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The artist-curator Sandra Jorgensen (1934 - 1999) held positions as professor and chair at Elmhurst College, and curator of the Elmhurst College Art Collection, for many years. As a figure outside of Chicago, her work and influence have largely been overlooked, but her efforts, including curating and promoting the work of the Chicago Imagists, continue to have a major impact nationally and internationally. This survey exhibition of Jorgensen’s work–including a never-before-printed photo series of Chicago Imagists in their homes and the recreation of a mural commissioned for a Chicago Public Library–will recognize Jorgensen’s accomplishments, and will place her work amongst the larger stories of Chicago and Midwestern artists.

As curator, Jorgensen was the major driving force behind maintaining and growing the Elmhurst College art collection. In doing so, she became a major caretaker of Chicago’s cultural history, and amassed an internationally-known collection now considered “the finest of its kind”. Her connoisseurship and vision were critical to the College’s art collection, as well as the formation of the Elmhurst Art Museum. She served on the board of the Elmhurst Fine Arts and Civic Center Foundation, the entity that helped start the Elmhurst Art Museum.

Sponsored by Sally J. and Raymond J. Allen, Marcia and Robert Goltermann, and Elmhurst College.

Image: Sandra Jorgensen, Herb’s Texaco, 1978, pastel on paper, 31 x 38 ¼ in., Elmhurst Art Museum Collection