EXPANDED FIELDS, is an exhibition of works from participants in New Edition, a pilot program developed by the Art Center for artists to learn and make work in a medium with which they have had little to no previous experience. The exhibition will take place in Gallery 5, from December 13, 2019 – February 23, 2020. New Edition Program Facilitator Claudine Isé curates the exhibition, which features the work of 10 artists, each of whom presents one piece in the medium for which they are known alongside a new artwork made during the 10-week program. 

New Edition, the latest professional pathways program developed by the Center, is conceived as a way for artists to thoughtfully experiment in another medium that they have never before seriously attempted. Participants—who are all Hyde Park Art Center alumni of either The Bridge Program, The Center Program, or Ground Floor—enroll in Art Center courses such as screenprinting, monotype printing or ceramics, or work instead at the FabLab at UChicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which offers a range of 3-D printing resources and workshops. 

Throughout the 10-week program, “artists learn new skills in their separate classes, and then they all come together in weekly discussions to share experiences, show works in progress, get feedback and generally think through how their new work fits into their established history—all within a supportive and collaborative group setting,” Isé explains.

“What makes New Edition unique is that it is geared explicitly towards experimentation, risk-taking and change within an artist’s practice. By providing the instruction and tools with which to learn an entirely new skillset, New Edition fosters the sorts of expansive creative leaps that help foster longevity in an artist’s career.”

Image: Kunal Sen, Two Abyss Staring at Each Other, 2019, oil and acrylic on canvas,