Maria Gaspar Brings Cook County Jail Debris and Live Music to MCA Chicago in a Performance Shaped by Angela Davis

CHICAGO, IL — Maria Gaspar’s We Lit the Fire and Trusted the Heat (After Angela Davis) arrives at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago as both sculpture and performance, with live music from Damon Locks, Ben LaMar Gay, and Mauricio López F.

The work draws on salvaged material from the 2021 demolition of Division I at the Cook County Department of Corrections, turning remnants of the jail into a sound-based installation rooted in Chicago history and Gaspar’s own neighborhood upbringing.

A sculpture built from demolition materials and memory

Gaspar shaped the piece from three large deconstruction tools used at the jail site: a demolition bucket, a claw, and a grappler. Each incorporates cell bars, linking the physical objects to the building’s carceral past.

The title comes from Angela Davis: An Autobiography, underscoring the artist’s interest in community building, trust, and collective action. Rather than treating the materials as leftovers, Gaspar uses them to frame a work about what survives after an institution comes down.

Poetry, improvisation, and the sound of release

The installation also folds in language developed through a workshop series Gaspar led at Walls Turned Sideways with poets and writers affected by the criminal injustice system. Those lyrical elements become part of the piece’s larger sonic texture.

Using the metal bars as a kind of conductor, the musicians’ improvisations are meant to create a feeling of care, support, and release. That emotional arc stands in direct contrast to the control and restraint associated with the jail itself.

Chicago Performs puts Gaspar’s latest work in a wider practice

Gaspar, a Chicago-born interdisciplinary artist and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has spent years developing projects that address spatial justice and the power of place. Her earlier work includes Radioactive: Stories from Beyond the Wall and the 96 Acres Project, both connected to the Cook County jail complex.

The MCA presentation is part of Chicago Performs, a weekend showcase of local artists backed by the museum’s New Works Initiative. Gaspar’s performance is scheduled for Sept. 20, 2026, with another live-arts event in the series set for Sept. 18, 2026.

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