Tour of beLONGING: Lithuanian Immigrant Artists in Chicago 1900 to Now!

Event Description

The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture presents a major exhibition showcasing more than a century of art by Lithuanian immigrant artists with ties to Chicago. The exhibition beLONGING: Lithuanian Artists in Chicago, 1900 to Now reveals the role and impact of these artists within Chicago’s rich cultural landscape and beyond.

The first such expansive survey, beLONGING features nearly 30 artists representing three waves of immigration to Chicago and more than 115 works of art in various media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, textiles, print media, and photography, as well as rare books, video interviews, interpretative materials, and ephemera.

About the Speaker

Vicki Matranga is the Guest Curator for beLONGING: Lithuanian Artists in Chicago, 1900 to Now.

She is an historian, publicist, and researcher specializing in U.S. product design. In a dual career, she works for a major trade association to promote design and is an independent museum consultant, author, lecturer and researcher.

Matranga consults with museums such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Toledo Museum of Art, the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio, and the Schenectady Museum. For Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, she developed content for three exhibitions in the annual Black Creativity program, including the 2007 Designs For Life program that featured 45 African-American product designers. Since 2007 she has been the curator of the Culinary Curiosity exhibition about antique food preparation tools at the Kendall College School of Culinary Arts in Chicago.

She is the author of , a book published in 1997, which presented a unique cultural perspective on the evolution of household products in relation to lifestyles, women, technology, and retailing. She has written essays for historical encyclopedias and museum catalogues.

She holds a bachelor's in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a master's in Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business.

Event schedule:

• 6:30pm Tour of Exhibit with Vicki Matranga

Suggested Donation

There is a $15 suggested donation for this event. Please bring cash to pay the donation.Your generous donation helps support the museum and allows CMEG to pay our speakers, and cover other expenses, like our website.No one will be turned away from this event because they cannot pay.

About CMEG

Founded in 1991, The Chicago Museum Exhibitors Group (CMEG) brings together students and professionals involved in the design, development, and production of exhibits for museums and cultural institutions.

Also check out other Arts events in Chicago, Exhibitions in Chicago, Nonprofit events in Chicago.