Organizers of Expo Chicago, the Windy City’s foremost art fair—slated for Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, September 18–21—announced the program of special exhibitions and projects for its third edition. The schedule includes more than two dozen projects organized by museums, universities, organizations, institutions, artists, and one retired NBA superstar.

Included in the list of special exhibitions: a show from the FLAG Art Foundation entitled “SHAQ LOVES PEOPLE,” which features portraits by both emerging and established international artists curated by NBA star Shaquille O’Neal; Human Rights Watch’s “Teach Us to Outgrow Madness,” by Alfredo Jaar, inspired by the writing of Kenzaburo Oe; and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is presenting Jenny Kendler’s “Tell It To The Birds.”

Erik L. Peterson, Seep (2014), neon, Photo: Courtesy Chicago Artists Coaltion

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) will feature graduate student work curated by artist and assistant professor José Lerma, and Expo Chicago will also feature a project  curated by Theaster Gates entitled “Retreat,” combining architectural elements and living green structures created by Erika Allen and Mitchell Squire. And the National Museum of Mexican Art‘s “Border Crossings” will bring together a group of young emerging artists from both sides of the border. St. Louis’s Laumeier Sculpture Park will present “New Territories” and “Raqs Media Collective” a two-part show exploring the relationship between contemporary art and the natural environment. The Union League Club of Chicago will present a collection that tells the story of art in Chicago. And Philadelphia’s Vox Populi gallery will curate a selection of contemporary work by emerging Philadelphia-based artists

Other special exhibitions on view include shows organized by: Aperture Foundation; Artadia; Artslant; Bad at Sports; Bill Viola (“Martyrs [Earth, Air, Fire, Water])”; Chicago Artists Coalition’s BOLT Residency; Columbia College Chicago; The Conservation Center, Hyde Park Art Center; International Sculpture Center; Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft; National Base for International Cultural Trade (Shanghai); the Renaissance Society, Threewalls, the University of Chicago, and Whitechapel Gallery.