Visionary: Celebrating Leadership in the Arts

Amanda Williams (b. 1974, Evanston, IL) deconstructs the physical and social systems of inequity. Informed by her architectural background, Amanda’s multidisciplinary practice communicates through a chromatic language of abstraction and material means. Recent exhibitions include Amanda Williams: We Say What Black This Is, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, Atlanta, GA (2025) and Prospect.6 triennial, New Orleans, LA (2025), for which Amanda presented In Her Rich Deposits of (Blue). Amanda is also coauthor of the forthcoming permanent monument to Shirley Chisholm, Our Democracy, Our Destiny, in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Amanda is the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (2022), has been named a Gordon Parks Foundation Fellow (2026), a Chicagoan of the Year (2023), and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant awardee (2017). Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, among others. Amanda earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, NY. She lives and works in Chicago, IL.

Rita Sola Cook is President of Bank of America Chicago, as well as Division Executive for the Midwest and Ohio Valley Division of Bank of America Private Bank. Drawing on almost thirty years with the firm, she provides strategic direction and sustained leadership in overseeing the delivery of impactful banking and wealth management capabilities to individuals, families, businesses, and institutions.

As President of Bank of America Chicago, Rita is responsible for connecting people and companies across Chicagoland to the suite of banking and investment resources offered by the bank’s lines of business. In addition, she leads the bank’s efforts in addressing social concerns, strengthening economic opportunities, building strong communities, and facilitating the well being and engagement of local employees. Rita also serves as the Division Executive for the Midwest and Ohio Valley Division of Bank of America Private Bank. In this capacity, she leads the Division in providing a differentiated caliber of strategy, advice, and service to high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, helping to advance their distinctive priorities with care and customization.

Since joining Bank of America in 1997, Rita has taken on increasing responsibilities in finance, management, and operations, gaining diverse client-segment and product acumen. Prior to her current role, she served as the Global Banking and Markets Anti-Money-Laundering Executive, the Global Commercial Banking Midwest Region Executive, and the Global Commercial Banking Chief Operating Officer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Governors State University. Rita is active in the Chicago community. She serves on the board of directors for the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Chicago Zoological Society, and World Business Chicago; is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, The Chicago Network, and a Trustee for the Chicago Community Trust. Rita lives with her husband and daughter in Mokena, Illinois.