Forever in Your Debt

The Chicago Cultural Center is proud to present Forever in Your Debt, an innovative and thought-provoking installation by artist kelli rae adams, on view through September 15th, 2024. This project addresses the staggering $1.8 trillion in student loan debt burdening 43 million Americans, including adams herself.

In 2012, adams received an annual loan notice which prompted her to calculate how many ceramic vessels she would need to make and sell to repay her student debt. The resulting vision—a field of bowls filled with coins—led to the inception of Forever in Your Debt.

Launched in 2018, adams’s work translates the abstract concept of debt into a tangible form. Focusing on the average individual student debt of $37,000, adams determined that she would need to craft 925 bowls to illustrate this sum given that each pint-sized bowl typically holds about $40 in mixed change. The current version of the installation includes an additional 140 bowls, accounting for interest accrued during the project’s recent two-year run at MASS MoCA.