Press + News
The Salt Shed Book
My photography book, The Salt Shed, about the transformation of the former Morton Salt Complex, was officially published in September 2024. Take a look at some sample spreads on Trope Publishing Company’s website, where you can order a copy too.
Order The Salt Shed book from Trope’s website here:
Take a look at the press coverage for The Salt Shed book since its publication on September 17, 2024
As the Morton Salt Complex was given a new life, a photographer captured the transformation.
by Rick Kogan
Photo Essay: Inside the Salt Shed’s Rebirth
Steinbrecher’s images capture how Chicagoans transformed and preserved the industrial complex into a cultural center.
by Sarah Steimer
Spotlight Chicago/WGN TV Sarah Jindra + Ji Suk Yi
Second City podcast with Kelly Leonard
After Hours Radio Show with Rick Kogan
WGN 720 Radio with Lisa Dent
The deconstruction, reconstruction, and reinvigoration of the Morton Salt Complex
Article in IIDA
Some of my photos of the Salt Shed’s transformation are featured in this article for the International Interior Design Association.
Morton Salt Shed + CAC
A few of my Morton Salt Shed photos are featured in a new exhibit at the Chicago Architecture Center: Current Projects Around Town. This wall exhibit in the Chicago Gallery is a showcase of about a dozen exciting new development projects of unusual or innovative design. The Salt Shed is an excellent example of adaptive reuse of an iconic Chicago landmark.
Green Building + Design Magazine
This piece in Green Building and Design Magazine, a trade magazine source for sustainable building solutions, covers the Salt Shed's transformation and features 6 of my Salt Shed series images.
The Salt Shed Collaboration
The Salt Shed and I produced a weekly Instagram collaboration series called Shed a Light, about aspects of the building's history and transformation. Many of you followed along with us for six Thursdays in May and June of 2023 for posts that featured my documentary photos from the last couple of years.
The New York Times Photo
My photo of Toni L. Griffin (Urban American City), planner and urban designer, made The NY Times, in a piece about the Venice Biennale’s Laboratory of the Future. Toni was a participant in the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Women Artists and Activists
During Fall 2021, I documented a beautiful new mural in the Wabash Arts Corridor located at South Wabash Ave and West Harrison St. This work honors and celebrates local women suffragette activists and is the first of its kind in Chicago. It was designed and painted by Diosa (Jasmina Cacazu).
There was to be another mural celebrating women by artist Dorian Sylvain that was unexpectedly blocked at the last minute. Read about the controversy in this issue of New City.
The Story Behind the Photograph
In 2021, the Outwin exhibition, American Portraiture Today, traveled to the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield MA. The students in my photograph and I were invited by the National Portrait Gallery and the Springfield Museum to present a program about the story behind the photograph. The conversation, moderated by Taína Caragol of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, touched on youth voices, the power of art to connect people, and the unexpected friendship that resulted from this series of events. Click here to watch.
Smithsonian Magazine
In 2016, I provided photo documentation for a series of beautiful and relevant public art installations along the Burnham Wildlife Corridor, on Chicago’s South Lakefront. One of those five gathering spaces was featured in the January/February 2021 edition of Smithsonian Magazine, in an article about artisans in America. Artist Folayemi Wilson and designer Norman Teague of blkhaUS Studios created their piece, Sounding Bronzeville, for this collaboration with the Chicago Park District and the Field Museum. Check out the article and photos.
See my Instagram post here.
Chicago Tribune Articles
This thoughtful piece by Heidi Stevens made the front page of the Chicago Tribune in December 2019. Click here to read about the photo, the Smithsonian, and the three Chicago Public School students who marched for a safer world for all of us.
Click here to read about the students in this follow-up piece by Heidi Stevens of the Chicago Tribune.
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
My work was selected, out of 2600 entries, to be included in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition, “The Outwin 2019 American Portraiture Today”, which opened in October 2019 in Washington, DC.
Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative
In 2020, I photographed people, spaces, events, and initiatives on Chicago’s mid-South Side and created a collection of images for Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative.
Click here to see my 2020 collection, about a year of unprecedented challenges, pain, and joy.
Overton Stories
Watch these short videos about Sandra’s portrait projects in collaboration with Creative Grounds at the former Anthony Overton School.
Visit Creative Grounds to learn more about these and other projects at Creative Grounds and Borderless Studio.
Videos: On The Real Film
Recent Exhibitions
The Outwin 2019 American Portraiture Today
features work by nearly 50 finalists of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery's latest Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.
Exhibition Touring Schedule:
October 26, 2019 - August 30, 2020
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DCOctober 3, 2020 to April 4, 2021
Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts
Springfield Museums, Springfield, MAEarly May 2021 to early August 2021
cancelled due to Covid-19September 10, 2021 to January 23, 2022
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum
Washington University St. Louis, MO
The Pride & Perils of Chicago's Public Art,
Wabash Arts Corridor murals, Chicago Cultural Center, 2017
Street Level,
Hokin Gallery, Columbia College, Fall 2017The Education Project Photo Exhibition,
Solo Exhibition, Illini Union Art Gallery, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015The Education Project Photo Exhibition,
Solo Exhibition, Grinnell College, 2015
click here for event listThe Education Project Photo Exhibition,
Solo Exhibition, Luther College, 2013
Go Do Good / Chicago Photography Collective, Group Show, 2011
Two Schools A Photo Diary / Chicago
Photography Collective, Two Person Show, 2010Vietnam, Solo Exhibition, Chicago Public Library, 2010
Vietnam, Solo Exhibition, Battrell Gallery, 2009
Quick Glance
This one-minute video montage features Sandra Steinbrecher's photography work, documenting public education and the arts.
Original music composition, Red Moon, by the band, Whitney. www.whitneytheband.com
Archived Press
View this short clip from the national docu-series Chicagoland, featuring several of Sandra's black and white photos of Fenger High School.
Read this article in The Daily Illini about education
awareness and Sandra's photo exhibition.
Steinbrecher Showcases Education
Read this article about Steinbrecher's
exhibition at Grinnell College.