Soif Solstice: Photography Exhibition, Wine Tasting, and Fundraiser

Join ART WORKS Projects (AWP) and Easy Does It for a special Soif Solstice event, in collaboration with local wine fair Third Coast Soif, featuring the debut of AWPs' Emerging Lens Chicago exhibition, alongside a wine tasting that further connects us to people and places around the globe.

AWP is a Chicago-based visual advocacy organization that advances engagement through human rights-based storytelling, utilizing powerful documentary photography and film-based projects. Last shown at the 2024 Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, NY, “Emerging Lens: Safety, Visibility, Justice, and a Hope for the Future,” features eight global storytellers supported through AWP's flagship fellowship program, Emerging Lens. Each of the artists (listed below) represents early-career documentary photographers who cover underrepresented stories across the globe, pushing the boundaries of traditional photojournalism and storytelling.

Easy Does It will lead a curated wine tasting of 12 wines, illuminating the enduring connection between land, identity, and resilience. The concept of terroir resonates uniquely in many of AWP's visual stories, where natural elements like soil and climate shape and preserve cultural heritage. Photography and wine are living records, carrying layers of meaning that reflect the past and inform the present. This connection becomes the foundation of artists’ and winemakers' narratives, as their resulting works remind us that land is more than just terrain, but a cultural identity.

This is a ticketed event, from which a portion from each ticket sold will support AWP's Emerging Lens Fellowship, providing unrestricted grants, production support, and professional mentorship for new and early-career documentary photographers worldwide. During the event, guests will have the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets and bid on silent auction items that will help AWP meet critical funding gaps.

While the challenges of our current politically charged environment seem insurmountable, our stories, though personal, often traverse borders and understanding. Join us for an afternoon of building community as we share stories of the people, the places, and the wines that connect us all.

Ticket Prices:

General Tickets: $35

• Photo exhibition and tasting of 12 wines

VIP Tickets: $75

• Welcome glass
• Photo exhibition and tasting of 12 wines
• 5 Raffle Tickets

*Food by Motorshucker will be available for purchase

For event questions or sponsorship inquiries, please contact Bora Un, Managing Director, AWP: [email protected]

Host Committee:

Ivan Arenas

Meghan Bourke

Kelly V. Carter

Erin Kohn

Mark Lindzy

Elena Seligson

Featured Artists:

Astrig Agopian (2023-24 Fellow) is a French-Armenian reporter, photojournalist and documentary filmmaker based in Paris. Her work focuses on the intersection between geopolitics, territory, marginality, and memory. Agopian was a featured journalist in UNESCO’s 2023 exhibition: Safety of women journalists: the stories behind the faces of women journalists. Astrig’s project “Like There’s No Tomorrow” is featured in this exhibition.

Mark Anthony Brown Jr.(2021-22 Fellow) is a journeyman of sorts. Mark’s art practice is research-driven and interdisciplinary, utilizing photography, sculpture, drawing and painting with an interest in vernacular aesthetic practices and sensibilities, the manifestation of African retentions in the diaspora, semiotics, and archival practices. His work has been exhibited nationally and has received various fellowships and awards including the Nexus Grant from Atlanta Contemporary (2022), and a Visiting Researcher Fellowship at Wilson Special Collection Library at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2023). Mark’s project “Forest Cove: All of the Above” is featured in this exhibition.

Megan Farmer (2019-20 Fellow) is a visual journalist at Seattle’s NPR affiliate station, KUOW Public Radio. She previously worked at the Omaha World-Herald. Megan’s work has appeared in NPR, The Associated Press, The New York Times, Science Magazine, Bleacher Report, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Omaha World-Herald, and The Seattle Times. Megan’s project “Life After a Hate Crime” is featured in this exhibition.

Brittany Greeson (2020-21 Fellow) is a Detroit, Michigan based photographer and grew up in the mountains of North Carolina and in Western Kentucky. Her work examines the consequences of economic divestment and the daily life of the American working-class through long-form visual narratives and portraiture. Prior to working independently, she interned at The Oregonian, The Roanoke Times, The Flint Journal, The Washington Post, and the San Antonio Express-News. Brittany’s project “A City in Limbo” is featured in this exhibition.

Isadora Kosofsky (2016-2018 Fellow) is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She began photographing at the age of fourteen, documenting individuals in hospice care. Isadora often takes an immersive approach to visual storytelling, spending months and years embedded in the lives of the people she shadows. She is a recipient of a 2018 Grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and the Royal Photo Society named her one of one hundred “heroines” in photography worldwide. Isadora is a TED Fellow, part of a network of 450 global change makers, and gave a talk at TED 2018 in Vancouver. Isadora’s project “Vinny and David” is featured in this exhibition.

Emmanuel Guillén Lozano (2016-17 Fellow) is a Mexican photographer and photo editor currently based in New York City. His work focuses on social issues, human rights, and the effects of violence. His long-term projects in Mexico document the toll of the Drug War and the consequences it has brought to communities around the country that have suffered forced disappearances and killings, both at the hands of the cartels and the Mexican state security forces. He currently works as a photo editor on projects for Google at Blink Media, and has taught photojournalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Emmanuel’s project “43: The Aftermath of a Disappearance” is featured in this exhibition.

Mustafa Saeed (2022-23 Fellow) is a Somali-born artist based in Hargeisa, Somaliland. His work combines different mediums including photography, graphics, and sound to explore socio-political issues including war, conflict and the environment. He is a contributor to Everyday Africa and the founder of Fankeenna, a youth-led art platform that houses a studio, gallery and workspace for local artists. His work has been exhibited at Addis Foto Fest (Addis Ababa), Lumières d’Afriques (Paris), and UNSEEN Photo Fair (Amsterdam). Mustafa’s project “Heavy” is featured in this exhibition.

Rachel Woolf (2018-19 Fellow) is a Denver-based independent visual journalist. She specializes in documentary photography, videography, and portraiture. Her work aims to intimately show aspects of humanity intersecting with economic and social issues. She has been published in The New York Times, CNN, US News and World Report, Bloomberg, Education Week, Detroit Free Press, and The Detroit News. Rachel’s project “Deported: An American Division // A Family Divided” is featured in this exhibition.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Easy Does It, 2354 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, United States