Work In Context | Explore Chicago Creatives

Work In Context:

The Cliff Dwellers Sessions

is a new interview podcast series celebrating Chicago creatives — their histories, work, methodologies, principles, ambitions, and more. Hosted by Chicago author Richard Reeder, each episode features a different Chicago-based creative ready to share the lessons they've learned and the ideas they've cultivated. Conversations take place by the fireplace at The Cliff Dwellers, a club for members engaged in or supportive of the arts, located in downtown Chicago.

Artwork of a man in a tuxedo inside a gallery with multiple framed photographs on gray walls, wooden cabinets, and artsy decor.

Sofía Gabriel

Artist and Arts Administrator

Sofía Gabriel is a Mexican artist and arts administrator based in Chicago with an MA in Arts Administration & Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Her curatorial work includes exhibitions and performance festivals at High Concept Labs, Co-Prosperity Sphere, UNAM Chicago, SAIC Galleries, and Hyde Park Art Center where she co-founded and facilitated The Bridge Performance Incubator, a professional development program to support performance artists. As an arts administrator, she has worked in various capacities with organizations and artists in both Mexico City and Chicago, including Tania Candiani, the University Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC), the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, the Field Foundation of Illinois, Museo Nacional de Arte, DCASE, Hyde Park Art Center, and Gallery 400. She has been an artist-in-residence and fellow at High Concept Labs in Chicago, Murmuration in Wisconsin, and Proyecto Ace in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work has been presented at venues including High Concept Labs, Experimental Station, Comfort Station, Elastic Arts, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca, Mexico.

She is currently the Executive Director of Make Literary Productions and the Lit & Luz Festival and a Board Member in High Concept Labs.

The 2026 Lit & Luz Festival runs from Nov. 8-14.

For more information visit https://www.litluz.org/