CULTURAL COMMUNITIES: CHICAGO WRITERS AND BEYOND
Barcelona Room
August 2, 2024 to September 13, 2024
Cultural Communities: Chicago Writers and Beyond presents an in-depth exploration of influential writers who have significantly impacted their communities. This study is brought to life through Margot McMahon’s sculptural homage, which spotlights a diverse group of literary figures: Ernest Hemingway fostered a global community of adventurers; Gwendolyn Brooks nurtured aspiring poets; Richard Wright galvanized progressive intellectuals; Julie Otsuka illuminated the Japanese-American narrative; and Alice–Sylvia Shaw established the esteemed Ragdale artist enclave in Lake Forest, Illinois. These writers are united by a shared dedication to cultivating artistic collectives, which in turn have yielded profound works of literature with a focus on social justice.
Photo credit: Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, Gwendolyn Brooks: The Oracle of Bronzeville, Margot McMahon (2018)
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
CULTURAL COMMUNITIES: CHICAGO WRITERS AND BEYOND
Barcelona Room
August 2, 2024 to September 13, 2024
Cultural Communities: Chicago Writers and Beyond presents an in-depth exploration of influential writers who have significantly impacted their communities. This study is brought to life through Margot McMahon’s sculptural homage, which spotlights a diverse group of literary figures: Ernest Hemingway fostered a global community of adventurers; Gwendolyn Brooks nurtured aspiring poets; Richard Wright galvanized progressive intellectuals; Julie Otsuka illuminated the Japanese-American narrative; and Alice–Sylvia Shaw established the esteemed Ragdale artist enclave in Lake Forest, Illinois. These writers are united by a shared dedication to cultivating artistic collectives, which in turn have yielded profound works of literature with a focus on social justice.
Photo credit: Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, Gwendolyn Brooks: The Oracle of Bronzeville, Margot McMahon (2018)
Click HERE for more information on gallery hours and private appointments.
A lifelong environmentalist, internationally awarded Margot McMahon sculpts, writes, and paints human, plant, and animal forms to express, through art, her hope that decisions be made to support life on earth. With degrees in Environmental Journalism and Art, and an MFA from Yale University, Margot has continuously made environmental statements in art and writing.
She has been called the “Studs Terkel of the sculpting world” for her humanistic portraits, most recently the Gwendolyn Brooks Monument for Gwendolyn Brooks Park. The Smithsonian, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago History Museum, Soka Gaikkai International, Mobil Oil, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Steans Family Foundation, and Yale University have collected her sculptures.
The Margot McMahon Collection at Aquarius Press includes: 1) If Trees Could Talk, (NFPW National Book Award) 2) Mac and Irene: A WWII Saga and 3) RESIST! A Visual History of Protest and Airdrie. In 2020, her essay titled Sculpting Forms of Nature, was published in the Remembering Fifty Anthology commemorating Fifty years of Women at Yale University. Margot’s The Fifth Season: The Chicago Tree Project book, 2020 First Place Mate E. Palmer Book Award (IWPA) summarizes five years of artists sculpting fifty trees in Chicago parks with poetry and essays. Margot’s MIT Press published paper, Transforming Nature (2018) about carving tree trunks into art to support urban ecology. Soka Gakkai International (Tokyo, Japan) and Barat College (Lake Forest, Illinois) honored Margot with their Art and Culture award. The National Sculpture Society awarded Margot the Alex B. Hexter Award. Margot taught at Yale University where she earned an MFA and a Fellow of Timothy Dwight College. Margot taught at Yale Norfolk, the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University, and other institutions. She has published environmental statements in World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago Magazine, Write Volumes, and Scholastic Magazine. www.margotmcmahon.com
A lifelong environmentalist, internationally awarded Margot McMahon sculpts, writes, and paints human, plant, and animal forms to express, through art, her hope that decisions be made to support life on earth. With degrees in Environmental Journalism and Art, and an MFA from Yale University, Margot has continuously made environmental statements in art and writing.
She has been called the “Studs Terkel of the sculpting world” for her humanistic portraits, most recently the Gwendolyn Brooks Monument for Gwendolyn Brooks Park. The Smithsonian, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago History Museum, Soka Gaikkai International, Mobil Oil, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Steans Family Foundation, and Yale University have collected her sculptures.
The Margot McMahon Collection at Aquarius Press includes: 1) If Trees Could Talk, (NFPW National Book Award) 2) Mac and Irene: A WWII Saga and 3) RESIST! A Visual History of Protest and Airdrie. In 2020, her essay titled Sculpting Forms of Nature, was published in the Remembering Fifty Anthology commemorating Fifty years of Women at Yale University. Margot’s The Fifth Season: The Chicago Tree Project book, 2020 First Place Mate E. Palmer Book Award (IWPA) summarizes five years of artists sculpting fifty trees in Chicago parks with poetry and essays. Margot’s MIT Press published paper, Transforming Nature (2018) about carving tree trunks into art to support urban ecology. Soka Gakkai International (Tokyo, Japan) and Barat College (Lake Forest, Illinois) honored Margot with their Art and Culture award. The National Sculpture Society awarded Margot the Alex B. Hexter Award. Margot taught at Yale University where she earned an MFA and a Fellow of Timothy Dwight College. Margot taught at Yale Norfolk, the Art Institute of Chicago, DePaul University, and other institutions. She has published environmental statements in World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago Magazine, Write Volumes, and Scholastic Magazine. www.margotmcmahon.com
