The C33 Gallery at Columbia College Chicago is hosting an exhibition that highlights the creative work of art educators from Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The show, titled RE:CONNECT — An Educator’s Exhibition, will run from February 16 to March 12, 2026. It features CPS art teachers who are also practicing artists.
The exhibition is a collaboration between Columbia College Chicago’s School of Visual Arts and the CPS Department of Arts Education. It aims to honor educators not just for their teaching but also for their artistic practices.
“This exhibition is a celebration of the artists who teach and the teachers who create,” said Krista Wortendyke, associate director of the School of Visual Arts and assistant professor of instruction in photography at Columbia. “It recognizes that teaching and making are not separate identities, but deeply intertwined practices.”
The timing of RE:CONNECT coincides with the National Art Education Association (NAEA) Conference, which will take place in Chicago from March 5 to 9. As part of this alignment, the C33 Gallery will host both an opening reception on February 19 and a NAEA Welcome Reception on March 6.
The themes of identity, relationships, and community—referred to as Inner Core pillars by CPS—are central to the exhibition. The artworks explore personal history, mentorship, collaboration, place, and collective experience within classrooms and communities across Chicago.
“Rather than presenting a single narrative, the exhibition becomes a constellation of perspectives that reveal how these pillars overlap, intersect, and inform both teaching and artistic practice,” Wortendyke noted.
Wortendyke emphasized that participating educators often see their own creative efforts eclipsed by classroom responsibilities. “So often their creative labor is overshadowed by the immense care and energy they give to their students,” she said. “By centering educators as artists, RE:CONNECT offers a moment to pause and honor the creative rigor, curiosity, and sustained commitment that teachers bring not only to their classrooms, but to their own artistic lives.”
For visitors to C33 Gallery during this period—including those attending the NAEA Conference—the exhibition provides insight into how art educators shape future generations before students reach college.
Columbia College Chicago sees this initiative as part of its broader mission connecting K–12 education with higher education and professional practice in art. “At Columbia, we are makers who teach and know that making and teaching are inextricably connected,” Wortendyke said. “RE:CONNECT reflects the idea that teaching is itself a creative act, shaped by experimentation, risk-taking, and reflection.”
