Events
2025
The John David Mooney Foundation contributes to the community by offering our space as a venue for events, talks, lectures, workshops, dinners, and much more. Above all, our foundation is a communal workspace for those with artistic, academic, or charitable pursuits.
Elaine Byrne & Aliza Shvartz
Boundaries/Borders
November 19
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Boundaries/Borders
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In conjunction with Drifting Sovereignty, Irish artist Elaine Byrne joined Aliza Shvarts (Director of SAIC's Low-Residency MFA and Assistant Professor, Performance) for a conversation titled Boundaries/Borders on Wednesday from 6–8 pm.
The talk explored how bordering practices—political, social, and psychological—shape our sense of belonging and exclusion. Drawing on Byrne’s PhD research into borders and the multimodal essay film, the discussion will consider how art can make visible the power structures embedded in the act of drawing a line.
Byrne and Shvarts previously collaborated on Cold Rush (2017), an exhibition addressing the Arctic as a site of geopolitical tension. Their ongoing dialogue continues to ask how art might rethink the borders that define, divide, and drift between us.
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Aliza Shvarts is an American artist, writer, and theorist whose work explores reproduction, language, testimony, and power through a queer and feminist lens. Working across performance, video, installation, and text, she examines how bodies are interpreted, regulated, and politicized. She studied at Yale, the Whitney Independent Study Program, and NYU, and has exhibited at venues including Tate Modern, SculptureCenter, and the Athens Biennale.
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Gabriele Carboni & Philip Kotler Enlightened Management Book Launch
June 24
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Enlightened Management
Book Launch
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The John David Mooney Foundation was honored to host the launch of Enlightened Management, a groundbreaking new book by Gabriele Carboni and Philip Kotler. Blending insights from the worlds of business, culture, and social responsibility, Carboni and Kotler offer a compelling vision for leadership rooted in ethics, empathy, and long-term thinking.
The evening featured a thoughtful discussion between the authors and a lively exchange with guests, who included cultural leaders, business professionals, and students. Set within the Foundation’s International Currents Gallery, the event fostered dialogue about the future of enlightened leadership in a rapidly changing world.
Luminarts Cultural Foundation:
Visual Arts Exhibition
May 15
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Luminarts: Visual Arts Exhibition
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In May, the finalists for the ULC Luminarts Cultural Foundation's Visual Arts Competition showcased their work in the John David Mooney Foundation's International Currents Gallery. These young artists were competing for the $10,000 top prize and inclusion as a Fellow of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation.
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We were honored to display 10 of the best minds of this new generation of artists. The work displayed included sculpture, photography, painting, digital media, and other forms from artists from a variety of different backgrounds and perspectives.
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It was an honor to play a role in such a formative moment for these artists' young careers.
University of Illinois
Industrial Design Senior Show
April 11
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University of Illinois:
Industrial Design Senior Show
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On April 11, the graduating class of the University of Illinois' Industrial Design program hosted their senior show on the ground floor gallery of the John David Mooney Foundation.
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Included in this show was an opening night with a great turnout and fruitful discussion. The show ran until April 18, and we were grateful to host such inspiring artists display their work at this pivotal point in their career.
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