A River Runs Through It: ICI’s Mississippi River Project

part of Chicago Exhibition Week

Sep 20, 2026
1–4 pm

Chicago, IL, USA

Studio Gang Treehouse

1520 W. Division St., Chicago, IL 60642

As part of Chicago Exhibition Week (CXW), Gertie and ICI host a pair of panel discussions that build on Chicago's role as a connecting point for innovative culture, ideas, and people throughout the Midwest and beyond.

These panels highlight the practices of four Chicago-based curators who are involved in ICI's ongoing research initiative known as the Mississippi River Project. Each in their own way, curators Brandon Alvendia, Risa Puleo, Denny Mwaura, and Pia Singh engage with the region through a connective lens of its river and watershed, rather than its borders and individual states.

Launched in 2021, the Mississippi River Project uses the Mississippi River—including its immense basin, delta and outflow, and the Gulf of Mexico—as a system through which to generate new approaches to U.S. history, civic life, and art communities. The project’s programs, exhibition-making, fellowships, and collective curatorial research platforms align along a common goal: to convene curators, artists, and art spaces in order to collectively re-imagine the United States’s identity. It aims to transcend rigid political, social, and economic definitions of the U.S. through a focus on the river, the lands it connects, the histories it weaves together, and the cultural flows it has enabled.

Schedule:

Panel 1: 1–2:30 pm
Brandon Alvendia (independent curator) and Risa Puleo (independent curator), moderated by Renaud Proch (Executive and Artistic Director, ICI)

Break: 2:30–2:45 pm

Panel 2: 2:45–4 pm
Denny Mwaura (Assistant Director & Curator, Gallery 400), Pia Singh (independent curator), moderated by Scott Vincent Campbell (Midwest Programs Manager, ICI)

Brandon Alvendia

Brandon Alvendia, an artist, curator, and educator, actively promotes artist-run initiatives across North America, fostering community-driven exhibitions, events, and publications.

Risa Puleo

Risa Puleo is an independent curator and one of a team of curators organizing the 2023 Counterpublics Triennial in St. Louis.

Denny Mwaura

Denny Mwaura is a curator and writer based in Chicago.

Pia Singh

Pia Singh is an independent curator living and working in Chicago, IL.

Scott Vincent Campbell

Scott Vincent Campbell is Midwest Programs Manager at ICI, and is a visual artist and curator originally from New York City.

Renaud Proch

Renaud Proch is Independent Curators International (ICI)’s Executive & Artistic Director.

Credits
"A River Runs Through It" and ICI's Mississippi River Project are made possible by the leadership support of the Heartland Foundation and Ruth Arts, with additional support provided by the ICI Board of Trustees.

About Chicago Exhibition Week
The fourth annual Chicago Exhibition Week features over 50 participating galleries and creative spaces across the city from September 14–20, 2026, spotlighting Chicago’s vibrant cultural landscape and artistic spirit for locals and visitors alike. Building off the success of last year’s edition, which attracted 10,000 attendees over three days, CXW26 will expand its footprint with over 50 participating galleries, demonstrating the vitality and diversity of the city’s growing commercial art scene. To learn more and see all the offerings, visit chicagoexhibitionweek.com.

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