Join us at the Chicago Art Department for Contra Corriente, an annual festival that brings together artists, environmentalists, and community organizers to resist ecological racism through exhibitions and interactive programs. 

Festival Exhibitions:

Arturo Fresan - Tzompantli (June 13 - July 25)
Tzompantli draws parallels between the ancient Aztec skull racks and contemporary sacrifices driven by industrial, environmental, and socio-political exploitation. The exhibition reflects on the devastating impact of corporate greed, military-industrial power, and organized crime, which fuel environmental destruction, perpetual conflict, and mass displacement. As industries poison ecosystems and nations wage endless wars under the guise of security, entire communities are uprooted, and countless lives are lost. Tzompantli serves as a stark memorial to those sacrificed in the name of profit and power, urging a collective reckoning with humanity’s role in perpetuating destruction.

Jassiel Serna - Tilichero & Artist Market (June 13 - July 25)

Tilichero is a market-style exhibition celebrating rasquache, a Chicano art aesthetic that embraces resourcefulness, defiance, and invention through simple materials. Blurring the lines between gallery and open-air market, Tilichero pays homage to the tianguis of Mexico and Latin America, creating a space for art, trade, and community. In partnership with POCAS, the event centers BIPOC vendors, artists, and musicians, fostering accessible, community-driven commerce where vendors keep 100% of their sales and all programming remains free to the public.

Juan Molina Hernandez - Hechizo (June 13 - July 25)
Hechizo is a group exhibition curated by Juan Molina Hernández, where queer brujería and environmental justice intertwine as acts of resistance and reclamation. Featuring artists who are organizers, farmers, and earthkeepers, the show honors the deep connections between land, identity, and survival. Rooted in Indigenous systems of care and stewardship, these works conjure spells of resilience—challenging the colonial forces that have severed our ties to the earth while celebrating queerness as an embodied, sacred force. In a time of ecological crisis, Hechizo is both sanctuary and summons, where art becomes ritual, resistance takes root, and magic is a tool for collective liberation.

Diagrams, Systems, and Collective Power examines the ways artists, designers, and educators use diagramming as a tool to map, question, and disrupt systems of power. In a time of heightened political and social unrest, the exhibition explores how visualizing power structures can expose hierarchies, shift narratives, and offer collective strategies for resistance. Featuring CAD resident artists Oscar Solis, Eric Von Hayes, Dud Lawson, Silvia Ines Gonzalez, Fabrizzio Subia, Sarah Whyte, and others, the show presents diagrams not just as representations but as interventions—dynamic frameworks that challenge meaning, value, and history while imagining new possibilities for collective power.

Living Madness reframes mental illness beyond stigma, exploring it as a raw, complex, and deeply human experience. Curated by CAD residents Catie Burrill and Aespyne Alix, the exhibition confronts systemic violence, societal expectations, and existential dread while celebrating resilience, humor, and connection. Through paintings, installations, and soft sculptures, the artists weave personal narratives that embrace both anguish and joy, challenging traditional psychiatric models.

And The Spaces Between explores the complexities of identity through the lens of adoptee artists, reflecting on the love, loss, and liminality that come with navigating multiple cultures, histories, and geographies. Expanding on Adopted Territory, first shown at the Chinese American Museum, this exhibition considers migration as both a physical and emotional journey, questioning what is lost, gained, remembered, and forgotten along the way. Embracing the uncertainties of identity, it invites community engagement as a means of understanding the spaces in between.