Lecture: Writing as Cultural Archaeology and the Poetics of Place

Doors at 11:30am

About:

In this program, artist and writer Michael Workman invites audiences to explore how writing, history, and landscape intersect to shape cultural memory. Drawing from his interdisciplinary practice and from the work of artists such as Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Johanna Drucker, and Charles Reznikoff, Workman approaches writing as a form of cultural archaeology—an excavation of the layered relationships between language, identity, and place. Through this lens, participants are encouraged to see the local environment not only as a backdrop but as a living archive of stories, gestures, and voices that continue to inform community life across Illinois.

Blending storytelling, performance, and reflective discussion, Workman leads participants through accessible exercises that connect observation, movement, and writing. Each session begins with a short reading or performance excerpt that frames the concept of “poetic fieldwork,” followed by guided writing prompts and group dialogue. Participants may be asked to respond to local landmarks, historical artifacts, or personal memories of place, using language to uncover how geography shapes emotion and thought. Whether held in a library, museum, or community center, each presentation adapts to its surroundings, creating a shared space for conversation and collective discovery.

By the end of the program, attendees will have produced short fragments of writing and new ways of perceiving their environment—connecting artistic practice to civic imagination.

Michael Workman is a Chicago-based artist, writer, and sociocultural critic whose work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Guardian US, Newcity, and WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, among other publications. He is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Bridge (bridge-chicago.org), a nonprofit publishing and programming organization founded in 1999. Workman also serves as Development Officer for the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America and Development Coordinator at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA), where his grant writing has secured major awards, including the Andy Warhol Foundation’s Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Award and the 2024 state recognition of Ukrainian Village as a cultural district.

His writing and performance work explore the intersections of language, movement, and place. His publications include Propositional Attitudes (Golden Spike Press) and (StepSister Press), launched with performances at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Recent performances include Active Investigation (Neubauer Collegium, 2023). He is a 2025 Illinois Arts Council Creative Projects Grant and Rabkin Foundation Travel Grant recipient, the 2025 Joan and Peter Hood Artist-in-Residence at Allerton Park, and a 2026–27 Illinois Humanities Road Scholar.

This lecture is presented in partnership with the Road Scholars Speakers Bureau of the Illinois Humanities.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, United States

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