DHD alumna Sandy Guttman opens a Chicago art gallery
Sandy Guttman ‘22 MS DHD, who describes herself as an “able-bodied ally” of people with disability, has opened a Chicago art gallery that will host events and exhibitions for artists and organizations concerned with disability culture.
Curb Appeal, founded by Guttman and her husband, Todd Garon, is located in their storefront apartment in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood near 24th Street and Oakley Avenue. The gallery was featured in an article in the March 17 Chicago Reader.
“As an organization, we are interested in the intersection of art and accessibility,” they explain on the gallery’s website.
“We draw inspiration from the neighborhood topology of our historic storefront space and its visibility to the community in which we are sited. Our large windows and sidewalk stoop encourage passersby to peer in as well as invite themselves into our live/workspace.
“Grounded in the idea of ‘home’ with an ethic of accessibility, Curb Appeal reimagines what both an apartment and a gallery can be.”
Guttman wants Curb Appeal to become a hub for collaboration among artists in disability culture.
The gallery’s first exhibition, “Perspective,” March 3 through April 22, is a sound and video work by composer and musician Molly Joyce. The audiovisual installation blends excerpts from 40 interviews about disability with Joyce’s musical compositions recorded on an electric vintage toy organ.
The next scheduled exhibition will feature a portrait series by Genevieve Ramos, a visual artist, disability advocate and activist. Ramos was awarded a 2022 residency fellowship from 3Arts/Bodies of Work, a partnership led by the AHS Department of Disability and Human Development, the UIC Disability Cultural Center, Access Living and the School of the Art Institute.
Guttman, who also earned an MA in museum and exhibition studies at UIC, is the performance and public programs project manager at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
The Curb Appeal gallery is open 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment. For the address and more information, email info@curbappeal.gallery.