Chicago-based independent curator, writer, and arts leader Stephanie Smith is a long-time ICI collaborator with over 25 years of experience exploring ecologically- and socially-engaged curatorial and artistic practices. In 2004, Smith curated the groundbreaking ICI traveling exhibition Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art. Her "ecological" approach has informed many institutions' and individuals' curatorial practices, including ICI's own thinking about curating as an ecology.
One of our newest exhibitions, Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology (curated by ICI alum Sharmila Wood) reconsiders our interconnectedness with the planet, and one another, guided by healing practices across disciplines. Stephanie Smith returned to support the exhibition’s presentation at Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art as consulting curator.
Since Beyond Green, ICI and our collaborators have returned many times to themes of geography and global exchange; how these topics interact with climate, ecology, and environmental issues, as well as how ecological thinking impacts curatorial practice.
As the planet shifts, so must our interpretations of the interconnected challenges we face. In 2013, Experimental Geography, curated by Nato Thompson, connected a series of artworks depicting humanity's effect on the environment, and how cartography defines how intertwined our planet really is. Today, curator Trisha Goldberg invites viewers to grapple with the forces that are driving labor migration and the realities faced by migrant workers in a globe-spanning exploration of Remittance.