This site is made possible
through a generous grant
from the Illinois Arts Council,
a state agency.
The stories on wttwartsonline
were developed by WTTW11 producers and featured on our award-winning productions: Chicago Tonight, Artbeat, Arts Across Illinois and Arts Across Illinois: Centerstage.
As the hometown of Henry Darger and Lee Godie, Chicago is no stranger to outsider art. With the 2002 "Spirits that Soar" show
at the Harold Washington library, the city had another chance to see the work of non-professional artists.
The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 sparked anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment across the United States. Jamil Khoury
and Malik Gillani found a creative way to respond.
Iraqi schoolteacher and novelist Mahmoud Saeed, arrested numerous times by former dictator Saddam Hussein, recalls the harrowing
months he spent in prison in his book,
Saddam City.
The Mississippi River's wrath reveals itself to every generation. A few Western Illinois artists are doing their part to make
sure the tragic lessons of the past will spare lives in the future.
