Disability artwork exhibit.

This ground-breaking exhibition is a cornerstone of Bodies of Work: The Chicago Festival of Disability Arts and Culture, the city’s first-ever festival showcasing work by professional artists with disabilities.

The exhibit, sponsored by Magnus Charitable Trust, will remain on display through June 4, 2006. The show is a multi-faceted look at how disability is both understood and misunderstood by the culture at large. It includes paintings, sculpture, photography, installation and graphic novels by more than 30 artists. The roster includes a number of internationally known artists as well young, emerging talent.

Riva Lehrer, co-curator of the historic event, said, “We are so pleased at the tremendous attendance, and international response that we’ve gotten. Humans Being is groundbreaking in its unparalleled level of excellence, and incisive examination of the body. We’ve published a catalogue to permanently document the exhibit. You’ve never seen a show like it, and it’s only open through June 4.”

“This exhibition challenges the way disability has stayed beneath the radar on the art world’s screen,” said Sofia Zutautas, Assistant Curator of Exhibitions for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. “It also gives this artists’ community well deserved exposure while bringing to light a subject matter that is rarely addressed.”

Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art includes work by David B. (Beauchard), Madison Clell, Katie Dallam, Susan Dupor, Laura Ferguson, Tabata Hideoshi, Terry Karpowicz, Leonard Lehrer, Riva Lehrer, Tim Lowly, William Newman, Harriet Sanderson, Katherine Sherwood, Hollis Sigler, Sunaura Taylor, Frances Turner, Richard Yohnka and Jonathan Wos, among others.

Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art is organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and co-curated by Illinois artist Riva Lehrer and Sofia Zutautas, Assistant Curator at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The exhibition has been underwritten by Magnus Charitable Trust and is made possible through generous gifts from Beatrice C. Mayer, Michael Louis Minns, Mary McFadden, Good’s of Evanston and The Compounder Pharmacy. Admission to the exhibition is free.