In planning for its 2020 season, Weinberg/Newton Gallery owner and executive director David Weinberg and his team partnered with the ACLU of Illinois to create an exhibition addressing the 2020 election in alignment with the gallery’s mission to engage the public in social justice issues. But faced with social distancing guidelines, and in the interest of public safety, the gallery has been shut down since March, altering previously laid plans. From there, the gallery’s curator and codirector Kasia Houlihan shifted gears and worked to open the exhibition online.
Rothenberg says let’s switch it up! is a call to action against voter suppression and institutional racism. She drew inspiration from the disrupted primary elections in Georgia and Wisconsin earlier this year. “I became interested in the relationship of voter suppression in current conditions and its relationship to historic struggles in the civil rights movement and the anniversary of the 19th Amendment and women’s suffrage,” she says.
Weinberg says that prior to 2020, he never imagined hosting a virtual exhibit at the gallery. But in looking ahead to its post-pandemic future, he hopes to continue to embrace the advantages of working online. “When the day comes that we can have several hundred people in the gallery, I think there is a fair chance that we would want to have that same exhibit online in one form or another,” he says. “This is an opportunity to grow.” v
Through 12/19, Weinberg/Newton Gallery, 688 N. Milwaukee, anthem.weinbergnewtongallery.com.
