Storytelling Series with Art Design Chicago: Juarez Hawkins and Damon Reed

January 21, 2018 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Drawing Room Library

Chicago Athletic Association hotel is proud to collaborate with Art Design Chicago on a collection of co-hosted Storytellings throughout the year, taking place in our intimate Drawing Room Library. Each Storytelling will feature Art Design Chicago exhibition curators and contemporary Chicago-based artists and designers, conversing about the city’s art and design legacy and focusing on ways in which contemporary creative practice is influenced by generations of artists and designers that came before.

This January in conjunction with Art Design Chicago exhibition, Bill Walker: Urban Griot, on view at the Hyde Park Art Center through April 8, the exhibition’s curator Juarez Hawkins talks with artist Damon Reed. The two will focus on the legacy of Bill Walker, one of the forefathers of the modern mural movement, and his influence on socially engaged art practice and street art of today.

Juarez Hawkins, a native of Chicago, is a second-generation artist. Her mother, Florence Hawkins, is one of the painters of Chicago’s famous Wall of Respect along with Bill Walker and others. Juarez is also a teaching artist, curator, and adjunct professor at Chicago State University.

Chicago artist Damon Reed makes a career out of mural painting, illustration, graphic design, fine art, and teaching. Many of his 80 plus murals, can be seen throughout Chicago and surrounding areas. Through his affiliation with Chicago Public Art Group, Damon worked on the restoration of William Walker’s Wall of Daydreaming located on Chicago’s South Side.

This complimentary event will take place in the Drawing Room Library at 11:00AM with seating first come, first served.

Photo Credit: William Walker, For Blacks Only #16, 1980. Collection of Chicago State University Foundation. Photo by Isadore Howard.

About the Storytelling Series
The Chicago Athletic Association hotel’s Storytelling Series shares compelling stories and interviews from inspiring movers, shakers and visitors making an impact in Chicago and beyond. From artists to musicians, innovators and adventurers to visionaries with a great story to tell – the series gives an inside look into the experiences that have shaped the speakers’ work and lives.

While our 125-year-old walls may not be able to tell tales of the past – and boy if they could – the Storytelling Series honors the tradition of welcoming the world’s finest into its halls by capturing today’s tales. The ongoing series takes place fireside in the Drawing Room, is complimentary to attendees, and affords one hour of storytelling followed by a brief Q&A. To withstand the test of time, sessions are recorded for our Storytelling Series Podcast, available for download and listening at ChicagoAthleticEvents.com and on iTunes.

About Art Design Chicago
Art Design Chicago is a spirited celebration of the unique and vital role Chicago plays as America’s crossroads of creativity and commerce. Led by the Terra Foundation for American Art, this citywide partnership of cultural organizations explores Chicago’s art and design legacy with more than 25 exhibitions and hundreds of events throughout 2018. For more information visit artdesignchicago.org.