Programs
Our programs are designed to share the work of the Gray Center with the broader public on an ongoing basis. We do this primarily through our regular SIDEBAR and Gray Sound event series, as well as through our projects and publications.
Sidebar
Sidebar is an ongoing conversation series organized by the Gray Center. We open our doors to the public for an evening of food, drinks, and productive engagement with our invited guests.
Previous Sidebar participants include Abigail Winograd, Bill Brown, Ann Hamilton, Ytasha Womack, Mark Gonzales, Cauleen Smith, Alexis Sablone, Darby English, W.J.T. Mitchell, Tara Zahra, Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Tony Cokes, and many more.
Upcoming Sidebars are featured on our events calendar.
To stay up to date on Sidebar, join our mailing list.
Gray Sound
Artists and the community engage in performance and discussion to explore the boundaries of sound.
Founded in 2019 by Gray Center Director and UChicago Associate Professor of Music and the Humanities, Seth Brodsky, Gray Sound was envisioned as an ongoing performance and discussion series that represents a chance for artists and the broader community to tease the boundaries of sound—when it moves from voice to music, recognizable tune to noise, experience to idea.
Guest curators include Seth Parker Woods (2020-2021) and Andrew Stock (2023-2024, 2024-2025). Performers include Sarah Hennies, JJJJJerome Ellis, Sarah Saviet, Pascal Criton, Damon Locks, Pamela Z, Julia Eckhardt, among others.
Upcoming Gray Sound performances are featured on our events calendar.
To stay up to date on Gray Sound, join our mailing list.
Projects
The Gray Center seeks to support a variety of projects that experiment with the intersection of arts practice and scholarship. Such projects may include but are not limited to, unconventional formats for symposia and conferences, institutional collaborations within and outside the university, and workshops and/or other events that expand existing programming on campus.
For more about past projects click here.
Publications
In addition to our biannual journal Portable Gray, our fellows occasionally publish books that grow out of their work at the center.
To see other Gray Center publications click here.