Black Culture in Chicago

April 17 - July 30, 2026

Café Logan

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts presents Black Culture in Chicago, a photography exhibition by internationally renowned photographer Mark Joseph, created and directed by Ada Nivia López, curated by Dorian Sylvain, and informed by its community advisory committee. The exhibition will be on view in Café Logan, 915 E 60th Street, from April 17 - July 30, 2026.

Purpose

This work began with a question: Who gets to define how a community is seen?

Chicago has been shaped by those who arrived carrying memory, culture, and hope. This collection stands in respect of the contributions of African Americans and their enduring legacy.

For Ada López, that question is personal. Arriving in Chicago in the 1950s without speaking English, she learned early what it means to move between worlds - and to feel unseen. Her decades as an educator revealed extraordinary discipline, faith, creativity, and talent across the city’s Black communities—strengths too often overshadowed by limiting narratives.

From that recognition came a conviction: photography could widen the frame — not merely to document, but to affirm dignity and expand the story beyond stereotype and statistic.

For photographer Mark Joseph, the purpose was equally clear. After more than fifty years working across the globe — from the forests of Brazil to the deserts of Arabia, from oil fields in China to boardrooms in Europe and America — he understood the power of images to shape perception. This work would call for more than technical mastery. It required patience, precision, and an attentiveness to presence.

“Together, with an advisory circle of community thought leaders, we set out to honor the fullness of African American life in Chicago.”

Process

This was never conceived as a photo assignment. It was built as a collaboration, with conversations preceding the camera.

The individuals represented here did not stand before the lens as subjects. They stood as partners. Working with natural light, each image was formed through dialogue — guided by how individuals wished to be seen, rather than how they have often been portrayed.

Listening shaped the work. Purpose guided each decision. Craft served the mission.

In a time when narratives can narrow, this process insists on wholeness.

What Makes This Project Unique

Black Culture in Chicago is defined not only by what it reveals, but by how it came into being.

Rooted in collaboration, this work brings together educational vision and photographic mastery — joining the community's lived experience. Each image reflects a relationship shaped through trust and intention.

These photographs widen the frame — revealing everyday excellence: faith practiced quietly, artistry carried across generations, labor undertaken with pride, joy in movement, love within family.

In the lineage of photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks, this work affirms that dignity is already present.

And when we see one another in that fullness, something within us — and within the city — begins to shift.

— Ada Nivia López & Mark Joseph

Black Culture in Chicago

Who We Are National Project

Acknowledgements

Presenting Community Partner

Boehnen Family Foundation

Community Impact Sponsor

Camille Yarbrough and CMS Trophies & Plaques, Inc.

Community Circle Partners

Mary Prendergast

Friends of Black Culture in Chicago

Walter and Shirley Massey
Adam Murphy
Matthew and Vanessa Williams

Exhibit Curator

Dorian Sylvian

Donors & Supporters

With gratitude, we honor and acknowledge the individuals and organizations whose generosity helps widen the frame—affirming dignity, illuminating everyday excellence, and bringing fuller stories of our communities into view.

Kim Akainyah
Glenn Allen
Arthur Anderson
Derrick & Yolanda Ashford
Myel Ausberry
Shirley Barry
Elizabeth Bilitz
The Boehnen Family Foundation
Rev. Sandra Brown
John Ceisel
Nancy Chertok
CMS Trophies & Plaques, Inc.
Michelle Culbert
Johnny Dorsey
Eugene Dillando
Kathleen Dippel
AJ Farmer
Armond Farmer
LeeAnn Ford
Alan Fuhs
Freedom Lifted, LLC
Cornell Hall
Essie Henderson
Ace Hobfoll
Ivonne Hobfoll
Trudy Hobfoll
Mahir Ingram
Barbara Jackson and John Lee
Kelvin and Micah Jackson
Brenda Johnson
Mark Joseph
Ann Kalaska
Karen Kimbrough
K’sun
Symbricke Lindsey
Ada Nivia Lopez
Andrew and Terri Lyke
Kendall and Chris Malette
Arthur Mathews
Sr. Judith Mather
Walter and Shirley Massey
Cheri Mena
Kyle Miller
Greg and Kathleen Mooney
Vickie Mosby
Adam Murphy
Bill Parke
Ashley Perry
Pixelography, St. Louis
Marita Powell
Mary Prendergast
ProGearRental, Chicago
Ken Rapier
Alanna Redd
Martin and Patricia Redd
Gwendolyn Rice
Herb Roman
RW Productions
Jin Sanford
Joseph Shannon
Rosa Shelton
Jackie Smith
Jamiere Smith
James Spiegel
Subira Investment Group
Alysia Tate
Top & Topp Financial Services
Michelle Upson
Adrienne Upchurch
Golden Boy and Linda Vasquez
Alida and Donald Wallace
Robin Watson
Erma and Paul Williams
Matthew and Vanessa Williams
Donnell Williams
Elaine and Louis Woodland
Golden Boy and Linda Vazquez
Anonymous (6)

In-Kind Support

Blick Art Materials
ABRA Financial LLC
ArentFox Schiff LLP
Pixelography, St. Louis
ProGearRental, Chicago

Advisory Committee

Edie Armstrong
Deborah Clair
Richard L. Dobbins Jr.
Isaiah Day
James Griffith Jr.
Deborah Minor Harvey
Trudy Hobfoll
Kelvin Jackson
Mark Joseph
Kendall Mallette
Arthur Mathews
Adam B. Murphy
Ken Rapier
Alanna Redd
Martin W. Redd
Patricia J. Redd
Rosa Shelton
Timuel D. Black †
Robin Jones Watson
Paul David Wilson
Matthew Williams