About the Collection

This gallery presents a small selection of highlights from the Wilson Garling collection. It has been assembled over the last twenty years and continues to grow and be refined as relevant photographs become available.

About the Collectors

Jill Garling and Tom Wilson are active participants in civic life in Chicago, investing in education, human rights and arts initiatives at the city and national level.  Their home gallery displays artworks by contemporary artists such as Sarah Sze, Antonia Contro, Admire Kamundzengerere and Kyle Meyer as well as significant modern works from Isamu Noguchi and Sadaharu Horio. 

In addition to fine art, the Wilson Garling Collection houses an extensive and significant private collection of vintage and press photography. The collection contains close to 4,000 photographs, by more than 400 different photographers and distinguishes itself from other photography collections by primarily focusing on social justice initiatives. The collection began organically, with an initial interest in images from Danny Lyon’s early work with the SNCC. As the collection grew, and the focus became clear, other social justice themes were acquired.   Today, the collection holds prints representing Workers’ rights, LGBTQ+ rights, Women’s rights, war protest and propaganda, Civil rights, displaced persons, prison reform, climate change, democracy and political development. It continues to grow centering on todays issues while also highlighting notable vintage prints from such photographic greats as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ilsa Bing, David ‘Chim’ Seymore, Todd Webb, Arthur Rothstein, Dorthea Lange, Leonard Freed, Gordon Parks, Gordon Coster, Ken Heyman, and Tina Modotti.

This collection provides a stunning visual record of countless historic events that shaped our world. Photography is presented with their original press captions giving further insight into the moment.

Contact

Michele Heftman - Curator / Collections Manager

michele@thewilson-garlingcollection.org

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