Ward 7: America’s Abandoned Asylums opens tomorrow in Chicago

If you are going to be in Chicago this weekend, I highly recommend checking out the photo show Ward 7: America’s Abandoned Asylums. It showcases the work of Shawn May, who travels the country exploring and painstakingly photographing defunct mental hospitals. The extent of his travels, the depth of his knowledge, and the lengths to which he’ll go to see a building are remarkable, and his photos show it.

You can see a small sampling of his work here.

Also on display will be selections from May’s collection of artifacts that he collected in the course of his visits to various asylums, among them restraints and a gurney.

The show was curated by the esteemed Citizen Pioneer, over months of work. This gal has poured her heart into this project, and I’m really excited to see the results. TimeOut Chicago, Chicago Weekly, going.com, Gapers Block, and others have taken notice.

Squee! It’s at the Co-Prosperity Sphere, 7-11 pm, 3219 S. Morgan (at 33rd), Chicago, 60608. Here’s the flyer:

(To my 1.5 regular readers in Chicago: If you go, say hi. I’m traveling up there for it. You kin spot me because I have purple hair.)