Institute 193

02/21/2026

Thanks to all who came out to see Old Pup and Ed Sunspot in the gallery last night. What a crowd! Here’s Old Pup, orbited by FRKO’s “Flying Waffle Saucer”.

11/20/2025

Donate to Institute 193 today to support the best art from across the South. Link in bio.

Video by

11/11/2025

Institute 193’s Sweet Sixteen! Our year-end fundraiser starts today. Hit the link in our bio to contribute!

For sixteen years, Institute 193 has logged thousands of miles with our collaborators, criss-crossing the nation to seek out and share the most unique, significant, and authentic voices of the contemporary South. From Waxahatchee to West Virginia, Nashville to New Orleans, and Birmingham to the Big Apple and beyond, we’ve helped artists, musicians, and writers continue to redefine what the South looks, sounds, and feels like. With over one hundred exhibitions, dozens of books, and countless events later, we’re still on the move, guided by the same curiosity and conviction that started this whole trip.

Your support makes all this possible. Every dollar donated keeps our engine running, helping us stay independent, creative, and community-driven. As we mark our Sweet Sixteen, we invite you to hop in and take this journey with us — to keep this engine humming for another sixteen years of art, collaboration, and discovery.

Special thanks to friend of the gallery Robert Beatty for this lovely promo video. Hop in!

11/28/2023

Dearest Institute 193 Facebook Family and Friends:

Today, like most 501c3 organizations in the United States, we are participating in Giving Tuesday, a global campaign aimed at fundraising or volunteering on behalf of larger humanity-driven organizations and non-profits. Our small organization has big plans for the coming years, and we'd love for you to spend a few minutes learning about them and contributing if you are able.

Sending love and best wishes from Lexington.

x Institute 193 x

This fall, Institute 193 is sowing seeds. We need your support to keep them growing.

11/16/2023

Visit us tomorrow night at gallery hop for th opening of John Hee Taek Chae’s “A Dark and Bloody Ground.” We can’t wait to share this immersive installation with you!

Image: Detail of John Hee Taek Chae, we know so little of us (front), 2023, cyanotype and fabric dye on linen, silk, cotton, and polyester, 94 x 57 inches.

11/13/2023

OPENING THIS FRIDAY: John Hee Taek Chae’s “A Dark and Bloody Ground” opens this Friday, November 17th from 6–8 PM. We’re looking forward to seeing you in the gallery. DM for more information + directions.

“A Dark and Bloody Ground” is as much an acknowledgement of the past as it is an invitation for the future. Chae asks us what it means for us to make this land our home. He questions the role and validity of possession as it has long existed, a practice inevitably disrupted by the passing of time. Finally, he employs new technologies alongside tradition in this vision for the future: a land truly reflective of its history, a living archive of all those who make their home upon it.

11/08/2023

Eddie Owens Martin, Untitled, n.d., oil on plywood, 35 x 35 inches. Collection of the American Folk Art Museum, Gift of Marion County, Georgia, Historic Society.