Fall is always a busy season in Chicago’s art world, with new exhibitions across galleries and museums opening every week. Right after Labor Day many new exhibition will be open, often through October and beyond. Listed here are a few highlights we are looking forward to seeing through the city, the suburbs and an hour or two away in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Soon we will also share more features about events and exhibitions happening this fall, from the return of the Chicago Architecture Biennial to the 3rd Chicago Exhibition Weekend, as well as many upcoming benefits and galas – all excellent ways to see art and support the dynamic institutions in our region.

Our fall magazine covers events taking place from September-December, and it also includes interviews with many area artists, collectors and other members of the art community.

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– CGN

The Opening of the Chicago location of the Illinois Holocaust Museum

Illinois Holocaust Museum presents Experience360 provides a panoramic view through history and truth, inviting visitors of all backgrounds to witness stories of survival, ask questions, and reflect on the past in ways that inspire empathy, respect, and hope. Featuring cutting-edge technology and immersive storytelling, Experience360 offers visitors an opportunity to engage with history in deeply personal and interactive ways. Now open in downtown Chicago

360 N. State Street, Chicago

ilholocaustmuseum.org/experience360

Jaume Plensa. Hortense in Slumberland, 2021. Bronze, Edition of 11. 30 x 22 x 20 cm. Photo: Roberto Ruiz © Plensa Studio Barcelona

Jaume Plensa: A New Humanism –

Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

This exhibition in Michigan explores Jaume Plensa’s career-long engagement with themes common to our shared humanity such as dreams, desire, justice and mortality. While Plensa’s oeuvre is marked by diversity in format and media, the human condition remains the primary subject of his art. Featuring both monumental and intimate-scaled sculptures and select two-dimensional works that span three decades, this is the first retrospective of this internationally acclaimed artist in the United States.

Oct 24, 2025–Mar 15, 2026 • Grand Rapids, MI

meijergardens.org

Roger Brown Study Collection–

The Art Preserve, John Michael Kohler Art Center

The Chicago home collection of Roger Brown contains more than 2,000 artworks by other Chicago Imagists and non-mainstream artists. A dedicated student of artist Ray Yoshida, the collection echoes many of Yoshida’s sensibilities—folk and Indigenous art, objects from material and popular culture, costumes, souvenirs, and fine art. Brown’s southern heritage, sense of humor, and love of the silhouetted form are also evident throughout the collection. Operated as a semi-private house museum, the collection was acquired by the Arts Center from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) by Kohler Foundation, Inc. This introductory installation of a portion of Brown’s collection at the Art Preserve, will give visitors a sense of the rich trove of objects he collected.

Oct 11–Spring 2026 • 3636 Lower Falls Rd., Sheboygan, WI • jmkac.org

Silver Lining: The Prints of Derrick Adams–

Tandem Press

Derrick Adams (b. 1970, Baltimore, Maryland) is a multidisciplinary artist who closely considers the influence of popular culture on the formation of self-image. His work also questions how African American experiences intersect with art history, American iconography, and consumerism.

Oct 8–Dec 19 • 1743 Commercial Ave.

Madison, WI (53704)

tandempress.wisc.edu/