Local Collector Shares a Story of Historic Artists Impacted

by an Art Center

Krasl Art Center presents the exhibition Hull-House Artists in Chicago and Beyond, on view August 2 - September 28, 2025. The exhibition is guest curated by Michael R. Hill, Ph.D., archivist, author, art collector and founder of the Jane Addams Research Center. It will feature a rich and eclectic array of paintings, prints, ceramics, and ephemera from or relative to the iconic settlement house.

 

Dr. Hill founded the Jane Addams Research Center in St. Joseph alongside his late life partner, Mary Jo Deegan (1946-2024). The center’s focus on the historic sociologist, settlement leader, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams and her influential network of male and female colleagues has taken many forms, including an expansive collection of artworks resulting from the expertise, training, and inspiration of the art school at the Hull-House social settlement in Chicago (Hull commemorates the name of the home’s original owner).  

 

The Hull-House Art School, established by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr, with Enella Benedict as its first director, provided classes and studio space for youngsters and adults alike from 1893 onward to the 1960s. It was an important, but underappreciated, cultural phenomenon in Chicago. In this exhibition, artworks range from functional to fine art and include commemorative medallions, artist-illustrated books and calendars, novels, jewelry, metalwork, fabrics, ceramics, prints, maps, drawings, and paintings. These works — from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century — represent the deep impact of a community art center and highlight the affiliated artists who made them. While some are little known, several of the artists in the exhibition are prominent in Chicago collections and are found in museums, homes, and other repositories throughout the United States.

 

Krasl Art Center Executive Director & Chief Curator, Tami Fauver, states, “Art centers have such rich and deep community impacts. This is the lens that I have looked at this exhibition through, especially as Krasl develops the Richard Hunt Studio Center in Benton Harbor. Art is about more than itself. It is about people, places, and specific moments in time, as well as a human need. I am inspired by the founders of Hull House, as well as the ways in which art broadened its reach.” 

 

Dr. Hill has curated Hull-House Artists in Chicago & Beyond and is preparing an exhibition catalog. Dr. Hill has served as a docent at the Krasl Art Center and is an astute interdisciplinary scholar who is ever learning and engaging with the arts of Chicago and Southwest Michigan.

 

ALSO ON VIEW IN THE LAB:

ZINE READING ROOM

The Zine Reading Room will feature handmade, artist made journals on a wide range of topics. At times humorous, serious, or subversive, these collectible pamphlets are a form of independent writing and publishing that address topics and interests for all ages. 

 

For more information regarding the exhibitions, visit www.krasl.org.