October 2026 Newsletter
Events Calendar | Call for Artists | Volunteer
Exciting New Times and Changes
Closure of Project Space at Damen/Cortland leads your volunteer CSI Board team to source a new location for the 2027 exhibit year, an arduous process that has already begun so that CSI can continue offering as many exhibition opportunities possible for our members
What members can do to help
As we look for a new gallery, CSI members can offer connection to possible spaces they know of and/or join the CSI board to help procure programming currently in place; updating your membership to make it current can help to serve the board in this search
Get Involved and Support Our Creative Community!
Consider donating your time to an organization that stands behind you, your art, and your creative process. CSI is proud to be one of the nation’s most progressive nonprofit arts organizations.
Interested in getting involved? Reach out to us at info@chicagosculpture.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities.
Open Board Positions
Membership Chair // Vice President // Outreach Development // Treasurer
Please reach out via info@chicagosculpture.org if you have interest in volunteering for any of these roles.
Voices in Form
Image credit: Darlys Ewoldt, Bending to Memory, Bronze and patina, 8 × 11 × 8 in.
Personal, political, or social narratives expressed through sculpture
Exhibition Dates: October 1 – November 12, 2026
About the Exhibit:
The Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery is hosting a special juried exhibition, Voices in Form, which features work by artist members of the Chicago Sculpture International group.
Voices in Form invited sculptors to explore how three-dimensional works can carry, amplify, and embody personal, political, and social narratives. This exhibition sought sculpture that functions as a form of visual language—expressing lived experience, cultural memory, identity, resistance, or reflection through material, process, and form. Artists were encouraged to consider how their work “speaks” in space, whether through symbolic imagery, abstract gesture, or the physical presence of the object itself.
Exhibiting Artists: Nikki Renee Anderson, Young-Ly Hong Chandra, Brian Divis, Darlys Ewoldt, Victoria Fuller, Spencer Gale, Ronald Gonzalez, James Hajicek, Azadeh Hussaini, Terrence Karpowicz, Fia Kim, Jill King, Pat Miceli, Bill Mitchell, Brian Monaghan, Jerry Monteith, Nancy Pirri, Marvin Shafer, Cherry Tung, Sishi Wang, and Bruce Webber
About the Juror:
Carrie Baxter, Art Gallery Director, and the IUK Art and NMAT Faculty served as the jurors for this exhibition.
Important Dates:
Exhibition: October 1 – November 5, 2026
Location:
Indiana University Kokomo Art Gallery
IU Kokomo Campus,
Room KA-102
2300 S. Washington St.
Kokomo, Indiana
Phone: (765)-455-9523
Gallery hours:
Monday–Thursday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM (EST)
Friday-Sunday: CLOSED
Momentum
CSI Member Juried Exhibition at Leslie Wolfe GalleryExhibition Dates: October 10 – November 5, 2026
Opening Reception: October 15, 5:30 – 8:30PM
Coincides with Lincoln Park Art Night
Momentum refers to a call for works whose power for expression implies movement, direction, speed, or growth, transformation, or significantly, the “potential” for any of these ideas. The idea of momentum seems especially appropriate for sculpture because the viewer rarely experiences sculpture from a fixed viewpoint. All works of art or design convey visual elements that exist along a spectrum between static balance and dynamism, depending on the intent of the creator. For this exhibition, works are sought that lean strongly toward the dynamic end of that spectrum. Sculptures fully in the round and works in relief will be considered. Artists may submit three works for consideration.
Exhibiting Artists: Wallace Bowling | Ei Cullina | Darlys Ewoldt | Lynn Floriano | Shelley Gilchrist | Indira Johnson | Yvette Kaiser Smith | Terry Karpowicz | Kelly Lawler | Micki LeMieux | Won Ji Lim | Ellen Lustig | Patrick Miceli | Ruth Aizuss Migdal | Scott Mossman | Katherine Nemanich | David Noguchi | Zelene Jiang Schlosberg | Marvin Shafer | Julia Smith
About the Juror: Beth Shadur is an artist who has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and abroad. She has created over 150 large public murals as public, private, and community art projects in the United States and Great Britain. She has taught and served as a visiting artist at many colleges and universities. From 2012-2024, Shadur served as Gallery Director at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, IL. She has been awarded numerous residencies and fellowships. Her work is owned in many private and public collections.
Important Dates:
Exhibition: October 10 – November 5, 2026
Delivery of work: October 8, 10AM – 5PM or October 9, 10AM – 1PM
Reception to coincide with Lincoln Park Art Night, October 15, 5:30 – 8:30PM
Pick up of work: November 4, 3PM – 9 PM or November 5, 10AM – 5PM
Location:
Leslie Wolf Gallery
Old Town Art Center
1763 N. North Park Avenue
Chicago, IL 60614
(312) 337-1938
Call for Art: Little, but Bold! V – 12” x 12”
Fifth Annual Holiday Members Exhibit - 2026
Hosted at:
The Dragonfly Gallery
2436 W Madison St.
Chicago, IL.
Submission Deadline: Friday, November 6, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 12, 6-9 pm
Exhibit Dates: December 12, 2026 - January 2, 2027
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, Become a MemberContact Info: Name, address, phone, email, website
Title, medium, size, price (with 30% donation added) or NFS
Submit up to 2 artwork images.
All submissions must be smaller than 12 in. x 12 in.
2D and 3D work accepted - Wall-mounted sculptures encouraged
Learn more about requirements and to submit click here
Logo credit: John Upchurch / Photo credit: Dragonfly Gallery
CSI Partnerships with Boys and Girls Club of Chicago
CSI’s partnership with BGCC through the Linda and Bill Gantz Club continued through a series of art workshops held from mid-summer through early fall, featuring CSI artist-sculptors.
The workshops were led by participating sculptors who received stipends and reimbursement for materials. The artists facilitated hands-on art activities for youth at Lathrop Homes as part of BGCC’s youth programming, coordinated by Activity Manager Yury Juarez.
Stay Tuned for more updates from CSI Education and Development!
Indira Johnson: Peace Doesn’t Happen, We Make It.
Chicago artists and community members gathered to create ripples for peace
World Peace Day, September 20, 2026
On World Peace Day, Sunday, September 20, 2026, CSI member Indira Johnson and Cathi Schwalbe invited the community to join them for Peace, Poetry. And a Picnic at the Jackson Park Circle of Emerging Buddhas near East 56th Street and East 57th Drive.
Rooted in the philosophy of nonviolence and the belief that small acts can create transformative change, Ten Thousand Ripples honors the power of individuals and communities to shape history. As we mark the 250th anniversary, this project asks: What kind of legacy do we want to create for the next 250 years? Through art, conversation, and collective action, we create ripples of peace that extend beyond ourselves.
Image credit: Indira Johnson
Scott Mossman: Up There!
Mossman’s Post-Minimalist sculptures are rarely hung at eye-level. Rather than engaging one-to-one with the viewer like a traditional painting, they function as spatial punctuation that highlights the overlooked elements of an architectural environment. In his site-specific installation at the Lillstreet Art Center, Mossman has designed an immersive scavenger hunt for the month of September (extending into October). Premiering a suite of 17 recently completed works, he challenges visitors to discover these pieces hidden within the unheralded corners and common areas of the distinctive warehouse space.
Location:
Lillstreet Art Center
4401 N. Ravenswood Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
September 1 - October 31, 2026
Mon-Thurs: 10 AM – 7:30 PM
Friday: 10 AM – 6 PM
Saturday: 10 AM – 5 PM
Sunday: 10 AM – 5 PM
Image credit: Scott Mossman
Image credit: Installation (from Borrowed Bright exhibition) by Ann Marie Greenberg, Akua ink, bioplastics, Dimensions variable
Borrowed Bright by Ann Marie Greenberg
Ann Marie Greenberg presented her solo show Borrowed Bright at South Suburban College from August 17- September 17 2026 through September 17, 2026 in South Holland, Il. The show included a large scale installation of translucent overlapping paper that is illuminated with light, revealing colors and textures unique to painted Japanese tengucho paper.
Ronald Gonzalez: Tributaries
New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) at Alfred University Fosdick-Nelson Gallery
August 28–October 9, 2026
The New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC), a statutory college of the State University of New York operating within Alfred University, presents Tributaries, an exhibition of new assemblage works by CSI member Ronald Gonzalez. For more than four decades, Gonzalez has transformed found objects through assemblage, welding, casting, and continual reworking. In Tributaries, the bed becomes a recurring sculptural form, shifting the artist’s longstanding engagement with the human figure toward intimate spaces associated with rest, vulnerability, dreams, and childhood.
Opening Reception: Friday, August 28, 5–7 p.m.
Free and open to the public.
Location: Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Harder Hall Lobby, School of Art and Design, Alfred University, Alfred, New York.Gallery Hours: Daily, noon–4 p.m.
Image credit: Ronald Gonzalez
Image: Spoonbridge and Cherry, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, 1988. Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Image courtesy of Meet Minneapolis.
International Sculpture Conference
The International Sculpture Conference is coming to Twin Cities, MN and the clock is ticking for enrollment in their upcoming round of panel discussions and all things sculpture. The dates are October 22-25, 2026. Please see: sculpture.org/mpage/TwinCities2026 for more specifics on what ISC is up to. Chicago Sculpture International is looking to be present in some shape or form, so if anyone is planning to go please e-mail info@chicagoscultpure.org to let us know!
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. Please contact info@chicagosculpture.org with any questions or assistance you would like or need.
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.
Chicago Sculpture International acknowledges support from the National Endowment for the Arts
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
Image credit: Installation (from Borrowed Bright exhibition) by Ann Marie Greenberg, Akua ink, bioplastics, Dimensions variable
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