The Bronzeville native and preeminent Black pop artist of his generation, Hebru Brantley, straddles the worlds of fine art, street art, and hip-hop—often name-dropped in rap songs and collected by Jay-Z and LeBron James. Brantley’s work restores innocence to depictions of Black youth, normalizes images of Black children at play, and suggests an entirely new mythology through the creation of Black superheroes. Brantley chats with Amanda Williams, an artist, and 2022 MacArthur Fellow who uses ideas around color and architecture to explore intersections with race. These artists visit the Institute of Design and Chicago Humanities for an upbeat, life-affirming chat about art, representation, and being Black in America.

Listen to the program here.

A book signing will follow this program.

This program is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city's artistic heritage and creative communities.

This program is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

This event is presented in partnership with Illinois Tech.

• Chicago Humanities is pleased to partner with Chicago’s Seminary Co-op Bookstores, the country’s first not-for-profit bookstore.
• Pre-order Hebru Brantley through the Chicago Humanities Box Office and save 20% while supporting local, independent bookselling.
• Add books to your cart when adding tickets. Your receipt will contain a book voucher, which you show to the bookseller on-site to pick up your book(s).