Image: Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago is planning a pair of public programs in August that link environmental urgency to photographic practice, beginning with a panel and exhibition tour in partnership with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The museum says the August 6 program will focus on climate change, advocacy and the role of art, while a second event will bring artist Brad Temkin into the museum’s Print Study Room for a viewing of works from the collection on environmental themes.
According to the museum’s event listings and newsletter, the August 6 panel is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. at MoCP’s Chicago location, with a short curator-guided tour preceding a facilitated conversation. The museum describes the program as centered on collective climate action and on images of environmental crisis. In the newsletter, MoCP said the discussion would feature Gina Ramirez, NRDC director of Midwest environmental health; Joel Scata, an NRDC environmental and administrative law attorney; and Senator Graciela Guzman.
The museum’s notice adds that the conversation will turn to local climate issues in Chicago after the tour. MoCP also states that the program is free and open to the public, with registration encouraged. The museum is located on the ground level of 600 S Michigan Ave., with entrances on Michigan Ave. and Harrison St. and the Print Study Room on the second floor.
Temkin’s event, titled 'Photos at Noon: Ecology and the Image with Brad Temkin,' is scheduled for August 14 from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Print Study Room. The museum describes it as a print viewing of works from the permanent collection by artists who explore and raise awareness about the environment and climate change. MoCP also notes that the program is free and open to the public, with registration encouraged.
The museum’s listing identifies Temkin as an American photographer born in 1956 whose work examines the contemporary landscape and human impact on the environment through projects on architecture, ecology and natural resources. It says his photographs are held in collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Amon Carter Museum, the George Eastman Museum and MoCP. The notice also says Temkin has exhibited internationally and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017 as well as Illinois Arts Council Fellowships in 2007 and 2024.
MoCP’s newsletter connects the climate programs to the museum’s broader exhibition activity this summer. It notes that the museum is also showing 'Prix Pictet Storm,' with a separate virtual artist talk previously announced for Marina Caneve and Hannah Modigh, two exhibiting artists in that prize exhibition. That talk was listed as a free Zoom event and was tied to the exhibition’s themes of memory, place and the socio-political landscapes shaping ideas of land.
The museum’s newsletter also pointed readers to another major project coming this fall, 'If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground,' described as a monumental exhibition curated by Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Lewis and featured in a CNN style story about MoCP’s use of its permanent collection. For the August programs, however, the museum is keeping the focus on climate change, photographic interpretation and public discussion, with the NRDC panel on August 6 and Temkin’s print viewing on August 14.
