Home Grown (Vol. III)

About this exhibition

The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) is pleased to announce Home Grown (Vol. III), the third iteration of curator Lauren Iacoponi’s ongoing exhibition series exploring sustainable processes and the relationship between people and plants. On view from July 11 through September 6, 2026, the exhibition transforms UIMA’s galleries into an immersive environment where sculpture, eco-dye textiles, hand papermaking, and botanical installations are integrated directly into a living landscape of plants. Home Grown began in 2022 as a booth installation at the MdW Fair at Mana Contemporary Chicago, and returned in 2025 for a second iteration at Heaven Gallery. For its third installment, UIMA serves as the flagship location, with new and returning artists creating work that responds to eco-friendly materials and processes — from artist-made bioplastic to sculptures grown from living mycelium. Visitors to Home Grown (Vol. III) will encounter work that blurs the line between artwork and ecosystem. Featured artists work in mycology, natural dye, fiber, ceramic, photography, and assemblage, often incorporating organic materials that continue to grow, change, or decompose over the course of the exhibition. Highlights include Erin LaRocque’s reishi mycelium sculptures, Noelani Jones’ participatory sprouting chia-seed textiles, SK Reed’s natural pigment paintings, and Rachel Meyers Heffernan’s homestead weavings made with her sheep’s wool. A central feature of Home Grown (Vol. III) is its roving counterpart, Unpacked Mobile Gallery, a 16-foot truck outfitted as a traveling exhibition space. Throughout the first week of the exhibition (Saturday, July 11 - Saturday, July 18), Unpacked will bring nature-centered artwork and participatory workshops directly into public parks, cultural institutions, and community gardens across Chicago, including Comfort Station (Logan Square), Plant Chicago (Back of the Yards), Met West Community Garden (West Town), The Weaving Mill Dye Garden and Seed Library (Humboldt Park), Sand Ridge Nature Center (Cook County Nature Preserve), the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UkrainianVillage), and additional Chicago public parks. The project also partners with Jeremy Ohems of Wild World Gardens (Native plant sale with pre-order pickups), and Spudnik Press (plant sale partner and risograph residency in support of Home Grown exhibition). Free public programming will include eco-dye and natural ink workshops, foraging presentations, native plant lectures, and plant cutting exchanges, designed for intergenerational and cross-cultural participation. Workshop facilitators include artists SK Reed and Maven Kennedy (natural pigments), Katelyn Patton (natural dye), Tulika Ladsariya (cyanotype), Allen Moore and Grace Papineau-Couture (performance), and educators from the Weaving Mill Dye Garden, and Prairie Friends Native Plant Nursery. About Lauren Iacoponi Lauren Iacoponi is a Chicago-based curator and Curatorial Assistant at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. She is the co-founder and director of Unpacked Mobile Gallery and the founder of Purple Window Gallery, and has curated exhibitions at venues including Elmhurst Art Museum, Heaven Gallery, and the MdW Fair at Mana Contemporary Chicago. About the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience. Founded in 1971 in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood, UIMA has for more than fifty years offered an alternative exhibition space for nationally and internationally recognized artists working outside the mainstream. The Institute presents a robust annual schedule of exhibitions, concerts, literary events, lectures, and films, and is a core member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance.

via Chicago Gallery News