Private Reception & Tour of the Theaster Gates Exhibition at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago

Friday, January 9, 2026

Time: 6-8 p.m.

Location: Smart Museum
Restrictions: 21+.

Hosted by Vanja Malloy P’34, P’36
Dana Feitler Director, Smart Museum of Art

Please join us for a private cocktail reception featuring a DJ activating Theaster Gates’s Threshold installation of vinyl records in the Smart’s lobby. There will be curated private tours of the Theaster Gates exhibition during the event as well. This event is special just for Lab, don't miss it! 

The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago presents Theaster Gates's first solo museum exhibition in his hometown of Chicago. 

A self-designated “keeper of objects,” the artist Theaster Gates investigates the value of things and their potential to hold layered meanings. He has been dedicated to investing in the care of these objects as a way to nurture stories and voices – often Black stories and voices – largely overlooked by history or institutional structures.

Rooted in materials and Gates’s interest in the process of making, Unto Thee embodies the relationships Gates has fostered within the University of Chicago, local communities, the South Side and broader Chicago. It underscores the artist’s unassailable belief in the potential of art to connect with and transform communities.