The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) alum leaders and the Alumni Engagement team invite you to a special event at the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) in Chicago. Join us to hear Alberto Aguilar (MFA 2001, BFA 1997) and curator J. Gibran Villalobos (Dual MA 2013) in conversation. They’ll discuss Aguilar’s current exhibition at the NMMA, and will feature a performance by Madeleine Aguilar (MFA 2022, BFA 2020). Following the talk will be a reception with light refreshments. The event is open to all SAIC alums.

Questions? Contact alumni@saic.edu

RSVP by January 26.

About the Speakers:

ALBERTO AGUILAR is a Chicago based artist that uses whatever material is at hand in an attempt to make a meaningful connection with the viewer. He does not distinguish his art practice from his other various life roles which allows him to make work wherever he is. He has shown and presented his work at various museums, galleries, storefronts, homes and street corners around the world. Some of these include the Queens Museum, El Torito Supermercado, The Minneapolis Institute of Art, the corner of Cesar Chavez Ave and North Broadway in Los Angeles, CA, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit, Chicago City Hall, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Museo Del Jamon in Madrid, Spain, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Chicago River Jackson Bridge, The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, El Cosmico Trailer Park, Marfa, TX, El Centro de Desarrollo de las Artes Visuales, Havana, Cuba, Iowa rest stop I-80. His work is in the collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, The Jorge Lucero Study Collection, Soho House, Meta - Facebook, The National Museum of Mexican Art, The Office of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Along with some members of his family he collectively organizes Mayfield, a multi-use space which operates on the grounds of his home.

MADELEINE AGUILAR is an artist and musician based in Chicago. Using the archive as form, she acknowledges the passing of time by cataloging lived spaces, collected objects, familial histories, personal relationships, natural phenomena, mundane routines, and ephemeral moments. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently the Print & New Media Studio Manager at Ox-Bow School of Art and Artists’ Residency. Her work lives in the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection, Franklin Furnace Archive, and the Jorge Lucero Study Collection and she has performed at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Depaul Art Museum, and Experimental Sound Studio.

J. GIBRAN VILLALOBOS is the National Engagement Program Manager for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). His current work is set to help in the establishment of the forthcoming National Museum of the American Latino as approved by U.S. Congress. Prior to working for the IMLS, he has held posts as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Public Programs and Partnerships Manager for the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Cultural Liaison for the Chicago Park District, and Curator-in-Residence for the Chicago Cultural Center.

He is a Civic Leadership Academy Fellow at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy where he worked with government and nonprofit sector participants to think about effective policy for Chicago’s cultural industries. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Arts Administration & Policy.

Gibran currently serves as Chair of the Chicago Artists Coalition Board of Directors, and previous founding member of the Auxiliary Board of the National Museum of Mexican Art. He holds a BA in Art History and a BS in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University and an MA in Arts Administration & Policy and MA in Modern Art History, Theory and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Alberto Aguilar & J. Gibran Villalobos In Conversation