Uncertain Histories
Chicago Cultural Center
June 14, 2025 — May 24, 2026
See Spanish translation of this page.
Everything in history, once it has happened, looks as if it had to happen exactly that way. We can’t imagine any other. But I am convinced of the uncertainty of history, of the possibility of surprise, of the importance of human action in changing what looks unchangeable.
—Howard Zinn (US Army veteran), 1994*
The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Hall was built as a memorial to the sacrifices of Union Civil War veterans and their families. According to the renowned American abolitionist Frederick Douglass, their sacrifices were for freedom and a testament to the most profound declaration of human rights in history. Yet, Douglass also argued in a 1877 speech to the GAR, that the task of fully realizing this freedom remained unfinished. In the face of this unfinished task, and the current challenges to freedoms, Uncertain Histories reveals entanglement between past military actions and today’s state repression, between historic declarations and the current struggle for freedom.
The creative practices of contemporary veteran artists Darrell W. Fair, Eric J. Garcia, Monty Little (Diné), and Amber Zora draw throughlines that complicate legacies of colonialism and militarism while seeking a more peaceful future. These creative acts of hope transform violent histories into stories of survival and resistance. As celebrated historian and World War II veteran Howard Zinn writes, “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.”*
Uncertain Histories is curated by Aaron Hughes in affiliation with the emerging Veteran Art Movement, with support from the DEMIL Art Fund, DCASE, and the City of Chicago.
*Howard Zinn, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times (Beacon Press, 1994).
Featuring artists Darrell W. Fair, Eric J. Garcia, Monty Little (Diné), and Amber Zora.
-
Uncertain Histories is a year-long exhibition in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington St., Chicago, IL 60602.
The exhibition is organized into four cases as noted below.
Darrell W. Fair [US Marine Corps veteran]
Fair’s brightly painted self-portrait stares out with dignity, while his stark prints are a reminder of the violence he has experienced.
Working in prison, where art supplies are limited, Fair carved these detailed foam block prints with pencils. In each design he draws on his life experiences—from joining the military, to his arrest and torture by Chicago police, to his time in prison—to critically examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through these lived experiences, Fair outlines the connections between prisons and militarism, while highlighting the need for truly universal and inalienable rights.
Darrell W. Fair is a US Marine Corps veteran, Chicago police torture survivor, and 2022 DEMIL Art Fund Awardee. He is currently imprisoned in Illinois but has a claim of innocence and has submitted a clemency petition to the Governor.
images, top to bottom:
Self-portrait | 2020 | Acrylic on board | 24 x 18 x 1 inches
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 11 | 2020 | Foam block print on paper | 9 x 12 inches
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 23 | 2020 | Foam block print on paper | 9 x 12 inches
Images courtesy of the artist
Eric J. Garcia [US Air Force veteran]
The cases here in the GAR Memorial Hall have traditionally displayed uniforms and regalia from military history. Continuing this practice, Garcia uses the science fiction theme of alien invasion to showcase a "Historic Space Invader" from the US frontier forces. This sarcastic diorama points to the deployment of US armed forces to invade, conquer, and colonize other people’s space.
Garcia notes, “Like many generations of Black and Brown people have done before, I enlisted in the occupying military with the hopes of opportunities within the empire… After awakening from the ‘American Dream,’ I now use my privilege to deconstruct our country's false narratives.”
Eric J. Garcia is a US Air Force veteran and 2024 DEMIL Art Fund awardee. He publishes his cartoons regularly under the moniker El Machete Illustrated and is a member of Instituto Gráfico de Chicago and Justseeds. He lives in Albuquerque, NM.
Space Invader Diorama | 2025 | US Cavalry uniform, US Space Force flag, mock space helmet | Installation
Courtesy of the artist
Monty Little (Diné) [US Marine Corps veteran]
Laser-cut into this scroll of handmade paper are 374 ratified treaties between various Indigenous communities and the US government signed between the 18th century and early 20th century. The text of burnt holes in the delicate handmade paper accentuates the emptiness of many US ideals in light of settler-colonial expansionist interests.
Little notes, “This installation is not only meant as a reminder of the abusive and genocidal acts of the US government; it is also meant to acknowledge not only the survival but the continued presence of Indigenous peoples.”
Monty Little (Diné) is a US Marine Corps veteran and a 2021 DEMIL Art Fund awardee. In 2023, he received the Russell and Paula Panczenko Prize for this work and his exhibition Premonitions at The Chazen Museum of Art. He lives in Madison, WI.
Premonitions: Erasure of 374 Ratified Indigenous Treaties with the US Government | 2023 | Laser cut handmade paper | Installation
Courtesy of the artist
Amber Zora [US Army veteran]
Shot in the Arctic, Zora’s photograph captures a frozen landscape long surveilled for strategic advantage—its skies once monitored for incoming missiles, now it’s watched for signs of environmental collapse.
Accentuating a similar eerie overlap between Cold War nuclear anxieties and contemporary climate crises, the surreal monoprints feature silhouettes of Zora’s grandparents, a nuclear mushroom cloud, and a ghostly representation of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in North Dakota—an anti-ballistic missile system active for only a few months in 1975.
Zora notes, “Together, the works trace an emotional and geopolitical terrain, pointing to the persistence of Cold War infrastructure and ideology across time, space, and family memory.”
Amber Zora is a US Army veteran, 2024 Bush Fellow, and co-curator of the 2019, 2023, and 2026 Veteran Art Triennial. She lives in Rapid City, SD.
images, top to bottom:
Signehamna (from Cold Coast) | 2023 | Digital photograph | 18 x 13.25 inches
Pyramid (from Welcome to Rocketown) | 2023 | Monotype | 15 x 22.5 inches
Silhouettes (from Welcome to Rocketown) | 2023 | Monotype | 15 x 22.5 inches
Images courtesy of the artist