptures are small acts of resistance against the scale and sterility of industrial architecture. They offer “humble smallness”—a term she embraces—as a way to reclaim space, attention, and perspective.

In this way, Johnson’s work is not just about materials or form. It’s about place. It’s about the artist’s role in shaping how we see, move through, and understand the environments we inhabit. Her sculptures don’t just occupy space—they interrogate it.

Mana Contemporary
2233 South Throop
9th Floor
Chicago, IL

Julie Mars’ ‘OASIS’ Exhibition at the Prairie Center for the Arts

The Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts presents Oasis, a solo exhibition by artist Julie Mars, on view November 2–29, 2025.

A public reception will be held on Friday, November 7, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Oasis features luminous stained glass and bead mosaics on convex mirrors, inspired by the natural forces that sustain life on Earth. Mars’ works evoke the Overview Effect—the awe-inspiring perspective of seeing our planet from space.

“Each piece has a unique viewpoint, as if floating above the Earth,” Mars says. “I hope this perspective highlights the beauty and fragility of our life-giving world.”

A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mars is an artist, curator, and former arts administrator known for her environmentally conscious practice, which incorporates salvaged and repurposed glass.

For more information, visit jamfinearts.com or prairiecenter.org.

November 2 through November 29, 2025
November 7, 2025, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts
201 Schaumburg Court
Schaumburg, IL 60193

Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm
and on select evenings and weekends
Call 847-895-3600 for more information.

The following are not CSI-sponsored projects
but may be of interest to our members:

This is not a CSI-sponsored call but may be of interest to our members.

Call for Entries: Baytown Sculpture Trail

Submission Deadline: November 2, 2025 at 11:59PM

The Baytown Sculpture Trail continues for it's fifth year in 2026 with a new juried exhibit of original outdoor sculptures displayed year-round in the Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (ACE) District in historic Downtown Baytown, near Houston, Texas. Up to twenty-five sculptures will be chosen for this exhibit and exhibited from April 11, 2026 through March 22, 2027. The fee for the first two submissions is $25 each (or $18 each for up to a limit of five). Selected sculptures will receive a $1,500 honorarium per sculpture and if selected for a People’s Choice Award and/or Best of Show will receive an additional $1,500 for each award won. If the artist would like to sell their work through the exhibition, they will receive 75% of the sale price. Each exhibition sculptor will receive 2 complimentary nights at a popular Baytown hotel for the reception

All artists must register with ArtCall.org. Click here for more detail and register details.

Important Dates:
Submission deadline: November 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM.
Notification date: November 23, 2025
Installation Dates: April 9 and 10, 2026
Exhibition Dates: April 11, 2026 through March 22, 2027
Opening Reception: April 10, 2026

Baytown Sculpture Trail
123 W Defee Street, Suite 8
Baytown, TX 77520
(281) 810-2990

baytownsculpturetrail.org

The sculpture trail is always open.

Call for Entries: Perryville Sculpture Trail

Submission Deadline: December 5, 2025

The City of Perryville, Missouri, invites artists to submit work for the 2026 Perryville Sculpture Trail, opening in May 2026. Sculptures will be installed along Miget Park’s new walking and biking trail as well as in Perryville’s historic downtown square, offering high visibility in vibrant community settings. Guest juror Tom Stancliffe, a nationally recognized sculptor with decades of experience in public art, will select five works for this year’s exhibition.

Submit Your News

Have any news to share?

Shows, awards, residencies etc? Submit here and we'll include them in an upcoming newsletter.

While you're at it, your profile and images on CSI’s website are important. When CSI applies for grants and upcoming shows, images are solely chosen from those you have uploaded to our website. Please take a minute to look over what you have posted and make sure you are presenting the best work. Member Shelley Gilchrist sgilchristart@gmail.com has volunteered to help you if you need it, so feel free to contact her.

CSI projects are partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency for CSI programming including exhibitions and funding for Project Space Gallery.

CSI is a proud recipient of the Driehaus Foundation Arts and Culture Grant to help support funding and programming.

Above: (right) Ron Gard’s sculpture The Struggle Against Death; (right) Ron in 2014 working in Lincoln Park on one of three tree sculptures, Dying to Survive Nos. #3, #6 & #9.

In Memory of Ron Gard

Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges Ivy Gard, who in 2020 graciously donated ongoing exhibition space (CSI Project Space) to CSI and its members in memory of Ron Gard and his achievements in sculpture and dedicated service for several years as treasurer of the organization.

Ron’s exquisite and exacting craftsmanship, along with his vast knowledge of materials and methods, is widely regarded and revered by CSI and his circle of peers.

Land Acknowledgement

The City of Chicago, and its surrounding areas, have always been and always will be, home to numerous Native American communities. As a team dedicated to the uplifting of Indigenous People's sovereignty everywhere, we recognize that each program and exhibition associated with this project is taking place on the traditional homelands of the Council of Three Fires - the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa - as well as the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk Nations. Further, we acknowledge that Chicago is home to one of the largest urban Native American communities in the US. We therefore invite each of our non-Indigenous colleagues to learn more about the forced removal of many of the communities listed above from the state of Illinois and to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into their line of work. To provide immediate assistance to Native American Communities in Chicago, you can send donations to the city's American Indian Center here

Cover image:
Doug DeWitt
Distance Equals Space Times Time (detail)

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Gene Skala