UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Home Grown Vol. III

July 11 - September 6, 2026

WEST GALLERY

Home Grown Vol. III
Curated by Lauren Iacoponi

Home Grown at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art is an immersive exhibition exploring the deep entanglement between human and plant life, featuring Midwest artists working with natural pigments, dyes, plant reliefs, hand-pulled paper, and organic materials that include botanics, mycelia, and artist-made bioplastics. Home Grown serves as a green space within an urban environment, with thought-provoking, nature-focused work integrated into a landscape of live plants. 

Many of the artists exhibiting in Home Grown are practitioners of bioregionalism. They learn and educate others on the specific history of native plants and local indigenous ecologies, understanding that humans, plants, and wildlife are mutually responsible for one another. Several of the artists exhibiting in Home Grown are members and volunteers of community gardens and greenhouses, and host educational workshops, field days, and stewardship events and programs within their local communities. They cultivate native plants, remove invasive plant species, and tend plants in ‘art gardens’ to create natural pigments and dyes, and to grow and harvest plant fibers for papermaking.

Home Grown Exhibition Tour is a mobile exhibition featuring a survey of artists currently showing in Home Grown Vol. III at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA).

Exhibiting Artists
Aimée Beaubien, Kris Casey, Christine Forni,
Naomi-Hamlin Navis, Hillary Irene Johnson, Noelani Jones, Tulika Ladsariya, Jaclyn Mednicov, CV Peterson, SK Reed

Risograph Works
Aimée Beaubien, Christine Forni, Maven Kennedy, Tulika Ladsariya, Katelyn Patton, Monika Plioplyte, Reina Sundara

Home Grown Exhibition Tour
Organized and Curated by Lauren Iacoponi
Facilitated by Naomi Elson & Lauren Iacoponi
(Unpacked Mobile Gallery)
Supported by DCASE Individual Artists Program Grant

Home Grow Exhibition Tour
Unpacked Mobile Gallery
July 11 - 18, 2026

Saturday, July 11
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
2320 W Chicago Ave.
12 - 5 pm

- Special activities at the opening!
- Docent-led Tours
Curator Lauren Iacoponi (Unpacked)
Naomi Elson (Unpacked) 

Sunday, July 12
The Weaving Mill
Dye Garden & Seed Library
1801 N Spaulding Ave. Chicago
2 - 5 pm

- Docent-led Tours

- Indigo Demonstration
Learn about the blue, yellow, and purple dye potential inside indigo leaves, how to grow Japanese indigo in Chicago, and how to naturally dye fabric with fresh indigo leaves.​
​Read more here

- Painting with  Earth Pigments​​​​​
Learn how pigments can be derived from nature. This artist-led demonstration shows the steps to process raw earth pigments and transform them into working watercolor paints.
Read more here​

Monday, July 13
Programming TBA
- Docent-led Tours
- Painting with  Earth Pigments​​​​​
Read more here​

Tuesday, July 14
Sand Ridge Nature Center
15891 Paxton Ave., South Holland, IL
1 - 4 pm

- Docent-led Tours
- Painting with  Earth Pigments​​​​​
Read more here​