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

On May 4th, five people with varying degrees of connection to one another accepted an invitation to go to the Civic Opera House for a performance. They—Max Guy, Thomas Lin, Lily (pseudonym), Jenna Lyle, and Wilson Yerxa—had all seen advertisements for it (everywhere) but never an actual performance. In this panel presentation moderated by Arts Club artist fellow Qiuchen Wu, an ensemble of artists, scholars, and thinkers reflect on the experience.This event is co-presented with&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://artsclubchicago.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=502da7c1672081e981f967563&amp;id=8e1db88213&amp;e=e3c33543d7" target="_blank">SHANGHAI SEMINARY</a>.Free and open to all.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://artsclubchicago.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=502da7c1672081e981f967563&amp;id=5146c01f9b&amp;e=e3c33543d7" target="_blank">In-Person</a><a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://artsclubchicago.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=502da7c1672081e981f967563&amp;id=ddda8d9205&amp;e=e3c33543d7" target="_blank">Virtual</a>

sH3n YvN 2025: A Panel

@ MoCP&nbsp;Print Study Room, 2nd Floor600 S. Michigan Ave.Chicago, IL 60605 This program is in partnership with the&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=93726e441d&amp;e=62775191de" target="_blank">Chicago Architectural Biennial.</a>

Public Print Viewing: Building Pictures

ART &amp; ARCHITECTURE SHOW East Erie Gallery opens a new fall show in our historic location 161 E. Erie. The gallery is housed in 1877 construction built after the great fire and is on the cusp of receiving landmark status. Work on view will feature a blend of our concrete &amp; natural world. Email <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:easteriegallery@gmail.com" target="_blank">easteriegallery@gmail.com</a> for details The show opens Friday Evening, Oct. 17th 5-8PM with small reception and runs till Nov. 15th. Image: Randolph Street, mixed media, 34 x 44 in. by Barbara Tinger.

An Evening of Art & Architecture

Staple + Stitch is an art book and print fair.A celebration and engagement with art, text, print, and paper hosted at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. Exhibitors include arts publishers, small and independent presses, book artists, zine makers, and printmakers across the 2nd-floor spaces of the 21c Chicago. Tandem programming includes book signings, workshops, and demonstrations open to all ages. The three-day fair is free and open to the public with an emphasis on publications, artist books, zines, and other print-related materials.Fair Hours - all events free and open to the public.November 14: Preview Night, 6 - 9 pmNovember 15: Public Hours, 11 am - 6 pmNovember 16: Public Hours, 11 am - 6 pm<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.stapleandstitchfair.com/" target="_blank">Details</a>

Staple + Stitch Art Book and Print Fair

In conjunction with artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s exhibition, indigenous scholar and practitioner Stephanie Morningstar speaks on themes related to her work and to Ogunbiyi’s. A storyteller connecting people, plants, and the land, Stephanie bridges Indigenous and Western paradigms, helping communities reclaim relationships with the natural world and each other.Free and Open to the Public.&nbsp;Photo:&nbsp;You will feel out of many one people, 2019. Varnished Japanese ink and acrylic on found fabric. 54 x 36 in (137.1 x 91.4 cm).

Stephanie Morningstar on Indigenous Plant Knowledge

Tickets $25 / $13 children&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/tickets?tab=3&amp;txobjid=a2ec3c95-9c05-4558-b033-4615a78731fa" target="_blank">HERE</a>Drie-cember is here with Santa’s annual visit to the Driehaus Museum! Join him in the museum’s Front Parlor to share your Christmas wish list and snap selfies with jolly old St. Nick. In addition to photos with Santa, families can enjoy festive activities for kids and explore the Drie-cember Market featuring seasonal treats and holiday gifts. This magical, family-friendly event will fill up fast—advance registration is encouraged.

First Santa Saturday

Drie-cember MarketSaturday, December 6, 11:00am-5:00pmFreeShop local this holiday season at the Driehaus Museum’s annual Drie-cember Market, featuring dozens of vendors from the Chicagoland area. Visitors can find unique gifts, vintage jewelry, handmade crafts, and local art in addition to a selection of special holiday-themed products from the Driehaus Museum Store. Step into the holiday spirit with the museum’s sparkling decorations and seasonal activities for all ages.&nbsp;

Drie-cember Market

Tickets $40&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/tickets?tab=3&amp;txobjid=50eef7e9-22b7-42b3-8e01-5dbecf09213c" target="_blank">HERE</a>As the December skies darken, join&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.ghostlightensemble.com/" target="_blank">Ghostlight Ensemble</a>&nbsp;by the Museum’s majestic fireplace as they revive the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Yuletide with a multi-story (and multi-storied) immersive twist.

Thursday's Holiday Spirits: A Collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories

Friday's Holiday Spirits: A Collection of Victorian Yuletide Ghost Stories

Tickets $25 / $13 children&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/tickets?tab=3&amp;txobjid=a2ec3c95-9c05-4558-b033-4615a78731fa" target="_blank">HERE</a>Drie-cember is here with Santa’s annual visit to the Driehaus Museum! Join him in the museum’s Front Parlor to share your Christmas wish list and snap selfies with jolly old St. Nick. In addition to photos with Santa, families can enjoy festive activities for kids and explore the Drie-cember Market featuring seasonal treats and holiday gifts. This magical, family-friendly event will fill up fast—advance registration is encouraged.

Second Santa Saturday

Tom Torluemke&nbsp;is known for his ambitious and evocative socio-political paintings. Drawing is the rarely seen starting point and driving force in his practice. It serves as a meditative and relaxing exercise, a testing ground for ideas, and a springboard for the direction the artist takes when pursuing a project. This exhibit features a selection of drawings by the artist stemming from three areas of the artist's work: plein air landscape drawings of the area near the artist's home, fanciful and personal autobiographical graphite drawings, and studies for the artist's large, imaginative, ambitious socio-political paintings.Born in Chicago, Illinois, his practice spans 40+ years and includes works in painting, drawing, sculpture, and installations in various mediums. Torluemke is known for his powerful, no-holds-barred approach to subject matter relating to socio-political, ethical, and humanistic themes. With over 150 solo and group exhibitions and 30 public art commissions throughout the Midwest, his work testifies to the relevance and scope of his ideas and his ability to present them in a meaningful context within their communities. In 2025, Torluemke's work on paper was the subject of a career retrospective,&nbsp;Tom Torluemke: Live! On Paper, 1987 – 2024&nbsp;curated by&nbsp;Dan Cameron&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Chicago Cultural Center&nbsp;with a monograph published by&nbsp;SKIRA Editore, Milan. The show was reviewed in&nbsp;Art Forum&nbsp;magazine in October 2025.&nbsp;All gallery events are free and open to the public. Additional information found at the gallery website at&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bgfa.us./" target="_blank">https://bgfa.us.</a>&nbsp;Please forward to any interested parties. Closing Reception: Saturday January 17 2026, 2-5 pm

Artist Talk: Tom Torluemke

Free; registration recommended&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://46316.blackbaudhosting.com/46316/Third-Wednesday-Night-17Dec2025" target="_blank">HERE</a>Visitors are invited to bring a book of choice and get ‘hygge’ with the Driehaus Museum in this silent book club inspired by Scandinavia's cozy yule traditions. Cookies and warm beverages will be served. After an hour of cozy quiet, stick around to chat and meet fellow readers.

Third Wednesday | Hygge Silent Book Club

In her first solo exhibition in the Midwest, Lagos-based artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi draws our attention to the medicinal capacities and visual complexities of local flora, showing exquisite drawings, paintings, and sculpture that respond to the social and natural environments of Chicago. While honoring the cancer journey of a close friend who was based in Chicago, Ogunbiyi considers the conventions of botanical documentation and the health trends associated with such North American plants as paw paw, echinacea, and milkweed.In a larger sense, the exhibition considers exchanges of friendship and translations of language by referencing various geographies that the artist has occupied. Thereby, Ogunbiyi aspires to forge new connections. In Chicago, she plans to engage a variety of viewers through community programming, including the manufacture and distribution of a bespoke ice cream flavor, communal food practice, and the incorporation and recirculation of vintage furniture in the exhibition display.For the first time, the Arts Club will concurrently feature a garden commission as part of the gallery exhibition. Taking the rough form of an abacus, Ogunbiyi’s installation on the western exterior wall is composed of cast grinding stones made of melted plumbing fixtures sourced in Nigeria. Through reference to the ancient mathematical tool, the abacus, the artist asks “Who counts?”—considering ‘counts’ as a verb and state of being. She invites all to enter the conversation.The exhibition is curated by Janine Mileaf, Executive Director and Chief Curator at The Arts Club of Chicago. It is made possible by a grant from Conor O’Neil; specific programming is supported by the Goethe-Institut. A version of the exhibition, curated by Rebecca Lowery, will travel to the Wexner Center for the ArtsColumbus, Ohio, in 2026.

Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will have revelations along felled branches and longer roots/routes

Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) announces the opening of its fall exhibition&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=9c493825a3&amp;e=62775191de" target="_blank">Channeling: body ← Image → viewer&nbsp;</a>on view from September 2 – December 20, 2025, guest curated by Joan Giroux and Alice Maude-Roxby.This exhibition features eleven international artists whose work communicates through and with the body, positioning the viewer to a consciousness of their body and self, or how bodies channel and defy societal oppression and malevolence. Gestures such as crawling, lying, climbing, kneeling, pointing, running, and walking backward evoke memory, history, and rhetoric. This exhibition situates the body politic and ways in which history imprints upon us as a reminder that we are human, both in and out of the body.Exhibiting artists include Laura Aguilar (American, 1959–2018), Pia Arke (Kalaaleq-Danish, 1958–2007), EJ Hill (American, b. 1985), Susan Hiller (American, 1940–2019), Ketty La Rocca (Italian, 1938–1976), Shari Rothfarb Mekonen (American, b. 1968), Gustav Metzger (German, 1926–2017), Paulo Nazareth (Brazilian, b. 1977), Anna Oppermann (German, 1940–1993), Gina Pane (French, 1939–1990), and Bridget Smith (British, b. 1966).&nbsp;In a statement, the curators relate,&nbsp;“at specific moments in the last half century, these artists have considered how performance and photography can break through overarching conditions, oppressions, rhetorics, and the confines of language.&nbsp;These communications position viewers to experience a heightened awareness of their self and body, and explore how bodies channel and confront societal malaise, oppression, transition, and vulnerability.”<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=5663ab7740&amp;e=62775191de" target="_blank">Channeling: body ← Image → viewer</a>&nbsp;includes photography, video, and installations that memorialize, witness, and bear tribute to our humanity.&nbsp;About the curators:Joan Giroux (American, b. 1961) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and activist, whose work frequently provides context for community and personal reflections on loss, absence, and bereavement through active play and participation. Since 1987, she has performed and exhibited in the United States and abroad, and recently completed a Fulbright-British Library Eccles Institute Scholar Award in London.&nbsp;Alice Maude-Roxby (British, b. 1963) is an artist, curator, and writer based in London, England. Her early publications and exhibitions focused on performance and photography, and feminism included contributions to&nbsp;Art, Lies and Videotape: Exposing Performance, (London, Tate Publications, 2003) and her curation of the exhibition and book&nbsp;Live Art on Camera&nbsp;(John Hansard Gallery, 2007).&nbsp;Gina Pane: Actions Through Time, co-edited with Sophie Delpeux, will be published with Routledge, 2025.

Channeling: body ← Image → viewer

Bert Green Fine Art&nbsp;is pleased to present our first solo show by Indiana-based contemporary artist&nbsp;Tom Torluemke.Tom Torluemke&nbsp;is known for his ambitious and evocative socio-political paintings. Drawing is the rarely seen starting point and driving force in his practice. It serves as a meditative and relaxing exercise, a testing ground for ideas, and a springboard for the direction the artist takes when pursuing a project. This exhibit features a selection of drawings by the artist stemming from three areas of the artist's work: plein air landscape drawings of the area near the artist's home, fanciful and personal autobiographical graphite drawings, and studies for the artist's large, imaginative, ambitious socio-political paintings.Born in Chicago, Illinois, his practice spans 40+ years and includes works in painting, drawing, sculpture, and installations in various mediums. Torluemke is known for his powerful, no-holds-barred approach to subject matter relating to socio-political, ethical, and humanistic themes. With over 150 solo and group exhibitions and 30 public art commissions throughout the Midwest, his work testifies to the relevance and scope of his ideas and his ability to present them in a meaningful context within their communities. In 2025, Torluemke's work on paper was the subject of a career retrospective,&nbsp;Tom Torluemke: Live! On Paper, 1987 – 2024&nbsp;curated by&nbsp;Dan Cameron&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Chicago Cultural Center&nbsp;with a monograph published by&nbsp;SKIRA Editore, Milan. The show was reviewed in&nbsp;Art Forum&nbsp;magazine in October 2025.&nbsp; All gallery events are free and open to the public. Additional information found at the gallery website at&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bgfa.us./" target="_blank">https://bgfa.us.</a>&nbsp;Please forward to any interested parties.

Tom Torluemke: Sorted Sheets

Pistachios is hosting a solo exhibition with critically acclaimed artist, Sowon Joo. The work featured involves a labor-intensive metal weaving process that requires a tremendous amount of time and effort, resulting in sculptural jewelry that is in perfect harmony with the wearer.&nbsp;"I pour my thoughts, memories and spirit during the process of weaving, and the fragile and delicate nature of weaving with silver wire represents the vulnerability and fragility of life, especially in the early stages, which demands our care and protection. I design each piece as a subject within the context of the human body and consider it complete when the subject and the context are united in harmony and balance. In that sense, each person wearing my work is a part of my work; and my work, hopefully, is a part of the life of each person wearing it. By this relationship, even without direct communication, the user and I are part of each other’s life and experience." - Sowon Joo

Sowon Joo: Whispers of Winter Blooms

City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago&nbsp;is an intergenerational group exhibition that highlights Chicago’s essential, yet often underacknowledged, role in the story of queer art and activism. The exhibition examines this history from the mid-1980s, when activists radically mobilized in response to the US government’s disastrous handling of the AIDS crisis. In this moment of change, activists reclaimed the historically pejorative epithet “queer” as a liberatory term, encompassing all who purposefully deviate from heteronormative society. Drawn from the MCA’s collection and other local collections,&nbsp;City in a Garden&nbsp;follows this paradigm shift in LGBTQ+ history by bringing together work from over 30 artists and collectives working in Chicago from the 1980s to the present.These artists address queerness through diverse media and methods: documenting clandestine queer spaces in photographs, creating sculptures that challenge normative depictions of gender and sexuality, and exploring queer intimacy through drawings, paintings, and videos.&nbsp;City in a Garden&nbsp;also features archival materials related to groups who innovatively combine artistic practices with their activism. The exhibition takes its title from Chicago’s official motto,&nbsp;Urbs in Horto, which translates to “city in a garden.” In the context of this presentation, this motto speaks to the exhibited artists’ and activists’ utopian visions of a metropolitan sanctuary for people of all races, genders, and sexualities. As queer people continue to fight for their lives and livelihoods under ongoing and renewed political threats, these visions remain as urgent today as ever.City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago&nbsp;is curated by Jack Schneider, Assistant Curator.

City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/mapping-outside-the-lines" target="_blank">Details</a> Lines are foundational to how maps communicate. They guide you home from a new restaurant, tell you how tall a mountain is, and warn you not to stray too far in the wrong direction. They sometimes even tell you about the life a map has lived. Over centuries, mapmakers have developed (and abandoned) an amazing variety of ways to use lines to bring our world to life. This exhibition follows lines on maps to their extremes in examples from mundane textbooks to avant-garde art. Through these lines, maps rationalize their world view, even as they reveal perspectives that are neither universal nor neutral. Mapping Outside the Lines&nbsp;is generously supported by Rand McNally. <h3>Curator</h3>David Weimer, Robert A. Holland Curator of Maps and Director of the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography <h3>Exhibition-Related Programming</h3> Public Programs at the Newberry&nbsp;are free and open to all. Registration required in advance. <a style="color: rgb(91, 92, 87);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/folded-map-project" target="_blank">Folded Map™ Project Screening and Discussion, November 6, 5:30pm</a>Join us for a screening of&nbsp;Folded Map™ Project – The Movie&nbsp;followed by a discussion led by Tonika Lewis Johnson. <a style="color: rgb(91, 92, 87);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/mapping-migrations" target="_blank">Mapping Migrations, November 15, 11am</a>Artist, Sandy Rodriguez, and Newberry Curator of Maps, David Weimer, will lead an artmaking workshop exploring how you can repurpose maps to make your own map of Chicago. <h3>Exhibition-Related Adult Education</h3> Adult Education classes at the Newberry&nbsp;require registration in advance and a modest fee. <a style="color: rgb(91, 92, 87);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/how-maps-work" target="_blank">How Maps Work, four sessions, starting November 4, 2pm</a>Taught by David Weimer, this class will trace the development of maps and mapping in Europe and the Americas by looking at what, at different points in the last 500 years, has made a map a map. In conjunction with the exhibition, we will engage with some contemporary artists’ work with maps to think about why maps continue to matter to us in the digital age.

Mapping Outside the Lines

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago&nbsp;will become the&nbsp;exclusive U.S. venue for "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind,"&nbsp;a comprehensive solo exhibition dedicated to the artist, musician, and activist Yoko Ono (b. 1933, Tokyo, Japan; currently residing in New York, NY),&nbsp;opening in October 2025.Traveling from Tate Modern in London, where it achieved record-breaking attendance, and developed in close collaboration with Ono’s studio, this&nbsp;groundbreaking retrospective spans seventy years&nbsp;of Ono’s innovative&nbsp;career. The&nbsp;exhibition features over 200 works, including participatory instruction pieces and scores, installations, a curated music room, films, music, photography, and archival materials.The exhibition highlights&nbsp;significant works from throughout Ono’s decades-long career, including the landmark performance piece "Cut Piece"&nbsp;(1964), a foundational work in performance and feminist art; her&nbsp;collaborations&nbsp;with&nbsp;prominent musicians&nbsp;such as&nbsp;John Cage,&nbsp;Ornette Coleman, and her late husband,&nbsp;John Lennon; selected activations of instruction-based artworks from her influential book&nbsp;"Grapefruit"(1964); innovative films from the 1960s and 1970s such as&nbsp;"FLY" (1970–71) and the once-banned "Film No.4 (Bottoms)"&nbsp;(1966–67), which she created as a "petition for peace"; recent works like her ongoing installation "Wish Tree" (1996–present); and public artworks emblematic of Ono’s enduring commitment to peace activism.On Saturdays, Sundays, and select Tuesdays throughout the full run of&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/exhibitions/yoko-ono-music-of-the-mind/" target="_blank">Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind,</a>&nbsp;performers from all walks of life will activate Ono's deceptively simple "event scores" from her groundbreaking 1964 book&nbsp;Grapefruit. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/tca-zinefest-2025-the-power-of-prints/" target="_blank">Teen Creative Agency | Zine Fest 2025: The Power of Prints</a>Museum of Contemporary Art ChicagoDec 20, 2025 | 1–6 pmThe MCA’s&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mcachicago.org/learn/youth/tca" target="_blank">Teen Creative Agency (TCA)&nbsp;</a>is celebrating fourteen years (and counting) of DIY publications by teens! This event showcases the original artwork, activism, and social practice of Chicago-area youth in zine form. Join the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Teen Creative Agency for an afternoon of events and activities highlighting the past, present, and future of print making by Chicago teens. Visitors are invited to participate in activities organized by the TCA, such as zine making and on-site merch giveaways. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/six-scores-for-yoko-ono/" target="_blank">Six Scores for Yoko Ono</a>Kovler AtriumNov 4, 2025 | 6 pmExperience the musical context of Yoko Ono’s early work with performances of five 1960s scores—by Mieko Shiomi, Nam June Paik, Takehisa Kosugi, and George Maciunas—and a new commission by MCA Chanel Fellow, Andrew Hansung Park. The performances track the destruction of a violin, smashing boundaries between everyday sound and music. The&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://visit.mcachicago.org/introducing-the-mca-dna-research-initiative" target="_blank">MCA DNA Research Initiative</a>&nbsp;is a multi-year curatorial program, supported by the CHANEL Culture Fund, that invites early-career curators and writers to the museum for interdisciplinary research projects related to the institution’s collection. Focused on the intersection of visual art and performance, this initiative surfaces overlooked art historical narratives within the organization’s history while foregrounding the cross-disciplinary ethos that has been integral to the museum since its founding in 1967.Image: Yoko Ono with&nbsp;Glass Hammer, 1967, from&nbsp;Half-A-Wind Show, Lisson Gallery, London, UK, 1967. Artwork © Yoko Ono. Photo © Clay Perry.

Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind

SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change September 19, 2025–February 26, 2026 Over the past decade, the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) has sustained an international forum on architecture and urbanism centered in Chicago and has continued to produce the largest exhibition of contemporary architecture in North America every two years. CAB exhibitions and public programs have engaged over 2.2 million visitors with innovative ideas in design through over 400 original projects created by architects, artists and designers from nearly 50 countries. CAB is excited to celebrate its tenth anniversary with CAB 6, the next iteration of the Biennial to be held in 2025, led by Florencia Rodriguez, a writer, editor and Director of and Associate Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago's School of Architecture (UIC/SoArch), who will be the Biennial's first Latina Artistic Director.&nbsp; Titled&nbsp;Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change, CAB 6 will present an expansive and multi-faceted exploration of the field of architecture and the built environment globally, specifically as they respond to and are remade by a rapidly changing world. In tandem with exhibitions, installations, events and a robust youth education program throughout Chicago, CAB 6 will also produce a series of initiatives, both local and virtual, that will expand the intellectual footprint of the Biennial beyond the city itself.&nbsp; The sixth edition of CAB, which is free and open to the public, will open its central exhibition in the Chicago Cultural Center on September 19, 2025 and run through February 28, 2026. * Opening Weekend The 2025 Chicago Architecture Biennial,&nbsp;SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change,&nbsp;launches this September with a dynamic weekend of exhibitions, events, panel discussions, and activations that will continue across the city through February 2026.&nbsp; The Biennial officially opens to the public on&nbsp;September 19, 2025, with exhibitions at the&nbsp;Chicago Cultural Center,&nbsp;Graham Foundation,&nbsp;Stony Island Arts Bank, a site-specific installation on the grounds of the&nbsp;Griffin Museum of Science and Industry,&nbsp;and a special performance and opening celebration at the&nbsp;historic&nbsp;Roundhouse&nbsp;at&nbsp;The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. Across these sites, more than 70 architects, artists, and designers explore the profound cultural, social, and environmental transformations shaping our world today. The projects on view engage the uncertainty of our time, but also offer visions of creativity, resilience, and possibility—asking how architecture can contribute to the futures we want to imagine together. Opening weekend also highlights programming from local partners, including the Chicago Architecture Center, National Public Housing Museum, and De Paul Art Museum, among others. These collaborations underscore the Biennial’s commitment to linking global conversations with Chicago’s unique architectural and civic landscape. The following is an outline of special programming and events throughout the opening. Select each event to find further information. We look forward to continuing citywide expansion of the Biennial with the opening of a new exhibition site in&nbsp;November&nbsp;that brings together over&nbsp;25 large-scale projects&nbsp;advancing the ideas at the heart of&nbsp;SHIFT: Architecture in Times of Radical Change.&nbsp; We invite you to join one of our many programs during opening weekend, and continue exploring as the Biennial unfolds through February 28, with successive moments of programming that spotlight its thematic capsules and partner initiatives across the city.

Chicago Architecture Biennial 2025

The&nbsp;Driehaus Museum&nbsp;is proud to announce&nbsp;Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade,&nbsp;an exhibition illuminating the volume and breadth of Louis C. Tiffany’s vast artistic production. From the 1890s to the 1920s, Tiffany Studios created a captivating range of decorative lighting fixtures that embraced the technological shift from oil lamps to electricity and simultaneously met the styles and tastes of nineteenth and twentieth century consumers. Drawn from the expansive collections of the Museum and the private art collection of Richard H. Driehaus (now in the Art Exhibition Lending Foundation), the exhibition explores how the artisans at Tiffany Studios used a range of materials—including bronze, enamel, pottery, and glass—to bring Tiffany’s innovative lighting designs to life. Organized by guest curator Alexandra M. Ruggiero,&nbsp;Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade&nbsp;will be on view at the Driehaus Museum,&nbsp;50 E. Erie Street&nbsp;from&nbsp;September 12, 2025 to March 15, 2026.&nbsp;Executive Director of the Driehaus Museum&nbsp;Lisa M. Key&nbsp;says, “Many Chicagoans and tourists have seen Tiffany lamps in passing but have not had a chance to encounter them in depth or within a richly contextualized narrative. This is a chance to draw people back to the Driehaus Museum by inviting them to see familiar works in new ways. It is an opportunity for the Museum to highlight a core strength and position as a national leader in the complex storytelling of the Gilded Age and the interpretation of design and decorative arts from this time period. In this case, the exhibition will explore the broader context—from design processes, to materials, labor, and the influence of designers like Clara Driscoll—to reframe the narrative around Tiffany Studios. “Building on past exhibitions such as&nbsp;Eternal Light: The Sacred Stained-Glass Windows of Louis Comfort Tiffany&nbsp;(2019-2020) and&nbsp;Louis Comfort Tiffany: Treasures from the Driehaus Collection&nbsp;(2015),&nbsp;Tiffany: Beyond the Shade&nbsp;expands the narrative of Tiffany lamps beyond their iconic glass shades. Guest curator Alexandra Ruggiero&nbsp;says, “I am thrilled to partner with Driehaus Museum and present the&nbsp;extraordinary range of&nbsp;Louis C. Tiffany’s&nbsp;lighting fixtures&nbsp;with a new perspective. The exhibition features objects that exemplify Tiffany’s remarkable ability to marry innovation and outstanding design, enabling museum visitors a chance to marvel at the materiality and incredible artistry of Tiffany lamps.&nbsp;In addition to presenting a range of lamp types and designs, the exhibition will include a selection of decorative objects produced by Tiffany Studios, such as&nbsp;Favrile&nbsp;glass and pottery vases, enamel and bronze boxes, and a leaded-glass fire screen. The exhibition also includes noteworthy works never before exhibited at the Driehaus Museum, including a table lamp with an enameled base and a monumental bronze and Favrile glass chandelier. Within the setting of the Driehaus Museum, the exhibition contextualizes&nbsp;the significant output of Tiffany Studios and provides visitors with a look at the innovation, design, materiality, and business of Tiffany lamps.Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade&nbsp;deepens the natural partnership between the Driehaus Museum and the Richard H. Driehaus Art Exhibition Lending Foundation. By bringing together works from the Museum’s permanent collection and the Foundation holdings, the Museum can offer a broader, richer, and more nuanced presentation of Tiffany’s legacy—one that exemplifies Richard Driehaus’ belief in the power of beauty to inspire. This support deepens the Museum’s role as a cultural steward of the Richard H. Driehaus collection and extends its ability to tell new stories through exceptional design. ABOUT THE CURATORAlexandra M. Ruggiero is a decorative arts curator specializing in glass and a Consulting Curator at The Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass in New York. Ruggiero enjoyed a decade of curatorial experience at The Corning Museum of Glass (CMoG), where she worked on projects and research that spanned the history of glass. From 2019 to 2022, she was Curator of Modern Glass with responsibility for acquisitions, exhibitions, cataloging, and research of the CMoG’s glass collections from 1825–1945. In 2023, she was the Interim Department Head, Curator of Collections &amp; Exhibitions at The Rockwell Museum—A Smithsonian Affiliate in Corning, NY. Ruggiero earned a master’s in the History of Decorative Arts through the Corcoran College of Art + Design and Smithsonian Associates in Washington, D.C. and a bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators. ABOUT THE DRIEHAUS MUSEUMThe Driehaus Museum engages and inspires the global community through exploration and ongoing conversations in art, architecture, and design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions are presented in an immersive experience within the restored 1883 Nickerson Mansion, and the 1926 Murphy Auditorium. The Museum’s collection reflects and is inspired by the collecting interests, vision, and focus of its founder, the late Richard H. Driehaus. For more information, visit<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.driehausmuseum.org/" target="_blank">driehausmuseum.org</a>&nbsp;and connect with the Museum on&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Driehaus-Museum/362867207176025" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, TikTok,&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/driehausmuseum/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.

Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade

Timed with the release of the sequel to last year’s blockbuster film,&nbsp;Wicked,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Land of Oz: Beyond the Page&nbsp;takes visitors back to the original 1939 inspiration. The installation will be on view in two galleries on the Museum’s third floor. Curated by Laura Woolley, a memorabilia expert and consultant known for her appearances on&nbsp;Antiques Roadshow&nbsp;and her work at The Collector’s Lab,&nbsp;Land of Oz: Beyond the Page&nbsp;explores the imaginative artistry required to turn the classic children’s story into a beloved movie. Divided into three sections—Writing, Costume, and Production Design—the installation reveals how designers brought L. Frank Baum’s world to life.Highlights include a replica of Dorothy’s Ruby Red Slippers, an early draft of the script, a prototype of the iconic Flying Monkey costume, a character costume from Emerald City, and a replica of the Cowardly Lion’s Medal of Courage. Visitors will also see an original edition of the&nbsp;Wizard of Oz&nbsp;book, a historic telegram announcing the change from silver to ruby slippers, and a rare illustration of the Emerald City. Families, film lovers, and design enthusiasts alike will find something to spark their imaginations.Land of Oz: Page to Screen&nbsp;deepens the natural partnership between the Driehaus Museum and the Richard H. Driehaus Art Exhibition Lending Foundation. This&nbsp;support&nbsp;cements&nbsp;the&nbsp;Museum’s&nbsp;role&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;cultural&nbsp;steward&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Richard&nbsp;H.&nbsp;Driehaus&nbsp;Collectionand&nbsp;extends&nbsp;its&nbsp;ability&nbsp;to&nbsp;tell&nbsp;new&nbsp;stories&nbsp;through&nbsp;exceptional&nbsp;design.&nbsp;According to&nbsp;Cynthia Van Osdol, the President and CEO of the Driehaus Trust Company, “From a young age, the Land of Oz presented a fantasy world for our founder, Richard Driehaus. He found great escape in the purpose and teamwork of its characters, and the Yellow Brick Road held a particularly vivid allure for him. As he expanded his art collection, he acquired texts, costumes, and production design originals from the 1939 film. These included, of course, our pair of Ruby Red Slippers, and a series of brilliant watercolors by Jack Smith Martin which were instrumental in the creation of the film. Equally influential is a spectacular pastel of the Emerald City, with its pair of concentric deco-styled white halos and the white light that radiates from its core. As a champion of late 19th and early 20th century architecture, it's easy to imagine why this piqued Richard's imagination. By sharing these treasures--some for the first time--we hope the public will be equally inspired. "

The Land of Oz: Beyond the Page

Not a Soft Thing is a multifaceted exhibition by 15 artist/mothers spanning diverse cultural backgrounds, disciplines, and stages of caregiving. Together, this artist collective challenges the idealized narratives of motherhood, exposing the strength, struggle, and resilience that shape both art making and parenting. Through the media of painting, photography, ceramics, text, and installation, this exhibition explores the question: “What does it mean to create in the margins of care?” Some pieces are resolved and refined; others remain raw, incomplete, or in-process by design, revealing the realities of creating art in stolen moments. Collectively, the works reflect the fragmented time, emotional labor, and radical tenderness inherent in caregiving. Born organically through an interconnected community of artist mothers, this collective was founded as a space of solidarity. Not a Soft Thing is not only about their identity, but also about how they keep showing up—building community with and for one another creating, caring, and telling stories that shape contemporary art and culture. This exhibition is both a call to action and an invitation—to recognize caregiving not as a barrier to creativity, but as a powerful, generative force within it. Included in the exhibition are artworks uniquely designed to be kid-friendly and serve as an open invitation for audience participation, creating space for meaningful, memorable interactions for all generations. Exhibiting artists include A.Martinez, Angela Lopez, Aubrey Ingmar, Bobbi Meier, Connie Noyes, Cydney M Lewis, Jenny Halpern, Jihae Park, Katie Kirk, Keeley Haftner, Noelle Garcia, Orr Menirom, Sarana Mehra, Tulika Ladsariya, and Yemisi Oyeniyi.

Not a Soft Thing: A Group Exhibition by Artist Mothers

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is thrilled to announce the latest installation in its&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mcachicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c24ba7c5a91cefd699dc985e1&amp;id=5302a2f296&amp;e=95b957c616" target="_blank">Atrium Project series, featuring the mural&nbsp;The Free Clinic for Gender Affirming Care&nbsp;by artist Edie Fake</a>&nbsp;(b. 1980, Evanston, IL; lives in Twentynine Palms, CA). Opening on March 25, 2025, and running through March 26, 2026, in the MCA’s second floor atrium, the artwork envisions the utopian façade of a clinic for free transgender healthcare. Curated by Assistant Curator Jack Schneider,&nbsp;The Free Clinic&nbsp;is a large-scale architectural representation of a clinic, whose prismatic colors reflect the full spectrum of gender expression beyond the binary. It confronts widespread political efforts to restrain, scapegoat, and repress transgender and nonbinary people in the United States, an issue that is personal to Fake. To him, “gender affirming care has been hard-won and life-changing . . . this mural is meant to meet the threat—and often reality—that has positioned gender affirming care as scarce, under-resourced, and underground with an aspirational and celebratory vision.”&nbsp; The installation coincides, and is in conversation with,&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mcachicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c24ba7c5a91cefd699dc985e1&amp;id=f9f0473f52&amp;e=95b957c616" target="_blank">City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago</a>, an upcoming exhibition at the MCA opening on July 5, 2025, also curated by Schneider.&nbsp;City in a Garden&nbsp;examines Chicago's underacknowledged role in the histories of queer art and activism beginning in the 1980s, when activists radically mobilized in response to the US government’s disastrous handling of the AIDS crisis and reclaimed the historically pejorative epithet “queer” as a liberatory term encompassing all who purposefully deviate from heteronormative society. With works drawn from the MCA Collection and other local collections, the exhibition features over thirty artists—including Fake. Edie Fake’s work has previously been exhibited at the MCA in&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mcachicago.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c24ba7c5a91cefd699dc985e1&amp;id=8cfda8f3de&amp;e=95b957c616" target="_blank">Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now</a>&nbsp;(2021). Atrium Project: Edie Fake&nbsp;is curated by Jack Schneider, Assistant Curator.&nbsp; ABOUT THE ARTIST Edie Fake’s (b. 1980, Evanston, IL; lives in Twentynine Palms, CA)&nbsp;multimedia work—drawings, paintings, installations, comics, books, and zines—has been exhibited in solo shows at Berkeley Art Museum and Film Archive; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse; and in New York City at The Drawing Center, Broadway Gallery, and Marlborough Gallery. Fake recently exhibited publications, paintings, and a large wall installation in&nbsp;Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now&nbsp;at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. His 2018 show at Western Exhibitions was reviewed in Art in America. Fake’s work is held in the collections of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library &amp; Museum, Columbus; Des Moines Art Center, Iowa; RISD Museum, Providence; KADIST, San Francisco; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas; and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. He was one of the first recipients of Printed Matter’s Awards for Artists, and his Gaylord Phoenix collection of comics won the 2011 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Graphic Novel. His work has been written about and featured in&nbsp;Artforum, The New York Times, The Paris Review, Art News, Art 21, Juxtapoz, Hyperallergic, The Comics Journal, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Fake’s work is held in the collections of the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa, the RISD Museum in Providence, RI, KADIST in San Francisco, and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS. Edie fake was born in Chicagoland in 1980 and received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002. Fake is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago and Broadway Gallery in New York, and he currently lives and works in Twentynine Palms, California.

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