Juan William Chávez
Juan William Chávez (he/him), a 2012 Guggenheim Fellow, is an interdisciplinary artist of Indigenous Latinx and Irish descent. His work operates at the intersection of ecology, social practice, and decolonial environmental systems. Chávez’s creative practice includes social practice art, public art, installation, sound, agriculture, and zines. He focuses on long-term projects that explore land stewardship, food sovereignty, environmental justice, and the interconnectedness between humans and non-human communities.
Rooted in his Peruvian heritage and influenced by the urban and natural landscapes of St. Louis, Chávez employs Andean philosophy to view ecology as a living system that encourages creative reciprocity. His work integrates urban agriculture, pollinator stewardship, and collaborative cultural production to create spaces where ecological systems and community life mutually sustain each other. Through public art, performances, and Eco/Art workshops, he frames art as a form of ecological infrastructure and collective care.
Current projects include Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge for 2024–2026, Art Pollination, and the Native Bee Sanctuary—a chemical-free teaching garden that supports native pollinators through environmental stewardship, public native planting, and workshops during the 2023 Counterpublic Triennial.
Creative Capital, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, ArtPlace, the NEA Our Town program, and the Graham Foundation have supported Chávez’s work. He has exhibited at El Museo del Barrio, “Estamos Bien: La Trienal 20/21, 601 Artspace NYC, and Artpace TX. His work has also been featured in The New York Times and Zócalo Public Square. Additionally, he is included in the Routledge publication "Artists and the Practice of Agriculture: Politics and Aesthetics of Food Sovereignty in Art since 1960.
He is the founder of Northside Workshop, an art/eco nonprofit. He currently serves as the Wallace Herndon Smith Distinguished Visiting Artist.
Select Articles, Chapters, and Publications
- “Counterpublic in St. Louis Pushes the Public-Art Envelope,” in The New York Times, 2023, Siddhartha Mitter.
- “Being with Bees: Juan William Chávez’s Creative Pedagogy Against Racist Histories,” in Artists and The Practice of Agriculture, 2023, Silvia Bottinelli, Published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Select Exhibitions and Presentations
- “Survival Blankets: Learning from Ancestors,” New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Southern Indiana, New Harmony, IN, 2024.
- “Counterpublic Triennial,” Curated by Allison Glenn, Diya Vij, Dream the Combine, New Red Order and Risa Puleo, The Luminary, St. Louis, MO, 2023.
- “Sharing the Same Breath,” Curated by Kaytie Johnson Senior Curator, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, 2023.
Select Awards and Grants
- 2024 — $1 Million Public Art Challenge Grant City of Orlando, Lead Artist, Bloomberg Philanthropies
- 2024 — Our Town Award National Endowment for the Arts, Lead Artist, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
- 2021 — Artist2Artist Grant, Art Matters Foundation
