The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960–1980
Art Institute Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago
Through January 11th

With its new exhibition, The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960–1980, the Art Institute Chicago explores how the country’s three largest cities transformed in the latter half of the 20th Century. Through photographs and films from the era, this exhibit illuminates significant urban changes through intimate, street-level portraits and studies of city life.

“These new forms of photography offered the public a complex image of urban life and experience while also allowing architects, planners, and journalists to imagine and propose new futures for American cities,” according to a statement from the museum. The exhibit incorporates works from the institute’s own holdings, as well as from more than 30 collections from around the country. The City Lost and Found also includes planning documents, photo collages, artist books, and slideshows, which blur the lines between activists, planners, journalists, and artists. The final result is a comprehensive multimedia experience that lets visitors reenter and reconsider a pivotal time for America’s cities.