M.I.A.R.
In 2023, the Chicago Fine Art Salon launched MIAR for the community artists we love, to exhibit and sell their creations to Chicago art enthusiasts at Art City in Lincoln Park and on our website. Browse through our past installations or explore our collection of exquisite wall art available for purchase below.
Open Now at Art City: Schetauna Powell’s Quilt Blox!
Schetauna Powell’s work translates complex information into material interactions and supports the pedagogy and performance of collaborative design. Powell has a BA in English Literature, MA in Black Studies, and an MFA in Designed Objects from the School of Art Institute. She is currently a fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago researching stories about African American Architecture and Design in Chicago. The mission of her design practice is to archive experience through objects and create tools for Black families to connect one’s personal history to the larger story of African American life.
Powell creates interior objects, picture frames, portraits, toys, and furniture to archive everyday ephemera, help Black families pass down cultural knowledge, and reflect the dreams of her mother, daughter, and community. Quilt Blox! presents family portraits and archival images with African American quilt patterns like Jacob’s Ladder as a means for intergenerational storytelling. Grounded in geometric design, her work translates emotional needs like archiving history, creating safe spaces, and honoring maternal heritage into physical form. This exhibition explores connections between Bauhaus Modernism and African American decorative arts, positioning domestic objects as vessels for identity and care. Her practice centers on the idea that home objects can transform everyday living into a form of art, reflecting her inner life as a Black mother.
Last Month: Emma Martini’s “Natural Perception”
I’m a Chicago-based artist interested in the complexities of human psychology, perception, and connection. Using mixed media, paint, ceramics, and elements of nature, I examine the surreal and emotional aspects of the human experience. Drawing from my background in psychology, I focus on themes of emotional well-being and how our minds shape our understanding of reality.
Influenced by surrealism, my art focuses on perception, internal experiences, and psychological processes, reflecting the relationship between nature, the self, and the collective human experience. In today's political climate, which evokes similar sentiments to the early surrealist movement, my work creates new realities where the perception of self and others is brought into focus, yet the connection to nature and each other remains grounding. I aim to evoke both a sense of unease and calm, inviting reflection on the complexities of perception and connection.
See Emma’s work and more on Friday, April 4th from 5-9 PM at Art City (1400 N Halsted St. Chicago, IL)
April: Seonyoung Lee’s “Woven Emotions”
Seonyoung LEE is a weaver, designer and installation artist based in Chicago, IL. She studied Industrial design at Hongik University in Korea with a BFA degree. After graduating, she worked as a display designer for a fashion company, taking on roles in various locations such as Shanghai, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Seoul. Recently, she received her master’s degree for studying fashion and fiber within the Fashion, Body and Garment at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She participates in various exhibitions throughout the state.
Seonyoung engages with ideas about overcoming and healing processes related to one’s vulnerability, specifically emotional difficulties. Currently, she is pursuing space-based installations and creating tapestries and soft sculptures through weaving.
See Seonyoung’s work before our next installation artist on April 4th, 2025