Renowned artist and MacArthur Fellow Kerry James Marshall created an epic, large-scale mural for the Chicago Cultural Center, honoring 20 women who have shaped the city's vibrant arts and culture landscape. The 132-foot by 100-foot mural is the largest artwork he has ever designed or created.

The mural is funded by Murals of Acceptance, whose goal is to bring art to all people in a free public setting. It will be installed on the building’s Garland Court façade, between Washington and Randolph Streets. The design and vision created by Marshall will be executed by Chicago mural artist Jeff Zimmermann and his team from Jazim, Inc.

The 20 women represented in Kerry James Marshall’s mural are a who’s who of Chicago’s arts and culture community:

• Susanne Ghez, Director and Chief Curator for nearly 40 years, The Renaissance Society
• Barbara Gaines, Founder and Artistic Director, Chicago Shakespeare Theater
• Jacqueline Russell, Founder and Artistic Director, Chicago Children’s Theatre
• Ruth Page, Dancer, Choreographer and Founder, Ruth Page Center for the Arts
• Lois Weisberg, Longest-serving Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs
• Maggie Daley, Longest-serving First Lady of the City of Chicago
• Jackie Taylor, Founder and CEO, Black Ensemble Theater
• Monica Haslip, Founder and Executive Director, Little Black Pearl
• Abena Joan Brown, Founder, eta Creative Arts Foundation
• Margaret Burroughs, Founder, DuSable Museum of African American History
• Harriet Monroe, Founder, Poetry Magazine
• Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Co-founder, Goodman Theatre / Dearborn Homes Youth Drama Workshop
• Sandra Delgado, Founding Ensemble Member, Collaboraction
• Jane Saks, Founding Director of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute and Project
• Barbara Jones-Hogu, Founding Member, AfriCobra
• Gwendolyn Brooks, Literary Icon
• Sandra Cisneros, Literary Icon
• Achy Obejas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
• Oprah Winfrey, Cultural Icon
• Joan Gray, Dancer and Longtime President of Muntu Dance Theatre of Chicago

Kerry James Marshall is an artist and MacArthur Fellow. A deeply accomplished artist, Marshall uses many types of mediums, including collage, drawings, murals and even comic books. His work is known for referencing African American culture and history, including the Civil Rights era and the Black Power movement. Painting in a Realist style, he depicts dark figures that celebrate black beauty and confront general racial stereotypes within contemporary American society. He has received solo exhibitions throughout Europe and North America and his work has been included in such prestigious international exhibitions as the 1997 Whitney Biennial, the 2003 Venice Biennial, the 2009 Gwangju Biennial, two Documentas (1997 and 2007) and the 1999 Carnegie International. Debuting at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago in April 2016, Marshall’s retrospective Mastry spanned his 35-year career and included nearly 80 original pieces. On August 28, 2017, the City of Chicago presented Kerry James Marshall with the Fifth Star Honor Award for his many contributions to our city’s cultural landscape.