The Franklin&nbsp;is an outdoor, backyard gallery space designed to present all kinds of work, from video projections, to paintings, to cardboard creations.&nbsp;

The Franklin

<html><head></head><body><figure class="image"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1721419538/n3xubx17oszpsrvxtlyn.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;*The following statement is a composition of fragments and sentences submitted by the artists in response to the prompt: What is your relationship with your surroundings?&nbsp;Having a relationship with my surroundings is linked to my sense of being consciously present in one place. The natural world and all its life force nourishes and enables out planet to survive. We should welcome the embrace as it fosters life on our planet. I am navigating new surroundings while thinking through a familiar set of old concerns: geography, transience, shifts, slippage, belonging, community, identity, home.I notice the subtle changes and movements in my surroundings. I respond to the environment, the spaces, the places and the objects around me. I try to create new meaning and logic by rearranging them. If I’m thinking about the cosmos, my relationship is entangled and really really old. If I’m thinking about DNA my relationship is my grandmother, my great grandparents, and their journeys across seas, an ocean, and colonized land to a place called the ‘middle-west.’If I think about the cosmos I know that there is no upside-down, or north, or ‘western’ and that is useful. And if I look around myself I think about people I love who love me as well.Not only do psychedelics re-connect us with nature but that connectedness also makes us feel better. When I see, my eye is the material for the reception of the image. My toes touch soil of the same chemical cocktail as my foot. When I go, I’ll return what I’ve borrowed. Constantly exploring new surroundings as sensory knowledge building through the structures, people and cultures I'm surrounded by. When I think of my surroundings, I find myself thinking most deeply about our metaphysical landscapes. I think about what it does to our health to carry so much psychic weight in the form of personal, collective and ecological grief. Is like being a stranger in a strange land. The limitations of knowing no one, lacking English skills, and having extremely restricted resources became my new possibilities. Watching them continue to die is a transformation that takes on beautiful and unexpected turns. They help me pay attention to my surroundings, and all the things that come and go from our lives. They remind me beauty is difficult.Inspired by two themes, landscape and absence, she conveys a wake-up call about the effects of economic growth on environmental sustainability and the island’s inhabitants. I see a lot going on or nothing much at all and I try to make something beautiful of it either way. At my best I see the best in what is close.Today on the train a black woman three seats away offered me a seat next to her. Smiled. Nodded. Mouthing words of understanding.Kindred spirits. Pleasing and appeasing the needs of others with less of an ancestral weight of womaness of blackness. The seat was left empty for stops. Emptiness filled with fear of black skin and kindness for her likeness.The natural world and all its life force nourishes and enables out planet to survive. We should welcome the embrace as it fosters life on our planet. Grass, the cicada, and corn adorn the boot and skull, touching on each artist’s personal history as well as the rhythms and patterns of life, culture, politics, and death. We, like the cicadas and the corn continue our lives in cycles as we adapt to today’s ever-changing climate.&nbsp;THE FRANKLIN is a Cultural and Organizations partner for the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Satellite partners for this exhibition and events include Garden Apartment Gallery <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gagchicago/">@gagchicago</a> and Compound Yellow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/compoundyellow/">@compoundyellow</a>Please visit <a href="https://thefranklinoutdoor.tumblr.com/">thefranklinoutdoor.tumblr.com/</a> for more information.IG: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thefranklinoutdoor/">@thefranklinoutdoor</a> Location: THE FRANKLIN: 3522 W Franklin Blvd, Chicago, IL 60624Contact: (312)823-3632 (text only) or <a href="mailto:thefranklinoutdoor@gmail.com">thefranklinoutdoor@gmail.com</a></body></html>

Still Life

THE FRANKLIN is proud to present artists and friends in action.&nbsp;Over 20 Chicago artists will be connecting LIVE for a 14-hour Instagram LIVE marathon: THE FRANKLIN takeover, hosted by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/covidtv/">@COVIDtv</a>From 9am to 11pm on Sunday, April 26Readings, workshops, conversations, yoga, art making, live music, Dj’s and more. Follow our guests at their instagrams to look, listen and be surprised by creatives at work and play.THE FRANKLIN is an artists-run project space that allows artists and curators to engage with the East Garfield Park community through cultural events. THE FRANKLIN is located in the backyard of Edra Soto and Dan Sullivan’s home.<a href="https://www.instagram.com/covidtv/">@Covidtv</a> is a media network founded by Julia Arredondo (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/casualhaiku/">@casualhaiku</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/qtvclive/">@qtvclive</a>) organizing long-form programming for IG Live. The first broadcast took place on March 22 and will continue to run Sundays from 10am-10pm/CST into the foreseeable future. All broadcasts happen directly from each individual participants' personal Instagram handle. Past programs have included live music, dj sets, healers, guided meditation, show and tell, painting tutorials, financial guidance and consultation, cooking classes, tarot readings, zinesters, comedy, and more. Anything goes! A different organizer will step in each weekend to curator and coordinate the 12-hour block.&nbsp;April 26 Broadcast schedule (CST)9:00 am - 9:30 am Edra Soto  <a href="https://www.instagram.com/edrasoto/">@edrasoto</a> Morning ritual9:30am-10amAsha Iman Veal<a href="https://www.instagram.com/yup_its_asha/">@yup_its_asha</a> The Places We've Been: FieldReports from Travelers10 am - 10:30 amDiana Gabriel<a href="https://www.instagram.com/dianapgabriel/">@dianagabriel</a> Beach Walk10:30 am - 11 amDianna Frid<a href="https://www.instagram.com/dianna.frid.studio/">@dianna.frid.studio</a> A Few Artists Books11 am - 11:30amAnn Toebbe<a href="https://www.instagram.com/anntoebbe/">@anntoebbe</a> Ann Toebbe in conversation with Olivia and Betty11:30 am - 12 pmHuong Ngo<a href="https://www.instagram.com/_bad_spy/">@_bad_spy</a> Storytime with Potato12 pm - 12:30 pmLise Haller Baggesen<a href="https://www.instagram.com/lisehallerbaggesen/">@lisehallerbaggesen</a> LIPSTICK BRUTALISM 101: [QUARANTINE SUNSHINE]12:30 pm - 1 pmMaria Gaspar<a href="https://www.instagram.com/maria__gaspar/">@maria_gaspar</a> Feedback1 pm - 1:30 pmJaclyn Jacunski<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaclynjacunski/">@jaclynjacunski</a> Loving-Kindness Meditation &amp; Yoga Sun Salutations1:30pm-2pmRodrigo Lara<a href="https://www.instagram.com/rodrigo_lara_81/">@rodrigo_lara_81</a> Envisage Residency closing exhibition2 pm - 2:30 pmAlberto Aguilar<a href="https://www.instagram.com/albert0aguilar/">@albert0aguilar</a> Sliding Door Moves2:30 pm - 3:00pmCatieo &amp; EC Brown <a href="https://www.instagram.com/catieoooooo/">@catieoooooo</a> Boo’s and Birds3 pm - 3:30 pmSarah Beth Woods<a href="https://www.instagram.com/sarahbewoods/">@sarahbewoods</a> Casting a Record3:30 pm - 4 pmRyan Richey<a href="https://www.instagram.com/ryanbrichey/">@ryanbrichey</a> Songs I Play for My Loved Ones4 pm - 4:30 pmMelissa Oresky<a href="https://www.instagram.com/moooooooooosky/">@moooooooooosky</a> “Sensiphilia”4:30pm - 5 pmLuis Sahagun<a href="https://www.instagram.com/lsahagun2/">@lsahagun2</a> Ancient Alchemy: Secrets of Emulsion5pm-5:30pmKirsten Leenaars<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kirsten_leenaars/">@kirsten_leenaars</a> Writing the Truth: 5 Difficulties5:30 pm - 6 pmMelissa Leandro<a href="https://www.instagram.com/melissaleandro89/">@melissaleandro89</a> The Patio Tour6 pm - 6:30 pmMelissa Potter<a href="https://www.instagram.com/melissaleandro89/">@melissahpotter</a> Pandemic Paper Bag Masks6:30 pm - 7 pmJessica Harvey<a href="https://www.instagram.com/thejessicaharvey/">@thejessicaharvey</a> At home with Jessica Harvey!7:00 - 7:30 pmSadie Woods<a href="https://www.instagram.com/woodsadie/">@woodsadie</a> Afrodjia DJ7:30 pm - 8 pmSarah Belknap + Joseph Belknap <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sarahandjoseph/">@sarahandjoseph</a> The Badlands8 pm - 8:30 pmCorinne Halbert<a href="https://www.instagram.com/corinnehalbert/">@corinnehalbert</a> Studio visit and live drawing8:30 pm - 9:00pmGina Hunt<a href="https://www.instagram.com/gina__hunt/">@gina__hunt</a> Listening Party Light Show9 pm - 9:30pmChris Smith<a href="https://www.instagram.com/c_h_r_s_m_t_h/">@c_h_r_s_m_t_h</a> Astronauts on Spaceship Earth achieve aural transcendence through rehydration of freeze dried egg9:30 pm - 10 pmMatthew Nichols<a href="https://www.instagram.com/matthewnicholsofficial/">@matthewnicholsofficial</a> Visual ASMR10 pm - 10:30 pmClaire Pentecost<a href="https://www.instagram.com/comrade_panda/">@comrade_panda</a> Tarot Reading10:30 pm - 11 pmDan Sullivan<a href="https://www.instagram.com/navillus_woodworks/">@navillus_woodworks</a> Tiny Studio Concert

The Franklin Takeover on @COVIDTV

The Franklin will stay open late for a bonfire, barbecue, and storytelling event that examines the backyard barbecue as both important container for memories and precarious event in our current moment of violence against communities of color.

Part of EXPO&#39;s Art After Hours.&nbsp;

The Franklin

Current and Upcoming Events at The Franklin

Chicago Gallery News

The Franklin

Current and Upcoming Events at The Franklin

Past Events

Chicago Gallery News