<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789744922/bg6tksld7p6rk2cmp3xc.jpg">Collectors and artists attend the Not Just Another Pretty Face unveiling at the Hyde Park Art Center.﻿ By JACQUELINE LEWIS This year, Hyde Park Art Center is hosting the latest installment of <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/njapf-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Not Just Another Pretty Face</a> (NJAPF). This special experience and exhibition began in the mid-1990s and occurs only every three years. Not Just Another Pretty Face uses a matchmaking program to connect local patrons with artists. During this experience, patrons and artists choose each other, and the artist creates artwork specifically for that patron. Works range from traditional to experimental, depending on the artist chosen and the desires of the patron. At the end of the experience, the pieces are unveiled in an exhibition later this year before being purchased and taken home by the patron. This matchmaking process differs from traditional art purchasing. Instead of collectors looking for works that already exist, purchasing them, and moving on, they become part of the artistic process and the work’s origin. Once matched, patrons meet with artists to discuss what they like and what they hope for from the final work, and the artist melds those desires with their own style. The process cultivates a sense of generosity between artist and patron as they mutually share themselves and allow each other into their individual worlds. It facilitates lasting relationships that do not often develop naturally in gallery spaces and plays an important role in establishing broader financial support for the artistic community. Director of Development Eric Thompson has been with Hyde Park Art Center since 2023, making this his second iteration of NJAPF. As this year’s program nears completion, Thompson offered insight into how the experience comes together. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789744923/iltm7ht7zujlikhhpjid.jpg">A commission being unveiled at Hyde Park Art Center Jackie Lewis: What is the process for artists and patrons to sign up for this experience? Eric Thompson: For the artists, our team begins reaching out to invite them to participate about 18 months before the unveiling. For this iteration, conversations began in late spring 2025. They provide information on their artistic process, image examples of their work, and their commission rate. Our team then publicizes this information on our website and presents the artists at various salons throughout the city. Several supporters of the Art Center host NJAPF salons and invite their own guests. Potential patrons learn about the artists and the project at large and express interest with our team. From there, we work to get the commission started! JL: Once artists and patrons are chosen, what does the matchmaking process look like? Is there any process beyond the salons? Eric Thompson: Much of the process happens after the salons. Patrons and the Hyde Park Art Center staff discuss artists who have piqued their interest. The HPAC staff sets up studio visits with the artists, giving the patron and artist a chance to meet, learn about each other, and discuss a possible commission. Sometimes artists may meet with multiple patrons through the project, and patrons will visit multiple studios before making a decision. Once a patron and artist agree to work together, the artist begins the work. JL: What is your role in the process? How does HPAC support both the artists and the patrons? Eric Thompson: NJAPF is a win-win-win situation for all parties. The patron has the opportunity to meet amazing Chicago artists, receives a unique commissioned work, and has that piece included in a public exhibition at the Art Center. The artist receives payment for the work, has the opportunity to expand their network of collectors, and often pushes their own practice through this process. The Art Center also benefits, as half of the commission serves as a tax-deductible donation that supports our mission to sustain Chicago art and artists. JL: What aspect of NJAPF do you think has the greatest impact on the Chicago art community? Eric Thompson: The project itself embodies the mission of the Art Center: it is designed for artists in Chicago to flourish. I think the greatest impact from the program’s ten iterations is the access it has created between artists and patrons. Relationships have been built. It is all about connection—a personal connection to the art and the connection between the artist and the patron. As a staff member, it is a wonderful thing to observe. *<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789744924/hrzsontqcaqfvocwlay0.jpg">Sarah Nishiura, Inching <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789744925/h0b8mudpvkr54bss2yvp.jpg">D. Lammie-Hanson, Agility to Surrender, 14k gold on Acrylic&nbsp;(wood panel) A Word From the Artists For a deeper understanding of the experience, artists D. Lammie-Hanson and Sarah Nishiura shared their own perspectives. Both have completed commissions for NJAPF in the past and are currently creating work for this year’s iteration. JL: How did you first learn about NJAPF, and how did you become involved? Sarah Nishiura: I have been teaching and exhibiting with the Hyde Park Art Center for over 15 years now, and I think it was through this affiliation that I was first invited to participate in NJAPF. I was lucky enough to receive two commissions the first year that I participated, and I think this success led to repeat invitations through the years. D. Lammie-Hanson: I learned about NJAPF through an email invitation from Hyde Park Art Center. After I responded that I was interested, they placed me in their rotation to be presented to their patrons. JL: How has working with NJAPF affected your artistic career? Did it fit within your practice? Sarah Nishiura: My favorite thing about NJAPF is the opportunity to step outside my usual practice to try something different. Many of the commissions I have done in the past have involved working with materials given to me by the patron. This presents technical challenges that I wouldn’t normally take on, but I learn so much from stepping outside my comfort zone every few years. I have had continued relationships with patrons, and I have appreciated seeing the commissioned pieces in their homes. There is nothing better than seeing your work be part of someone’s life. D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron trusted me to interpret their direction through my own lens. They gave me the subject and overall intent, and I stayed grounded by making creative choices around composition and focus that matched their goals while keeping my personal approach. Because metalpoint/silverpoint isn’t a widely known medium, working with NJAPF and Hyde Park Art Center helped me present my process to a wider audience. It also strengthened my broader portfolio by giving my work a strong platform and context. JL: What was your experience working with a patron? How did it differ from your usual process? Sarah Nishiura: The two patrons came by my studio, and we immediately found we had a lot in common and a lot to talk about. We shared some of our favorite artists, our experiences with travel, our love of craft and nature, and from these conversations they came up with great ideas for jumping-off points for the commission. At the same time, they let me know they really wanted me to have the freedom to go in any direction I wanted with the final piece. This experience only differed from my usual process because it began with conversations with other people rather than the conversation that usually happens in my own head! D. Lammie-Hanson: The patron visited my studio while I was an artist in residence at Little Black Pearl, and we discussed his vision. He chose my silverpoint-on-black/metalpoint technique, and we developed the direction together. This differed from my usual process because I don’t usually enjoy doing commissions, but I enjoyed working with Hyde Park Art Center through this program. After we aligned on the creative direction for the artwork, the patron gave me the freedom to carry out the piece according to my own vision. JL: Since you have participated in NJAPF before, what made you decide to do it again? Sarah Nishiura: I love HPAC, and I feel like this is a great program that allows me to support their mission while also giving me a wonderful opportunity to work with collectors I might never meet otherwise. It is a win-win! D. Lammie-Hanson: I enjoyed the opportunity to work with Hyde Park Art Center again. I submitted my interests without knowing which new collectors would be interested, but I was willing to take the chance, and I’m glad I did. * <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789744926/umy0i4utfyykeobpumou.jpg">Unveiling party attendees at Hyde Park Art Center From the Collectors To understand more about another side of the program, Ginny Van Alyea, CGN’s publisher and a past participant of NJAPF, shared her perspective as a patron who commissioned a work by artist Mel Watkin several years ago. JL: Before NJAPF, did you consider yourself an art collector? Had you ever commissioned a work before? GV: NJAPF appealed to my husband and me because we had bought art separately and together, but we hadn’t commissioned anything. My parents gave us the commission as a wedding gift, so it was especially meaningful. JL: Before meeting with the artist, did you have a specific idea for the artwork you wanted? GV: We looked through a lot of artwork before deciding whose work would be the best fit. There were so many choices, but we liked Mel Watkin’s particular focus. It felt like a good fit for creating something that spoke to both of us and our families when we got married. JL: What was your experience working with the artist like? Did it feel collaborative? GV: Working with Mel on a piece that was just for us was so cool. We sent images, ideas, and references back and forth. We met for coffee. We gave a little feedback but also listened to what she suggested. It was definitely a collaborative experience, but ultimately it was still the artist who made the art. JL: Have you continued your relationship with your paired artist? GV: Yes! A few years later, for a milestone birthday, I commissioned Mel again to make two more works: one about our daughter and one about our son. Now all three works hang together at home. JL: Is there anything else you’d like to add about the experience? GV: I know many collectors who have participated in the program more than once, and I can see us doing it again someday. It’s a wonderful chance to work with a local artist while also setting the parameters—like price and size—up front, which is another unique benefit of the program. It’s also terrific to support HPAC and local artists at the same time. While there are some big artist names in the program, NJAPF is also a wonderful way to discover emerging artists. * This year’s unveiling reception will take place on December 11, 2026, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. at Hyde Park Art Center. Following the reception, the artwork will remain on display and will be accompanied by a catalogue documenting the entire process for patrons, artists, and visitors alike. The success of NJAPF has extended beyond Chicago, with similar exhibitions adapted in Boise, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City. To date, the program has generated more than $2 million in sales. Half of the proceeds go directly to participating artists, while the other half supports Hyde Park Art Center’s programs and mission. With more than 400 works commissioned by over 300 new and established collectors, NJAPF has cultivated an ecosystem of patronage that enables artists to thrive. By embracing and encouraging the idea of patronage in contemporary art, NJAPF has built a community of people who value not only finished works of art, but also the creative process behind them. If you missed your opportunity to participate this year, consider becoming a patron for the next iteration. More details at <a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/njapf-2026/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hydeparkart.org/njapf-2026/</a>

Art Matchmaking: Hyde Park Art Center’s Not Just Another Pretty Face Returns This Fall

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789745564/alcfyxluqhvrxxmtqedb.jpg">A view looking across Chicago Ave. in West Town to the 1709&nbsp;building. Photo by CGN. By ELISA SHOENBERGER When you think of West Town, you may think of an abundance of art galleries and restaurants. But that reputation as a center of the city’s contemporary art scene is a relatively recent one. With a decade in the rearview mirror, what now seems well-established is a change that did not happen overnight.&nbsp; Previously, and for many years following a gallery migration from the traditional nexus of River North, the West Loop was a Chicago art scene hot spot, particularly near Randolph Street and its restaurants. In 2016 galleries began leaving the West Loop to find new, more affordable spaces, which they found in West Town. Today there’s arguably a larger concentration of galleries in the area than there was in the West Loop, and the shape of a definitive arts district has formed in a part of the city that offers sustainable options for galleries to exist. Five gallerists share their thoughts with CGN about what it took to get here and what West Town is today. <h3>Needing a New Home</h3> West Loop initially offered gallerists great opportunities to grow their galleries and reputations, but in time, the neighborhood’s popularity made it harder for businesses to be sustainable. Monique Meloche, owner of moniquemeloche (451 N. Paulina), opened her gallery to the public in 2001 in the West Loop because “That’s where everyone needed to be.” Claire Warner, co-owner and co-director of Volume Gallery (1700 W. Hubbard), explains that the West Loop presented a lot of advantages; there was an abundance of vacant and raw spaces that worked for holding art shows. Additionally, landlords seemed to really like what the galleries were doing to bring clientele to the area. Attracting people to the new destination was also a great benefit for the burgeoning restaurants nearby.&nbsp; However, that adjacent success had another cost, Warner explained, “the restaurants really started bringing in a lot of traffic to the area, and we noticed during exhibitions that our clients weren’t able to park or come up to the gallery to see the show, which was really disappointing.”&nbsp; On top of that, landlords’ priorities began to change. Scott Speh, founder and director of Western Exhibitions (1709 W. Chicago), says that landlords initially let galleries share floors between different galleries, which included Volume Gallery and DOCUMENT.&nbsp; As the neighborhood gained popularity, the landlords decided they wanted to rent entire floors, not parts of floors. That meant that the galleries had to find a new location. Meloche noted that the neighborhood’s success, largely driven by galleries in the first place, eventually priced many of the same galleries out. Her gallery moved earlier than others, in 2008, to Wicker Park/Bucktown, before eventually moving to its current location at Paulina and Hubbard.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789745565/cannk40giqjqozkpez11.jpg">The entrance to moniquemeloche on N. Paulina St.&nbsp; <h3>The Right Feel</h3> As the West Loop became less sustainable, gallerists needed to find more suitable locations. Warner wanted to find an area that was unlikely to develop as quickly as Randolph Street. She looked for something that felt equally commercial and residential. She recalls, “We wanted mostly the scale to feel like it was walkable, where people would want to spend time, and so we went out and looked all over the city.” Ukrainian Village and West Town fit the bill for the neighborhood feel she was seeking. It was also a group effort to find a location that worked for all three galleries, DOCUMENT, Volume, and Western Exhibitions, which had previously been at 845 W. Washington. Speh explains, “We all liked each other. We didn’t feel our programs overlapped at the time, and we all worked well together. So we decided we were going to look for a new address that would house all of us.” In late 2016/early 2017, they found a building that was suitable at 1709 W. Chicago Ave. Owned by their former West Loop landlord, Warner says, “They were more than happy for us to bring the same energy into West Town that we had into [845 W. Washington]. It felt like we could all be a community together but maintain individual spaces.”&nbsp; Other gallerists also saw the benefits of the neighborhood. Sara Dulkin, owner and gallery director of Chicago Truborn (1741 W. Chicago), was already living in West Town when she first incorporated her LLC to create her gallery in 2011. She began curating shows at street festivals and held independent pop-up shows before moving into a physical storefront at 1418 W. Division in 2013.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789745566/xqqjizvglyeakufan74a.jpg">The street view of Chicago Truborn on Chicago Ave.&nbsp; Dulkin found her current gallery space on Chicago Ave. simply by walking the neighborhood and keeping an eye out. She eventually passed a vacant, dark storefront that intrigued her. When she learned it had a dirt floor and two fluorescent lights, she still saw that it fulfilled her needs. With a manageable size of around 1,000 square feet and large, street-level windows that could display murals while staying protected from the elements, as well as vandalism, it also reminded her of her family’s shoe business. “It was just the perfect size and felt like a good neighborhood,” Dulkin says. Dulkin notes that the area likely attracted art galleries and art enthusiasts in part because of its number of public murals. Today for many of Chicago Truborn’s exhibitions, Dulkin continues to work with local businesses and other entities to get permission to paint murals nearby, an ongoing effort that she says has resulted in crowds coming to the area just to see and photograph them.&nbsp; As galleries began to move in in greater numbers, that collective momentum encouraged other galleries to follow suit. Meloche recalls that a year after she moved to West Town, fellow gallerist and friend Mariane Ibrahim asked about moving her gallery into the space next door. Meloche remembers thinking “That makes perfect sense. We have such overlap in our programming and in our clientele.” Meloche says that a big advantage of having everyone in the West Loop in the 2000s was that it was easy for clients and other visitors to go to multiple galleries at once. That would prove just as true in West Town. In the spring of 2017, Richard Gray Gallery, which had long been based in the Gold Coast, opened a warehouse location in the Kinzie Corridor at 2044 W. Carroll, which provided more exhibition space, explains Valerie Carberry, President and Chief Executive Officer, at GRAY. In 2024, they moved all Chicago operations to West Town. A year later another Chicago mainstay with a national reputation, Rhona Hoffman, moved from her West Loop North Peoria space to 1711 W. Chicago. Hoffman’s ground floor presence on the street cemented the significance of what was developing for galleries, both new and established, in West Town. <h3>West Town Today</h3> When asked about West Town today, the gallerists I spoke with all agreed that it remains a vibrant place for galleries to do business. Speh notes that it’s easily walkable, dense but not too dense, and filled with a diversity of businesses. “It’s been a great location,” Speh says, “Unlike the West Loop, there’s not a new high-rise going up every three weeks. It still feels manageable.” Warner concurred that she felt West Town “could accommodate galleries without overwhelming the neighborhood or having to adapt amidst the kind of overnight development that took place in the West Loop.” She hoped the new neighborhood would have a slower pace of change.&nbsp; Since Volume Gallery’s relocation to West Town in 2017, Warner says she feels like the area has largely stayed the same in a good way. “I think we’re finding ways to kind of work with the larger community here and not overwhelm it, while also building up a sense of community in the galleries and working towards a critical mass here as well.” Warner credits a supportive alderman, Alderman Walter R. Burnett Jr., and an active [West Town] Chamber of Commerce. Since GRAY consolidated in West Town, Carberry notes there have been recent upgrades in the neighborhood, including the renovated Green Line Lake Street station, as well as investment and improvements for 2024’s Democratic National Convention, which took place nearby at the United Center. She says, “Overall, the neighborhood is much livelier and more pedestrian and bike-friendly.” The evolution that Volume was part of a decade ago continued when Warner and gallery partner Sam Vinz moved out of 1709 W. Chicago to an expansive space at the corner of N. Paulina and W. Hubbard. David Salkin made the same address change as well. Now Volume is close to Meloche and Ibrahim, as well as Secrist | Beach. Elise Seigenthaler, who worked for Rhona Hoffman before she closed in 2025, opened in January 2026 where Volume used to be, with Ox-Bow School of Art opening an office in the space as well.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789745566/dcjju4mfbloi36lvegj7.jpg">A view of Volume Gallery’s new space at W. Hubbard and N. Paulina Streets. For Dulkin, who has been in West Town the longest, the changes have been a pleasant surprise. She was drawn to the area in part because it was a commercial corridor, but she thought it would develop more of a retail stretch featuring vintage clothing shops. Alcala’s Western Wear, which opened in 1972, remains an anchor on the street. Dulkin says she would never have expected so many galleries to open in the area. Farther west on the south side of Chicago Ave. is Andrew Rafacz Gallery, while across to the north and to the east are PATRON, as well as the more recently opened Tala. ARC Gallery, which opened in 1973, relocated from Bucktown to Chicago Ave. east of Ashland in 2018. Carrie Secrist closed her West Loop space around the pandemic and reopened as Secrist | Beach at 1801 W. Hubbard, where Jaime DeGroot also has her art consultancy. Secrist’s former West Loop neighbor at 835 W. Washington, McCormick Gallery, is now at 2251 W. Grand, a little west of the Golden Triangle, which moved there from River North.&nbsp;There are many other galleries throughout the area, with more choosing to open in West Town every year. With the concentration of galleries continuing to grow, Meloche notes that they often try to hold simultaneous openings; this fall there are plans for many galleries to open the same weekend in September in conjunction with Chicago Exhibition Week. Dulkin notes that the West Town Chamber of Commerce has hosted Art Walks and First Fridays for many years, notably with a key event in the fall, where participating galleries all host openings or stay open later on the same night.&nbsp; Of course, there’s always room for improvement. Several gallerists have expressed a desire for more day-to-day food options, especially around Grand Avenue, though they may be wary of the consequences that can spill over from culinary success, like the ones that contributed to the move that drove galleries from the West Loop.&nbsp; Speh also would like to see more third-type spaces, where people could hang out after going to a gallery. West Town’s reputation has been spreading beyond the borders of Chicago. Meloche notes, “We definitely have seen a lot more out-of-town visitors make a concerted effort to come to our openings.” Warner also sees a lot of people from New York City, Los Angeles and around the world come and visit the galleries in West Town, always commenting how incredible the art scene and the community is in Chicago. But it’s something that Chicagoans may take for granted. “Sometimes I feel like we get more out-of-towners than Chicagoans coming through,” she says. For locals West Town doesn’t have to be a destination, but it is worth remembering how much art has become a part of the neighborhood and appreciating how close to home it really is. #

From West Loop to West Town: The Development of an Arts District

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789100262/zyjzsjooddklp8aljtdd.jpg"> By GINNY VAN ALYEA Over the years, CGN has covered many chapters of artist and Chicagoan Tony Fitzpatrick’s life and work. Following his <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/artist-tony-fitzpatrick-has-died-at-age-66" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">death</a> in October 2025, his wife, Michelle, and children, Max and Gaby, have been working to preserve Fitzpatrick's legacy. One of their efforts offers an accessible way to bring an early Fitzpatrick image home—and support the work his family is carrying forward. The family is issuing a limited-edition poster featuring Houdini, an image Fitzpatrick originally created for the inaugural exhibition at World Tattoo Gallery in 1989. Priced at $100, the edition is limited to 500 prints, each accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. All proceeds support projects dedicated to preserving and protecting his life’s work. The image comes from a formative period. Fitzpatrick left Chicago for New York in 1987 to pursue his career as an artist. When he returned, he wanted to build the kind of rebellious, vibrant artistic community he had encountered there. With help from friends, he opened World Tattoo Gallery in the South Loop in 1989. According to Tony's family, Houdini held particular significance for Fitzpatrick during those years: an escape artist who could accomplish the seemingly impossible. His appearance on the gallery’s first exhibition poster connects the image to Fitzpatrick’s ambitions for both his own work and a community of artists in Chicago. For longtime followers and those just discovering his art, the release offers a connection to that early chapter while helping his family care for what comes next. In 1988, Tony left Chicago to find a career as an artist in NY. In NY he experienced something he often described as “unimagined possibilities” of creativity, supported by a rebellious artcommunity. When he returned to Chicago in 1989, he was determined to create the “art community” he experienced in NY. In 1989 and with the help of several friends, he opened The World Tattoo Gallery in the crumbling area of the South Loop. The space was a 6000 square foot loft at the corner of 13th and Wabash dedicated to emerging visual artists and performance art. Among the many heroes Tony idealized in his work, Houdini was the most relevant to him during this period of his career. Houdini represented “escape” and a man who would achievethe impossible challenge. The legendary Friday night openings at World Tattoo would see an average of a 1000 people attending. The gallery was described by many as a phenomenon and a testimony to Tony’sboundless energy and dedication his city, Chicago. He created this poster to honor the grand opening of World Tattoo Gallery. “Houdini” is a limited edition of 500 prints and will come with a certificate of authenticity. The World Tattoo Poster measures 12.5 × 18 inches and is available for $100 at&nbsp;<a href="https://tonyfitzpatrick.co/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tonyfitzpatrick.co</a>.

A Poster from Tony Fitzpatrick’s Early Years Supports His Legacy

<h3>Building a collection that reflects you</h3> <h3>CGN’s Spring/Summer 2026 issue featured&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/cgn-collecting-101" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Collecting 101</a>, and now we are pleased to continue sharing some tips and advice about starting and building an art collection that is one you want to take care of and nurture because it is a reflection of your own passions and tastes.&nbsp;</h3><h3> </h3><h3>We’re also sharing a few words of wisdom from collectors we have profiled over the years.&nbsp;</h3><h3> </h3><h3>Our most recent profile of collectors Macol and José Cerda in our fall issue features a collection built over many years and which is a very personal reflection of taste that has evolved through generations.&nbsp;</h3><h3> </h3><h3>– CGN</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789134190/zx31f0fxjcpzheouaue1.jpg">CGN has interviewed dozens of art collectors over the years. Some images from collections are pictured above: Top left: William Lieberman; top right: Christopher Craft; Lower right: Michelle Edwards; Lower left: Melissa Weber and Jay Dandy. <h3 class="ql-indent-1">Collector Wisdom:&nbsp;</h3> “Don’t buy anything for six months. If you’re really into art, start by going to as many gallery and museum exhibitions as you can. See what curators are interested in...See what artists and dealers are excited about. You need to learn as much as possible and develop your own taste.”– Zach Smith, CGN 2023 “It is always a thrill when a piece by an artist in&nbsp;our collection is borrowed for a major exhibition... Attending the openings is enormously gratifying&nbsp;and is a great way to meet other curators, collectors, and arts patrons from around the country.”&nbsp;– Michael Robertson and Christopher Slapak,&nbsp;CGN 2025 <h4>1. Don’t Be Afraid to Let Your Collection Evolve</h4> Your first purchases don’t have to define your collection forever. As you visit more exhibitions and meet more artists, your tastes will naturally grow and change.&nbsp; Some collectors keep their early purchases as a reminder of where they started, while others may resell or pass certain works of art on to new owners in order to clarify a new focus or simply to make wall space. <h4>2. Buy with Intention</h4> Instead of asking, “Does this match what I already own?” ask, “Does this add something new?” Great collections are built through curiosity, not perfection. This isn’t to say impulse purchases are bad, since sometimes you just have to buy what you love and make it work. That’s the heart of a personal collection, but serious collectors tend to want to enrich a body of work by filling in gaps or deepening the range of art by a particular artist.&nbsp; <h4>3. There’s No Right Way to Collect</h4> Some collectors focus on one artist. Others collect across mediums or themes. The best collections reflect the people who build them. Buying art comes with a lot of information. It’s OK to filter the noise and just look, listen and decide for yourself.&nbsp; <h4>4. Build Relationships</h4> Collectors don’t just collect art—they become part of an arts community. Get to know galleries, attend openings, ask questions, and stay connected with artists whose work resonates with you. Touring galleries and exhibitions with fellow collectors is collegial, not competitive. A social life connected to art undoubtedly makes engagement with the art market more fun and more personal, as you get to know the artists working today while also making friends with other collectors as well as gallery owners and curators.&nbsp; Fall is an ideal time to attend benefits and art walks that put you in social settings around art while also supporting institutions that need resources and an engaged audience.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/events?filter=upcoming&amp;page=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CGN’s calendar</a> offers a lineup of the season’s most fun events.&nbsp; <h4>5. Practice Self-Care for Your Collection</h4> Keep records of your purchases, frame works properly, avoid direct sunlight, and don’t hesitate to ask galleries for advice about installation and conservation. Once you have purchased a work of art, treat it well so it can live a long life. Light, water and temperature can each wreak a lot of havoc on delicate works of art.

A short guide to art collecting from CGN, fall 2026

CGN Collecting 102

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961898/skkuau3by2vcm5kzmgkx.jpg">Jobe Gemmell-Hughes, Towards Passage, 2026, oil on canvas, 10” x 15” This interview is part of CGN's Fall 2026 issue.&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" target="_blank">Purchase a copy or subscribe.</a> By Curtis Anthony Bozif Upon learning that Dan Devening and Elizabeth Lalley&nbsp;would be co-curating a three-person exhibition at Devening Projects this fall, and that the show would explore inwardness, privacy, and the domestic, I was eager to find out more and get both of their thoughts on curation and collaboration, as well as to hear from Lalley about what it’s been like to return to the art world after stepping away from it for a while. Curtis Anthony Bozif: Dan and Elizabeth, can you tell me what the impetus for this exhibition was and how it came together? Dan, can you talk specifically about your decision to collaborate with another curator?&nbsp; Dan Devening: For the opening exhibition of our fall 2026 season at Devening Projects, I had planned a solo show of recent paintings by Jobe Gemmell-Hughes, a young artist recently graduated with his BFA from SAIC. His paintings from this year seem acutely relevant to our times: dark, impressionistic, densely textured canvases that seem preoccupied with trying to capture a delicate balance between apprehension and euphoria. These paintings really resonate with me, more so because so much of what they express comes through his touch and sensitivity to his medium. I looked forward to debuting this work but had not yet considered an artist with whom to pair him.&nbsp; With two spaces in the gallery, I typically feature a pair of solo projects for each show. I had recently connected again with Elizabeth, as she and her husband Billy James Joyce moved into a studio space in the same building as the gallery. Elizabeth was talking about how she was looking forward to relaunching Slow Dance Projects now that she had returned to Chicago after living in Michigan for a year. I always loved Elizabeth’s curation at Slow Dance, particularly her focus on strong emerging artists. We’re also both deeply committed to the material integrity of the work. In her shows at Slow Dance it was the delicate atmospheres evident in the paintings of Noelle Africh as well as the visceral and primordial sculpture of Travis Morehead. I knew she would have a particularly interesting way to build a show with Jobe’s paintings as a starting point. With my invitation to contribute ideas to how this show might evolve, we agreed that co-curating Road to the Farthest Room would lead to something fantastic. We considered several propositions that resulted in adding the Detroit-based painter Julia Firestone Callis and the Chicago sculptor Ben Driggs to the mix. There were threads in the work of each artist that suggested interiority, domestic spaces and uneasiness. From a curatorial standpoint, we began with the idea that each of the two painters would be showcased in a solo show, one in each of the two galleries. We asked Ben to consider making small installations for both spaces that would reveal something even more mysterious in the paintings of the other artists. Through the witchy, wonderfully eccentric constructions and castings he makes, we knew Ben would add a layer of depth and mystery to a show already thick with emotional and psychological undercurrents.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961898/gitabcxvgoepbz3i1tj4.jpg">Left: Julia Callis, A Chair in the room upstairs Pt. 1, 2024,&nbsp;Acrylic, colored pencil, on board, 31.5 x 15.5”Right: Julia Callis, Pedestrian Equestrian, 2026, Acrylic on board,&nbsp;36.75 x 26.6” CAB: Elizabeth, your curatorial project, Slow Dance, is currently on hiatus. In different periods of my life, I too have stepped away from the art world, and my return to it, if I’m being honest, hasn’t always been easy. I wonder what this experience has been like for you. Did it clarify anything? How do you think your time away has influenced this exhibition?&nbsp; Elizabeth Lalley: The hiatus was really a hiatus from urban life, to which the art world was sort of inextricably linked. We moved to rural Michigan for a year, a bit impulsively, after fantasizing about it for a while. I think I was in a place, in terms of my relationship with the art world, where I was just moving through things a little robotically. I wasn’t seeking things out or exploring or being driven by my own curiosity the way I had been before. I was feeling too impressionable, feeling in a little bit of an echo chamber, and I was working at SAIC in Graduate Admissions, so I was also tired from juggling a creative practice and an intense arts administrator role.&nbsp; As soon as we moved, we found out we were having a baby, so that intensified the hiatus too. We were living with so much space around us—big skies, fields—and I spent a lot of time writing and just remembering my influences, the things I return to, the art I love. We came back to Chicago when our son was 3 months old and I felt immense renewed excitement and love for the city and the art scene here.&nbsp; I’ve respected Dan and his program for a long time, and the opportunity for this show had me spending a lot of time thinking about who I would want to work with, after this break from curation and after such a personal shift.&nbsp; Julia is someone whose work I looked at a lot over the past few years, and there’s a deeply personal resonance I feel with her practice, in terms of connection to Detroit, love for food and for home. And Ben, who is also a dear friend of mine and my husband’s, is one of the most creative, incredible makers I know and he doesn’t operate in a traditional gallery context. So there was also a vulnerability in inviting him to be part of this that felt very real and true to me, especially when feeling a vulnerability myself of coming back to something as a new mother, which can be such an isolating time. I feel more invested in developing true relationships and making things without affect or pretense than ever before. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961899/mrcyq3urjxkrl27y2sy6.jpg">Left: Ben Driggs, Cell Cage, 2026, steel, wood, cloth, 8 x 7 x 13”. Right: Ben Driggs, Bath Light, 2026, copper, 41 x 16 x 16” CAB: Could you tell me a little bit more about each of the artists and their practices? Dan has already alluded to how their work might suggest “interiority, domestic spaces and uneasiness.” What other ideas, states of mind, or feelings do you hope to explore or elicit in this exhibition? DD:&nbsp; As I said, Jobe’s paintings reflect a young painter’s desire to tease out the emotional and psychological states of searching and discovery through the process of making. It’s as if he’s mapping the inside of his own mind, looking closely at the circuits and neurons that interconnect to form what then reads as physical space. To me, his paintings suggest landscape, but rarely does a horizon appear. Instead, what he conjures are expansive chambers that feel both vast and claustrophobic—environments with so much surface activation that the air itself feels close, the space encroaching. That pressure could only come through the patient accumulation of his surfaces. Mark by mark, pigment layered and scraped onto an already heavily worked canvas.&nbsp; We love how Ben’s work suggests a different kind of intense focus—that of a hermetic tinkerer who takes what material is most readily available and breathes life into it with delicate craftsmanship and delightful whimsy. Everything is functional. Everything has specific domestic use. The work is clearly sculpture, but as Ben says, each object has a specific place in his home and functions with purpose. Although often highly peculiar, each sculpture has a reference and use that becomes more apparent as the work is experienced. EL: And to echo this, there’s something about the intense specificity of Ben’s pieces that I think makes them even more mysterious, as they’re sort of “unhomed” and brought into the gallery. It makes me think a little about how, when you isolate a single word and poke at it, it can expand and expand the more you look at and investigate it. Ben is so deeply focused in his making, yet so expansive—he seems to hold so much at once. He’s also deeply invested and interested in outsider artists and artists’ homes and art environments. He and his wife, Ash, are intensely curious about the way people live with objects and put objects into the world. Something he said recently to me was that Ash showed him a picture of a door Ruth Asawa carved from redwood for her home in San Francisco, and how Ben was more drawn to it than to any of her better-known artworks. This interest in the sort of “non-professional” parts of an artist’s life—the parts that don’t seem to fit a prescribed space or arch—are important to Ben. DD: For me, Julia’s paintings have a surreal lightness that’s less present in the work of the other two artists. Her paintings are graceful and open—there’s room to move, room to breathe. That sense comes through in how her characters seem to freely populate the work: they float and hover, not always in control of their own trajectory, but clearly active, buoyant, alive. That lightness carries through in her palette too, which ranges from colors grounded in nature to more richly saturated hues, bringing a wonderfully joyful energy to the work. Her paintings are important to this project because they offer a lyricism and cadence less present in the other two artists’ work. Together, these three artists reveal how each might dig deep into their own inner states to tune into the frequency the times demand. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788961900/b5toe9klgcf2ut3bdntf.jpg">Jobe Gemmell–Hughes, Gulf, 2026, oil on canvas, 74 x 46” CAB: Collaboration of any kind involves giving up some control and putting your trust in the people you work with. I’m thinking of your collaboration as co-curators, but I’m also thinking about how you’re working with artists, much of whose work I understand is still in progress. What is it like for both of you, giving up some control and trusting each other and your artists? DD: From my experience running a gallery, collaboration has always offered more opportunities for positive gain than any real loss of control. Working with other curators and artists on projects and shows lets my ideas expand beyond my own limitations. There are always new angles from which to see a concept; I rely on my collaborators and co-curators to lead me in unexpected directions that make a show better, more rigorous, and more interesting. This is especially true when working with artists showing at the gallery. When I begin working on an exhibition, I know the artist will already have ideas about what they’d like to show and how. My role is to offer thoughts on how that vision can be realized within the spaces of the gallery—that’s where I think my contributions are most useful. I know the possibilities and limitations of the rooms, how full or empty a show should feel based on the work, and how visitors tend to move through and around the installations. I share that with the artists, and together we arrive at a strategy that most successfully and accurately reflects their intent. For this show, we’re in close contact with the artists as they fine-tune the work they’d like to feature in their installations. In most cases, we’ll have more work than we can show, which allows for flexibility and gives real collaboration room to happen. Each of the three artists, along with Elizabeth and I, will spend a good amount of time with the work in the galleries. For me, this is a chance to get to know the artists and their most recent work better—which is the greatest pleasure of collaborating: meeting the artists and growing closer to both them and their work. EL: I love collaboration. Sometimes I forget how much I love it until I’m working on something with others, and then I realize how much I miss it when I’m working in solitude. Being together with artists in a space, watching how the space and the work are responding to each other, all of that is, to me, the very best part of the process. There can be real surprises, and the different perspectives that everyone brings make the space and the work feel really alive. Working on this with Dan as a co-curator has been such a wonderful opportunity for me because I have such respect for his program. He has an exquisite and incisive eye, and his tastes feel varied while also running deep and feeling very honest.&nbsp; Road to the Farthest Room is a three-person exhibition featuring the work of Julia Callis, Ben Driggs and Jobe Gemmell–Hughes, co-curated by&nbsp;Elizabeth Lalley and Dan Devening <a href="http://deveningprojects.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Devening Projects</a>September 13–October 24, 2026Reception September 13, 3 – 5 pm3039 W. CarrollChicago, IL 60612 #

Road to the Farthest Room: Elizabeth Lalley + Dan Devening Collaborate

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788240358/f6y8xpvz5bwbl9qzyypw.jpg"> By GINNY VAN ALYEA This summer, an old camp song came back to me: “Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver and the other’s gold.”&nbsp; I consider that perspective one of the privileges of publishing Chicago Gallery News. Year after year, CGN connects our audience to new artists, exhibitions, and ideas while honoring the history, relationships, and city that have made us a resource since 1982. After nearly 25 years with CGN, I’m especially aware of how much there is to appreciate around us—both what is new and what has endured. We are proud of our new fall edition and hope you will pick up a copy in a gallery or <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subscribe</a>. This issue’s cover artist, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/a-poem-for-deep-thinkers-rashid-johnson-returns-to-chicago" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rashid Johnson</a>, returns to his hometown for a 30-year career retrospective at the MCA that traces the importance of where he got his start alongside what his art explores today. Johnson counts many local supporters as key to his success, and he advises young artists to keep their eye on the prize and to think about creativity as a long-term opportunity, not a short one. We look back to 2005, when Bad at Sports got its start—the podcast before we all listened to podcasts—after co-founder Duncan Mackenzie saw a need to discuss contemporary art in Chicago with other artists. CGN regularly offers a look inside private art collections in Chicago. A collection built over time bears witness to artists’ careers, as well as how local galleries adapt to the market. Collectors like Macol and José Cerda refine their tastes and collect because of a shared passion and love of creative and intellectual engagement.&nbsp; We also examine how artists and architects, from Andi Crist to Scotland’s Charles Rennie Mackintosh, take creative risks without knowing what challenges the future may bring. Both benefited from meaningful support at important moments, even as circumstances beyond their control tested what they created. Their stories offer perspective on why supporting artists and their ideas in the present can have an impact far into the future. All these stories, and more, are in our printed edition and will be posted online in the coming days and weeks. For almost four and a half decades, CGN has connected artists, galleries, museums, and collectors while documenting the remarkable creativity that defines Chicago’s place in the art world. As you enjoy this fall art season, I encourage you to appreciate what has come before—and to consider how your engagement today helps shape what comes next. # Also make sure to follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chigallerynews/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CGN on Instagram</a> to see what we're seeing this fall! <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1788240358/uxemsni8bmwyl8ccrikg.jpg">On the cover:&nbsp;RASHID JOHNSON. Pictured: ‘Broken Crowd “The President’s Audience,”’ 2026, at The Obama Presidential Center, Chicago, IL. Credit: The Obama Foundation.&nbsp;Feature interview by Susan Gescheidle. CGN's Fall 2026 edition is out now and celebrates all there is to see this fall in Chicago and beyond. Featured stories include: – Cover Interview: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/a-poem-for-deep-thinkers-rashid-johnson-returns-to-chicago" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Artist Rashid Johnson</a>– The Collection of Macol and José Cerda– Andi Crist: The Art of the Pun&nbsp;– Hyde Park Art Center’s Not Just Another Pretty Face Returns– West Town: The Development of an Arts District– R. Justin Stewart at VSG Contemporary– The Restoration of a Masterpiece:&nbsp;Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Scottish Hill House– The Invisible Journey of Public Art– Bad at Sports Turns 21– Dan Devening and Elizabeth Lalley Collaborate– Artful Holidays in Chicago

CGN Publisher's Letter: Fall 2026

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485416/fibiltdkewnb9g71oryv.jpg">Cobalt Light No.1Acrylic &amp; spray paint onwood panel &amp; neon17.5” x 3.5” x 13.5"Photo credit: Kerri Spiteri By SUSAN GESCHEIDLE Stepping into Echoes in Bloom at Museum &amp; Crane Arts, I was hit with an instant eye-candy rush from the luscious, saccharine paintings and glowing neon. This is the first solo gallery exhibition for LA and Chicago-based multidisciplinary visual artist and DJ, Kerri Spiteri. The work dives straight into her obsession with light and shadows. Eight pieces make up the show: four sculptural paintings on wood incorporating neon elements, and four paintings on canvas. Custom neon glass rods do more than just glow—they cast physical shadows that alter the pieces depending on the time of day or night. Aside from Inside Out No. 1 (2026), a larger 33" x 48" acrylic and spray paint piece, the other works are modest in scale; their size feels beautifully at home inside this intimate, domestic exhibition space housed in a historic Gold Coast building. Spiteri grew up around parents who were artists and a circle of their creative friends, sparking an early fascination with making things. She was constantly dismantling VCRs and old TVs to figure out their mechanics. That curiosity shifted when she watched a neon artist use fire to bend glass like magic, planting a dream to work with light. Years later, learning that traditional neon craftsmanship was dying out due to cheap LEDs, she decided she couldn't wait around—she dove headfirst into mastering the craft herself. Spiteri notes that the relationship between the painting and the neon glass rods constantly shifts. In some works, she finishes the painting first, letting the neon react to the surface. In others, she starts with a raw neon line and builds the composition around that shape. This process ensures that the glass rod and the painted surface exist in a dynamic, unpredictable conversation. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485417/rezln53pr0ztuh5tktdp.jpg">Magenta Light No. 1 (detail)Acrylic &amp; spraypaint on woodpanel &amp; neon24” x 3.5” x 13”Photo credit: Kerri Spiteri My affinity for pink and red made Magenta Light No. 1 (2024) an instant favorite. This is a vibrant, 3-dimensional 13" x 24" x 3 1/2" acrylic and spray paint on wood panel piece. Depending on the time of day and the ambient lighting, the cobalt blue glass rod can cast a shadow across the surface whether lit or unlit. When turned on, especially at night, the combination of blue glass and neon gas projects a gorgeous orange-red wash that bleeds into the painting, illuminating the surrounding space. The focus shifts completely when looking closely at Inside Out No. 1. This bold, saturated canvas—along with the other traditional paintings—makes up the newest work in the show. It is the most visually intense piece in the exhibition, combining a vivid reddish-pink with softer pink, orange, and blue. The layered spray paint and acrylic mimic a soft, atmospheric haze, giving the canvas a deep, luminous quality. Beyond the visual impact of the neon pieces, learning how Spiteri achieves her specific colors is fascinating. The glow depends entirely on the gas pumped into her custom periwinkle, cobalt, and dusty pink tubes—neon gas glows orange-red, while argon gas with mercury produces blue. Since there are no filaments to break, they can theoretically glow for decades. Spiteri demonstrated how built-in dimmers alter the light. Because she is also a DJ, this interactive choice makes perfect sense; just like mixing records to shift a room's energy, these dimmers let viewers tweak the light to design their own atmosphere. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485417/ppoea27ehl4uqgsbfn62.jpg">Installation view. Photo credit: Museum &amp; Crane Arts. Spiteri handles all construction herself—from bending the glass to the woodworking, wiring, and installation. She made the frames for this exhibition out of poplar with a linseed finish. These works function as complete, unified objects rather than paintings with neon added on top. She even took a piece off the wall during the opening to show guests the intricate mechanics on the back. To keep the presentation pristine, matching cord covers camouflage the power line running to a power strip tucked out of sight behind the sofa. The result is a beautifully clean, minimal installation. Watching the space at dusk, I noticed how the room completely transforms. With two floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the neon reflection in the opposite windows blurs colors with city lights outside. This mix of neon and city views matches Spiteri’s daily life, since she splits her time living between LA and Chicago. Indeed, neon is an iconic part of American culture, traditionally lighting up storefront signs, bars, and restaurants. Across all eight works, her sharp punch of color hits a great frequency that ties everything together. While the neon-integrated paintings could have easily dominated the space and overshadowed the four poetic, minimal traditional works, they do not. The canvases remain solid and resplendent. Ultimately, Spiteri’s conversation between light and shadow makes Echoes in Bloom a satisfying exhibition. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485418/cnjkbobzrdxwyyy5wh0h.jpg">The artist in front of one of her works. # Thru October 31, 2026at Museum &amp; Crane Arts Open by appointment.Scheduling now for Chicago Exhibition Week.Please contact Caryn Capotosto at <a href="mailto:caryn@museumandcrane.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(56, 101, 115);" target="_blank">caryn@museumandcrane.com</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/museumcranearts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@museumcranearts</a><a href="https://museumcranearts.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Museumcranearts.org</a>

Kerri Spiteri's Neon Eye Candy at Museum & Crane Arts

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661784/mjxxe7u9kbwmjvrjz689.jpg">On view at Cleve Carney Museum of Art By GINNY VAN ALYEA I, like so many in the US, have finally gotten the World Cup bug. But while I love watching the matches, there is a limit to how much I will tune in for. Luckily, there are two very well-timed art exhibitions in Chicago that are focused on the sport of football that we can all enjoy as well. As the FIFA World Cup captures global attention, the two Chicago-area exhibitions examining the sport through the lens of contemporary art and documentary photography are locally based. In West Town,&nbsp;<a href="The exhibition features new and recent work by Gabrielle Bianco, Chris Cosnowski, Adehle Daley, Modou Dieng Yacine, Aaron Eskridge, Sébastien Johnson, Duncan McGillivray-Smith, and Ed Oh. Working across diverse practices and perspective, these artists approach soccer as both a subject and a lens. From the roar of the stadium to the intimacy of a neighborhood pickup game, from the elation of a last-minute goal to the weight of systemic inequalities within the sport’s governing bodies, the works on view capture what makes soccer so enduringly powerful: its ability to contain multitudes." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elise Seigenthaler Gallery</a>&nbsp;is presenting&nbsp;The Soccer Show: A Celebration of the World Cup, on view through&nbsp;Aug. 22. The exhibition features new and recent work by Gabrielle Bianco, Chris Cosnowski, Adehle Daley, Modou Dieng Yacine, Aaron Eskridge, Sébastien Johnson, Duncan McGillivray-Smith, and Ed Oh. Working across diverse practices and perspective, these artists approach soccer as both a subject and a lens. From the roar of the stadium to the intimacy of a neighborhood pickup game, from the elation of a last-minute goal to the weight of systemic inequalities within the sport’s governing bodies, the works on view capture what makes soccer so enduringly powerful: its ability to contain multitudes.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661785/bfrurbzvfto2nwg3xef5.jpg">At Elise Seigenthaler Gallery In Glen Ellyn, the&nbsp;Cleve Carney Museum of Art&nbsp;is featuring&nbsp;The Saturday Man: At the Edge of the Game, a survey of photographs by&nbsp;Peter Robinson, who spent decades documenting soccer around the world, including 20 years as FIFA's official photographer. Rather than focusing solely on the action on the field, the exhibition highlights the fans, rituals, communities and personalities that define the game. The Saturday Man: At the Edge of the Game presents 53 photographs depicting the world’s most popular sport through the eyes of the acclaimed photographer Peter Robinson. Robinson has spent over six decades documenting everything from the intensely local British football of the 1960s, to the unconventional (and now defunct) North American Soccer League, and the evolution into today’s game of billionaires and superstars. His time as the official photographer for FIFA and contributions to publications, such as Onze and Sports Illustrated, cemented his reputation as one of the leading photographers of his generation. However, what defines Robinson as an artist is his distinctive skill in storytelling, utilizing football to explore the human condition. Through decades of change in the worlds of football and photojournalism, Robinson’s unique artistry contrasts an increasingly commercialized version of the formerly grassroots sport.The exhibition remains on view through&nbsp;Aug. 9. Together, the exhibitions offer two distinct perspectives on the world's most popular sport—one through contemporary artistic interpretation and the other through the work of one of soccer's most accomplished documentary photographers. While the sport itself is gaining ground and enthusiasm throughout the country, these two locally available exhibitions offer a different way to view football on and off the field. #

Chicago-Area Exhibitions Celebrate the World Cup Through Art and Photography

This is the third article in The Life of an Artwork, a three-part series about what happens to your artwork or collection over time, and what artists and collectors can do now to shape those outcomes. The series offers practical approaches to documentation, organization, valuation, and dispersal before those decisions are left to family members, executors, or chance. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263303/mqk3r0ikeyvob1erocnp.jpg"> By Mary E. Longe What happens next is not one decision. It is a series of them. By the time artists and collectors ask, what happens to all of it? and the work has been inventoried, the issue is no longer what exists, but what to do with it. This is where intention becomes real.Ideally, the inventory process already includes a plan. Begin by identifying what exists, where it is, and what documentation accompanies it. For artists, the first distinction is between what represents the work now and what does not. Not every piece belongs in circulation. Some work carries forward, aligned with current direction and ready to be sold or placed through appropriate channels. Other work may still hold value, but requires a different path, gifts, direct sales, reuse, educational placement, or storage outside the core of the practice. Some works are meant to be destroyed. Collectors face a parallel decision. Collectors range from those who acquire major works to those who buy signed prints from graffiti artists, accumulate brass hose nozzles, inherit family artwork, or collect fiber art dolls, digital works, and NFTs. Eventually, the question becomes not only what to keep, but what to release, what to pass on, and how. Collections contain works with financial, historical, and personal value, and understanding the difference matters when planning dispersal. Selling is often the most visible option, but it is not a single path. For work already established within gallery, collector, or secondary market channels, artists can begin with direct outreach to current collectors and existing gallery relationships. Consignment galleries, where work is sold on behalf of the artist or estate, are another option. Galleries are approached by hundreds of artists, estates, and families each year, making it essential to research whether the work genuinely fits the gallery’s mission, audience, and review process before making contact. Specialty collections, from fiber art dolls to brass hose nozzles and graffiti prints, may be better served through collector groups, auctions, blogs, forums, and organizations where collectors gather. For unsold work, older work, or work outside traditional fine art markets, artists or inheritors may organize studio sales, temporary storefront sales, or estate sales. Existing galleries may help place selected work, while collectors and inheritors can contact local or online auction houses, such as Live Auctioneers, as well as online resale platforms, such as Chairish, Artsy, 1stDibs, for pieces better suited to secondary markets. Each route carries different implications for pricing, visibility, and continuity. Thoughtful placement can reinforce an artist’s trajectory. Resale introduces another layer. Auction houses and secondary platforms provide access, but also reduce control. Prices become public and sales histories become part of the record. Entering resale markets should be a deliberate decision, not simply the easiest option. Gifting and donation require planning. Work given to family, friends, or institutions should include receipts, photographs, exhibition history, and notes about when or why the piece was made. A signature somewhere on the work is imperative, even if discreet. Labels, exhibition title cards, or inventory numbers attached to the back of the work can prevent confusion years later. Without that information, artwork can quickly lose provenance, context, and value once it leaves the artist or collector. Donation to thrift or resale venues can weaken the perceived value of the work for existing collectors and the artist’s larger body of work. Offering the work back to the artist first is often the better option.Some decisions are more practical than sentimental. Large works, fragile materials, and storage costs often shape dispersal decisions. Work may return to the studio to be reworked, archived, or documented more clearly. Some work may need to be removed from circulation entirely when it no longer represents the artist’s direction. In closing an art practice, supplies, tools, and equipment can also be included in studio sales or donated to reuse organizations such as The WasteShed or Creative Reuse Exchange in Chicago. Digital work requires the same organization. Files should be named, backed up, and transferred with passwords, access instructions, and ownership records preserved. For NFTs, wallet information, keys, and contract details must remain accessible. Shared password records or designated digital executors can prevent work from becoming inaccessible. Documentation matters. Every sale, gift, donation, transfer, or removal should be recorded. Keeping receipts, photographs, and notes with the work preserves provenance and makes future decisions easier. Families should not be expected to identify artwork, understand markets, or reconstruct intentions without written guidance. These decisions are easiest when made before a health crisis, sudden move, or estate settlement forces them. For artists, the body of work does not end with its creation. The same is true for collectors. The best time to decide what happens to the work is while the artist or collector can still explain it. In the end, what happens to all of it is not solved by one path, but by making thoughtful decisions along the way. Work that moves with intention retains its meaning. Work that moves without it risks losing value. Mary E. Longe is the author of <a href="https://www.marylonge.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Art Legacy Compass: Managing, Downsizing and Transitioning an Artist’s Studio and Estate</a>. She holds a certificate in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London), is former Executive Director, Plein Air Painters Chicago, a contributor to Plein Air Magazine and other art publications. She is the author of five published books in healthcare. Longe is also an artist, who creates multimedia artworks with an eye on the current socio-political experience. Longe’s collage art has been critiqued in Made in Bed Magazine, and her plein air art in New City online magazine. Besides her art and writing life, Mary Longe’s professional career included twenty years working for the American Hospital Association, and 17 years, as founder and CEO of Longe Life Libraries, which designed specialty consumer health libraries for health care organizations and other businesses. She can be reached at mary.longe@gmail.com.

Final part of series about what to do with an artist's estate

The Life of an Artwork: How It Moves On

<h3>These stand-alone creative stores are what make shopping and gift-giving fun as well as meaningful to an artist or store owner. Sometimes spending time in the following spaces is as good as stepping into an artist’s studio to see what catches their eye, and maybe yours too.&nbsp;</h3><h3> </h3><h3>– CGN</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661447/x6iqnxrbdl8ro35ejxos.jpg">Serizawa&nbsp;Bundle of&nbsp;Stationery Joy. $68.00 BARI ZAKI stocks many magical items in her North Lincoln Ave. store, including heirloom-quality hand-bound books and albums, washi tape, pencils, erasers and wrapping paper so pretty you can frame it. She also assembles seasonal paper bundles that are enveloped in materials like vintage calendar pages from the 1980’s beribboned with Japanese flat cord. Each bundle is unique and contains around 20 artist and designer notecards, envelopes and postcards from Zaki’s vast collection. You can order online, but you should definitely go in person.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.barizaki.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">barizaki.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661448/bo4mpco1gdigq2fe16q4.jpg">Monument Bookend. Italian White Carrara marble, black&nbsp;neoprene. Single bookend, 8” high, 6” deep and wide. $180.&nbsp; Artist and SAIC grad Jean Cate named her shop Martha Mae: Art Supplies &amp; Beautiful Things after her beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The store offers a curated selection of tools for writing, drawing, painting and ceramics as well as special supplies for everyday life – from puzzles and key rings to stemless wine glasses – crafted by brands and artisans from around the world. Many products use reusable, recycled or refillable formats. Cate’s sister shop, The Center of Order and Experimentation, is the home to the Martha Mae Outpost and is located in West Town.&nbsp; <a href="https://marthamae.info" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">marthamae.info</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661449/a4leile9355g42i9og7n.jpg">Chicago Sign Painter Tee. $35.00 MIDWEST NICE aims to genuinely celebrate the Midwest’s vibrant creativity and warm welcomes. Here you can discover one-of-a-kind gifts, apparel, and artwork from over 100 local artists and makers across the Midwest. Thoughtfully curated, community-driven and always full of heart you wear on your sleeves, head or wherever. Give this shirt to anyone who loves hand-painted grocer signs (who doesn’t?)&nbsp; Midwest Nice has store locations in Lincoln Square in Chicago and on Third Street in Geneva, IL. <a href="https://www.midwestnice.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">midwestnice.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661449/uhm6y9s8bcgnlot9ter4.jpg">Cloud Tissue Box Cover by JOYTOAST. 3D Printed to order in Chicago and made from&nbsp;eco BioPlastic from plants! $24.00&nbsp; HUMBOLDT HOUSE is a feminist home goods store founded in 2013 in Humboldt Park by Claire Tibbs as a celebration of the home and all its happenings — from nightly rituals to morning routines, snack time to candle hour. HH offers items unique to Chicago alongside beautiful pet toys, baby and kid gifts, paper goods, and very personal items... HH also offers monthly subscription boxes by theme–cooking or self-care plus pet treats–starting at $75/mo. <a href="https://humboldthouseco.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">humboldthouseco.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661450/t0xnbrcertrxwaflvyl9.jpg">Rachel Quinn. Crowned Skull Necklace. 14kt yellow gold skull with diamond eyes. Sapphire, diamond, ruby crown Tahitian Pearl drop. $ 2,050.00 VIRTU in Bucktown has been family owned and operated for over 25 years. They sell fine jewelry, whimsical children’s plush toys, witty greeting cards, artisan throw blankets, incense bundles, and much more. They are champions of artists, small business and community. Their long tenure in a rapidly changing part of the city is testament to how much the neighborhood loves and supports them.&nbsp; <a href="https://www.virtuforyou.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Virtuforyou.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661452/wl4rgobajyjeugjfcjfo.jpg">Isabelle Gougenheim Designs | Scarf. 21 x 21”, 75% Modal 25% Cupro. Designed in Chicago. $ 235 Located in Hyde Park and founded by&nbsp;Eric Williams in 1997, THE SILVER ROOM has been supporting local designers, hosting events and building community for over 20 years. TSR features product categories like Chicago Made and Black Owned, with a range of offerings from enamel pins by Wicker Park’s Transit Tees, to luxury scarves by Isabelle Gougenhiem, jewelry, hand-painted trucker hats, soaps (made by Soap Distillery, one is called Beer and Cigarettes) and totes. Many items you won’t find easily anywhere else. <a href="https://thesilverroom.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">thesilverroom.com</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661453/rvv5o0fbpti7qvg3zksc.jpg"> BUDDY, at the Chicago Cultural Center downtown, sells a range of art objects by local artists. Each of Chicago-based Mayumi Lake’s 6” x 6” ornaments feature colorful flower motifs from antique girl kimonos, mini works of art you can display on a holiday tree or anywhere all year long. $30 each.&nbsp; <a href="https://hi-buddy.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hi-buddy.org</a>

Shop Happy: Independent Stores with Art and More

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661416/jsox7rotszeqjzfmlfgy.jpg">Francis Bacon, Figure with Meat, oil on canvas, 1954. Without frame: 129.9 × 121.9 cm (51 3/16 × 48 in.); 129.9 × 122 cm (51 1/8 × 48 in.) Harriott A. Fox Fund. © 2016 Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. / ARS, New York / DACS, London By MAC PIERCE In a version of Children of Men in which culture has consolidated and that which is valuable degrades, this is my Guernica. In this scenario my home has a few Richters, maybe a Goya from his Black Paintings, but Figure with Meat hangs alone in the living room. It is a vile painting that evokes dark truths, transfixing anyone that views it with its awful beauty. The figure appears to sit alone in featureless room composed of black walls that engulf the central figure. To the right of the figure is a wall that does not end at the furthest plane at the end of the room, implying that there is an exit to this space, forever out of view. Standing in front of this painting, I got the sense that the room may have had another treatment. Instead, the walls had been painted over with black reinforced by the uneven treatment of the seams between floor and ceiling. It’s an intentional application, with brushstrokes working towards a vanishing point instead of a consistent unidirectional application. It is a space without place – a nowhere that could be any sort of dungeon / blacksite / void - with the only way out is forever inaccessible. You are stuck with the figure and that figure is screaming. The face and hands of the pontiff that occupies the center of the frame are the color of dead flesh, grey with hints of colors that suggest other features. Its head is grotesque, a lopsided nose and lips drawn back over a slack mouth, one eye fully open but rendered as a pit and the other swollen closed like that of a boxer. It is not the face of a corpse laid gently to rest; violence has been enacted upon it. The rigor mortise of an image committed to dried paint set this pope so that it is locked looking at the viewer, all while it occupies the regal pose of a dignitary – seated in a ghostly throne with one arm crossing its lap. The robes of the pope are brighter than the figure, a deep unfaded blue unfitting the state of decay of the wearer. It’s discordant and to hazard a few guesses, could be gesturing at any number of things – the ways in which ideology and systems will outlive their creators, or simply how even the holiest of holies on earth – the voice of God on earth – will rot.&nbsp; Which is why, shadowing the figure like a pair of wings, the hanging sides of a slaughtered animal drive home that there is no life in this frame. Whatever it was, it is another living thing that has had violence enacted upon it, eviscerated and bifurcated, freshly having crossed the boundary in which a corpse instead becomes meat. Through the suspended meat, Bacon also depicts the most vibrant flesh as that which is unquestionably dead. The space between the gristle of the ribs is the crimson of fresh blood. The skin on the exterior is warm, having not yet gone grey. Between which elements is a visible underpainted layer of cobalt blue – more vibrant beyond the indigo of the papal robes. It has a purity to it, depicting something recognizable in an otherwise ghostly composition while also imparting a value judgement – the meat is real, while the figure of ideology is rotten. In the end though, this whole piece is allusion – even the most highly rendered object in the frame is blurred. Areas of the composition that may have been detailed appear to have had the broad side of a paint knife dragged over them while other aspects are constituted by blocks of color. The whole work has fuzzy edges of a dream (nightmare), if not for the graphic icon taking the form of an arrow pointing directly at the head of the seated pope. It’s another discordant addition, flexing the scene into something altogether different. The highlighting of an object through the use of a pointing arrow is the sort of addition usually reserved for didactic purposes, and within a composition as veiled in its intent as Figure with Meat, its meaning becomes further muddled. Is it a reference to the notation given to images attached to text ‘Figure A’? Or maybe it’s drawing from a heritage of forensic imagery – crime scene photographs where grisly details are called out with drawn arrows? Whatever the reason, it is pointed at the head of the pope, making sure the focus of the painting returns to the screaming face no matter where else on the painting the eye goes. It’s a grotesque image, but refreshingly one that doesn’t hide behind any sort of pleasantries to try and make itself more appealing. So much of the modern culture of images exists in a state where images act simultaneously as expression and advertising. Social media companies have captured most of the vehicles by which photos are shared, and through their very structure preference images that do not challenge the viewer. Depictions of disturbing or otherwise off-putting content are downranked in algorithmic feeds and substituted with unchallenging content that appeals to users and advertisers. Viral images gain velocity precisely because thay can be understood at a glance. Figure with Meat actively resists this; its intentions are nebulous, if understandable at all. It is not an image that brings joy. Instead, it allows the viewer to be uncomfortable without shirking away – and it is all the better for it. Francis Bacon’s Figure with Meat, is on view at&nbsp;the Art Institute of Chicago in the Modern Wing,&nbsp;Gallery 398&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://www.artic.edu/artworks/4884/figure-with-meat" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">artic.edu</a> #

Artist to Artist: Spending Time With Francis Bacon’s Figure With Meat at the Art Institute

This is the second article in The Life of an Artwork, a three-part series about what happens to your artwork or collection over time, and what artists and collectors can do now to shape those outcomes. The series offers practical approaches to documentation, organization, valuation, and dispersal before those decisions are left to family members, executors, or chance. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263313/kvwk4h8chtj1a69xnwyc.jpg"> By Mary E. Longe What happens to all of it? An artist walks into an overflowing studio. A collector no longer has space on a wall. The accumulation reflects years of effort, but not necessarily a clear sense of what belongs and what does not. For artists, work from different periods sits side by side, early pieces, recent work, finished paintings, unresolved ideas, some documented, some not, some clearly part of a larger direction, others less certain. For collectors, the pattern is similar. Collections may include fine art acquired for aesthetic, cultural, or investment value, works traded at art fairs or auctions, alongside works bought at craft fairs, postcards, turtle art, inherited family objects, or specialty collections built over decades. Not every piece carries the same weight. Some remain meaningful, others harder to place or explain, with records that are scattered or incomplete.And sometimes, it becomes someone else’s problem, family members or executors left with all of it and no clear direction. For artists and collectors, this is where a system becomes necessary, not optional. An inventory, whether in Excel or a platform like ArtworkArchive, needs to track each work with title, date, dimensions, medium, images, current location, and status, sold, placed, leased, donated, or in storage. Inventory numbers attached to the back of the work, consistent file names, and matching image folders make it possible to identify work later without relying on memory alone. Documentation is what preserves provenance. Receipts, invoices, exhibition histories, contracts, correspondence, certificates, and installation photographs should remain with the record of the work. Collectors should keep records of where and when a piece was acquired, while artists should maintain notes about series, exhibitions, and ownership history. If a work cannot be identified later, neither can its history, authorship, or value. The records themselves also need a system. Spreadsheets, cloud folders, external drives, printed binders, or shared estate files all work if they are organized consistently and backed up. The goal is not complexity. It is making sure someone else can understand the work without the artist or collector standing beside it. What happens to all of it is not answered by keeping work in place, unless the artist is deliberately holding it as part of a shift in direction. Inventorying a body of work or collection creates the opportunity to determine and document plans or suggestions for what happens next, which works can be sold, gifted, inherited, donated, archived, reworked, or removed from circulation entirely. It is also the practical moment to assess condition, noting damage, fading, framing issues, missing information, or conservation needs before problems worsen or records are lost. Artists may also identify unfinished or unrepresentative work that should not continue outward. These decisions apply differently to artists and collectors, but they depend on the same thing: knowing what exists, where it is, and what accompanies it. Without that structure, even strong work tends to remain in place, not by intention, but by default. Digital work requires the same level of attention. Files should be named consistently, backed up, and linked to the same information as physical work, title, date, format, dimensions or duration, and version. Where the work exists matters just as much, on a hard drive, in cloud storage, on a platform, or, in the case of NFTs, on a blockchain with associated wallet and contract details. Passwords, access instructions, and ownership records should be preserved as carefully as the files themselves. If the question is being asked because the artist is downsizing or closing an art practice, the business side must be inventoried as well. This includes documenting revenue sources, commissions, consignment and licensing agreements, leases, teaching contracts, grants, outstanding obligations, client and gallery relationships, digital accounts, equipment, supplies, furniture, and other assets or responsibilities connected to the work. Executors and family members will rarely understand the full scope of an art practice without clear records and written guidance. This process does not have to be done alone. Art history students can assist with organizing and documenting inventories, professional conservators may help assess condition and identify needed remediation, and professional appraisers can help establish realistic values and determine what matters most. The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago, Loyola University Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago have art history programs where students may be found locally. What happens to all of it ultimately depends on whether the work can still be identified, documented, and understood years from now. Without that, even important work becomes difficult to place, inherit, preserve, or value. Mary E. Longe is the author of <a href="https://www.marylonge.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Art Legacy Compass: Managing, Downsizing and Transitioning an Artist’s Studio and Estate</a>. She holds a certificate in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London), is former Executive Director, Plein Air Painters Chicago, a contributor to Plein Air Magazine and other art publications. She is the author of five published books in healthcare. Longe is also an artist, who creates multimedia artworks with an eye on the current socio-political experience. Longe’s collage art has been critiqued in Made in Bed Magazine, and her plein air art in New City online magazine. Besides her art and writing life, Mary Longe’s professional career included twenty years working for the American Hospital Association, and 17 years, as founder and CEO of Longe Life Libraries, which designed specialty consumer health libraries for health care organizations and other businesses. She can be reached at mary.longe@gmail.com.

Second article about what to do with an artist's estate

The Life of an Artwork: When It All Adds Up

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780369102/bifxlcyeocqqt2noeiuy.jpg">Undated photo: Alexander Calder, Red Petals, 1942. Commissioned for the Club’s 400 N. Michigan Ave. location. <h4>This feature appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 issue. To purchase a copy or subscribe&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">click here.</a></h4> By GINNY VAN ALYEA The Arts Club of Chicago has a long history of championing the arts in the city, and it’s been the site of many&nbsp;key events in Chicago’s cultural evolution. A venue for public exhibitions and installations, The Arts Club, as its name indicates, is also a private club with an engaged membership. We spoke with Executive Director,&nbsp;Curator Janine Mileaf about what makes the club unique in today’s art landscape as well as what it can offer the public and current and prospective members who wish to engage with art.&nbsp; CGN: For readers who may not know the club well, can you briefly share the story behind its founding and original purpose? Janine Mileaf: The Arts Club was founded in 1916, just after the Armory Show (the first major exhibition of modern art in the United States) exposed Chicago’s antipathy toward such radical art forms. Students at the School of the Art Institute, for example, burned a faux Matisse painting in response. As a result, a group of artists and tastemakers came together to form an institution that would raise Chicago’s level of awareness about the international vanguard through exhibitions, programs, and conversations that would be open to the public. As was said at the time, we would bring together “art lovers” and “art workers.” Early documents about the process of our founding insist that The Arts Club would be a place where people could come to see something new and decide for themselves whether or not to embrace the art--disagreement and debate was built into the idea. CGN: What does being a private club in today’s art ecosystem allow you to do differently from museums, galleries, or nonprofit art spaces? JM: Members of The Arts Club of Chicago pay dues to belong. For this, they get access to our community, dining facilities, and many private programs and events. However, their dues also support our public mission to make exhibitions and events accessible to a broad audience. In this way, members here participate in a deep, intimate conversation while providing a civic good. This model gives us flexibility in our program and allows us to support work that might not be broadly popular at the moment--this was exactly the impetus for our founding.&nbsp; CGN: How do public exhibitions fit into the club’s broader mission? JM: Public exhibitions remain at the core of our being--we exist to bring art and performance to the city of Chicago. Indeed, we have expanded our exhibition initiatives through a street-facing program in our garden to address spectators who might not think of coming to a gallery or museum. This outdoor space is situated at the very busy corner of Ontario and St. Clair--where pedestrians stream by constantly. The Garden Projects, which feature installations by Chicago-based artists, provide a moment for our neighbors to encounter art during their regular routines.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780369103/s9sbpxgen8ncl0khekzr.jpg">Angel Bat Dawid performs at the Arts Club in April 2025. Photo by Sarah Elizabeth Larson. CGN: How does the club create opportunities for meaningful interaction between artists, collectors, and members? JM: Each of our exhibitions and Garden Projects are accompanied by a series of public events. We host gallery tours, panels, and artist talks, but also experimental performance and artist interactions. For an exhibition of work by Suzanne Jackson in 2022, we organized a panel about Black Abstraction with local artists and thought leaders including the late sculptor Richard Hunt. Last year, Cosmo Whyte invited clarinetist and Chicago icon Angel Bat Dawid to interpret his exhibition through improvisational music, and Temitayo Ogunbiyi engaged two local ice cream makers to invent custom flavors related to the botanical drawings she had on view. The ice cream, made of sorghum, corn, chili, or paw paw was distributed at community events both at The Arts Club and around the city--like at the Arboreal Society’s Humboldt Park dance party. These inventive engagements open a dialogue around the visual art on display and also extend an invitation to new circles of potential friends. Other times, a public conversation may be driven by a broader topic of concern or by artistic curiosity. By commissioning performance work, we support an artistic ecosystem and instigate new ideas. Black Being, a work by the duo Flutronix that we supported beginning in 2019 was just recorded by the Chicago Sinfonietta on Cedille Records. Upcoming on April 28th, the indigenous scholar Stephanie Morningstar will speak on the power of plants to connect people. CGN: Chicago has several independent, nonprofit as well as museum-affiliated collector groups today—what makes this club distinctive? JM: While we welcome the company of so many newer initiatives, we believe there is nothing comparable to The Arts Club of Chicago because of its world-class exhibitions, collection, and performances, its legacy, its facilities, and its 110-year commitment to the avant-garde. There is no other place in which you can sit in the the very seats that were in the building when Marcel Duchamp came to install an exhibition of sculpture by Constantin Brancusi, climb a staircase designed by Mies van der Rohe, or be on the descendent stage that welcomed one of the first concerts by John Cage or that hosted talks by Igor Stravinsky, Gertrude Stein, or Jean Dubuffet. And while we are not a museum, our rooms are filled with art works that echo that history and move it into the present. The Arts Club of Chicago makes a home for art of all kinds--this function is our commitment to the city and to our membership.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780369103/syt5nkongzsibvimafhw.jpg">Current Arts Club Fellow Erez Dessel &amp; Look Both Days perform in the Arts Club garden. Photo by Sarah Elizabeth Larson. CGN: In an era when art spaces can sometimes feel either exclusive or driven by social scenes, how does The Arts Club think about fostering deeper engagement with artists and their work? JM: We established a fellowship for emerging artists to make sure we are engaged with the next generation and that they have a place to connect in Chicago. Exclusivity is actually part of our constitution, but not only do we take our public mission very seriously, but we also want to redefine what it means to be exclusive. We build our membership from people who are curious. We are not trendy or superficial, but rather we cultivate an audience and membership that commit themselves to the arts in myriad ways. Our members are innovators, patrons of other arts institutions, they are professionals who support the work of makers, they are collectors, performers, and readers. Private clubs are actually on the rise lately because of a need for social belonging, and as part of that, we appeal to those who are searching for their people in the realm of art. CGN: Can you share the process for someone to become a member of The Arts Club? JM: We invite applications from all those who are passionate about the arts, that includes anyone who might be new to Chicago or the art world. The best first step if you don’t have an organic connection to a current member is to email our Membership Manager David Merz at membership@artsclubchicago.org. There is a sliding scale of dues that depends upon one’s age and/or role in the arts. That makes it surprisingly affordable for younger people or artists to join. Another way to find out more about The Arts Club is to attend one of our public events and talk to members and/or staff who are in attendance. Our public events are announced through our website, instagram, and mailing list, and everyone is welcome. <a href="https://www.artsclubchicago.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">artsclubchicago.org</a> #

A Place for Art the Arts Club of Chicago's Timeless Relevance

<h3>In an age of mass-produced everything, collecting art can be a reprieve. When you purchase a work from a gallery, you are not just bringing an inspiring object into your life. You are often directly supporting a living artist and the creative ecosystem that sustains them.</h3><h3> </h3><h3>An art collection does not need to start big. It simply needs to start.</h3><h3> </h3><h3>The most compelling collections are built slowly, piece by piece, guided by curiosity and personal connection.&nbsp;</h3><h3> </h3><h3>– CGN</h3> • This feature is part of CGN's spring/summer 2026 edition. If you'd like to receive a print copy please <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a> to purchase or subscribe. • If you'd like to read CGN's extensive library of past collector profiles in order see the variety of collections in Chicago, <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/interviews" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780366634/opzrctvx24gzveojptwi.jpg">CGN has interviewed dozens of art collectors over the years. Some images from collections are pictured above: Left, Melissa Weber and Jay Dandy's collection; Top right: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/a-living-collection-sundeep-mullangi-and-trissa-babrowski-support-their-city-through-art" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Sundeep Mullangi and Trissa Babrowski</a>; Lower right: <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/articles/falling-in-love-how-collector-kate-neisser-discovers-art" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Kate Neisser</a>. <h3>Start With What You Love</h3> For new collectors, the best advice is refreshingly simple: begin with the work you cannot stop thinking about. Don’t overthink where it will live.Don’t worry about what goes with what.Don’t wait until you have a grand plan.Buy the piece that speaks to you. You will live with it. The collection will grow naturally from there. <h3>Set a Comfortable Budget</h3> Before beginning the search for a new work, decide what you feel comfortable spending annually, whether it's for a single piece or several. You do not need to spend thousands to begin collecting. Many collectors start with works by emerging artists, editions, or smaller pieces in the $200–$500 range. Collecting is a long game. Building slowly and with a budget you can live with often leads to the most meaningful collections. <h3>Understand the Full Cost of a Purchase</h3> The price of the artwork is only part of the equation. When budgeting, consider the broader costs that come with collecting. <h3>Artist &amp; Market Value</h3> Established artists typically command higher prices, while emerging artists often provide more accessible entry points for new collectors. Works that are rare or art by artists no longer living can cost more because of limited availability.&nbsp; <h3>Medium &amp; Materials</h3> Unique works, such as paintings or sculpture, generally cost more than editioned work or multiples. Works on paper and photography can cost less. Materials and craftsmanship can also influence a work’s longevity and value. <h3>Handling, Framing, Shipping</h3> Proper framing, including protective materials like UV glass, preserves and enhances a work of art. Shipping costs vary depending on size, weight, and fragility. Custom crates can add a lot to cost. <h3>Care &amp; Insurance</h3> For higher-value works, collectors may wish to consider insurance or professional storage. <h3>Take Your Time</h3> Spend time looking before you buy. Attend gallery openings.Visit art fairs.Join exhibition tours and collector groups.Speak with gallerists and artists whenever possible. Over time, your eye will sharpen and your taste will develop. Relationships within the art world often lead to deeper insight into an artist’s practice—and sometimes early access to new work. <h3>A Few Final Tips</h3> •&nbsp;Collect what resonates with you. Don’t chase what's hot or what you think will rise in value fastest. •&nbsp;Keep simple records of your purchases (artist, title, medium, date, and price) somewhere you can easily access them. •&nbsp;Collecting art is not about perfection. It is about the process of discovery. It starts with one piece. Enjoy the process! # <h3>Please use CGN as a collecting resource! </h3><h3> </h3><h3>Keep up with our free weekly newsletter <a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/newsletter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> or purchase a subscription <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. </h3>

CGN Collecting 101

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661553/xfpylfch9hsjfpivrs3j.jpg">Curtis Anthony Bozif, Day's End, installation view By SUSAN GESCHEIDLE I traveled to Door County, WI, for the first time over Memorial Day weekend to check out Curtis Anthony Bozif's exhibition, Day's End. I timed my trip perfectly to attend his artist talk on the closing day, Saturday, May 23rd. Hosted at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, the show was part of the school's Spotlight Exhibition Series, curated by Shane McAdams. The series uniquely presented concurrent, concept-driven solo exhibitions by two distinct artists. Bozif's work was installed inside the Guenzel Gallery, a striking ten-sided space inspired by Wisconsin’s historic round barns. During his talk, Bozif explained that he created this new body of work specifically with this geometric layout in mind, utilizing the ten walls to hang seven large horizontal canvases and three small tondo paintings. The afternoon sun streamed through the windows, and the shifting light brought out the moody, atmospheric layers in the paintings. A nice touch was the way the tondos provided a subtle echo of the circular window above, playing off the room's unique architecture. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661554/cbdikbsrzkhtdstopcxj.jpg">Number 11 (Vespers) (Sun Painting)2024oil on canvas78 x 54 x 1.25” (198.12 x 137.16 x 3.175 cm) From a distance, Bozif’s paintings look ethereal, almost spectral. They seem to glow from within, as if you are looking through a thin scarf of iridescent silk. This illusion gives the flat canvas a surprising three-dimensional depth, evoking the soft, radiant haze of a real sunset. The effect ties in beautifully with Bozif’s own words regarding his career-long fascination with the "atmospheric phenomena of sunsets." Closer to the wall, that illusion of transparent silk gives way to physical brushwork. It reveals a solid surface—smooth and meticulous—with a shimmery finish. Standing at this close range, the pure lusciousness of the medium is obvious. The colors are deep and vibrant, shifting seamlessly across the canvas with a smooth, saturated depth. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661555/ycvlp3zoihlvdbac6ksz.jpg">Curtis Anthony Bozif, Day's End, installation view This play of color is especially lovely in pieces like Number 11 (Vespers) (Sun Painting), with its gold, yellow, and light brown tones. Meanwhile, a personal favorite, Number 18 (Vespers), features moody violet hues. Bozif noted that this palette was a nod to fellow Chicago artist Nick Schutzenhofer's recent show, Dust Jacket, at Mickey, as he was drawn to Schutzenhofer's heavy use of purple shades. Finally, the exhibition turned to night with my favorite piece, Number 16 (Vespers). It shifted into a darker palette, feeling nocturnal and moody. There is a subtle drama to it—a bit subdued, yet gorgeous. Addressing the crowd, Bozif shared the unique process behind these textures. Working in his Rogers Park studio, he leaned the canvases against the wall and used a precise technique to create a fine mist of paint. He constantly flicked the stiff bristles of a nylon brush, letting tiny droplets drift through the air and naturally fall downward. This paint slowly built up into misty pillars of color, shadow, and light. His physical process forced the paint to behave similarly to the floating haze he was capturing. This series was influenced by the Canadian wildfires of 2023 through 2025, which drifted over Chicago with residual ash, producing bold sunrises and blazing orange sunsets. Seeing these beautiful yet toxic skies filled Bozif with both awe and a deep unease, leading to what he described as “a kind of contemplation at a day’s end that comes close to prayer.” While Bozif’s sunset canvases line the outside walls, Siri Stensberg’s concurrent exhibition, Constellations from Unspoken Sentences, hung in the center of the gallery as a floating sculpture of painted ribbon and salvaged plastic. Both artists pull from the same core inspiration—capturing the fleeting moods of daylight and the air around us. While Bozif’s show was the primary reason for my trip, the entire experience was well worth the long drive. Leaving the gallery, I headed out to a nearby state park, shifting my gaze from the painted sunsets on the walls to the real ones over the lake. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661556/zlr97gpwvp0ui6wvqw96.jpg">Number 18 (Vespers)2026oil on canvas78 x 54 x 1.5” (198.12 x 137.16 x 3.81 cm)

A feature on Curtis Anthony Bozif's show at PenArt in Door County Wisconsin

Curtis Anthony Bozif's Sunsets, Both Real and Creative, Summon a Visit to Wisconsin

This is the first article in The Life of an Artwork, a three-part series about what happens to your artwork or collection over time and what artists and collectors can do now to shape those outcomes. The series offers practical approaches to documentation, organization, valuation, and dispersal before those decisions are left to family members, executors, or chance.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661585/xogermiufjmwkj1qgu9i.jpg"> By Mary E. Longe There is a question that tends to arrive late, usually much later than anyone would prefer: what will happen to it all? For artists, it emerges gradually. A studio crosses from productive to crowded. Finished work leans against walls, wrapped pieces disappear behind shelves, studies mix with completed work, and records of sales, exhibitions, pricing, or location become incomplete or inconsistent. Some works are signed, others are not. Photographs, provenance, and contracts may exist, in manilla or online folders, bins or a pile on a dusty taboret. At that point, the studio is no longer only a place to make work. It also requires organization, documentation, and decisions about what continues forward and what does not. For collectors, the signs are practical. Storage fills, records are incomplete, and pieces acquired over decades can no longer be easily identified, valued, insured, or passed on. Collections may include investment level fine art, paintings bought while traveling, craft fair ceramics, vintage posters, folk art, artist made jewelry, postcards, handmade quilts, family heirlooms, or specialized collections built over decades. At that point, the collection needs more than appreciation. It needs organization, documentation, and decisions about what should remain, what should move on, and why. For families, it arrives all at once, when a door to a studio opens and what is inside is not just objects, but decisions, what stays, what is sold, and what has value, often without clear records or guidance from either the artist or the collector. No matter who faces it, by the time the question surfaces, the answers are rarely simple. Which is why it is worth asking earlier, at the point where almost no one thinks to ask it: in the studio, at the moment of creation. There is a persistent belief that value is assigned later by galleries, collectors, and the market. Those forces matter, but they do not start the story. Value begins earlier, embedded in decisions that can look like routine studio practice rather than strategy. For artists, that includes the materials chosen, whether the work is signed and dated, whether pieces are photographed before leaving the studio, whether titles remain consistent, whether records are kept, and whether a body of work can still be understood years later. Even decisions that feel temporary, stacked canvases without labels, missing invoices, lost artist statements, unfinished provenance, become part of how the work is eventually understood, trusted, and valued. Over time, these decisions accumulate into something more structured than they appear. A body of work either holds together or it does not. Collectors encounter the result of that accumulation. For artists, it means leaving behind work that can be understood without being there to explain it. For collectors, it means keeping enough information so someone else can understand it later. I recently visited a studio where the work was strong and clearly the result of years of effort, but the surrounding structure told a different story. Paintings were unlabeled, finished works sat beside studies, and there was no consistent record of titles, dates, or where pieces had been. When I asked about a particular work, the artist had to reconstruct its history, and without that context, even strong work becomes harder to understand and value. Artists with years of work are pressed to remember specifics. Collectors rarely think of themselves as evaluating documentation, but it shapes their decisions, including whether a work feels right to live with and eventually pass on. It is why people buy paintings directly off the street from plein air artists, they see the work being made and feel, in real time, what the artist is expressing. When that immediacy is gone, the information around the work has to carry more of that understanding. They need the basics in a simple, usable form, a labeled work with title, date, dimensions, and medium, along with a record, whether a printed sheet, invoice, or digital file, that notes where the work has been and how it fits within a larger body of work. That clarity depends on artists providing it at the point of creation, so the work can be understood later without explanation. Galleries expect the same consistency, relying on it to present, place, and stand behind the work with confidence.&nbsp; What will happen to it all is often treated as a late question, or one left to families to resolve. In practice, it has the most impact when asked earlier. Not as a constraint, but as a way of thinking about what remains.For artists, it means leaving behind work that can be understood without you in the room. For collectors, it means keeping enough information so the work does not lose its meaning over time. The market will always have its influence. But it is not the starting point. The first and most consistent point of control remains the studio, whether that is a formal workspace or the sidewalk where a painting is made, it is where the work takes shape and where its meaning is first established. That is where the artist determines how the work will be understood, and where the collector’s future decisions are quietly shaped. The records collectors keep, receipts, provenance, correspondence, and installation photographs, become part of that meaning over time. Long before anything is sold, exhibited, or inherited, the groundwork is already in place. Or there is a gap where it should be. And that difference tends to reveal itself later, when the question finally arrives. What will happen to it all? Mary E. Longe is the author of <a href="https://www.marylonge.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">Art Legacy Compass: Managing, Downsizing and Transitioning an Artist’s Studio and Estate</a>. She holds a certificate in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art (London), is former Executive Director, Plein Air Painters Chicago, a contributor to Plein Air Magazine and other art publications. She is the author of five published books in healthcare. Longe is also an artist, who creates multimedia artworks with an eye on the current socio-political experience. Longe’s collage art has been critiqued in Made in Bed Magazine, and her plein air art in New City online magazine. Besides her art and writing life, Mary Longe’s professional career included twenty years working for the American Hospital Association, and 17 years, as founder and CEO of Longe Life Libraries, which designed specialty consumer health libraries for health care organizations and other businesses. She can be reached at mary.longe@gmail.com.

An article series about what happens to artists' work after they die by Mary Longe

The Life of an Artwork: Where Value Actually Begins

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789486008/epir8e2e0aiure1u71yx.jpg">A team of trained Columbia College students work on an installation at MoCP <h4>This feature appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 issue. To purchase a copy or subscribe&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">click here.</a></h4> By Elisa Shoenberger Every few weeks galleries open their doors to show off new art exhibitions that put artists center-stage to interested collectors and art enthusiasts. This is the familiar cycle of the contemporary art world. But before the plastic cups are set out and the wine is poured, there is a tremendous amount of planning and coordination that takes place behind the scenes, long before any artworks can be displayed. Many expert hands of gallerists and preparators use a range of tools and tricks to fit in late nights and execute quick-turnarounds to conceptualize, realize and promote the latest exhibition. Four Chicago gallerists and one museum chief curator recently shared with me just some of what it takes to put a stellar show together from start to finish. The Spark of a Show First and foremost, a gallerist needs to come up with an exhibition concept. For many galleries, it will be artist driven. Scott Speh, founder and director of <a href="http://westernexhibitions.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Western Exhibitions</a>, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, explains that his gallery represents about 20 artists, with each one exhibiting approximately every three years. He tracks this rotation via spreadsheet and reaches out&nbsp;to artists regularly to see when they will be ready for a future show, typically one year prior to opening. Speh says within that three-year rotation, he will opt to do a group show around a theme he curates every two years.&nbsp; Grace Ebert and Christopher Jobson, co-founders and owners of the barely one-year-old gallery <a href="https://joymachine.art" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joy Machine</a> on Chicago’s northwest side, say they find artists they want to work with and then build a show around them. Some times they offer an artist a solo show, and other times the gallerists may build a group exhibition around that artist. When the art is ready, there’s a chance Ebert and Jobson are seeing works for the first time when they open the crates to install the show. At the <a href="https://www.mocp.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)</a> at Columbia College Chicago, Chief Curator Karen Irvine explains that MoCP has a similar approach to galleries: Irvine will see a photographer’s work and develop a show around that artist’s aesthetic or a related theme. Sometimes MoCP will hire a guest curator to do a show based on works in the museum’s collection, or based on their own expertise in a particular area, such as a photographer’s archive. Generally, the museum plans about 18 months out, but currently, shares Irvine, MoCP&nbsp;is booked into summer of 2028. Since Kimberly Oliva, owner and curator of <a href="https://www.olivagallery.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oliva Gallery</a>, schedules her namesake gallery’s exhibitions 2–3 years in advance, often she bases her plans on what an artist has produced previously so she can see existing examples, instead of developing a show that for her is still conceptual. She shared, “It’s easier [for me] to be able to choose work based on what I have seen, as opposed to [just looking at] renderings or process shots.”&nbsp; Contracts, Loans, and Prepping the Art After a show is scheduled verbally or informally, it’s likely a gallery sends a contract to an exhibiting artist in order to establish the working terms of the relationship between the artist and the gallery. A gallery with a stable of represented artists likely has a standard operating agreement they use, though not all galleries do. Such a&nbsp;contract would cover terms including what percentage the gallery and artist will make from the sale, who pays which expenses, and whether the art will be held by the gallery for a period of time after the show ends. For museums like MoCP, there may need to be additional requests to borrow works for forthcoming shows from other museums and galleries. Irvine explains that earlier is always better when it comes to asking for loans. Ideally, the request should be made a year to a year and half before a work is needed; some museums may charge a larger, or rush, fee if a request is made close to an exhibition opening date, since getting a work ready, prepared and delivered in short order can be expensive. Then there are photographs. Some gallerists expect an artist to provide high resolution photos of their own work in advance; while other gallerists and curators may arrange to have photos taken once the works are installed in the gallery. Likely there is a need for advance or promotional photos as well as shots of the installed exhibition.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789486009/qcmujmyf1g4f4mmwgy8n.jpg">An installation view at Western Exhibitions The Road to Installation As the scheduled show nears, galleries have to receive artworks, ready them for display, install them, determine prices and finalize any additional on-site materials, such as wall text and exhibition statements. The gallery website, social media channels and mailing lists also need to be updated. Receiving the artworks can present challenges. While local artists may sometimes be able to transport their own work, particularly if it’s smaller-scale, artists who live and work elsewhere have to ship art. Oliva says she has key reasons she uses her own shippers. “I have people that I can call. I’m not going to send it through FedEx,” she explains, “It’s going to go white-glove” from doorstep to doorstep. She notes that insurance often only covers the art when it’s physically in the gallery, not in transit.&nbsp; To ensure that art works arrive in advance of the show, Speh says he sometimes has to give earlier deadlines. “I used to be an artist. I know how some artists think and work,” Speh explains, “Sometimes you have to use little tricks to actually get things on time.” However, not all art is ready to be displayed when it arrives. Speh notes, “if it’s a work on paper, most of the time we need to frame the work.” That means allowing time for the framing, which takes at least a month. Irvine says that MoCP works with Columbia College students to mat and frame pieces for upcoming exhibitions.&nbsp;Before installation can begin, galleries may opt to paint and patch the walls to prepare for the new show. Occasionally, an exhibition requires something more involved, such as painting the walls a different color or adding vinyl sketches. But for the most part galleries aim to stick to the predictability of white walls. Speh notes that he discourages artists from deviating from white walls because he is the gallery’s lone staff member and he usually has only a few days between shows. One exhibition will close Saturday afternoon and the next one must open the following Friday evening. When it comes to figuring out where exactly to install the art for a new exhibition MoCP’s Irvine says she and her team often create a mock-up of the exhibition using the software SketchUp. However, inevitably there will be changes to make once photographs are installed. Figuring out which work goes where is often a collaborative process with the artist. There is also timing to consider because of what is needed to prepare the walls, since trained student workers will help paint and spackle the galleries and then put up the wall texts and more once the work placement is set. Oliva takes a more intuitive approach. She never really knows where the pieces will go until the works are in the gallery. She outsources the labor to someone with expertise hanging work, but she makes the choices of where to hang or install the art. Since Oliva regularly participates in art fairs around the country, she’s used to having to put pieces in place quickly with a limited amount of time, whether pieces hang on a wall or sit on a pedestal. Thinking about, arranging for, receiving and placing art is its own process. There is also the question of pricing artwork that is for sale. The gallerists I spoke with said it’s common to let an artist take the lead on discussing pricing, especially if the artist has an established market or is represented elsewhere, since pricing must be consistent in the market. Speh explains that for a younger artist, or one who has not previously exhibited in a commercial gallery, pricing discussions can be a collaboration between the gallerist, artist and sometimes curator in order to establish the appropriate sales goals and figures and address all costs related to the exhibition.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789486010/okhuwwr4c8ulmckys6x5.jpg">A mix of paintings and sculpture on view at Oliva Gallery. The decision of whether or not to include a lot of accompanying text, on the gallery walls or elsewhere, varies by artist and by exhibition. Many commercial galleries do not have wall tags, since too much explanation could potentially detract from the art itself as well as clutter the wall space. Instead, a gallery will often make a binder or packet available at the main desk with thumbnail images and additional information. Most galleries opt to list prices on a price sheet, and works that have been sold will have a small red dot sticker next to the image on the sheet. Gallery visitors should always feel welcome to ask about prices, individual information and availability if it’s not readily available.&nbsp; MoCP includes wall tags for pieces on display that include the artist’s name, nationality, birth year, work title, date, medium, and credit line, according to Irvine. But not all pieces have an explanatory text, since there can be many pieces in an exhibition. Usually the curator writes text that will help the viewer understand the exhibition on a deeper level. In addition to setting pricing and producing text for wall tags, curators and gallerists must write an exhibition statement, often in collaboration with the exhibiting artist. For instance, Ebert and Jobson say they will talk with an artist several times to understand their work before putting together written materials for the exhibition.&nbsp; Promotional materials should go out a few weeks or in some cases, a few months prior to the opening of the show. There is an ideal timeline, and then there is reality. Ebert and Jobson, like most gallerists, often have to wait until they can get photographs of the art work in order to put together any promotional materials. In addition to running Joy Machine, Jobson and Ebert lead the online art publication Colossal. They understand well, as they say, that “you need images if you’re going to write about art.” Once they receive images, they can start sending press releases out via email.&nbsp; Oliva says she will have postcards made that she sends to clients. She also puts together a catalogue, which is&nbsp;a way to make an exhibition last long after it’s opened and closed. For the majority of galleries, sending out carefully crafted emails is the most cost effective way to spread the word about a new show to collectors, curators and the press.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789486010/j4pgl4fwupflt9nepj5r.jpg">A sculpture by Sydnie Jimenez at Joy Machine Closing the Show At the end of the show’s run, gallerists must organize pick-ups and deliveries for local collectors as well as pack up any art to be shipped, either to buyers, back to the artist or to someone who loaned a work for the exhibition. Some galleries may decide–or be obligated–to keep any unsold pieces at the gallery for a period to see if the piece may still be sold. Any unsold works that are not on display likely have to be packaged for storage or displayed in a private area of the gallery.&nbsp; Irvine notes that the first thing they do at MoCP at the close of an exhibition is review all the works to ensure that they are in good condition before being returned.&nbsp; Once the works are taken down, a gallery may need to repaint and patch the walls to prepare for the next show. The ehibition process begins all over again. The next time you visit a gallery to see a new exhibition, consider what happened before the work you are admiring got there. There is so much happening behind the scenes, before the doors even open to the public, that it is an art form in and of itself.

Behind the Scenes: What It Takes to Ready an Exhibition

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661371/uyfqaylsxdmxsj8gv8lz.jpg"> By CGN STAFF Wisconsin’s summer art season gets a fresh spark this June with the second annual <a href="https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Door County Contemporary</a>, returning June 4–7 at PenArt in Fish Creek. The fair brings together galleries, artists, talks, installations, and curated events in a setting better known for shoreline sunsets and cherry orchards, creating an unexpectedly sophisticated cultural weekend in northern Wisconsin. Door County has long been associated with summer getaways and charming stores and local galleries, and DCC was founded to elevate the regional reputation of the art that is made and exhibited in Wisconsin. Smaller in scale than a fair like EXPO CHICAGO, DCC's exhibitor list still boasts a strong list of established contemporary galleries from throughout the Midwest–many from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Kansas City, but also from Japan and Denmark–offering a unique market encounter for visitors and collectors that cannot be found elsewhere. This year's fair counts 24 galleries, up from the inaugural year's 17. Familiar Chicago galleries include Western Exhbitions, Andrew Rafacz, Oliva and 65Grand, among others. From Wisconsin are OS Projects, Kim Storage and others. Visitors can make Fish Creek their home base and spend the weekend moving between the fair and Door County’s established arts institutions. The event itself takes place at the Peninsula School of Art campus and will feature galleries from Wisconsin and beyond, along with sculpture installations, artist conversations, food trucks, and evening receptions. As with any art fair, it's important to get offsite if possible to see what else is offered locally, and here the peninsula offers a distinct gallery scene. In Fish Creek, Edgewood Orchard Galleries pairs contemporary and regional art with sculpture gardens and wooded paths that feel distinctly Door County. Nearby Egg Harbor, Cappaert Contemporary Gallery showcases contemporary painting, ceramics, sculpture, and mixed media in a restored historic log home, while Idea Gallery offers another stop for visitors interested in contemporary and craft-driven work. For museumgoers, downtown Sturgeon Bay provides an easy cultural detour. Miller Art Museum focuses on Wisconsin artists through rotating exhibitions and a growing permanent collection, while the nearby Door County Museum and Archives offers historical context for the peninsula itself. The appeal of Door County Contemporary is that it blends serious contemporary art with the relaxed rhythms of a summer lake getaway. Visitors can spend time at the fair wandering booths and attending talks (there is a collector panel on Saturday, and artist Claire Ashley is talking on Sunday) as well as outdoors hiking Peninsula State Park. In the evening catch a waterfront fish boil (likely on Friday!) or visit a wine bar in Sister Bay. The result is a distinctly Midwestern art weekend, equal parts cultural immersion and summer escape, perhaps the perfect art fair model of the future. FAIR HOURS:June 4, Thursday VIP 4 PM - 7 PMJune 5, Friday 11 AM - 6 PMJune 6, Saturday 11 AM - 6 PMJune 7, Sunday 11 AM - 5 PM <a href="https://www.doorcountycontemporary.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">doorcountycontemporary.com</a> #

Head North: An Art-Filled Weekend to Door County and Back

<h3>Several area galleries and institutions are hosting exhibitions in 2026 timed for the 250th birthday of the United States. Inspired by permanent holdings as well as contemporary themes, several exhibitions demonstrate how art can be a bridge between the past and the future.&nbsp;Following are a few exhibitions, in Chicago and beyond, that are not your typical sesquicentennial celebration. </h3><h3> </h3><h3>– CGN</h3> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429785/s88jnfr8llldldsu7xis.jpg"> Cutting and Pasting a World: The Paper Craft of Henry Darger at Intuit Art Museum is part of the 250th anniversary celebration of American craft, Handwork 2026, organized by Craft in America. The exhibition explores the connection between Henry Darger’s art and traditional American paper crafts. Drawing on research by guest curator and art historian Dr. Mary Trent (College of Charleston), the exhibition illustrates how the turn-of-the-century practices of making paper dolls and paper dollhouse scrapbooks may have influenced Darger’s evolution as an artist and maker. By showcasing both finished artworks and original source materials, the exhibition demonstrates how Darger adapted these humble pastimes into sophisticated methods for constructing large-scale, mixed-media narratives. The exhibition provides context for these crafts within the early 20th-century movement to instill middle-class American&nbsp;​“taste” in a burgeoning immigrant population. Likely exposed to these practices within social welfare institutions as a child, Darger ultimately subverted them—transforming decorative domestic crafts into a profound and complex commentary on the vulnerabilities of marginalized children.&nbsp; Apr 22–Jan 31, 2027<a href="https://art.org/exhibitions/cutting-and-pasting-a-world-the-paper-craft-of-henry-darger" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Intuit Art Museum</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429786/wufwbdw6mcsfon5nuhg3.jpg"> Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and&nbsp;Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918 draws on the Newberry’s collection to show how artists living through wartime “conceived” cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations that grappled with questions about liberty. Whether patriotic or dissenting, available to the masses or only to a few, wartime imagery reveals in dramatic, visually compelling ways how the people of the US have used the occasion of war to question, revise, challenge, and champion this core value of the country since its founding 250 years ago. Jun 11–Sept 19<a href="https://www.newberry.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Newberry Library </a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429787/xwrbi3nikzy83jfn9vtz.jpg"> For the People, By the People: America at 250&nbsp;looks to the nation’s impending semiquincentennial as an opportunity to reflect on America’s enduring ties to liberty, justice, and identity. Drawing inspiration from the democratic ideals articulated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, this exhibition considers how the promise of freedom has been expressed, questioned, and reimagined across generations. Organized into four thematic sections,&nbsp;For the People, By the People&nbsp;brings together artworks from the KIA’s collection and loans of historic significance and bold contemporary voices to examine the symbols, struggles, and aspirations that shaped and continue to inform American life. Spanning photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation-based works, this exhibition juxtaposes notable artists such as Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alfred Stieglitz, Hank Willis Thomas, and Andy Warhol with rising artists like Erica Lord, Julio Cesar Morales, and Cara Romero, among many others.&nbsp; Jun 27, 2026 - Oct 4, 2026<a href="https://www.chicagogallerynews.com/organizations/kalamazoo-institute-of-arts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kalamazoo Institute of Arts</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429787/usxsroqsbxa4bdnqssio.jpg"> On the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Chicago History Museum is asking questions about our nation’s democracy in progress. Are all people equal in our city? What happens in Chicago when workers or people of color stand up for their rights? How do we honor the Indigenous stewards of the land we now call Chicago? What can we do to create “a more perfect union” today in Chicago and the United States? Anchored in CHM’s collection materials relating to the United States’ founding and Chicago’s civic legacies,&nbsp;US at 250: Civic Action in Chicago&nbsp;invites visitors to engage with these questions and their own lived experiences through artistic interpretation, exhibitions, and educational programming, including lessons from historical clothing and stories of ongoing civic participation. Ongoing in 2026<a href="https://www.chicagohistory.org/us-at-250-civic-action-in-chicago/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chicago History Museum</a>

Using Art to View History America’s 250th Birthday

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263263/pqxmr7efyvc3d6dhep21.jpg">A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center site and Julie Mehretu’s commissioned artwork, an 83-foot-tall painted glass window titled Uprising of the Sun.&nbsp;Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. <h4>This feature appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 issue. To purchase a copy or subscribe&nbsp;<a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">click here.</a></h4> By ALISON REILLY&nbsp; The expansive, 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park will open to the public on June 19 after nearly five years of construction. The Center features an ambitious art program with more than 25 commissions of new work from some of today’s most prominent contemporary artists – like Carrie Mae Weems, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Jenny Holzer, and Richard Hunt – along with recent School of the Art Institute graduate Lindsay Adams, Washington D.C.-based artist Nekisha Durrett, and Mexican and American painter Aliza Nisenbaum. These permanent works will be installed throughout the campus. For example, Maya Lin’s Seeing Through the Universe serves as a focal point in an outdoor space dedicated to President Obama’s mother, while Mark Bradford’s immense City of the Big Shoulders scales the three-story west wall of the museum atrium. Together, the commissions articulate a vision of the Center as a cultural hub where art, civic life, and education intersect.&nbsp; I spoke with Dr. Louise Bernard, Founding Director of the Obama Presidential Center Museum, and Virginia Shore, Curator of the Obama Presidential Center Art Commissions about the Center’s innovative art program. Our conversation explored how these commissions shape the institution’s identity, reflect the Obamas’ longstanding commitment to artists and arts education, and expand the possibilities of what a civic and cultural institution can achieve. * <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263264/nqpzxeizvzbzargarydb.jpg">Installation in progress of Julie Mehretu’s Uprising of the Sun at the Obama Presidential Center. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. CGN: How do the artist commissions for the Obama Presidential Center shape the institution’s identity compared to what we think of as a traditional presidential library? Louise Bernard: The Obama Presidential Center is in many ways a living legacy. We think about the continued work of the Obama administration, the work that the Obamas did together in the White House, the relationship between the West Wing and the East Wing, and Mrs. Obama’s initiatives. The Obamas lifted up the importance of art, not only rehanging the collection within the White House, but really thinking about the important relationship between the arts and education. We know that there is a positive impact through arts education in terms of curricular development, the impact that it has on young people, and so that was a particular focus and emphasis for the Obamas, thinking not only about the visual arts, but the arts across disciplines. That’s something that we wanted to continue and lift up through the foundation’s mission, which is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We’re building this 19.3-acre complex rooted in community on the South Side of Chicago. We know the arts are engaging, uplifting, and energizing. We really thought about how art in public spaces can continue to foster that sense of connection and possibility.&nbsp; Virginia Shore: It is a community center. It is a cultural hub. It’s a museum, library, auditorium, recording studio, cafe. It’s the first of its kind in terms of calling it a presidential center and what that means. The spaces are spectacular, and the art brings it to life in this whole other way. Each artist has a different vision, different materials, and a different focus. CGN: When you look at the breadth of artists involved from Carrie Mae Weems to Theaster Gates to Nick Cave, is there a unifying vision that connects them? You spoke about possibility, but are there other themes that emerge from bringing these artists with very different practices together? VS: There’s an underlying thread that connects them all. They are changemakers, civically engaged, and trying to build community. Through each one of the works, regardless of theme or material, the artists themselves are changemakers in their own right.&nbsp; LB: We wanted to ensure that we had a mix of luminary figures as well as emerging artists. To your point, there is a real mix of materiality, the various practices that the artists bring to bear on very site-specific spaces. Virginia was also thinking about artists in relationship to space and scale. We were often asking artists to really push their own practice, working in materials that they hadn’t necessarily worked in before. Julie Mehretu was working in glass for the first time, which has impacted and shaped her continued practice as she’s working with new materiality around transparency or translucency. We also thought about the full range of diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, queer identity, Indigenous representation. We wanted to ensure that we had artists from Chicago with a connection back to the city and its rich history of the arts and civic engagement.&nbsp; It’s also important to note that while the commissions are understood to be permanent, they’re site specific, they will have real longevity and presence at the Center. They will be activated programmatically so that they are brought to life in new ways. We really think about placing these artists in dialogue with other artists, across disciplines.&nbsp; CGN: For Julie Mehretu’s work, Uprising of the Sun, what guided your decision to commission her for that significant space in the museum tower? What made her work and her approach right for the Obama Presidential Center?&nbsp; VS: One of the many exciting things about working on this project was that it really became a dialogue. The President, Louise, and the team were open to my suggestions. That window wall looked like this perfect space for art to transform the museum tower and become a beacon of hope for the Center, the north facing wall of the museum. I presented a couple of ideas in terms of artists that might be able to address that window wall, and we all landed on Julie. Julie was both excited and, as she has said, a little daunted by it, because she had never worked in glass before. But there’s an incredible fabricator [Franz Mayer Studio] that I had the opportunity to work with a few times in my previous career. They are one of the most renowned artist glass makers in the world. I think that helped allay her fears as well. She was really excited by the challenge.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263265/svxlntwwpcqo46alfgpk.jpg">Aliza Nisenbaum, Reading Circles/ Weaving Dreams/ Seeding Futures (detail), 2025. Oil on linen. Photo by Izzy Leung. Courtesy the artist, Anton Kern gallery, and Regen Projects. CGN: When you are commissioning someone like Mark Bradford for a monumental painting, what is the process like? Where do you begin? VS: Mark was unique because that space inside the museum is incredibly complicated. From the ground level all the way looking up, it’s interrupted by floors and balconies jutting out, so it’s not a symmetrical space. But Mark is so fluid, he’s able to take over monumental spaces. LB: With Mark we saw the evolution of his piece. He worked and reworked it for several years with rounds of concepting, testing, prototyping, and modeling. He built a model of the space in his studio so that he could really understand the scale and how the idea of the mapping played out–the connection between Chicago, the city and the lake. I think it’s been a remarkable journey for him. He also worked on other projects simultaneously and so his work evolved across time and these pieces spoke to each other. That was also remarkable to see.&nbsp; CGN: Did anything surprise you in the way the artists responded to the Obama legacy or to Chicago itself? VS: There are so many thoughtful concepts that we did not anticipate. Spencer Finch [Memory Landscape (Nairobi, Chicago, Honolulu, Jakarta)], the way that he incorporated the president’s story, by reading all of the President’s books and using color [in the tile wall mural installation] to connect back to place, history, and his personal memories. The artists who have been commissioned for this project have spent serious time thinking about how best to make this connection to the Center.&nbsp; LB: I would add one example of the frieze, the large-scale works by Theaster Gates [To See What They Could See and American Vista in the Forum Atrium]. Theaster is local to Chicago, born and raised on the West Side, very much rooted on the South Side in terms of his artistic practice and Rebuild Foundation. But within Theaster’s practice, he thinks a lot about the figure of the Black woman, the idea of the Black Madonna, being able to lift up this idea of blackness and beauty, Black modernity is central to his practice. He is thinking through the legacy, the idea of the first Black first lady and how that resonates in terms of Mrs. Obama being born and raised in South Shore, adjacent to the Center itself. We see these references to the idea of blackness and beauty and power and presence in these wonderful archival images drawn from the Johnson Publishing Company archive and from the personal collection of Howard Simmons. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263265/vzgu11tqypaoejdzolcs.jpg">Theaster Gates, Studies for Gates’ installation at his studio in Chicago, 2025. Courtesy of Theaster Gates Studio. CGN: You have commissioned works that are tied directly to Chicago’s cultural history, like the Gates frieze you mentioned. How did you approach selecting work that referenced Chicago and its history? VS: There was always intent to include artists with connections to Chicago. Aliza Nisenbaum, for example, is creating this fantastic expansive mural for the public library. She works in community and shines light on people who are not always front and center through her portraiture. She spent so much time doing research about librarians, about the purpose of the libraries in Chicago, how expansive they are, thinking of it as a place for people without homes, and then what is possible inside a library and looking at it as this community space that’s free and open and a space to go and learn and feel welcome.&nbsp; To an artist like Tyanna J. Buie who has done a screenprint piece [Be the Change!] inside the Forum building. She grew up in many different foster homes. Now she is the head of printmaking at RISD. She was in a Bud Billiken parade [on the South Side of Chicago] when President Obama was running for Senate, and so her work has this other history of being connected to him in this way as a young adult. There’s so many different stories like that where there’s a connection that maybe wouldn’t be anticipated.&nbsp; LB: We think again about the power of place in the most dynamic sense. The Center is rooted in community. The connection to Chicago’s rich history is very much front and center. But at the same time, we tell a national story with an international reach. We’re always thinking about the synergy between the local and the global, the way in which we’re drawing people in, we’re bringing the world to the South Side and the South Side to the world. There is that exchange that takes place. I think that is embedded throughout many of the works. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1785263266/oj8iqduyl19clibng8df.jpg">Spencer Finch, Obama Presidential Center Forum Garden Level, Rendering. Image Courtesy The Obama Foundation. CGN: Chicago has a long history of investing in and supporting public art. I’m curious how you see the Center’s art program entering into that civic tradition. LB: We are obviously not a traditional art museum, we’re a non-traditional platform for the arts. But we have this global reach in terms of the foundation’s international sensibility as well as a connection to the idea of locality and proximity. We have a public high school literally across the street. We think about how through our engagement with the arts, we’re also able to lift up the idea of the business of the arts, which is to say that the arts are themselves a billion-dollar, international industry, and there’s a whole ecosystem of career pathways within this industry, which continues to evolve and change over time. Through the foundation’s mission, we’re able to model for young people connections to careers they may not have anticipated and really lift the hood, so to speak, on how this particular ecosystem works. We think about the city as a school. We want to ensure that young people have a behind-the-scenes understanding of how different cultural institutions work.&nbsp; CGN: In what ways does the art program reflect President Obama and Mrs. Obama’s own relationship to culture, creativity, and civic imagination? VS: Looking back at their time during the White House and all the artists that they included, both in the residences and in the West Wing, they highlighted the arts throughout their eight years in office. There were more artists that performed in the White House during the Obama administration than at any other time. This is their legacy. It feels like an extension of their time in the White House and of the power of arts to transform possibility. LB: We saw how the National Portrait Gallery portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald looked unlike any other presidential portraiture before them. Kim Sajet, who was then the director of the National Portrait Gallery, talked about the “pilgrimage effect” of those portraits, their power to draw people to the National Portrait Gallery, to the museum, to pay homage to that history and everything they represent. At the same time, President and Mrs. Obama speak about the idea of on whose shoulders we stand. They’re very mindful of the fact that their journeys were only made possible because of the many people, the movements, the milestones that came before them. The arts are tapping into that sense of possibility and collectivity, but they have a way, as we saw with the National Portrait Gallery portraits, of pushing the envelope of what is possible and how that resonates with the power of representation itself. We think of that wonderful photo of the little girl captured looking up at the Amy Sherald portrait with a sense of wonder and awe and also seeing herself reflected back. While the President and Mrs. Obama are phenomenal figures and iconic in their own right, we always want to ensure for the museum experience that everyday people, visitors, see themselves reflected in their stories. The President began his career as a community organizer. Mrs. Obama was born and raised on the South Side. And so, again, there is that sense of possibility.&nbsp; VS: The President said, “We believe that the arts and the humanities are, in many ways, reflective of our national soul. They’re central to who we are as Americans–dreamers and storytellers, and innovators and visionaries.” I feel like that says it all. Visit <a href="https://obama.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">obama.org</a>

Art at The Obama Center: Raising the Future of Art and Possibility 

<h3>In spite of the influencer times we are living in, where daily life is shared and documented by everyone with a phone, fine art photographers still have wide-reaching power to accessibly share viewpoints and realities through images that, not long ago, were not even considered art. A handful of photo-centric exhibitions take place this season amidst some big milestones and news. –CGN</h3><h3> </h3><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429723/drfbibkdwuibzi3oktpg.jpg">Nelson W. Armour, Teaching #2 Perspective Photo Gallery in Evanston presents Teaching, Nelson W. Armour’s ode to the challenges, triumphs, hard work and effort of classroom teachers. This photographic essay resulted from a two-year residency with Artists in the Public Schools, formerly CPSLives. On view Apr 2-May 3. Opening: Sa, Apr 4, 5–7pm&nbsp; <a href="https://perspectivegallery.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">perspectivegallery.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429723/zocg1go3dsqxhj0ldsqc.jpg">Widline Cadet (Haitian, b. 1992), Seremoni Disparisyon #1&nbsp;(Ritual [Dis]Appearance #1), 2019. Inkjet print. 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.64 cm). Collection of Anne-Laure Lemaitre © Widline Cadet&nbsp; Currents 40: Widline Cadet is the first solo museum exhibition in the U.S. by artist Widline Cadet and the first full presentation of her nearly decade-long project Seremoni Disparisyon (Ritual [Dis]Appearance). Coming to the Milwaukee Art Museum the exhibition is both a defining moment in Cadet’s career and a major contribution to contemporary photography and media-based art Cadet explores Black diasporic life through themes of migration, memory, absence, and belonging in her photography, video, and installation. On view May 8–Aug 9 <a href="https://mam.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mam.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429724/vcepwfr95kxt2odjq4ja.jpg">Dan Tamarkin at Tamarkin Camera Tamarkin Camera has been a family business since 1971, and it was Dan Tamarkin who took over the oldest Leica dealership in the U.S. in 2010 and moved Tamarkin Camera to Chicago. An authorized Leica Camera and Sport Optics dealer, today Dan also runs Rangefinder Gallery in River North, which showcases images made with the legendary Leica M. Dan sometimes offers neighborhood walking tours, and you can bring or borrow a Leica to take photos. And while you can visit Tamarkin Camera online, Dan says he doesn’t have an e-commerce site, since he prefers to talk to customers and fellow Leicaphiles face-to-face. The German-made Leica has endured as a coveted and collectible brand, and there is much to talk about and admire in-person. Don’t miss Dan’s alter-ego on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/bosco_arnack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram @bosco_arnack</a> <a href="https://www.tamarkin.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tamarkin.com</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp;(800) BUY-LEICA <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429725/hi3jzn4fwqbvg2foxans.jpg">Raul Corrales, Maria and Mario. Dos Fotografos, Dos Epocas, Dos Estados, 1980. 2006:296 The Museum of Contemporary&nbsp;Photography turns 50 in 2026. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, the MoCP has acquired over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists. The variety of work collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes. The milestone exhibition MoCP at Fifty examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection that reflects on the role of cultural institutions in shaping the photographic canon.&nbsp;•&nbsp;Thru May 16 <a href="https://www.mocp.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mocp.org</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1780429725/eh94lqbxksp6rhbxkymh.jpg">Photo by&nbsp;Nolis&nbsp;Anderson Newly open in Chicago is the&nbsp;Leica Store and Gallery Chicago, the newest addition to Leica’s global network of corporate-owned stores. Situated on Michigan Avenue near the historic Water Tower, the flagship location aims be a space where visitors and tourists will find rotating gallery exhibitions showcasing established and emerging artists as well as workshops and educational programs offered through the Leica Akademie.&nbsp;The Leica gallery in Chicago is directed by Lucas Zenk, who previously worked at Stephen Daiter Gallery in River North for 20 years. <a href="https://leicacamerausa.com/leica-store-chicago/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">leicacamerausa.com</a>

Photography Focus

Zolla/Lieberman: A Golden Vision for a 50th Anniversary

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661260/rh9p3zv4eneof1qyaolq.jpg">Visitors to EXPO CHICAGO Thursday afternoon during preview hours By GINNY VAN ALYEA <a href="https://www.expochicago.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);" target="_blank">EXPO CHICAGO</a> 2026 wrapped with a steady energy that held throughout the week—consistently busy, but not overwhelming, and with a sense that people were there to look closely and engage. Early sales set a confident tone: GRAY reported placements including Theaster Gates’s 3 Women (2025) at $340,000, works by Candida Alvarez at $100,000 and $55,000, Torkwase Dyson at $55,000, McArthur Binion at $35,000, and a Rashid Johnson work at $25,000. Secrist | Beach, meanwhile, placed Luftwerk’s Open Frame (2025) with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art at $150,000, underscoring strong institutional activity from the outset. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661261/dfj67elwldpfh9t42w33.jpg">A viewer studies Luftwerk's work at SECRIST | BEACH This year’s edition felt more streamlined, and that shift paid off. The fair was easier to navigate, and the overall rhythm encouraged longer conversations and repeat encounters. Familiar collectors were out in force, but there was also a noticeable presence of new faces—always a promising sign for the city’s ecosystem. Across the floor, the quality of work felt strong and cohesive. What stood out most, though, was a subtle but persistent thread: many artists seemed to be looking toward nature. In some cases it was direct—landscapes, organic forms, environmental references—but just as often it came through in palette, with earthy tones and atmospheric color dominating booth after booth. It’s a direction that feels very much in sync with the current moment, as artists continue to process instability, climate concerns, and a broader cultural shift toward reflection and recalibration. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661262/j8rprotz9u5qdrxy3qjw.jpg">Youngwook Choi, Galley Dasun, Korea There was also a stronger sense of curatorial intention this year, with more tightly conceived presentations and projects that added texture without overwhelming the fair. Institutional presence felt particularly active, and conversations around placements and future collaborations seemed to be happening at every turn. As Sibylle Friche, Partner at DOCUMENT, noted, “The 2026 edition of EXPO was a real success for us; we placed several artists from our program into good collections. We enjoyed meeting new clients and connecting with the many curators participating in the curatorial and directors' program.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661263/zvq9iqddjvcv3s3ru0b1.jpg"><a href="https://www.regenprojects.com/artists/aliza-nisenbaum" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" target="_blank">Aliza Nisenbaum</a> at a joint booth by Regen Projects and Anton Kern. Nisenbaum will have a monumental mural at the Obama Presidential Center when it opens. That sense of momentum extended to galleries across the fair, alongside positive feedback from collectors and museum groups. Valerie Carberry, President &amp; CEO of GRAY, pointed to the impact of new leadership, noting that Director Kate Sierzputowski’s first year has brought “dynamic partnerships” that reflect the collaborative energy Chicago is known for. Sales remained steady across a wide range of price points, with a mix of major placements and quieter, consistent activity—another indicator of a healthy, engaged market. Outside of the commercial market, EXPO also gave an early preview of the Obama Presidential Center's June opening, inviting fair visitors to view a scale model of the campus and to look more closely at works that have been commissioned for the collection. Taken together, this year’s EXPO CHICAGO felt grounded but optimistic: a fair that’s refining its identity while staying closely attuned to both its audience and the larger cultural climate shaping the work on view. Through its collaboration with the Obama Presidential Center, EXPO CHICAGO presented&nbsp;Embodiment,&nbsp;a curated section by&nbsp;Dr. Louise Bernard,&nbsp;Founding Director of the&nbsp;Obama Presidential Center Museum. The section presented a selection of galleries inspired by the architecture and commissioned artists of the Obama Presidential Center, offering visitors an early preview ahead of the Center's public opening on June 19, 2026.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661264/ipfa6gwmo5mreswxkdco.jpg">An installation of work by Melissa Leandro at Andrew Rafacz's booth Strong programming of course continues to be an important and centralizing element of EXPO CHICAGO. Curated by&nbsp;Katie A. Pfohl of the Detroit Institute of Arts,&nbsp;Focus&nbsp;highlighted emerging galleries and artistic practices, creating an accessible entry point to the fair. Titled&nbsp;Gathering of Waters, the section explored landscape, migration, and adaptive practices of craft and care, connecting artists and galleries from the Mississippi River Basin with work from across the African, Latin American, and Caribbean diasporas. Curated by&nbsp;Essence Harden,&nbsp;Profile&nbsp;presented solo booths and focused group projects by established international galleries, offering depth, context, and sustained engagement. The fair’s success has always mattered to Chicago and the broader Midwest art community, and even in a year without some of its usual components—like the nonprofit and print sections—its role remains essential. EXPO continues to serve as a central gathering point and calendar anchor, around which so much of the season takes shape, from the RenBen to the Intuit Art Museum gala, alongside the return of Barely Fair and the debut of Neighbors in the Gold Coast. It’s worth recognizing how important that consistency is—and to be grateful for the continued evolution of the fair under new leadership and ideas. # <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1784661265/boohms9ebw6q04samq3k.jpg">Michael DuMontier and Neil Farber at Patel Brown from Montreal

EXPO CHICAGO 2026: Focused, Busy, and In Step

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485877/nhrmvdafyv1lcilvj3mh.jpg">Mark Wagner, Self-Styled, 2 color Letterpress print, Edition of 25, 17.5 x 22”, 2024. Published by Bert Green Fine Art. Note: this article appears in CGN's spring/summer 2026 magazine. To purchase a print copy or subscription <a href="https://chicagogallerynews.myshopify.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" target="_blank">click here</a>. By JACQUELINE LEWIS Prints have always held an interesting place in the art world. They can introduce new collectors to artists and galleries while also offering seasoned collectors the opportunity to pursue works by artists whose paintings or sculptures might otherwise be out of reach. In 2026, prints continue to occupy this wide range of roles within the art market. At the same time, shifts in the art fair landscape, particularly between events like EXPO Chicago and IFPDA Print Fair, are influencing where print dealers, galleries, and publishers choose to show their work. Looking at these decisions offers a window into the current state of prints, the collectors who buy them, and the spaces where they are most often encountered today. Prints – Thriving in the 2026 Art Market In 2026, prints occupy a solid and increasingly visible position within the global art market. Jessica Cochran from <a href="https://process-process.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Process/Process</a> has noticed, “The art market has cooled. Of course some of this is geopolitics and economic pressures, but some see this as a correction. Prices just got too high, and so now we are seeing a rebalancing happening higher up in the market. I don’t know that this has affected prints too much. I mean, most of the print market is well below $20,000 (or even $10,000!) where I think the collectors are still showing up and market data does indicate that.” Statistics back up her experience. The segment of the market under $50,000, where most prints and editions are priced, has grown steadily, with prints and multiples now accounting for roughly 7% of overall art market share and rising. There is a varying accessibility to prints that can attract a wide audience. New art collectors often begin their journey through prints since their nature often lowers the price since there are multiple copies available for purchase. As Jonathan Higgins of <a href="https://mannekenpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Manneken Press</a> states, “I have had families come to print fairs to purchase a first piece for their child’s collection, newlywed couples choosing a piece for their home. It is precisely because of the lower prices of prints that collectors can focus on pieces that really speak to them, rather than letting investment value enter into the equation.”&nbsp; Deborah Maris Lader and Lauren Steinert, Co-Directors of <a href="https://chicagoprintmakers.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chicago Printmakers Collaborative</a>, say they see a varied group of people walking through their doors in search of prints. To them contemporary artists have been selling, while once more established print artists from the 80’s are seeing a decline in market value. That being said, prints can sell for high prices and attract seasoned collectors. The fact that there may be multiple copies does not mean all prints are accessible for all buyers. Artists such as Rembrant Van Rijn, Albrecht Dürer, and many others are known printmakers with works that can be valued in millions of dollars, depending on quality. Collectors of these artists often look for early print impressions (pieces printed before the press was used many times, as evidenced through the quality of the line work) and highly preserved paper.&nbsp; Some print collectors work tirelessly to complete a collection. For example, there are collectors set on acquiring all prints in Dürer’s Life of the Virgin series of 19 woodcuts from 1500–1510 or his Apocalypse series of 15 woodcuts from 1498. Others are forever on the hunt for another Rembrandt to add to a collection. Prints are often the only works available to collectors because paintings and drawings by artists at this level have values high enough they are limited to museums or rare collections. Collectors in this market relied on R. Stanley Johnson at R.S. Johnson Fine Art, an Old Master and Modern Prints dealer in Chicago for decades. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485878/flq9js9qd8gkmcablo1p.jpg">Hiroshi Ariyama demonstration of screen printing at Chicago Printmakers Collaborative during Open House Chicago Fairs &amp; Influence on the Market in General Print collecting attracts a wide variety of art enthusiasts, from those just starting out to premier collectors, and in each case it’s prints that allow engagement with artists and artworks that may otherwise be out of reach in another medium like painting or sculpture. One major way that new collectors are exposed to the opportunities of prints, and collecting in general, is through fairs like IFPDA Print Fair in New York City and at EXPO Chicago. Over the years, foot traffic to art galleries has declined as online spaces for collecting have grown. This can be a great method for more experienced collectors to add to their oeuvre but it makes it more difficult for new collectors to learn about their possibilities and for galleries, dealers, and publishers to expand their clientele. Art fairs can play a huge role in finding and developing new collector relationships. Bert Green of <a href="https://bgfa.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bert Green Fine Art</a> speaks on how integral, for better or worse, fairs have become to galleries. “Unfortunately, fairs have become one of the only ways to reach new collectors, as the primary way that many collectors engage with galleries is at fairs (if they are not already connected to the gallery). I have been in business for almost 27 years and have seen walk-in traffic largely disappear due to the internet and the pandemic. I’ve reduced my open hours to a minimum and the vast majority of people who come in reach out first and make an appointment. Random visitors and spontaneous discussion are much rarer than they once were.”&nbsp; Green states that it can be rough to rely so heavily on fairs because, “At their core they are fundamentally real estate operations and not curatorial projects. Galleries are somewhat constrained by them in that they need to get exposure via fairs, but the high cost is very risky. I’ve seen young galleries splurge on fairs thinking they would sell well only to find that they face insolvency. On the other hand, many established galleries thrive in the fair system. It’s complicated.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485879/iya5qkynysnytyv0typw.jpg">Bert Green Fine Art’s booth at EXPO CHICAGO in 2025 Cochran from Process/Process feels that fairs are incredibly important to publishers. “They allow us to introduce our program to new collectors which is crucial. Each fair offers a slightly different opportunity to contextualize our work. At EXPO, for example, we could show our limited edition prints by artists like Candida Alvarez or Michelle Grabner (and others) who had paintings or art on view in other booths at the fair. This allowed us to tell the story of print and what we do: not only is our print an expression of that artist’s practice in the form of an original, signed artwork, but also it is probably more affordable (accessible) to more collectors.” With all of this in mind, it can be incredibly important for exhibitors to choose the correct fair to reach their target audience. There are a multitude of factors that print sellers consider when determining whether or not to show at an art fair. Most dealers I spoke with agreed about the top factors: cost and audience. Jonathan Higgins owns Manneken Press in Bloomington, Illinois and is a veteran at fairs. Most of the 31 he says he has attended since 2008 are independent (meaning they are not owned by a parent corporation like Frieze) because those tend to be very highly priced. “It has taken me years of trial and error to determine which art fairs are right for me,” he says. “One of the main considerations, of course, is cost.” Due to the nature of most print prices, dealers need to sell many impressions to be sure that they at least break even. Audience is also important. In a broader fair with many types of media, print booths can offer dealers an unique opportunity to inform and teach art enthusiasts about printmaking and its value, while print–specific fairs can be a great way to find active print collectors who may not be familiar with a specific gallery or publisher. Either way, before purchasing an expensive booth, dealers want to be sure that their art would be of interest for the audience of the fair and that it will meet the dealer’s goals for the show. Collector engagement is key. Other aspects Higgins considers are a fair’s reputation, regional market, location, and exhibitor list. He also cares how fair management takes care of exhibitors. If a fair is only taking booth money, he says, and not supporting exhibitors, with marketing, services or programming, it becomes less worth the cost and time, though he acknowledges that is hard to determine before arriving. Finally, there are travel logistics, costs and fair timing to balance. This year the IFPDA Print Fair in New York City is running simultaneously ith EXPO Chicago. Other than large galleries with massive inventory and a larger staff, most dealers had to choose one over the other, with the IFPDA fair considered very important to print galleries.&nbsp; <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485879/yeekbm4h4sewps6mj6e0.jpg">Left: Glenn Goldberg: Empyrean (1), 2026. Etching and aquatint, edition of 20. Image size:“18 x 12”, sheet size: 27” x 20”. Published by Manneken Press.Right: Glenn Goldberg: Empyrean (2), 2026. Etching and aquatint, edition of 20. Image size: “18 x 12”, sheet size: 27” x 20”. Published by Manneken Press. IFPDA and EXPO CHICAGO – Direct Competition and the End of EDITIONS For the first time since 2014, EXPO Chicago will no longer offer its Editions + Books showcase. The section, which included 11 exhibitors in 2025, offered galleries that show a diverse array of print media and object-based practices a space to show their work at a lower rental cost. This was a benefit utilized by exhibitors such as Bert Green Fine Art, F.L. Braswell Fine Art, Process/Process, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Manneken Press, and the MCA, all from Illinois, as well as spaces as far away as Berlin and Dublin. Tandem Press, from Madison, Wisconsin was not part of Editions + Books last year, but they are a long-standing exhibitor at EXPO and they are opting to participate at IFPDA instead this year.&nbsp; The elimination of Editions + Books has shaken up plans for exhibitors who are used to showing at EXPO. Green is concerned what this means for the Chicago print community. “I had always participated in the Editions section and found it to be reliably consistent, with excellent engagement and sales. I am unable to participate [in EXPO] now because I would have to pay the higher booth cost. I’m also concerned that there is no decent alternative for the print community in Chicago. It would be very useful if there were a new, standalone print fair. I am hoping to work with some print publisher colleagues to make that happen.” Lader and Steinert of Chicago Printmakers Collaborative are also not exhibiting at EXPO due to the end of Editions but are considering other ways to continue showing a broader audience their prints. “We liked EXPO because it put printmaking on the international stage, and we easily held our own amongst the broader art world spectrum. We also did well financially,” says Lader. “We are disappointed to lose that opportunity this year, but we will continue to look for a way to bring more attention to the beauty of etching, lithography, screenprinting, monoprint, relief, and experimental and photo print processes to the world.” <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1789485880/xvvgdqq5idbrq24hcjvd.jpg">Alice Tippit, Flute, 2024. $ 1,800.00 (framed from $2,250). Courtesy of Process/Process Some dealers are opting to exhibit at IFPDA Print Fair instead. Higgins needs the fair to kick-start his revenue for the year. “Sales have been pretty sluggish these first two months of 2026. I will be exhibiting at IFPDA in April and hope that I, and my fellow exhibitors, do okay.” He also mentions that the IFPDA Print Fair is a great fair to be a part of and that the organization has a stellar reputation and promotional team.&nbsp; For Higgins, “EXPO Chicago was the pillar around which I built my publishing and fair schedule. The IFPDA fair has now taken that place. As the landscape of art fairs changes and the economy shifts, I may look more toward fairs run by dealer organizations, IFPDA, NADA, etc., which prioritize their exhibitors, rather than corporate entities whose motives can be pretty obscured.” Despite shifts in the broader art market and the changing structure of art fairs, prints remain one of the most accessible ways for collectors to engage with art and are often a gateway for those new to collecting as well as a means of deepening an area of interest for seasoned collectors. Prints are sure to balance the space between accessibility and expertise, beautifully connecting a wide range of collectors with artists’ work.&nbsp; #