Mechtild Widrich

Mechtild Widrich is Professor in the Art History, Theory and Criticism Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She researches and writes on art in public space, architecture, performa-tive and participatory practices, and the theory of the public sphere. Her most recent book Monumental Cares: Sites of History and Contemporary Art (Manchester University Press, 2023) rethinks monument debates, site specificity, and art activism in light of challenges that strike us as...See more

Mechtild Widrich is Professor in the Art History, Theory and Criticism Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She researches and writes on art in public space, architecture, performa-tive and participatory practices, and the theory of the public sphere. Her most recent book Monumental Cares: Sites of History and Contemporary Art (Manchester University Press, 2023) rethinks monument debates, site specificity, and art activism in light of challenges that strike us as monumental or overwhelming, such as war, migration, and the climate crisis. In 2022 she was guest professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and 2022/23 Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Notre Dame. See less