DePaul Art Museum reopening May 14

​CHICAGO — With COVID-19 safety precautions in place, DePaul Art Museum will reopen to in-person viewing May 14. A pair of exhibitions — “LatinXAmerican” and “Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli” — will be on display through Aug. 15 at the museum, located on DePaul University’s Lincoln Park Campus.

“The past year has been incredibly hard on everyone, museums and artists included. However, DePaul Art Museum’s resilience would not have been possible without the enduring support and encouragement from our audiences, and we are very grateful to each of them for having continued to engage with us from a distance. The long-anticipated exhibition “LatinXAmerican” is well worth the wait, and we are truly thrilled to open our doors before the exhibition closes in August,” said Laura-Caroline de Lara, interim director of DePaul Art Museum.

“LatinXAmerican” is an intergenerational group exhibition featuring nearly 40 Latinx artists from Chicago and beyond. The exhibition assesses the presence and absence of Latinx artists in DePaul Art Museum’s collection, and reflects efforts to build in this area as part of a multi-year initiative to increase the visibility of Latinx artists and voices in museums, working towards equity and lasting transformation.

Occupying all of the museum’s galleries, “LatinXAmerican” includes photographs, paintings, works on paper, sculptures, textiles, videos and installations primarily drawn from the museum’s collection, including several recent acquisitions, as well as new works from artists living throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

The work of Mexican artist Claudia Peña Salinas is inspired by indigenous thinking and worldviews calling attention to the Americas collective cultural memory. Salinas's “Quetzalli” is a site-specific installation at DePaul Art Museum that centers on the Aztec headdress, “Penacho de Moctezuma,” an object that has become a symbol of national identity for both Mexico and Austria. “Quetzalli” highlights the issues around the provenance of ancient artifacts and the role museums play in formulating cultural identities.

The reopening of the galleries corresponds with the kick-off of the museum’s summer season of programing, which will include a hybrid of in-person and virtual events. Included in the events are two game nights with Chicago artist and rare game collector Josue Pellot and musical performances in partnership with Ear Taxi Festival focusing on Latinx and Latin American composers in the museum’s galleries. Upcoming DePaul Art Museum public events can be found online at http://bit.ly/dpam_public_events​.

“I am immensely proud of the hard work shown by our small staff and dedicated interns to virtually highlight Chicago- and community-centric programs and exhibitions like ‘LatinXAmerican’ and ‘Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli,’ throughout our necessary closure. We appreciate our community’s patience as we deliberated and prepared for the proper time to welcome everyone back safely,” said de Lara.

For now, DePaul Art Museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is still free, but reservations are required through the museum’s website at http://bit.ly/visit_DPAM or the Tock app at http://bit.ly/tock_DPAM. Group reservations are limited to five people.

Before arriving on campus, all guests are required to answer a short COVID-19 questionnaire through the CampusClear app at http://bit.ly/campusclearapp and show a screenshot of the results to museum staff upon arrival. Masks will be required, and social distancing must be maintained. Hand-sanitizing stations are available on the first and second floors outside of the galleries.

DePaul Art Museum is located at 935 W. Fullerton Ave. on DePaul University’s Lincoln Park Campus. For questions, contact artmuseum@depaul.edu or call 773-325-7506.

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Laura-Caroline de Lara

Russell Dorn

312-956-7126 cell​​