Juan William Chávez is an artist and cultural activist who creates and shares space in the built and natural environments to address community-identified issues. At the heart of Chavez’s practice is his studio research, which includes drawings, films, photographs, craft, labor, architectural interventions, and unconventional forms of beekeeping and agriculture. Chávez utilizes art as a way of researching, developing, and implementing projects of creative placemaking and social engagement. His exhibitions feature his studio research in the form of multimedia installations. Chavez has exhibited his work at venues such as Artpace, Van Abbemuseum, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Tube Factory Artspace, 21c Museum Hotel, Laumeier Sculpture Park and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. His interdisciplinary approach to art has gained the attention and support of prestigious institutions like the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Art Matters Foundation. Chávez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
