Create Mad historical awareness,
Build personal advocacy,
Expand cultural expression,
Engage in community activism.
Our Mission:
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
On November 8th we will be hosting the book release of DUNNING: Special Report - A history of the Cook County Insane Asylum
JOIN US FOR THE BOOK RELEASE
NOV/8
5PM - 9PM
EXHIBITION
The book release will be in conjunction with an exhibition by the same name. Ten artists and ten poets will be creating work in response to this history. More on this can be found in our exhibition listing.
Copies purchased will be shipped out beginning on November 8th.
Regular price after Nov 8th will be $25
This project is supported by Hyde Park Art Center’s Artists Run Chicago Fund in partnership with Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that hightlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
ABOUT
From 1854 until 1912 Cook County ran an insane asylum, an almshouse, a poor farm, and a tuberculosis hospital on the outskirts of Chicago. These buildings became known as Dunning and serve as a reminder of the necessity of learning from our past in order to advocate for a better future.
Focusing on the insane asylum, this book dives into an untold history which includes asylum baseball leagues, Turkish bath houses, County coverups, abuses, and more. Dunning set the stage for how Chicagoans understand madness, it set the stage for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to close the city’s mental health facilities in 2012. To ignore this, to forget the inmates whose lives are vague silhouettes in a foggy mirror, means that we ultimately miss the opportunity to participate in meaningful change, in eliminating stigmas, in changing cultural paradigms that are outdated and harmful to the millions of people still struggling to overcome the popular idea that mental illness is little more than a living mask.
Center for Mad Culture challenges the medical model of "mental health" and "mental illness," instead offering a new way of looking at the human experiences and cultural contributions of madness.
To accomplish all this we offer art exhibitions, poetry readings, workshops, a mad/disability research library, and other opportunities. Come by and visit to learn more about what we offer!
Location and Hours
The Center for Mad Culture is located in the historic Fine Arts Building in downtown Chicago, one of the last buildings with manned elevators! We are located just two blocks south of the Art Institute of Chicago, walking distance to the lake, and near many other amenities.
410 S Michigan Ave, Suite 419
Chicago, IL 60605
Current Hours:
By appointment. Sadly, with a limited staff we are limited in our open hours, but we are happy to arrange a time if you use the contact form at the bottom of this page!
While we at the Center choose to challenge the use of "mental health" and "mental illness," we also recognize everyone's relationship to terminology is different. Please know that everyone is welcome at the Center and how one chooses to utilize terms to describe their experience is supported.
At the Gallery
0055 | Allostatic Load
This exhibition by Meghann Sottile utilizes both literal and abstract forms of oars and paddles as a metaphor in exploring how our bodies are forced to adapt to the inevitable change in psychosocial and physical situations.
Sept 13th
thru
Oct 31st
Upcoming events and workshops
We do not have any curently scheduled workshops.
Mad Book Group
Focusing on mad authors and subject matter, this group will explore how madness has changed the liteary landscape and challenged its assumptions and norms. Due to limitations of space participants will need to register forr the event on Eventbrite, though it is free to attend. You can find out what book we are reading and register by visiting our Instagram page!
Please check back soon, or follow us on instagram for updates.
Help support our mission, please follow this link to make donations today!
The Center for Mad Culture is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Center for Mad Culture must be made payable to “Fractured Atlas” only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Disability Access
The Center for Mad Culture strives to keep its space accessible to all visitors, please contact us if there are any access questions.
The exterior doors to the Fine Arts Building can be heavy for some folx, if you contact us ahead of your visit we will be sure to meet you out front. Otherwise, The Center for Mad Culture is accessible to wheelchair users, this includes the restrooms on our floor.
We offer captioning services at all times through the app Ava, which is free to use - we also have devices on site for your use with this app.
We offer audio desciption tours of all exhibitions upon request.
Any other access needs will be met to the best of our ability. Feel free to contact us using the form below so we can make sure your visit is one you look forward to.
CONTACT US
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