The Chicagoland non-profit Arts of Life continues celebrating its 25thAnniversary year with its upcoming Circle Contemporary exhibition titled What they said. Circle Contemporary is a rotating exhibition gallery space housed in the Arts of Life Chicago studio (2010 W Carroll Ave.), featuring recent works from Arts of Life artists and guest contemporary artists. What they said is guest curated by acclaimed artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust and opens with a public reception with the artists on Friday, March 28 from 5-9pm.
With locations in Chicago (West Town and Woodlawn) and North Shore (Glenview), Arts of Life advances the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their independence. Circle Contemporary is an extension of the Arts of Life studios' efforts to strengthen its creative community, aiming to provide a space and outlet for artistic inspiration and exploration. Featured artists in What they said include: John Bateman, Shenequa Brooks, Saumitra Chandratreya, Joel Ebner, Dan Gamble, Ted Gram-Boarini, Ted Hamel, David Krueger, Lawrence M., Tim Stone, James Schenck, Lisa Solar, Oly Trindl, Maria Vanik, Frank Vega and Jean Wilson.
“We are overjoyed to be working with Bob and Nick on What they said,” shares Arts of Life Co-Founder and Executive Director Denny Fisher. “For 25 years, Arts of Life has worked to support the careers of our artists with disabilities. Collaborating with internationally recognized artists like Bob and Nick plays an essential role in increasing our artists’ opportunities for professional development and increased visibility.”
Prolific artist and designer Bob Faust was inspired by the formal qualities of Arts of Life artists’ recent work. Faust said, “For What they said, Nick and I are making artwork selections based on the feelings that come up when we experience them. Whether it's a clash of color, build-up of material or an intensity coming through repetitive mark-making, each has a way of getting under the skin."
Throughout its 25th anniversary year, Arts of Life looks back at its history, celebrates its impact, and casts eyes toward its future. What they said follows the recent launch of a new artwork-filled hardcover book, 2wenty 5ive – Arts of Life 2000-2025, a retrospective highlighting the organization’s history of supporting artists with disabilities. After the book’s national launch at the Outsider Art Fair (February 27-March 2, 2025), the 25th anniversary year continues with a dedicated exhibition at the Design Museum of Chicago (August 11-September 30, 2025) and correlating Art on theMART feature projection (September 11-October 6, 2025); and the Arts of Life annual Benefit Art Auction (October 3, 2025).
More information on Arts of Life and current and upcoming galleries and programming can be found at artsoflife.org
About the Curators
Artist and designer Bob Faust (b. 1967, Chicago, IL; lives and works in Chicago, IL) crafts work with typography at its core and viscerality on its surface. Faust has also been the principle and creative director of Faust, a cultural branding studio, for over 30 years. He makes his work with purpose first—to inform, empower, and/or instigate in the service and celebration of human difference. His conceptual art practice defies categorization and genre, with text, patterns, and the ideas of surprise and discovery emerging as throughlines. In addition, Faust is the professional and personal partner of artist Nick Cave. Together they founded Facility: a non-profit multi-use creative space in Chicago that seeks to build community and change the world through art and design.
Nick Cave (b. 1959, Fulton, MO; lives and works in Chicago, IL) is an artist, educator and foremost a messenger, working between the visual and performing arts through a wide range of mediums including sculpture, installation, video, sound and performance. Cave is well known for his Soundsuits, sculptural forms based on the scale of his body, initially created in direct response to the police beating of Rodney King in 1991. Soundsuits camouflage the body, masking and creating a second skin that conceals race, gender and class, forcing the viewer to look without judgment. They serve as a visual embodiment of social justice that represent both brutality and empowerment.
About Arts of Life
Arts of Life advances the creative arts community by providing artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities a collective space to expand their practice and strengthen their leadership.
Arts of Life is a 501(c)3 non-profit founded in January 2000 with a shared vision: to create a working, person-centric, artistic community while providing a work environment of equality in Chicago. Motivated by founding artist Veronica Cuculich along with two co-founders Arts of Life brought nine other individuals with developmental disabilities to create the organization. Their shared vision grew from a passion for artistic expression and a need for an alternative system.
For artists at Arts of Life, a career in the visual arts is an opportunity for meaningful employment. Each artist has their own studio space and works independently from individualized project plans or receives one on one visual arts facilitation to increase their artistic skill set. Artists also receive 60% of art sales.
Today, Arts of Life has two professional art studios and represent over 80 artists with varying levels of physical and intellectual disabilities. Each studio is 6,000 square feet and includes a community gallery that is open to the public.
For more information on Arts of Life and its programs, visit artsoflife.org. Connect with Arts of Life onFacebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
