West Town, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Kinzie Corridor, Humboldt Park

West Town

Wisconsin

IL • MI • IN

West Loop, Fulton Market, East Garfield Park

West Loop and West Side

Evanston, The North Shore, Northern, Western and Southern Suburbs

Suburbs

Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater, Andersonville, Rogers Park

North Side

Michigan Avenue, Streeterville, The Gold Coast, The Loop, and South Loop

Michigan Avenue

Pilsen, Bridgeport, Chinatown, plus Hyde Park, Jackson Park/Dorchester, and Bronzeville

South Side

Superior and Franklin streets, West Chicago Ave, and down to Merchandise Mart and the River

River North

CSI Member Benefit Art AuctionLittle, But Bold is in celebration of all things unmonumental. Often flying under the radar, small things have the special ability to bridge private and public spaces. Within the sculpture field, there has been a projected narrative that bigger is better. We are here to assert that small things can hold the same importance as the largest monument.

CSI Project Space: Little, but Bold! 

25 Years: Art + Design Alumni, 2000–2025, showcases the breadth of creativity and talent that emanates from the Department of Art + Design at Eastern Illinois University. As a quarter-century survey, the exhibition welcomes back former students and families to reflect on and celebrate what it means to have "bled blue"—on canvas, in the round, or anything in between or beyond—while inviting current and prospective students and community members to see what is possible after graduation.&nbsp;

25 Years: Art + Design Alumni, 2000–2025

During the month of January, the gallery will host a group exhibit on Saturdays only&nbsp;featuring the work of several local artists.&nbsp;Each artist will be exhibiting work that while not similar in subject matter, presents contrast with focus on light and shadows, positive and negative space, and color vs. its absence. The variety of work will allow visitors to experience a wide breadth of artistic styles, mark making, and expression within the exhibit.&nbsp; Image: David Keel, "The Hummingbird."&nbsp;

January 2026 Featured Exhibitor: Gallery Artists

Triptych: Kate Berry-Brown, Vanessa Filley, and Darren Oberto&nbsp;&nbsp;The points of convergence between the work of Berry-Brown, Filley and Oberto are a place of mystery that demands inquiry and invites contemplation. With practices as disparate as figurative photography, pencil based portraits and works of oil on canvas these three artists come from varied approaches, but continual probing investigation and a turn towards the abstract links their work together.&nbsp;Through a wide-range of subject&nbsp;matter as disparate as motherhood and the weight of belonging, relationship to place and environment, the cosmos, historical allusions and conversations with artists across time these artists navigate through life with the necessity to make.&nbsp;Each of them mulls what it is to exist in the here and now and how one might grapple with the complexity of being, often finding synthesis and answers in geometric abstraction. There is a profound interest in mark making, foundational craft-based skills, and acts of repetition&nbsp;that show up in the practices of all three, as well as a willingness and curiosity to experiment with materials and explore what medium might best support or express an idea. For these artists, each endeavor influences the direction of future projects, prompting subtle course corrections toward new horizons. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1768437097/xw5zfwek7lnawn1y9lc5.jpg">Darren Oberto <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1768437100/wv4xxf7gjsiqnqvmz5w4.jpg">Vanessa Filley Top image: Kate Berry-Brown

Triptych: Kate Berry-Brown, Vanessa Filley and Darren Oberto

Sights, Seen, and Never Seen&nbsp;explores the imagery found in the urban environment and the representation of urban life that are often ignored or hidden. Among the rush hours and countless telephone poles, we aim to magnify the mundane, to look at the bigger picture, not for what it is, but for what makes it.&nbsp;After Line, Before Form&nbsp;explores the moment when a point becomes a line, and a line transforms into a shape, tracing the liminal spaces between them and the threshold where line gives rise to form—where movement and perception bring form into being. Featuring works by artists from Ukraine, the Ukrainian diaspora, and other international contexts, the exhibition considers geometry as both a physical structure and an imaginative order.Both exhibitions are curated by Students from the&nbsp;School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Curatorial Practicum Class.&nbsp;The course is led by UIMA’s Curator,&nbsp;Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Art History, Theory &amp; Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Each exhibition is comprised from work in the&nbsp;permanent collection at UIMA.

Sights, Seen, and Never Seen

RAM in downtown Racine is once again participating in&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.visitmilwaukee.org/museum-days/" target="_blank">Milwaukee Museum Days</a>, an annual campaign organized by Visit Milwaukee that encourages visitors to enjoy the full spectrum of the area’s cultural offerings at discounted rates. From January 22 until February 1, locals and tourists alike can take advantage of free, 25%, 20%, or 15% off admission at numerous area museums.&nbsp;Visitors to RAM can enjoy free admission throughout this period.23 incredible museums are participating alongside RAM in the 2025 campaign, including:<ul><li>America’s Black Holocaust&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Betty Brinn Children’s&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Bucyrus&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Charles Allis Art Museum</li><li>Emile H. Mathis Art Gallery at UW–Milwaukee</li><li>Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block</li><li>Grohmann&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Haggerty&nbsp;Museum&nbsp;of Art</li><li>Harley-Davidson&nbsp;Museum</li><li>John Michael Kohler Arts Center and Art Preserve</li><li>Luxembourg American Cultural Society &amp; Center</li><li>Lynden Sculpture Garden</li><li>Milwaukee&nbsp;Art&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Milwaukee&nbsp;County Historical Society</li><li>Milwaukee&nbsp;Public&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Mitchell Gallery of Flight</li><li>National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Pabst Mansion</li><li>Racine Art&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Sculpture&nbsp;Milwaukee</li><li>The Catacombs of Neto Art&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Villa Terrace&nbsp;Museum&nbsp;&amp; Gardens</li><li>War Memorial Center</li><li>Waukesha County Historical Society and&nbsp;Museum</li><li>Wisconsin&nbsp;Museum&nbsp;of Quilts &amp; Fiber Arts</li></ul>RAM is open each Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Milwaukee Museum Days 2026

Virtual Artists’ Talk:&nbsp;Thursday, January 15th, 2026 at 7 PM | <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=e288dd61d3&amp;e=49b9939ea4" target="_blank">Register here</a> Perspective Gallery is pleased to announce&nbsp;Fugue, a solo exhibition of new photographic works by acclaimed music composer, and visual artist William Harper, opening January 2, 2026. In this striking series, Harper explores the visual equivalent of musical counterpoint through motion-intensive photographic techniques, including timelapse, burst sequencing, and drone-based imaging.The exhibition features work that capture the dynamic patterns of landscapes and natural phenomena, revealing hidden harmonic relationships within movement. Each image or sequence becomes a “voice,” interacting with others to create a visual polyphony.Fugue&nbsp;invites viewers to experience time, movement, and structure in a photographic decisive moment.

William Harper: Fugue

The exhibition showcases Lustig's multifaceted creative force spanning from childhood to the present day. The showcase includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and more. Highlights include her&nbsp;Surreal Tree Paintings, oil works revealing anthropomorphic qualities in nature; Abstract Illusion Paintings, spontaneous landscapes evoking music and motion; and&nbsp;Zofscape, a multimedia installation combining LED light sculptures, animated video, and original music composition.A graduate of California College of the Arts in Oakland, Lustig has built a remarkable career as a caricature artist, ceramic sculptor, mural painter, and puppet maker. Her work reflects the influence of Bay Area underground comics culture and the Chicago Imagist movement, blending whimsy with deeper commentary on contemporary life. Her signature Pop Surrealism style transforms ordinary subjects into dreamlike scenarios that are simultaneously playful and profound. About the artist:&nbsp;Ellen Lustig is a multi-faceted artist and composer working in variousmedia to create her dynamic installations. Ellen’s light sculptures are a fabrication of acrylic etchings enhanced by LEDs and music, producing what feels like an all-immersive voluminous 3d space. Her animation series includes digitally rendered passages that mimic the designs seen in her sculptures and also have the effect of an other-worldly landscape. A graduate of California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, Lustig has spent decades as a caricature artist, ceramic sculptor, mural painter, and puppet maker, creating unique pieces that are sought after nationwide. In addition to numerous one woman and group shows with her sculptures and paintings, she dedicates time by regularly teaching art to cancer patients and their families in hospitals and wellness centers such as Gilda’s Club of Chicago. Ellen can also be found playing blues keyboards at open mic nights in Chicago and the suburbs.Ellen Lustig's paintings are a collection of Pop Surrealism art. Her subject matter is forever transforming as she delves into toys, nature, and abstraction. The imagery in Ellen's paintings is a combination of whimsy, pop and realism. The subjects in her paintings also vary between baby boomer toys in uncanny situations, anthropomorphic trees, or quirky abstractions.Throughout Ellen's paintings including her early work, tree paintings, toy paintings or abstractions, Lustig creates a variety of subjects and styles. Her continuous theme is Pop Surrealism Art.The Pop Surrealism/Lowbrow art movement originated in the 1960's with hot rod culture and underground comics. It has evolved into a vilified, vital, and exciting art movement.Having been schooled in the Bay area for College, Ellen was definitely influenced by the comical area surrounding her. She then moved to Chicago where the Hairy Who and Imagists were prevalent in the art world which also had an effect on her subject matter. Lustig still resides in Chicago where she has made a lifelong career as a multimedia artist. Her work has been shown nationally in galleries and museums along with private collections. About the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art:&nbsp;The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) preserves and promotes contemporary art as a shared expression of the Ukrainian and American experience. UIMA develops, utilizes and encourages artistic talent through exhibitions, concerts, readings, lectures and films to serve the cultural needs of our community and city, and thereby strengthen cultural understanding and diversity. <ul><li>Artist Talk: Saturday, January 17, 1–2 pm</li></ul>

Ellen Lustig: Transformations

The show&nbsp;highlights print projects published by Manneken Press over the past twelve months. The exhibition features work by five artists, with works&nbsp;ranging from symbolism to geometric and painterly abstraction to photographic realism. Included are unique monotypes as well as limited-edition etchings and photogravures. On view online at Artsy <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/manneken-press" target="_blank">here</a> The exhibition features work by five artists, ranging from symbolism to geometric and painterly abstraction to photographic realism. Included are unique monotypes as well as limited-edition etchings and photogravures — a hybrid of photography and intaglio printmaking. Artists invited to Manneken Press typically travel from cities such as New York, Dallas, or Bogotá to our central Illinois studio, where they work intensively for a week or longer. The artist’s presence is crucial, and the compressed nature of these working sessions often yields a cohesive body of prints that can stand individually or function together as a series — hence the term “project.” Artists included in the show:•<a style="color: rgb(9, 194, 105);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tf/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzI4ODYwMjc4NzgyNzAxOTEsXCJyXCI6MTcyODg2MDQxMzkzMzY2NTk0fSIsInMiOiI0MTE0YzU0ODZmZDEyZWE5In0" target="_blank">Edie Fake</a>•<a style="color: rgb(9, 194, 105);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tf/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzI4ODYwMjc4ODQ1NjE2NTYsXCJyXCI6MTcyODg2MDQxMzkzMzY2NTk0fSIsInMiOiI3MzU5ZTkzNzYyNDIyYjY0In0" target="_blank">Andrea Ferrigno</a>•<a style="color: rgb(9, 194, 105);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tf/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzI4ODYwMjc4ODk4MDQ1NDAsXCJyXCI6MTcyODg2MDQxMzkzMzY2NTk0fSIsInMiOiI2YTM4YjRiMzk5Y2YxMjhlIn0" target="_blank">Jason Karolak</a>•<a style="color: rgb(9, 194, 105);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tf/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzI4ODYwMjc4OTYwOTYwMDEsXCJyXCI6MTcyODg2MDQxMzkzMzY2NTk0fSIsInMiOiI3YTM5Y2NjNjEyZmIzNDMwIn0" target="_blank">Claire Seidl</a>•<a style="color: rgb(9, 194, 105);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tf/c/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzI4ODYwMjc5MDEzMzg4ODUsXCJyXCI6MTcyODg2MDQxMzkzMzY2NTk0fSIsInMiOiJhYWU5NjE2YTVlZjE2NjU1In0" target="_blank">Philip Van Keuren</a> Image: Jason Karolak:&nbsp;Prospect,&nbsp;2024. Aquatint on Magnani Incisioni paper.&nbsp;Edition of 20. Image: 21" x 18"/sheet: 26.5" x 23".

Projects: Recent Releases from Manneken Press

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyMzY1NTM4NDAsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiJlOThmMGIzOTE2ZDA3YjNjIn0" target="_blank">Projects: Recent Releases from Manneken Press</a>The show&nbsp;highlights print projects published by Manneken Press over the past twelve months. The exhibition features work by five artists, with works&nbsp;ranging from symbolism to geometric and painterly abstraction to photographic realism. Included are unique monotypes as well as limited-edition etchings and photogravures -&nbsp;a hybrid of photography and intaglio printmaking.Artists invited to Manneken Press typically travel from cities such as New York, Dallas, or Bogotá to our central Illinois studio, where they work intensively for a week or longer. The artist’s presence is crucial, and the compressed nature of these working sessions often yields a cohesive body of prints that can stand individually or function together as a series — hence the term “project.” Artists included in the show:•<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyNDkxMzY3NzYsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiJmN2ExYWNjOWEwMmU1OTFmIn0" target="_blank">Edie Fake</a>•<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyNTQzNzk2NjcsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiJkMGJiZGRmMTExODg1MWUyIn0" target="_blank">Andrea Ferrigno</a>•<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyNjA2NzExMzMsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiJlNDcxODc1MGExYzFkMWNjIn0" target="_blank">Jason Karolak</a>•<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyNjY5NjI1OTYsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiIyY2Q0MmJhNTI5ZTY3NzFmIn0" target="_blank">Claire Seidl</a>•<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://qvrzaq.clicks.mlsend.com/tj/cl/eyJ2Ijoie1wiYVwiOjM4NzU1NixcImxcIjoxNzMyNDE4MTEyNzMyNTQwNjEsXCJyXCI6MTczMjQxODIzMzYxMjM4NTIwfSIsInMiOiJiNWNjYmU1YmQwZDYyOTg4In0" target="_blank">Philip Van Keuren</a>

Projects: Recent Releases from Manneken Press (online exhibition)

In&nbsp;Born on a Forgotten Day, Fernández explores how people create meaning through the spaces they inhabit. Drawing from his ongoing series&nbsp;Façade, the work reflects on overlooked architectural forms and the quiet narratives they hold—revealing themes of identity, memory, and place. His photographs invite viewers to pause and consider the emotional and cultural stories embedded in the built environment around us.

Juan Fernández: Born on a Forgotten Day

Oh, you’ve got to come back to the city, the place where you belongOh, you’ve got to come back to the city, the place where you were bornOh, you’ve got to come back to the city, the city of dreams&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;—Marvin Tate, “City Promenade” OH, YOU’VE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE CITY is a solo exhibition by Theaster Gates. This is Gates’s fourth solo exhibition with GRAY.In&nbsp;OH, YOU’VE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE CITY, Gates brings together a new series of tar paintings, sculpture, and installation to tell an allegory of the city in decay and the potential contained within its ruins. The exhibition’s title comes from a song by Chicago musician and poet Marvin Tate, in which the City, personified as a character, has cleaned up its act and attempts to lure its residents back from the suburbs.&nbsp;Gates’s artistic practice has engaged and reframed the cultural and material history of Chicago as material for the studio. His new installation explores the possibilities that lie within the city’s unattended corners. From his stone repository, Gates has selected a family of marble, granite, scholars’ rocks, and concrete forms that anchor a grid-like installation evoking both the planning logic of cities and the quiet order of memorials. Ceramic works and everyday artifacts rest atop each stone, suggesting the remnants left behind by former inhabitants. Surrounding the sculptural installation is a new series of tar paintings that extend Gates’s patching and bonding strategies. Both sculptural and painterly, these works represent a new direction in the series.&nbsp;In this body of work, Gates wrestles with the burden brought on by aging infrastructure to create new narratives that build on the rich metaphors embedded in his materials—as tools of resistance, signs of excess, and evidence of decline. Developed in conjunction with his exhibition&nbsp;Unto Thee, on view at the Smart Museum of Art through February 22, 2026,&nbsp;OH, YOU’VE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE CITY&nbsp;offers a profound reflection on Gate’s life as a craftsman, urban planner, and pedagogue. ABOUT&nbsp;THEASTER GATESTheaster Gates (b. 1973) currently lives and works in Chicago. Gates creates works that engage with space theory and land development, sculpture and performance. Drawing on his interest and training in urban planning and preservation, Gates redeems spaces that have been left behind. Known for his recirculation of art world capital, Gates’s practice focuses on the possibility of the “life within things.” His work contends with the notion of Black space as a formal exercise—one defined by collective desire, artistic agency, and the tactics of a pragmatist.Gates has received numerous awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2025), Crystal Award (2020), Nasher Prize (2018), Kurt Schwitters Prize (2017), American Academy of Arts &amp; Sciences Award (2016), and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Social Progress (2015). His work can be found in public collections worldwide, including the Menil Collection, Houston, Texas; Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery of Canada, Ontario; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Illinois; Tate Gallery, London, England; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California. Gates is a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the Harris School of Public Policy.

Theaster Gates: OH, YOU'VE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE CITY

Witches are guardians of suppressed forms of knowledge; they channel ancestral wisdom and embodied practices that have long been dismissed or feared. Visionary agents of transformation, spiritual practitioners conjure alternative futures through acts of resistance, imagination, and care.&nbsp;Witches, Bitches: Witchcraft as Empowerment&nbsp;explores the rise of the occult, new spirituality, and magic in contemporary culture, and reads it as a symptom of undergoing social transformations. Featuring contemporary artists who challenge dominant systems of patriarchy and colonialism to reclaim power on their own terms, this exhibition situates the practice of witchcraft into the past, present, and future acknowledging it as a form of feminist and political empowerment, and a radical proposition for a fully decolonial way of being.&nbsp;Witches, Bitches&nbsp;brings together works that engage with the iconography, stereotypes, and active practices of witchcraft to explore themes of spiritual power, collective energy,&nbsp;alternative cosmologies, and environmental consciousness. The exhibition features works spanning from the 1970s to the present by about thirty women-identifying international artists from different generations. Some of them self-identify with witchcraft or draw on practices of magic and spirituality, while others engage these themes through a critical and defiant lens. The exhibition will be accompanied by a robust public program including a talk series with public scholars and authors specializing in witchcraft, workshops in spell-casting with witchcraft practitioners, programming for families, performances, panel discussions with artists from different generations, and film screenings.&nbsp;Witches, Bitches: Witchcraft as Empowerment&nbsp;is co-curated by Ionit Behar, PhD, DPAM Curator, and Magdalena Moskalewicz, PhD, Chief Curator and Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs, Sheldon Museum of Art, and organized by DePaul Art Museum. Support for this exhibition is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts.&nbsp;More <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://resources.depaul.edu/art-museum/exhibitions/Pages/witches-bitches-witchcraft-as-empowerment.aspx" target="_blank">Details</a> Image credit: Tirtzah Bassel,&nbsp;Four Sweepers of the Apocalypse,&nbsp;2025. Oil on canvas. 72 x 96 in. Courtesy of the artist.

Witches, Bitches: Witchcraft as Empowerment

Goldilocks Moment&nbsp;is a playful yet contemplative exhibition that explores themes in the popular childhood fairy tale such as those moments&nbsp;when things are "just right." How do we find that moment? How do we keep it? What do we do when we lose it?&nbsp;The&nbsp;story changes when the Bears come home and disruption occurs. But who is the intruder in this story?&nbsp;There is a concept in the field of astronomy called the Goldilocks zone, which is the exact distance from the sun where human life is possible.&nbsp;The artists are interested in the Goldilocks Moment as functional folklore and how the concept gets adopted by economists, scientists, and culture makers to describe a kind of moment, the right moment to leave, the moment to stay, the moment of creation, the moment of equilibrium, the “just right” state of being.&nbsp; The artists are a collective of mostly University of Chicago graduates who have collaborated for many years. They have presented their work in unique spaces including the loading dock of a contemporary art museum and a friend’s garage as a drive-through exhibit during covid.&nbsp;Working together for them is an endeavor of joy that represents a Goldilocks Moment. Each of the artists bring these larger questions into a personal realm that they explore through a variety of media. The artists use photos, film, sculptures, painting and performance to wrestle with ideas such as cultural change, how images can illuminate qualities of common experiences, and one’s comfort and identity in society. They realize that even the practice of creating can bring Goldilocks Moments. As one of the artists put it,&nbsp;In the field, my Goldilocks Moment is when I am so much in the moment of making an image, that I can forget having made it or ever having been there. The artists in this exhibition are Anthony Adcock, dado, Marco G. Ferrari, Hannah Givler, Maymay Jumsai, Stacee Kalmanovsky, Paul G. Somers, and Jay Wolke. The Goldilocks Moment&nbsp;opens at SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art on Friday, January 9 from 5-8 p.m. The Reception for the show will be on Friday, January 16 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.&nbsp; There will be an Artist Talk on Saturday, January 31 from 2-3:30 pm, where a panel of several of the artists will be interviewed by Molly O’Donnell. SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art is located at 1527 N. Ashland Ave. Regular hours are Fridays 5-7 p.m., Saturdays from 12-4 p.m., and by appointment by calling Laura Botwinick at 773.513.4436 or emailing&nbsp;Lkbotwinick@gmail.com. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1767477365/an9e5r9ij21nda7qlafi.jpg">

Goldilocks Moment

Image: Herman Aguirre,&nbsp;¡Ni uno mas!, 2023, Oil and oil/acrylic skins on panel, 63" x 98" x 4.5"

Herman Aguirre

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s (b. 1961) current practice creates objects that blur the line between art and utility, ultimately inviting viewers to meditate on the role and “usefulness” of art in society. His approach challenges notions of function, beauty, and purpose in art by making works that resemble utilitarian objects but often serve no conventional practical purpose—or, alternatively, reveal surprising functionality that critiques broader sociopolitical or environmental concerns. One could say that Manglano-Ovalle has a phenomenological practice (the study of how we experience things through our senses and perceptions)—he places profound importance on the viewer’s sensory and intellectual experience, emphasizing how art can engage the body and mind in ways that go beyond representation.&nbsp;Manglano-Ovalle’s solo exhibition at DePaul Art Museum&nbsp;presents site-specific works that are both familiar and opaque, encouraging viewers to confront ambiguity and engage in deeper contemplation. Our experiences are never predetermined; they exist at the intersection of the private and the public, the personal and the shared. However deeply felt, they are also open to examination. Manglano-Ovalle’s work calls us to inhabit the present moment fully, urging us to consider: How does the work draw us in, and how do we, in turn, respond to it—right here, right now?&nbsp;Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s exhibition is curated by Ionit Behar, PhD, and organized by DePaul Art Museum.&nbsp; Image credit: Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Untitled, 2023. Pine and graphite. Courtesy of the artist.&nbsp;

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle: A Want for Nothing

“Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón: Young Lords in Chicago” explores the Young Lords Organization's trajectory in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Gentrification and urban renewal displaced the vibrant Puerto Rican community of the 1950s and 1960s. Originally a street gang, the Young Lords transformed into a prominent civil rights organization.&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://click.agilitypr.delivery/ls/click?upn=u001.DMJAPtLMia7h-2FoQouHpZ7VucsQcy3YmuN9E-2BBveaH488JEjYiLL6gNNvfxkw-2FGqyXcJ0Mk6-2BmX21J9JiYsIHXzENjzM2kQUb5rLOElK1dhV69SYpdTqREc3e7jN4PgfJPYhyLo7-2BAld1-2FJUzovRT1g-3D-3DuNLS_0g5QiKQ3ANfCkWXxwzczn1phIok0-2FnBF8GNWXrNhq2-2B4ftGj9DI8Jn4AfRAGeAJVr5d8tZaUkO86wELMDcgOg2JJnq4MYeWc7vJT8UFoP9JB4ktPrjnyT0Q-2FgJDbrrl4gKCk3EQ7EQCKK7Y-2B8HvMMN5HreRSKCKXooND8rxLMCbg-2B05tGi82LGb3OISpzjoVvNgw2sPbWSU7IbcWae7HM9JoWTFkwW5YoLJI26ngy3AkfG50sS15PTIRzqm6Xq8xg4JTDnNCSo49XfmFsOiKdBMTb1it82ohrC8v4yi79AI-2Feu-2FfnhrSxpeKJACjPI33Ac6lAR9ifJFK0op4yLggtB7tMaRoR5VfNcuQixNIBNkVp59o7I5P2w57eXAwKl052-2FXVJz-2FJ0MmeAsEo-2FxV1a7CKY8uui3w612dejPzEw-2BTQSuMdoVcWV0e5bKErNGydSEd4FTVtC-2B4i2SFYXlasyXoiAaC8IqnO6QOzviL41Kc-3D" target="_blank">Curator and faculty member Lazú</a>&nbsp;is recognized as a leading scholar of the Young Lords Organization and helped establish<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://click.agilitypr.delivery/ls/click?upn=u001.DMJAPtLMia7h-2FoQouHpZ7V-2BNjmn91WVUUN2-2Fz4l6r58oGmh5RnBYP1-2BidTW12IE5zDqc1VXBwp11yHHAQUpxiOw6A8kd7Aa-2FmNXcX27Ibv0-3Drbby_0g5QiKQ3ANfCkWXxwzczn1phIok0-2FnBF8GNWXrNhq2-2B4ftGj9DI8Jn4AfRAGeAJVr5d8tZaUkO86wELMDcgOg2JJnq4MYeWc7vJT8UFoP9JB4ktPrjnyT0Q-2FgJDbrrl4gKCk3EQ7EQCKK7Y-2B8HvMMN5HreRSKCKXooND8rxLMCbg-2B05tGi82LGb3OISpzjoVvNgw2sPbWSU7IbcWae7HM9JoWTFkwW5YoLJI26ngy3AkfG50sS15PTIRzqm6Xq8xg4JTDnNCSo49XfmFsOiKdBMTb1it82ohrC8v4yi79AI-2Feu-2FfnhrSxpeKJACjPI33Ac6lAR9ifJFK0op4yLggtDIbp275btVB9OOkgETcHRh-2Fr1dH1NQcsk5j2s5jnl-2ByFsavGAbC6Krxq6psExt846nJXS1P1TcvF9H1bxgytih1OqQvWLHaVyrV5Ugxhon5ZOGg7-2BG3qee5-2FJTEqfxaoLqhfwQVnAMZ6YByWfds2hA-3D" target="_blank">&nbsp;DePaul's Young Lords special collections archive</a>&nbsp;as a destination of study on social movements.&nbsp;The exhibition explores the origins of the movement, emphasizing the concept of counter-mapping as a means of activism and community empowerment. Counter-mapping is a mapmaking approach that challenges narratives upheld by traditional maps, representing elements of a place that may have been overlooked or intentionally erased.The exhibition features archival materials, historical artifacts, photography, murals and prints, with works by Carlos Flores, Ricardo Levins Morales and John Pitman Weber. It also includes newly commissioned work by Sam Kirk and a central multimedia installation by Arif Smith with Rebel Betty, inviting visitors to engage with one of the most influential movements in Latinx civil rights history, rooted in the everyday struggles of a Chicago neighborhood."Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón confronts the erasure of the spaces that gave rise to the Young Lords’ fight for justice,” said Lazú. “These works reclaim that ground, making visible the neighborhood that shaped the movement and insisting that its memory of struggle and community endures."&nbsp;﻿Image credit: A member of the Young Lords writes in chalk as a family looks on during a Puerto Rican heritage festival at the Armitage Methodist Church, 1969. ST-40001976-0057, Chicago Sun-Times collection, Chicago History Museum.

Tengo Lincoln Park en mi corazón: The Young Lords in Chicago

Watercolorist Michael Ireland (b.1952) challenges the norms traditionally associated with the medium. Often working on a large scale, Ireland explores how technique and texture impact color. Ireland’s creative studies began at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, and he has continued to explore the possibilities of painting and watercolor while navigating a fruitful and diverse artistic career path. Ireland&nbsp;is a member of the National Watercolor Society and the Illinois Watercolor Society.

Different Strokes

What have you forgotten? When you found it or rediscovered it were you happy, sad, annoyed, delighted, regretful? It was once important and then it became forgotten.What is new to you was once forgotten by me. The work on display is a representation of compartmentalizing ideas and memories with no distinct beginning or end.

Noel Mercado: How Could We Forget About You

Metaphysical poet John Donne famously wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself,” in his 1624 meditation on the interconnectedness of humanity. In Every Man is an Island, artist Natasha Moustache turns this idea inward, asking what it means to exist both within and apart. To belong to a place that embodies solitude and connection at once.The Seychelles Islands, an archipelago of 115 islands scattered across the Indian Ocean, embody this paradox. In Moustache’s black and white photographs, the island emerges not as a place apart, but as a living communion of body and spirit, humanity and nature, self and divine. Each image becomes a quiet testament to the ways in which life here is interwoven with the elements — water, wind, light, and faith.Within this constellation of islands, humanity is held tenderly by the microcosm of the islands themselves, a mirror reflecting the vast, interconnected universe beyond.

Natasha Moustache: Every Man is an Island

The works in this exhibition are inspired by Epiphany Center for the Arts’ history as a church building, especially the dedicatory plaque hung around the corner in the hall. The grey and white text-based paintings are inspired by the plaque’s color and shape. But while these paintings initially evoke banal, cliched, vaguely uplifting “word art” in vacation rentals and hotels,&nbsp;the language in them quickly veers into denser, darker, trickier, more complicated interpretations.&nbsp;Though intended to seem like ‘old sayings’ all the texts are original. They are inspired by Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is a thing with feathers” and the Greek myth of Pandora, who opened a forbidden chest and allowed all the evils in the world to fly out. Panicked, she slammed the chest closed, shutting the gift of hope inside.The themes of wings, flight and transcendence are continued in the images of birds and boats. Traditional iconography in Christian churches, such images are metaphors for faith and belief. Here again, tropes associated with lightness and beauty reveal their darker side as the birds (our stand-ins?) are sometimes in danger, or in anguish, and boats drift unmoored, without direction.&nbsp;But others float or fly past, unconcerned and unaware.These works refer to the difficulty of maintaining hope, and the insistence that we keep trying anyway. They call to mind the pain of distress as well as the possibility of grace. About Rebecca Keller<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://rebeccakeller.net/section/15938.html" target="_blank">Rebecca Keller</a>’s multidisciplinary career spans art-making across diverse media, research into language and history, and creative writing. She has received grants and honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, a TEDx Talk, two Fulbright Awards, and an American Association of Museums International Fellowship.Her artwork has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hyde Park Art Center, the Portland Art Museum, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, the 4th International Waldkunst Biennial, Tartu Art Museum, Chesterwood Museum and Studio, the Tides Institute &amp; Museum of Art, the Elmhurst Art Museum, Glessner House Museum, the Estonian National Art Museum, and the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, among many other venues and projects across the U.S., China, Europe, and Brazil.Her writing on art has been published by The Public Historian and the textbook Art and Public History (Rowman &amp; Littlefield). She is the author of Excavating History: When Artists Take on Historic Sites (Stepsister Press), a book exploring her work in historic environments. Her essay “Mazes and Mirrors, Reflections and Play” was published by the Franz Hals Museum.Keller also writes fiction. Two of her short stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and her debut novel, You Should Have Known, was released by Crooked Lane Books/Penguin Random House in 2023. Her fiction will also appear in the forthcoming anthology “20 Over 60” from Regal House Press.

Rebecca Keller: Hope Is the Last Thing

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) presents The Uncivil Canvas: Art in the Age of Discord, a national juried exhibition examining the role of artists as witnesses, truth-tellers, and catalysts for civic dialogue during a time of profound social division. Opening January 17, 2026, the show features 34 artists from across the United States whose work confronts the emotional and political tensions shaping contemporary life. The artists use painting, fiber, printmaking, sculpture, photography, ceramics, collage, mixed media, and installation to challenge harmful narratives and elevate voices often pushed aside. Juror: Karen M. Gutfreund is an independent curator, artist, and consultant focused on feminist and social justice art. She has held positions at MoMA, leading galleries, and the Pacific Art League, and served as National Exhibitions Director and board member for the Women’s Caucus for Art. She hasorganized 50+ national exhibitions, curated the book Not Normal: Art in the Age of Trump, exhibits widely, and lives in California’s Sierra Foothills. Exhibiting Artists: Elaine Alibrandi, Salma Arastu, Nicci Arnold, Bianca Bisej, Lorraine Bonner, Nancy Calef, Dagny Rayn Chika, Patricia Dahlman, Sally Edelstein, Pamela Flynn, Lisa Freeman, Libby Gamble, Kelly Hartigan Goldstein, Tonia Indigo Hughes, Cynthia Kerby, Beth Lakamp, Toni Martinez, Clarissa Martinez, Jessica McKenzie, Melisa of MWY Pottery, Judith Mogul, Lori Moretti, Priscilla Otani, Recka, Donna Ruff, Gigi Salij, Adrienne Sloane, Siana Smith, Lucy VanRegenmorter, Lisa Venditelli, Jeane Vogel, Emily Weddle, Michelle Wilkie, Teresa Greve Wolf Together, these artists illuminate the social forces shaping American life while affirming art’s capacity to connect, provoke, and build community across differences. Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Sunday | 12–5 PMLocation: Woman Made Gallery,&nbsp;1332 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607,&nbsp;Street parking and nearby garage available. Exhibition EventsOpening Reception:&nbsp;Saturday, January 17, 2026 | 4–7 PMClosing Reception + Artist Walkthrough:&nbsp;Saturday, February 14, 2026 | 2–4 PM About Woman Made GalleryFounded in 1992, Woman Made Gallery (WMG) is a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting women and non-binary artists through exhibitions, professional development, and community programming. WMG provides vital visibility for artists marginalized by gender and creates space for critical, inclusive, and transformative conversations in contemporary art. Organizational Neutrality StatementAs a registered Illinois 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Woman Made Gallery does not endorse or oppose political candidates or parties and refrains from promoting individual ideological or religious beliefs. All programming and communications are mission-driven and focused on artistic merit, diversity of perspective, and constructive dialogue. SupportWoman Made Gallery is supported in part by The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events; The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Illinois Arts Council Agency; a major anonymous donor; and the generosity of members and contributors.

The Uncivil Canvas: Art in the Age of Discord

In&nbsp;The Children Play Games, the artist explores the fragile relationship between play, perception, and imagination through a lens that intertwines past memories, present realities, and future possibilities. The show invites viewers to reflect on how children engage with their world in an age where Artificial Intelligence and deep Internet culture increasingly shape their experiences and understanding. By juxtaposing traditional play with AI-infused elements the artist creates a dialogue about the shifting boundaries of authenticity and creativity in childhood.&nbsp;Today’s children grow up alongside intelligent machines while immersed in an endless, unfiltered digital stream. Their minds are trained to scroll and react, often at the expense of slower, tactile forms of play that once nurtured fine motor skills, independent thought, and imaginative problem-solving. Algorithmic feeds promise limitless information but leave little room for open-ended discovery, offering access without the depth of true exploration.Artificial Intelligence sharpens this dilemma by performing acts of invention that once belonged to the developing mind. From generating pictures to completing stories, AI delivers finished creations that bypass the frustration—and growth—of making something from nothing. When creativity is outsourced to algorithms, children risk becoming consumers of novelty rather than creators of it, spectators to a simulation of imagination that demands nothing of their own.Against this backdrop,&nbsp;The Children Play Games&nbsp;seeks to reclaim the essential terrain of imagination. Each photograph functions as a portal into a dreamlike, yet critical space where the physical and digital coexist without clear hierarchy. By inviting viewers to step into these constructed realities, the exhibition calls on society at large to consider how we might safeguard environments that sustain curiosity, protect the vital connection between mind and hand, and empower the next generation to shape worlds of their own making rather than surrender to those designed for them.

Jordan A. Porter-Woodruff: The Children Play Games

The image of the Black woman in Western Art is one riddled with stereotypes, racial mythologies, visions of servitude and sexual transgressions. In 1994, Harvard’s Dubois Institute began a research project which later birthed seven volumes on&nbsp;The Image of the Black in Western Art&nbsp;by Harvard’s scholar Henry Louis Gates and David Bindman.&nbsp;All volumes document in detail the fate of ‘black presence’ in European Art. This exhibition of abstract figurative paintings continue in the same vein but removes all references to European Art to focus squarely on the Black female model but not as a tool to reaffirm white superiority and Christian morals.Shane-Jahi Jackson, in&nbsp;Black Female Presence,&nbsp;evades providing an instructional manual for the viewer on how to interpret his paintings of Black women. His “no comment stance” is a deliberate one, resisting the impulse to qualify or explain the why of these paintings. Instead, he demands the same reaction to the sublime on seeing Botticelli’s Renaissance painting of the&nbsp;Birth of Venus.&nbsp;They, too, are beautiful.The ensemble of works posits the idea that Black women should be a portal to the universal. He invites the viewer to leave their cliches, bias and judgement at the door.Shane-Jahi celebrates these women.﻿

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