Everything Can Be Art

March 26, 2025

During a rare midweek off day from school, a group of our young people visited the Smart Museum of Art, located on the University of Chicago’s Hyde Park campus.  

The group toured an exhibition that celebrated the institution’s 50th anniversary and featured over 180 works from across the breadth and depth of the Museum’s 17,000 holdings, including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and archival materials. They also participated in a discussion about a sprawling, multi-part installation by South Side artist Robert Earl Page, and a hands-on art activity. 

“When I’m planning activities for days off, I’m wanting to maximize their exposure to different arts and culture that they may not have had access to,” Veronica Quintero, Mercy Home’s senior coordinator for tutoring and after school programs, said. “I also want to give them unique hands-on activities that can build their confidence or open their minds as to what’s possible for them in their lives.” 

The Smart Museum has been a pioneer and a leader in arts-based learning since it opened in 1974. Yet as a university-based institution, its smaller size offered a manageable first experience with art museums for some of our young people.  

“It’s less overwhelming for the boys and the University of Chicago has proven to be very skillful in working with youth,” Quintero said. 

Many of the boys, including Evan, were particularly drawn to a piece called “Soundsuit.”

Designed by American sculptor Nick Cave, Soundsuit uses traditional craft techniques to transform twigs wire, upholstery, basket, and metal armature and give them new life and form. When worn, the sculpture forms a “protective shield” that masks the identity and can be worn without judgement based on appearances. 

The visit’s tour guide had the young people imagine being inside the sound suit. Quintero said that it was illuminating for the young people to see modern three-dimensional art as well as historic paintings.  

“I learned that literally everything can be art,” Evan, who likes to draw, said. 

The University of Chicago also led a discussion in front of a photographic portrait. In 2002- 03, Chicago-based artist Dawoud Bey created a series of photographic portraits of South Side teenagers, similar in age to our young people.  

The youth examined a portrait of a boy named Steven, a Kenwood Academy student at the time. They were asked how they would feel if their portrait hung on display for years in a museum. One Mercy Home youth said he’d feel “proud.” 

“It evoked a little appreciation of how much a portrait can tell and what it would feel like to take someone’s portrait and the responsibility that comes with that,” Quintero said.  

The boys were also attracted to British sculptor Anthony Gormley’s “Infinite Cube,” a grid of lights that could evoke both a “cityscape and a boundless mental architecture composed of the flickering connections of memory and thought.” 

“I liked that the University of Chicago engaged their engineering minds regarding art,” Quintero said. “So many of the youth view art as a feminine thing and engineering as a cooler, more masculine thing. They were forced to think about structural design and remove some limitations they had on what art might look like.” 

Following the tour, the youth sat on beanbag chairs in a space designed by local artist Robert Earl Page. They were given drawing materials and created their own artwork that tied into the exhibit. One youth made a city out of basketballs and shared it with his peers.  

“The idea is to get them thinking, in this case, about art and how they can appreciate art as a consumer of art or as a creator and seeing what different types of art can look like,” Quintero said. “I really wanted to expand their horizons with this specific event and get something valuable from it.” 

In the past, Mercy Home has taken young people on field trips designed to build confidence and teamwork skills that support classroom learning. The trip to the Smart Museum also expanded their horizons and had the added benefit of allowing our young people to experience a college campus as they think about life after post-secondary school.