Archive as Action, Archive as Discourse
2025
April 11 – May 6
Dittmar Memorial Gallery
April 30 – May 21
SITE Sharp Gallery
Curator
SITE and Dittmar curated
Contributing Artists
Melanie Ahn, Elie Dale Anderson, Alison Campbell, Snow Chen, Zach Dobbins, Ceninye, Tamara Harris, Sam Hernandez, Negin Mirfakhraee, Tati Munoz, Renee Royale, Mira Simonton-Chao, Katherine Demetrious Diselsky, Yeoreum Summer Shin, Anna Seo, Apollo Umbra, Zixi Wang, and Vivian Wheatly
Daniella Ungo Berio, Quentin Colson, Zach Dobbins, Tamara Harris, Carissa Hodges, Ian Lei, Edana Lynch, Mauricio Lopez, naakita f.k., Amin Pakparvar, Renee Royale, Mehraneh Salimian, Katherine Demetrious Sidelsky, Sayeda Misa Sourour, Yeoram Summer Shin, and Zixi Wang
Exhibition Statement as Preserved in the SUGS/SITE Archives:
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the School of the Art Institute Chicago’s SITE Galleries and the 53rd anniversary of Northwestern University’s Dittmar Memorial Gallery, the two galleries have partnered to curate a cross-institutional exhibition featuring current student work surrounding archives.
Archive as Action, Archive as Discourse features the work of more than twenty artists across both institutions whose work interrogates the archive as a dynamic system that is constantly reimagined through material exploration, embodied memory, and critical engagement. Through simultaneously challenging and embracing traditional archival hierarchies, the artists activate both the real and speculative, underscoring the archive’s potential as a site of agency, affect, and transformation.
Programs
April 11, 6:00-8:00 PM
Dittmar Memorial Gallery
May 9, 6:00-8:00 PM
LNC Lobby and SITE Sharp Gallery
Book Release – SITE Galleries: 30 Years of Student-Led Art, Exhibitions, and Archives
Edited by Matthew Cortez
With contributions by Trevor Martin, Michael x. Ryan, Michelle Davó Ortiz, Joseph Josué Mora, Mariana Mejía, Stephanie Cristello, Allison Glenn and Michelle Grabner
This publication was created on the occasion of SAIC’s SITE Galleries 30th Anniversary and includes three history sections discussing the gallery’s pedagogical approach and notable exhibitions and events while connecting them to larger discussions such as censorship in the 90’s. Following these sections are special contributions by SAIC alumni artists, curators, and SAIC professionals who have come through the gallery that address a range of topics in contemporary discourse including the unseen labor of art handlers, curation as experimentation, and the potential of galleries as systems of care. Contributors include Director of the 30th Anniversary Matthew Cortez (BA 2025), scholar Michelle Davó Ortiz (Dual MA 2024), Senior Lecturer Michael X. Ryan, and Executive Director of Exhibitions and Senior Lecturer Trevor Martin (MFA 1998). Special contributors include Crown Family Professor in Painting and Drawing Michelle Grabner, curator Allison Glenn (Dual MA 2012), curator and author Stephanie Cristello (BFA 2013), curator and archivist Mariana Mejía (MA 2022), and artist Joseph Josué Mora (BFA 2018).
Living Archives: Preserving, Sharing and Connecting the Past
April 21, 4:00-6:00 PM
SITE Sharp Gallery
Archives come in many shapes and sizes. They can range from a personal scrapbook to the Newberry Library. Yet both of these archives serve a purpose, in other words they do not just sit untouched. In fact, many people make a career out of maintaining, growing, and sharing archives. This panel connects archivists who work in various capacities to discuss the ever-evolving role of archives within the art world as well as archival practices. Moderated by SITE Archivist Caitlin Cooner (SAIC MA 2025) the panelists for this event panelists included:
Thương Hoài Trần (SAIC MFA 2022 , Exhibition Manager at SAIC Galleries and Lecturer in Printmedia)
Brittan Nannenga (SAIC Head of Special Collections & Digital Services)
Deanna Ledezma (SAIC Lecturer in Art History, Theory and Criticism and Liberal Arts)
Analú María López (Ayer Librarian and Assistant Curator of American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library)
SAIC Giving Day
March 12, 2025
This year SITE Galleries will took part in SAIC’s Annual Giving Day. The student-led SITE Galleries (formerly known as Student Union Galleries) within SAIC’s Department of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies celebrated its 30th anniversary and provided students of all disciplines opportunities to professionally develop their practices through first hand experience—solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, curatorial projects, and programming events.
This Giving Day, over 100,000 dollars were raised, all of which empowers us to continue the necessary development for students by bolstering our professional development programs for our student artists, curators, and administrators.
Open Archive Sessions
February 24, 4:00-6:00 PM
SITE Sharp Gallery
March 17, 4:00-6:00 PM
SITE 280 Gallery
May 2, 6:00-8:00 PM
SITE Sharp Gallery
In celebration of the 30th Anniversary our archive team opened up our archive to the SAIC community in three sessions.
Spanning materials from 1994-2024 going decade by decade, this series of sessions served as an informal hands on interaction with our archive which includes slides, posters, and more! Within SITE’s archives, students could even see familiar names of current professors who were apart of exhibitions as students.
Chicago Artist-Run Spaces Fair
September 25, 3:00-5:00 PM
SAIC Ballroom, 112 S. Michigan Ave.
To kick off SITE’s 30th Anniversary, SITE collaborated with Career and Professional Experience (CAPX) to host the Chicago Artist-Run Spaces Fair. For this event, we invited artist-run spaces throughout Chicago to join us in celebrating their histories, programs, and exhibitions, while exposing our students to the range of opportunities in the Chicago art world. Attendees included the Hyde Park Art Center, Riverside Art Center, Terrain Biennial, and more.
A Special Thank You
