If you aren’t already aware of the PBS series Craft in America, check it out. All episodes are free and available to stream.

I am rewatching them one by one while I work out in the morning, grateful not just for the inspiring jumpstart to my day, but for the introduction to artists I was previously unfamiliar with — along with becoming better acquainted with the practices of some I already know. Wisdom, technique, process — it’s all there. Beautifully filmed and layered with contextual information; it’s an amazing resource.

Each episode is centered on a specific concept, delving into the practices of several artists, their ideas and stories.  Many segments shine a spotlight on the treasure that is embodied in cultural diversity, knowledge and history, eloquently expressed through the lens of these artists’ work and words while focusing attention on legacies we should – no need – to be mindful of nurturing and protecting — especially considering our current political climate. In the words of master weaver and dyer J. Isaac Vásquez García in the espisode “Borders”, “Art is universal, there are no borders”.

If I had to single out any specific episode to start you off, should you choose not to go chronologically, I’d say “Visionaries”. It’s a touchstone with the value of the groundbreakers who have paved our paths and will surely inspire you to explore other chapters in the series.

With all this in mind, I’ve seen a number of fascinating exhibitions over the past 3 months by artists whose cultural vantage points, however different from a potential viewer’s, offer the sense of connection we all crave and which art can deliver.

At the Art Institute of Chicago:

Raquib Shaw’s   Paradise Lost
This monumental wall installation (more than 100′ wide) is an allegorical and autobiographical telling of Shaw’s journey through life. Dense with supernatural symbolism, it alludes to Milton’s poem of the same name and is a reflection of the many paradises lost across a lifetime. Shaw notes, “This is not just my story. It is the story of each of us, and the story of our times”.

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South African artist Jane Alexander’s  Infantry with beast
Situated within a dark and cavernous room, adorned only with the red carpet they march upon, an army of life-size fiberglass, lockstep “humanimals” are foreboding and unsettling.

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Many of the drawings, prints and sculptures of revolutionary artist Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), in an eponymously named retrospective at the Art Institute, centered on the lives of black women in the American South. Her powerful work was an ongoing challenge to social injustices.

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And at our local Fleming Museum:

The now-closed exhibition “Kimono” was a grand display of shimmering 20th and 21st century pieces, including a spectacular hand-dyed kimono by the Shibori master Itchiku Kubota. More contemporary works, such as the one below by Na Omi Shintani, were inspired by the form of kimono as well as its historical and cultural significance.