Curators Don Baum and Bruce Linn have put together a wide-ranging exhibit of work portraying figures whose lives–and in many cases deaths–have contributed to public awareness of social issues. Besides numerous tributes to John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln, Whose Broad Stripes and Bright Stars: Death, Reverence, and the Struggle for Equality In America includes Roberta Bell’s “Famous Black Americans” doll collection, sections of the NAMES Project quilt, WPA-era artwork, and mass-produced memorabilia. There are pieces by Archibald Motley Jr. and Robert Rauschenberg and Howard Finster, but much of the work–like this albumin-print carte de visite–is by unknown artists, and much is by nonartists: amateurs, prisoners, bereaved citizens. The exhibit opens tonight at the School of the Art Institute’s Betty Rymer Gallery, Columbus Drive and Jackson, with a free reception from 5 to 7. It runs through February 2; viewing hours are 10 to 5 Monday through Saturday. Call 443-3703 for more.
