Terrain Biennial: A History of Sabina Ott’s Public Art Festival
As we gear up for another Terrain Biennial, we will be sharing weekly throwbacks on the history on the Terrain Exhibitions initiative and some of our favorite works. This week, we kick off the series with a PBS broadcast feature on the Terrain Biennial and the beloved Sabina Ott. (link to video below)
Terrain Exhibitions was founded in October of 2011 by artist Sabina Ott, Terrain is a public exhibition space at her home in Oak Park, IL. Terrain exhibition space existed as monthly installations in her front yard, from which grew the biennial. The inaugural Terrain Biennial took place in 2013, featuring site-specific art interventions in residential neighborhoods to cultivate public engagement through accessible art. In the summer of 2018 Sabina Ott passed away leaving behind a legacy of community building through public art programming. Terrain Exhibitions continues to produce the Terrain Biennial, staged locally in the Chicagoland area and worldwide.
https://www.pbs.org/video/front-lawn-art-installations-honor-late-chicago-artist-hs9sx/
#fbf #terrainbiennial #sabinaott
Image 1 description [ Photographic image of Terrain Biennial founder Sabina Ott sitting on her front porch in Oak Park, IL]
Image 2 description [ Photographic image of an art installation in Oak Park, IL artist Elizabeth Burke Dain, Terrain Biennial 2019. Dain’s installation was featured in the PBS segment and Elizabeth talks about the Biennial, Sabina’s legacy and here work. Dain’s work is a light installation using neon green LEDs and neon green thread to activate the front porch of a large residential house. ]
Image 3 description [ Photographic image of an art installation in Oak Park IL by artist Claire Ashley featured in the PBS segment. Ashley’s work is a brightly painted inflatable form reminiscent of a torso. In the image the sculpture is flanked by WTTW presenter Angel Idowu who interviewed Terrain Exhibitions board member Monica Chadha about Ashely’s work and the Biennial in general ]
Image 4 description [ Photographic image of an art installation in Oak Park IL by artist Rosalynn Gingerich from Terrain Biennial 2019. In the image a large pink inflatable in an hourglass shape is wedged between two residential houses, and sits slightly above the ground giving the sense that it is both floating in the air and in connection with the architecture. Reflections of the sculpture are present in the windows of the houses and a general pink glow emanates from the piece and illuminates the space. ]