“Midwestern Vernacular” Opens at Chesterton Art Center
Chesterton Art Center (CAC) is excited to announce an exhibition of contemporary photography, “Midwestern Vernacular: Jesus Salome Arriaga, Jonathan Borton, and Kay Westhues,” August 6–September 30, 2026. CAC will celebrate the artists and their work during a Third Friday Reception on Friday, August 21, from 4–7 PM. There will be a panel discussion with the artists on Thursday, September 24, from 6:30–8 PM. CAC exhibitions and related programming are free and open to the public.
The landscapes of the American Midwest are often understood through familiar narratives—vast fields, small towns, roadside landmarks, and the rhythms of agricultural life. Yet beyond these broad impressions exists another vernacular: a visual language embedded in overlooked places, quiet margins, and spaces that are easily passed by. "Midwestern Vernacular" brings together the work of photographers Jesus Salome Arriaga, Jonathan Borton, and Kay Westhues, whose images examine these interstitial landscapes and the stories they beautifully and quietly contain. Rather than offering a nostalgic portrait of rural America, "Midwestern Vernacular" invites viewers to consider how landscapes communicate identity and meaning. The photographs encourage reflection on the ways communities shape their surroundings—and how those surroundings, in turn, reflect broader cultural narratives, biases, and systems of belonging. By elevating places often dismissed as ordinary or forgotten, Arriaga, Borton, and Westhues reveal the complexity, character, and humanity that reside within the margins of the Midwestern vernacular. In these quiet scenes, the familiar becomes worthy of closer attention, and the overlooked become sites of discovery.
In conjunction with “Midwestern Vernacular,” CAC is offering a Free Family Art Day, where participants are invited to explore the exhibition and create artwork inspired by the photographs on view. During Family Art Day, visitors will enjoy a variety of visual storytelling projects designed to spark creativity and conversation. Activities are appropriate for all ages and experience levels, and everyone is welcome in CAC’s accessible studio and gallery spaces. CAC’s Free Family Art Day will take place on Saturday, September 19, from 10 AM–2PM. Registration is requested, and registered participants can drop in anytime during the program. For more information and to register, please visit CAC’s website. Family Art Days are generously supported by Urschel Giving.
The exhibition can be viewed during normal business hours:
Mon–Fri, 11 AM–4 PM and Sat, 10 AM–2 PM. CAC is closed on Sundays. CAC is located at 115 South 4th St., Chesterton, IN. For more information about exhibitions and all CAC programs, visit ChestertonArt.org.