The Joy of Gesture: An Abstract Art Making Workshop

This art making workshop is inspired by two exhibitions, Willem de Kooning Drawing and Beyond Form: Abstraction at Midcentury , both on view at the Art Institute in Summer 2026. These exhibitions feature artists around the globe who, at midcentury (1940-1970s), in the aftermath of World War II and other life-altering historical and political events, turned to the experience and transformative power of abstraction to grapple with their new realities. Looking to action and gesture-based abstraction, this workshop explores energetic and spontaneous mark-making as a mode of personal expression and.