Navy Pier hosts expansive SOFA exhibit

SOFA (Sculpture Objects and Functional Art) Chicago 2011 and The Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art took place Nov. 3-6 at Navy Pier. The event featured an opening-night preview; almost three dozen lecture presentations; and special exhibits. Among the many highlights were Thalen & Thalen’s presentation of a “Windy City Bowl;” the works of artist Martin Ramirez, a self-taught artist who spent most of his adult life in mental hospitals; the glass-tubing creations of Julius Weiland; and Susan Taylor Glasgow’s massive “Communal Nest,” which consists of twigs and glass. Photos by Andrew Davis