Kirsten Leenaars

‘Let the Real World In’: A video art exhibit displaying the growth from youth to voting age Elise Emery , Arts and Entertainment Reporter • February 3, 2026 • https://marquettewire.org/4150107/ae/let-the-real-world-in-a-video-art-exhibit-displaying-the-growth-from-youth-to-voting-age/ The video exhibit showcases four young adults and their views on social advocacy and the 2024 presidential election. (Photo courtesy of Kirsten Leenaars) Portrayed through an array of video foot

video edited by Ysa Quiballo, Truth & Documentary Truth and Documentary : Proud to support @kirsten_leenaars ’s 10-year long project exploring a coming of age story of Milwaukee youth exploring voting, activism, and identity through art and collaboration. Let the Real World In is now open at @haggertymuseum a powerful multi-screen installation showing how the story all unfolded. Running through January 23 - May 16,2026. Go see it in person and experience the full installati

Preview of Kirsten Leenaars’ New Film, "Let the Real World In" Featuring local youth over a 10-year journey Thursday, Mar 5 from 5 pm to 9 pm Haggerty Museum of Art 1234 W Tory Hill St, Milwaukee, WI 53233 REGISTER HERE Family, Friends, and Neighbors’ Preview of Kirsten Leenaars’ New Film, Let the Real World In Join us for a special family, friends, and neighbors’ “red-carpet” preview of Let the Real World In , a new documentary by artist and filmmaker Kirsten Leenaars, hoste

Preview of new documentary by Kirsten Leenaars March 5, 2026, 5pm, Haggerty Museum of Art Milwaukee, WI The Haggerty Museum of Art hosts a special family, friends, and neighbors’ “red-carpet” preview of Let the Real World In , a new documentary by artist and filmmaker Kirsten Leenaars. Rooted in the artist's long-term collaboration with students from the Milwaukee Academy of Chinese Language and Highland Community School, the film revisits the youth voices as they reflect on

Join a community conversation on the hands-on power of zines and other DIY art on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Haggerty Museum of Art.   Inspired by the Spring 2026 Haggerty exhibitions “Declaration of _____” and “Let the Real World In,” as well as Artifact, the eighth annual Writing Innovation Symposium, scholar-teacher Jason Luther will be in conversation with Chicago- and Milwaukee-area artists, authors, publishers and archivists. Featured guests includ

Over the past decade, current grantee Kirsten Leenaars has developed projects that prioritize care, trust, and shared authorship, often working with young people navigating questions of identity, belonging, and civic life. Her ongoing collaboration with Milwaukee-based youth culminates in Let the Real World In, a multi-screen video installation that revisits participants as they enter adulthood, reflecting on political agency, responsibility, and the lived complexities of dem

Let the Real World In, 12-channel video installation, 2026, Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee Let the Real World In January 23 - May 16, 2026 Let the Real World In is the latest installment of Dutch-born, Chicago-based artist Kirsten Leenaars’ 10-year-long artistic collaboration with a group of Milwaukee-based youth. The video project began as a multi-year summer camp (2016-2020) organized by the Haggerty Museum of Art, in which Leenaars worked with local immigrant and Amer

The First Ten, is an arts program supporting the career advancement of mid-career women artists who are mothers to children under the age of ten offering professional services, community, and general care at a time of great transition. The First Ten is very excited to announce that we have welcomed our 2025-2026 cohort! Emily Davidson, Victoria Fu, Charlotte Hallberg, Kirsten Leenaars, Kate Liebman, Nyeema Morgan. for more about the program: https://www.thefirsttenartists.com

De Oversteek podcast: being a Dutch artist in Chicago

The Practices in Proximity: Learning and Unlearning from Pedagogical Experiences opening Friday 09-27-24

Online Panel Discussion: Documentary as Social Practice

Opening: Let the real world in, Richmond Art Gallery

A Letter to the City: "jail is not my home,” 2021 Three-channel video / Video en tres canales, 1:04:05 EN: Last night I set about reading...

Screening 'Interlude' Eye Film Museum Amsterdam, November 28

PANEL Thu Oct 18: Reflections on Collaboration: 10 Years of the Lit & Luz Festival

REENCOUNTERS/ REENCUENTROS Opening night: Friday, October 13, 2023, 6:00 PM 10:00 PM

Best Chicago art exhibitions of 2022: ‘Tea, Torture & Reparations’ at DePaul, an outdoor ‘Flourish’ and a big year for the Cultural...

Chicago Reader Review: A Review: What does freedom look like?

Dec 16: Screening Documentary A Letter to the City: "jail is not my home"

December 9: Premiere Documentary A Letter to the City: "jail is not my home"

Can you see me? Opening: October 14, 5-7pm Weinberg/Newton Gallery 688 North Milwaukee Ave, Chicago Exhibition run: Oct 14 - Dec 17

AIC Blog: Kirsten Leenaars and Joan Podkul: An Exercise in Empathy and Trust: Collaborating with Lions

Review Newcity Art: A Lion for Every House

Water Music on the Beach Boulevard Dreamers Saturday, June 25 from 4-7 PM Lane Beach, 5915 N Sheridan Rd Join us this Saturday for Water...

You’ll find a little bit of everything in Water Music on the Beach: Boulevard Dreamers, where every performer gets equal pay and stage...

A Lion for Every House opens on Saturday, June 11th, at the Art Institute Chicago. The opening is from 11am-2pm at the museum. Michigan...

A Letter to the City: “jail is not my home”, the second project of collaborators artist Kirsten Leenaars and restorative justice...

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow Opening: Friday, April 15th, 6pm – 9pm. Open hours Saturday, April 16th, 10am – 5pm. Design Museum of...

Kirsten Leenaars & Whitney Bradshaw: Embodiments in Time Public (Virtual) Lecture, Tuesday, January 25th: Zoom webinar. When: Jan 25,...

Moreau Art Galleries at Saint Mary's College present: Body, Mind, Spirit: Embodiments in Time -- a collaborative project and gallery...

Filming this week our documentary, funded by the DCASE Artist Response Grant A Letter to the City: “Jail is not my home” Circles &...

Chicago API Artists United is raising money to support @advancingjusticechicago

MSU Broad Art Museum prioritizes inclusion and equity in 2021 acquisitions

"The Broadcast" video project acquired by Broad Museum of Art MSU.

Join Lit & Luz Wednesdays, May 12, at 7:30PM CT as we revisit the amazing, collaborative videos created for last fall's Lit & Luz Festival.

Artist Response Program is going to five individual artists and artist teams in project-related grants

Five Chicago artists and artistic teams have been awarded $100,000 grants from DCASE.

Kirsten Leenaars awarded Artist Response Grant ($100,000) by the City of Chicago.

Who gets to imagine what? The act of imagining itself is not a fair, objective, thing. What happens when you follow 24 young people?

Against the backdrop of a global pandemic and a renewed reckoning over racial justice and inequality, trough the eyes of 70 local artists.

Artist talk: The Politics of Imagination with Kirsten Leenaars

Luminocity returns this fall for its fourth biennial iteration. A week-long video art exhibition

Film 50 2020: Chicago’s Screen Gems

The annual edition of the Lit & Luz Festival culminates in a world premiere of the festival’s first virtual Live Magazine Show.

The Broadcast proposes that the youth of this country have voices that badly need to be heard amidst the noise and chaos of our media landsc

Chicago artist Kirsten Leenaars uses collaborative techniques to create artworks that investigate our media landscape and encourage critical

As part of Cleve Carney Museum of Art Create's ongoing series 'Stuck in the Studio' CCMA curator Justin Witte talks with Chicago-based video

join us via Lumpen Radio's twitch stream to celebrate the official release of "The World's Worst: A Guide to the Portsmouth Sinfonia."

This new documentary project by artist Kirsten Leenaars, structured as a series of video portraits across the US, traces stories of belongin

Join Leenaars to as she discusses her artistic practice and the latest evolution in her video-based work The Broadcast in conversation with