Sunday, March 15th, 3-4:30 pm RSVP
Elena Gonzales, PhD, is Curator of Civic Engagement & Social Justice at the Chicago History Museum and the lead curator of Aquí en Chicago (2025-2026). She co-edited the related exhibition book and co-created the podcast “The Missing Exhibition: Building Aquí.” Elena’s book, Exhibitions for Social Justice, debuted in Routledge’s Museum Meanings Series (2019). Elena is a lifelong resident of Cook County and grew up in a bi-cultural Mexican and Polish-American home. Elena received her doctorate in American Studies and Masters in Public Humanities from Brown University in 2015 and 201,0 respectively. She has curated exhibitions since 2006 and has taught curatorial studies since 2010.
Art can bridge gaps in our telling of history. Art allows us to engage in challenging topics without first becoming mired in potentially divisive words. In this In Focus talk, “Long Looking in Aquí en Chicago,” Elena Gonzales will guide a visual field trip through some of the artwork in the exhibition – by local artists – that most rewards long looking while exploring the work that art accomplishes within a history museum. Gonzales is the curator of Aquí en Chicago, on view at the Chicago History Museum.
Photo by Ben Gonzales