Art Exhibit Reception: "Encoded Memories" by Betty Kim

Program Type:

Arts & Culture, Equity & Anti-Racism, Kids & Families, Multicultural, Sustainability

Age Group:

Middle School, High School, Adults, Older Adults

Event Details

Encoded Memories is a community-based art exhibition comprised of references and images from Oak Park Public Library’s Special Collections (Philander Barclay Collection, Hemingway Family Collection), found images via the internet, and shared images from the Oak Park community. The exhibition comprises works from a multitude of perspectives and time periods:

  1. Drawings from community members who participated in DIY printmaking workshops held in March and April. These artists made prints from historical images or brought their personal archive of images and collaged their memories and experiences—relating the past and not-so-distant past into the present—here at the exhibition.
  2. Transparency prints that pay homage to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Window (1912, currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Using Wright’s design as a starting point for the work, the piece embeds images of Oak Park throughout the stained-glass design.
  3. Vertical digital inkjet prints that feature moments captured during COVID lockdowns, when artist Betty Young Kim used photography to understand her community. 

The images featured in the exhibition serve as a marker of time, place, and memory. Whether from the early 1900s or the present day, Oak Park is a community that continues to demonstrate resilience in the face of challenges and adversity. May this exhibition be a reminder of our tenacity to care for everyone in and around our community.

Encoded Memories: DIY Printmaking Workshops
Drop in to make some collaged ink drawings from carbon copy paper and crayons. You can use printed images from the library's Special Collections, which feature historical images in and around Oak Park, or bring your own images to make xerox prints and learn the art of DIY printmaking.