Pooja Pittie & Soumya Netrabile in Conversation + Community Dinner
Thursday, October 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 South Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615, Chicago · Chicago, IL
About this event
Soumya Netrabile works intuitively, channeling her subconscious and mining memories while taking regular walks through the forests of Oak Park, Illinois. In her studio, she paints works that depict atmospheric fields of majestic color: swaths of green, amber, and peach. Strongly influenced by science, mythology, history, and poetry—especially the works of Clarice Lispector, T.S. Eliot, and Wendell Berry—her work touches on one of the elemental themes of contemporary painting: the shifting line between abstraction and representation. Netrabile earned a BS in electrical engineering from Rutgers University in New Jersey. She later earned a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Pooja Pittie is a self-taught visual artist based in Chicago, whose work explores the complex interplay between body and mind, movement and stillness. Raised in Mumbai, India, Pittie trained as an accountant and earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago before transitioning to a full-time art practice in 2016. Living with a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, Pittie’s work draws on the dynamics of a slowing body and an active, curious mind. Through abstract painting and fiber art, she weaves together personal memories, cultural heritage, motherhood, and her experiences of disability, creating intricate compositions that speak to resilience and identity. Pittie has completed the Center Program at Hyde Park Art Center, the HATCH residency at Chicago Artists’ Coalition, and the 3Arts Bodies of Work Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was the recipient of the 2022 3Arts Next Level/Spare Room Award. Her work is part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the University of Illinois at Chicago; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; University of Chicago; and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi, India). She is represented by McCormick Gallery in Chicago. Pittie is the inaugural resident of the Beyond Bodies of Work: A 3Arts + Hyde Park Art Center Residency developed in partnership with 3Arts. The residency builds on the existing 3Arts/Bodies of Work Residency, which provides three-month residencies and monthly stipends tailored to Deaf and disabled artists, and is open to alumni of that program.
Event details
- Date and time
- Thursday, October 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM CDT
- Venue
- Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 South Cornell Avenue, Chicago, IL 60615, Chicago · Chicago, IL
- Category
- Arts & culture
- Cost
- Cost not stated
- Age guidance
- Age guidance not specified
- Format
- In person
- Last verified
- September 23, 2026
Accessibility
Wheelchair: Not stated
Assistive Listening: Not stated
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