The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) features 70 local artists from Chicago in their exhibition “A Long Dream"

A photo of the artist himself. Photo taken by The documentarian David Weathersby. 

Three out of the six pieces were chosen to be featured in the exhibition “A Long Dream” at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.The photo was taken by Sabrina Hart on April 3, 2021, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The portrait in this photo is called "The Bewitching Hour." It is a mixed media piece of art inspired by Jesse Howard's childhood. His parents told him not to be caught outside between 12:00-5 a.m. in the morning. During that time, it was known for accidents to occur, people to be killed, and it was a cycle that kept repeating itself. The photo was taken by Sabrina Hart on April 3, 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The portrait in this photo is a part of Jesse Howard's Rage South Carolina Series. This series was inspired by a shooting that took place in Charleston on June 17, 2015, inside a church basement during a bible study that left nine African Americans dead. The shooter's name was Dylann Roof. At the time of the shooting, he was twenty-one years old and a white supremacist. The photo was taken by Sabrina Hart on April 3, 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

The second half of Jesse Howard's Rage South Carolina Series.The photo was taken by Sabrina Hart on April 3, 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

A close-up of the document next to the portrait on the wall from the previous photo.

The photo was taken by Sabrina Hart on April3, 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

	By Sabrina Hart, Reporter, The Real Chi

Jesse Howard uses his art practice to depict society's effects on African Americans from his perspective and shares what he hopes viewers take away from it when they see it at the exhibition.

"I want our story to be at some point that we tell our own story, not an interpretation by the mainstream itself,” Howard said. “Because they have too much that they have to overcome even to try to understand how Black folks are thinking and how they function in this country.”

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA) requested more than 70 local artists from Chicago to submit artwork for the exhibition that would clarify what underlying issues artists think need more focus during the pandemic.

“What is overlooked is the mental and psychological effect of gang violence and police brutality that occurs in the Black community,” Howard said. “It’s like living in a war zone, and some of its citizens suffer from postpartum depression.”

Out of the six he submitted, three were chosen to be showcased.

Howard used mixtures of charcoal, acrylic paint, collagen and a CD that he found near DePaul University downtown in Chicago to produce the three portraits of African-American men used in the exhibition “A Long Dream.”

The main premise of his work is for African American people, especially African American males, is to portray the effect society has on people of African descent from his perspective. 

"I hope I was able to convey, not only my feelings, but hopefully the feelings of a lot of people in this country, and what it must be like to be Black in America," Howard said.

He not only uses his art practice as a way to call attention to the mistreatment of African Americans but as a creative outlet to express his concern for his peers.

"I hope that their understanding from a Black man's point of view through his art, how I feel," Howard said. "Hopefully, how African Americans feel about what was taking place and how African Americans are constantly being dehumanized."

In addition to that, he hopes when visitors pass by his portraits, they too feel the same outrage and hope that he felt when he poured those emotions into his creations.

"If you understand what you have in your hands as an artist. You may not change the world, but you can at least give a different perspective than what other mediums would do or could do." Howard said, "Just to show the positives and highlight some of the negatives. You have to be able to balance it or do both, in my opinion," he said. 

The exhibition is being held at 220 E Chicago Ave on the fourth floor in Griffin Galleries of Contemporary Art. It opened on Nov. 7, 2020, and the last day to see his portraits on display is May. 2, 2021. Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased through the museum's website. 

"I would love to have more folks from the West Side of Chicago come down and see this exhibition," Howard said. "They can come down and see images that reflect who they are."