Artist Talk: Aron Packer and William Swislow

Discover one of Chicago’s great cultural treasures by celebrating the thousands of anonymous rock carvings that line its lakefront yet remain virtually unknown. Lakefront Anonymous: Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery opens July 29 and features photos of these unique-in-the-world urban petroglyphs that Aron Packer and William Swislow have been documenting for over three decades. 

Last year they published their Lakefront Anonymous book to tell the story of these magnificent carvings, and this exhibit features photographs from the book. 

Made over nearly a century and ranging in size from a few inches to several feet, this shoreline art is a spontaneous public monument to life at the lake. This collective art environment stretches 22 miles from the Indiana state line to Osterman Beach. The exhibit will feature some of the best carvings, including many that have been lost to lakeshore improvement projects.

Learn more about the carvings at www.lakefrontanonymous.com