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

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=80f2f54649&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">PERFORMANCES</a>SAT, DEC 6: 1-5PMSUN, DEC 7: 1-5PMSAT, DEC 13: 2-4PMSUN, DEC 14: 2-4PM Moriah Evans, an artist and choreographer based in New York, creates innovative performances for a wide variety of contexts. Building on a series of projects that she has staged in different cities in recent years, Evans continues to explore how performance can offer different ways of sensing our bodies and our relationships to one another. Throughout her work, Evans approaches choreography as an expansive social process, drawing on wide-ranging somatic practices and feminist critiques of dance and visual culture, while seeking out the “knowledge our bodies hold.” She aims to heighten perception beyond the visual, embracing embodied forms of awareness and felt sense.This winter, for an expanded edition of the&nbsp;Intermissions&nbsp;series, Evans spends two weeks at the Renaissance Society with a small ensemble of dancers. For this new project,&nbsp;Scrimmage, Evans stages a pattern of private rehearsals and public presentations that shifts during the span of her time in the gallery space. Each weekend, she offers a different format to visitors as she opens the doors to the public on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The first two performances (December 6th and 7th) will have an open-ended durational form, fluid and still evolving in real-time. The later performances (December 13th and 14th) offer a concentrated version, staged as a more bounded event. Visitors are encouraged to come multiple times and experience both formats.Through her scored performance structures and a set of scenographic interventions created specifically for this space, Evans invites an active state of perception—grounded in one’s body and attuned to a larger milieu and social infrastructures—along with hints of reverie where things do and don’t make sense. In the vaulted gallery, she is composing with both material and immaterial ingredients: hanging scrims, enveloping sound, dancers in motion and in stillness, lines of sight, textures of light, and a public that stays or passes through. Dance, here, is both fleeting and visceral, evoking bodies at once fragile and forceful. Evans aims to create a setting for&nbsp;Scrimmage&nbsp;that has a related set of wavering qualities: heavy and light, monumental and ethereal. In doing so, she considers the frame and the format in tandem, the contents of her work and its container, the body and what’s beyond it.Within her choreographic scores, often developed collaboratively with her dancers, Evans draws on a variety of movement patterns and methods from different contexts. In doing so, she assembles them as a series of floating signifiers or somatic catalysts rather than explicit references. At times, the dancers work together or move apart, drawing out different internal and external states of being, variously individual and collective. Evans foregrounds the ways dance can create different kinds of sociality between people, running interference in the ways our relationships and social connections are mediated through technology, learned behavior, and language. For her this involves recognizing the multiplicity of things that make up a person, complete with inevitable dissonance or incoherence.&nbsp;Scrimmage&nbsp;negotiates how we are always deep within our bodies and also beyond them, constantly feeling and perceiving, figuring out ourselves and others, being affected by micro and macro forces and affecting them in turn.Curated by Karsten Lund.Launched in 2017, Intermissions&nbsp;is an ongoing programming series devoted to performance and other inventive time-based works, staged in the Renaissance Society’s empty gallery in between exhibitions. This recurring platform features two artists every year, supporting a wide variety of live projects.Renaissance Society programs are supported by the Teiger Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://renaissancesociety.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=28258b64874e626df0979c0de&amp;id=2f3074f866&amp;e=375d06b725" target="_blank">Learn more</a>.

Intermissions: Moriah Evans

Hyde Park Art Center announces a group exhibition curated by&nbsp;Dr. Rikki Byrd&nbsp;from its first Radicle Curatorial Residency. Inspired by Toni Morrison’s canonical text&nbsp;Beloved, the exhibition’s title&nbsp;Mark Me, Too&nbsp;reflects on how the marks of legacy and heritage are imprinted on the identities of five Black femme/nonbinary artists, told through their personal histories. Spotlighting works by Lisa DeAbreau,&nbsp;Ciarra K. Walters,&nbsp;Lex Marie,&nbsp;Natasha Moustache, and&nbsp;Lola Ayisha Ogbara, the exhibition runs from&nbsp;August 9 through December 14&nbsp;in the Kanter Family Foundation Gallery on the second floor of the Art Center. Admission is free.Drawing on their connections to Nigeria, Seychelles, the Caribbean, the Philippines, and the United States, these artists bring a diasporic point of view to mining the marks imprinted on their respective identities. While artists such as Lex Marie and Natasha Moustache offer distinct perspectives to tracing maternal connections and African American histories of motherhood, respectively, Ciarra K. Walters offers an exploration of what she calls "daughterhood," and how it informs her own self-making. Lola Ayisha Ogbara stretches this further in her work, drawing on adornment practices of Black girls and femmes, using acrylic nails, mannequin heads, and jump ropes, offering Black beauty as a form of critique, as well as an art form. Continuing the consideration of maternal lineage, Lisa DeAbreau draws on motifs of respectability and architecture to reflect on memory-making and archival encounters.Taken together, the artists' responses to the tradition of mark-making are twofold: through the representation of their own hand in the work, as well as marks of migration, movement, hybridity, legacy, and identity. By extending brushstrokes, threads, and unlikely materials––from birthing blankets to egg shells––the artists repurpose materials to reflect on how they carry these marks through their practice. The final works leave seams visible, overturn popular emblems, or obscure materials only to make them palpable under the surface, bringing forth the ways the past is never the past, what Morrison called "rememory."An opening reception will take place on&nbsp;Saturday, August 9, 2 - 4 p.m., free and open to all with no registration required.Mark Me, Too&nbsp;and Dr. Rikki Byrd’s residency are made possible due to the generosity of the Guida Family Fund for Creativity. The Radicle Curator is rooted at the Art Center for a sixteen-month period to participate in programs with the cohort of resident artists, conduct studio visits with artists around Chicago pertaining to their curatorial interests, and be in critical dialog with the Exhibitions and Residency team to curate an engaging group exhibition that addresses pressing civic issues of the time. ABOUT THE CURATORDr. Rikki Byrd is a writer, educator, and curator. She is the founder of Black Fashion Archive and the co-founder of the Fashion and Race Syllabus, and is currently an Assistant Professor of Visual Culture Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Art and Art History.&nbsp;Across&nbsp;her writing, teaching, and curatorial projects, she draws connections between Black aesthetic practices, including 20th and 21st century art, fashion studies, and performance.

Mark Me, Too: Five Artists

Join us for an electrifying evening at Bridgeport Art Center's Monthly Open Studios, where creativity knows no bounds. Immerse yourself in a vibrant creative ecosystem where artists, designers, and innovators converge to showcase their latest works, ongoing projects, and groundbreaking processes. Walk through multiple studios, engage directly with talented professionals, and experience the dynamic artistic energy that makes our community truly unique.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bridgeportart.acemlnb.com/lt.php?x=4lZy~GDMV6Gh65F5zADMgRVw2nNSut~wj~hhjqTHI3Gi7p37zEy.zuJv2I2jj_I~ju5AXXPJJuHNUp780_v4llFt" target="_blank">RSVP - FREE EVENT</a>

Open Studio

Woman Made Gallery (WMG)&nbsp;is delighted to announce the 2025&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(45, 79, 101);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=859054d66c&amp;e=a3993dd90f" target="_blank">Small Works Members Show</a>, an annual exhibition celebrating the creativity and achievements of WMG’s vibrant community of artists. Curated by&nbsp;Astrid Houzé&nbsp;de l’Aulnoit&nbsp;and&nbsp;Mary King, this year’s exhibition features an exceptional selection of small-scale works by&nbsp;107 member artists.Artworks measure under 20 inches, showcasing the power of intimate expression across diverse mediums—including painting, sculpture, mixed media, printmaking, fiber, and photography. All works are priced at&nbsp;$400 or less, offering an ideal opportunity for art lovers and new collectors to acquire original pieces from local and regional artists.Join us in celebrating small-scale art with big impact—and the talented artists who make Woman Made Gallery’s community so extraordinary.<ul><li>Artist Reception: November 22, 2025 | 4–7 p.m.</li><li>Members/Volunteers Appreciation Party: December 6, 2025 | 2–4 p.m.</li><li>Closing Reception: December 20, 2025 | 2–4 p.m.&nbsp;</li></ul>View the exhibition&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(45, 79, 101);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=aea494584d&amp;e=a3993dd90f" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;Regular Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

Small Works Members Show

Save the date for our&nbsp;School &amp; Studio Sale, beginning December 6th!Give a gift to yourself or someone you love and support the Art Center! Buy&nbsp;one-of-a-kind handmade works&nbsp;including ceramics, prints, textiles, and more at our School &amp; Studio Sale + Fundraiser from 12/6 to 12/21.&nbsp;25% of the proceeds support Art Center programs.&nbsp;

School & Studio Sale + Fundraiser

Faceted Fiber, curated by Marci Rubin, showcases art involving diverse discourse and techniques of fiber or textile-based artworks. Focusing on the materials and process as part of the artworks’ significance, this exhibition emphasizes the artistic and aesthetic value of a fiber-based project over its utility.By reclaiming and celebrating textile arts in the 1970’s, feminist artists challenged the established art/craft binary. These inspiring artists employed techniques and actions such as sewing, quilting, macrame, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, rug-making, and basket weaving into their work, thrusting them into the realm of fine art. Artists such as Sheila Hicks, Bisa Butler, Judy Chicago, Faith Ringold, and Magdalena Abakanowicz, paved the way for the acceptance of non-traditional artistic practices and perspectives.Image: Lacy Bohannon – White Bird, Cotton, Polyester, Embroidery Thread, 36 x 24, 2024

Faceted Fiber

Carnival&nbsp;brings together a new body of work by&nbsp;Vesna Jovanovic, inspired by her interest in medieval French&nbsp;carnivals&nbsp;and other festivals from around the world in which social ranks and identities are ignored and concealed, allowing participants to connect through food, dance, laughter, and sexual expression. In the group of paintings exhibited, all created in the past three years, the artist playfully renders invented spaces in which the body is both setting and subject—collapsed into unexpected relationships with objects that bring joy and pleasure. Jovanovic’s process begins by pouring diluted ink onto sheets of Yupo (a synthetic paper made of polypropylene). Once the ink is dried, the artist responds to the texture by painting candy, sparklers, confetti, sex toys, jingles, and much more across the fleshy surfaces–prioritizing relationships that evoke attraction, repulsion, laughter, and recognition. Eye of Providence, 2025, Ink, vinyl paint, and acrylic pen on polypropylene, 60 x 60 inches.

Vesna Jovanovic: Carnival

Smart to the Core: Wise to Power examines questions about the formation of political communities, the organization of economic lives by political society, and individual navigation of society. The exhibition integrates visual art with foundational texts of modern social and political thought spanning nearly four centuries. It addresses themes familiar yet deeply connected to specific political, economic, and cultural histories. Wise to Power is the fourth installment of “Smart to the Core,” a series fostering collaboration with the University of Chicago’s Core undergraduate curriculum and exploring the role of art across disciplines. The exhibition is drawn primarily from the permanent collection and organized by the Smart’s Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry with UChicago’s Social Sciences Core, “Power, Identity, Resistance.” Support is provided by the Smart Museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Endowment, Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry Fund, and SmartPartners, with special thanks to Jack Shainman Gallery and The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections.

Smart to the Core: Wise to Power (Part I)

Opening Weekend Celebrations: October 4th - 5th, 2025 ﻿The Smart Museum of Art presents&nbsp;Theaster Gates's first&nbsp;solo museum exhibition in his hometown of Chicago. A self-designated “keeper of objects,” the artist Theaster Gates investigates the value of things and their potential to hold layered meanings. He has been dedicated to investing in the care of these objects as a way to nurture stories and voices – often Black stories and voices – largely overlooked by history or institutional structures. The exhibition&nbsp;Theaster Gates: Unto Thee&nbsp;is rooted in several core collections of objects that have been part of Gates’s artistic practice which he acquired through the University of Chicago, where he is Professor of Visual Arts. Ranging from the Department of Art History’s glass lantern slides and&nbsp;display vitrines from the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (formerly the Oriental Institute), to paint-stained concrete from the floors of Midway Studios and wooden pews made for Bond Chapel, all objects have been discarded and identified as no longer needed. In creating new works with them over the years – and, as will be done again, in new installations at the Smart – Gates challenges that notion of stasis by instead excavating more histories, more stories. These installations will be accompanied by Gates’s more recent work including paintings, ceramics, film, and pieces incorporating the archive of the Johnson Publishing Company. Rooted in materials and Gates’s interest in the process of making,&nbsp;Unto Thee&nbsp;embodies the relationships Gates has fostered within the University of Chicago, local communities, the South Side and broader Chicago. It underscores the artist’s unassailable belief in the potential of art to connect with and transform communities. The exhibition is accompanied by a site-specific installation as part of the Museum’s Threshold Lobby Series, which will be on view through July 2026. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=6d81ba16bf&amp;e=a6ad3ea4a5" target="_blank">Read the Exhibition Listing</a>

Theaster Gates: Unto Thee

The Center Program offers artists who are ready to raise their practice to the next level the opportunity to develop new work, receive feedback from art professionals, and work towards an exhibition at the Art Center over the course of eight months. This eleventh iteration of the program will feature the work of 20 artists guest curated by Teresa Silva, an independent curator and writer based in Chicago.

Center Program

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/" target="_blank">Hyde Park Art Center</a> announces&nbsp;Mutuality, a group exhibition of new works culminating the Art Center’s biennial&nbsp;Center Program, a professional development program for the elevation of emerging and mid-career artists, now in its 11th edition. Curated by writer, curator, and art administrator&nbsp;Teresa Silva, this exhibition will occupy the entire first floor galleries from&nbsp;December 12, 2025 – March 8, 2026, featuring works by twenty artists from Center Program’s 2025 cohort.The&nbsp;Mutuality&nbsp;exhibition brings together artists whose diverse works were created in a rigorous and continual context of self-reflection and dialogue over the course of nearly a year:&nbsp;Bethany Cordero,&nbsp;Amethyst J. Davis,&nbsp;Caitlyn Doran,&nbsp;Josué Esaú,&nbsp;Richard Gessert,&nbsp;Jalen Hamilton,&nbsp;Juan Molina Hernández,&nbsp;Amay Kataria,&nbsp;Millicent Kennedy,&nbsp;Deborah Kraft,&nbsp;Dawn Liddicoatt,&nbsp;Charlotte Mays,&nbsp;Kelly McKaig,&nbsp;Gabriel Moreno,&nbsp;Vida Sačić,&nbsp;Carlos Salazar-Lermont,&nbsp;Eugene I-Peng Tang,&nbsp;Carina Vargas-Nuñez,&nbsp;Frank Vega, and&nbsp;Katie Vota. Artworks in the exhibition represent a multitude of disciplines ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation to photography and video to fiber and printmaking to performance and sound.The exhibition defines mutuality as demonstrating mutual care and interest as artists and people to think about how intentions, works, and practice impact the world. Throughout the program, mutuality guided the weekly presentations and conversations among the artists to take their work to a new level. The exhibition gives shape and form to mutuality as a creative process, emphasizing that dialogue and connection drive inspired development.&nbsp;About the curatorTeresa Silva&nbsp;is the Chicago co-director of the national artist-run cooperative, Tiger Strikes Asteroid. In 2020, Silva curated&nbsp;Luis A. Sahagun: Both Eagle and Serpent,&nbsp;the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition, at the Chicago Cultural Center. Other recently curated exhibitions were presented at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Mana Contemporary, and 6018North. Her curated exhibitions have received support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Art Design Chicago, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art. Silva has won wide praise for her art leadership, having served as a Visual Arts Panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts in 2020; and, lauded in 2019 and 2022 in Newcity’s&nbsp;Art 50: Chicago’s Visual Vanguard&nbsp;for her influence and contributions to the city’s art and culture. Previously, Silva was the Director of Exhibitions and Residencies and subsequently the Executive and Artistic Director at the Chicago Artists Coalition, from 2014-2022. About Center ProgramA long-time professional development program for Chicago artists who are ready to raise their practice to the next level, Center Program offers the unique opportunity to develop new work, receive feedback from art professionals in the field, and work towards an exhibition at the Art Center. Over the course of a year and half, a supportive peer network, guest artists, gallerists, critics, and professionals push artists to answer tough questions and evolve their practice.&nbsp;&nbsp;About Hyde Park Art CenterHyde Park Art Center, at 5020 South Cornell Avenue on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering, production, and exhibition space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of artists to establishing a strong legacy of risk-taking and experimentation, emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. Today, the Art Center offers a diverse suite of programs for artists and art lovers of all backgrounds, ages, and stages in their careers including: contemporary art exhibitions in six galleries; an open-access community-based school with 2,000 annual enrollments; weekly arts education to 1,000 elementary school students in public schools; weekly and summer teen programs for 100 teen artists; professional-advancement programs for artists; a local and international artist residency; and public programs that connect residents with Chicago art and artists. The Art Center’s Oakman Clinton School + Studio is the nation’s first fully contribute-what-you-can visual art school for all ages. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for creative voices of today and tomorrow, providing the space to cultivate new work and connections. For more information, visit<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/" target="_blank">&nbsp;www.hydeparkart.org</a>.&nbsp;

Mutuality

The Renaissance Society is thrilled to announce that artist&nbsp;Maurizio Cattelan&nbsp;will conceive and orchestrate&nbsp;RenBen 2026, taking place on&nbsp;Wednesday, April 8, 2026, during Chicago's EXPO Art Week.&nbsp;Known for his provocative and darkly humorous approach to contemporary art, Cattelan has spent four decades creating works that spark conversation, to say the least. From his infamous solid gold toilet&nbsp;America&nbsp;to his hyperrealistic sculptures, Cattelan's work consistently captivates audiences while questioning authority, religion, celebrity, and the art world itself.&nbsp;RenBen is the Renaissance Society’s annual artist-centered gala and the institution’s most important fundraising event, vital to sustaining its experimental exhibitions and programs throughout the year. Each edition invites a single artist to design every aspect of the evening, from the space and performances to the food and choreography. Past editions have been conceived by Meriem Bennani (2025), Kevin Beasley (2024), Adam Linder (2023), and Piero Golia (2022), each expanding what an artist-driven benefit can be.&nbsp;For RenBen 2026, Cattelan will draw on his established signature forms of playful inversion, surprise, and surrealist elegance. Guests can expect his subversive wit and theatrical sensibility. “BEING AN ARTIST IS NOT A JOB, IT'S A MALFUNCTION,” he shared.&nbsp;Maurizio Cattelan's work has been featured in major museums and exhibitions worldwide, including solo shows at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, and the Beyeler Foundation in Basel. His collaborations through&nbsp;Toiletpaper&nbsp;magazine and with brands including Kenzo, Berluti, Longchamp, and Seletti—demonstrate his ability to merge high art with popular culture, making him an ideal artist to reimagine RenBen.&nbsp;All proceeds from RenBen 2026 support the Renaissance Society's program of exhibitions,&nbsp;Intermissions, concerts, public programs, and publications—all free and open to the public.&nbsp;RenBen 2026 takes place during Chicago's EXPO Art Week, in alignment with EXPO CHICAGO contemporary art fair, attracting cultural figures from around the globe.&nbsp;Additional details will be announced in early 2026.&nbsp;Corporate sponsorships and in-kind gift opportunities are available.&nbsp;Please contact Polina Kasian at&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:pkasian@renaissancesociety.org" target="_blank">pkasian@renaissancesociety.org</a>&nbsp;for more information.&nbsp;Underwriter and Benefactor sponsorships and individual tickets are now available&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/TqGCpLmdPWCEh8kci33nKQ" target="_blank">here</a>.&nbsp;Photo:&nbsp;Maurizio Cattelan by Alberto Zanetti.

RenBen 2026

Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10, 2026, 2pm — 4pm&nbsp;(the gallery will be open 10am — 4pm)Artist Talk: 4pm About the exhibitionLeah Ke Yi Zheng’s upcoming exhibition presents a complete series of 64 paintings based on the hexagrams of the&nbsp; I Ching (Book of Changes), a foundational text in Chinese philosophy that offers insights into the changing nature of existence. Each painting reflects on a hexagram not through literal representation, but through an evolving visual language shaped by abstraction, intuition, and the interplay of light and material. As she works with silk and hand-built hardwood stretchers, in continual difference, the exhibition becomes a meditation on change itself: how it is read, made visible, and experienced through painting.Zheng’s practice brings together traditional Chinese materialities and conceptual art methodologies to explore transformation, multiplicity, and the logic of variation. It is rooted in a dialogue between Eastern and Western modes of thought and influenced by thinkers such as John Cage and Yuk Hui. In this project, the &nbsp;I Ching&nbsp; is not only a reference, it is a method, a structure, and a philosophical companion. This is a one-work exhibition: Zheng considers the full sequence as a total and single work in itself, with every painting still an individualized piece.&nbsp;For&nbsp;Change, I Ching (64 Paintings), Zheng has also subtly reshaped the exhibition architecture. The transformation is understated rather than dramatic, but carefully calibrated to heighten the play of light throughout the space, and, at times, to redirect it in dialogue with the paintings. By covering certain windows, adjusting the proportions of select walls, and building a new rhythm around the room’s perimeter, Zheng creates conditions that privilege what she calls “the light of the here and now.” As daylight shifts over the course of the day, the silk paintings shift with it, their surfaces absorbing and reflecting minute changes in color and brightness. In turn, these variations reveal the altered space itself, making the architecture and the paintings co-responsive, changing together in real time.&nbsp;Curated by Myriam Ben Salah and Karsten Lund. About the ArtistLEAH KE YI ZHENG (b.1988, China) lives and works in Chicago. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include&nbsp;Machine(s)&nbsp;at Layr, Vienna (2025);&nbsp;I-Ching/Machineat Mendes Wood DM, New York (2025);&nbsp;Leah Ke Yi Zheng&nbsp;at Mendes Wood DM, Brussels (2024);&nbsp;John Cage, Leah Ke Yi Zheng: The Grasshopper Lies Heavy&nbsp;at Castle Gallery, Los Angeles (2024);&nbsp;Leah Ke Yi Zheng&nbsp;at David Lewis Gallery, New York (2023); and&nbsp;Currency @ Swiss National Bank, Zurich&nbsp;at Soccer Club Club, Chicago (2021). Recent group exhibitions include New Museum, New York (2025); Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp (2023); and Caffé Centrale, Monte Castello di Vibio (2022) among others. She was awarded a 2019 – 2021 Fellowship from The Arts Club of Chicago. CreditsLead support for this exhibition is provided by Murat Ahmed &amp; Katherine Mackenzie and School Museum Fund, The Hees Family. Principal support is provided by Gay-Young Cho and Christopher Chiu.Major annual support for the Renaissance Society is provided by the Mellon Foundation. Renaissance Society programs are supported by Teiger Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council. Annual support is provided by The Provost’s Discretionary Fund at the University of Chicago.All Renaissance Society publications are made possible by The Mansueto Foundation Publications Program. EventsOpening Reception&nbsp;Sat, Jan 10, 2-4pm&nbsp;&nbsp;With artist talk at 4pm PerformanceEli KeszlerSun, Feb 15, 2pmEli Keszler is a Grammy-nominated artist, composer, and percussionist based in New York. Whether performing an improvised solo set at the drum kit or writing an electro-acoustic score for a film, he brings an agile experimentation to his work. For this site-specific appearance, Keslzer performs live in the gallery space in the afternoon light. Within this unique architectural and acoustic setting, he offers his own take on some of the dynamics at play in Leah Ke Yi Zheng’s exhibition, including change and variation, iterative multiplicity, and logics of impermanence. DiscussionSpecial Guests of the ArtistWith Danny Bredar, Gaylen Gerber, and Oscar ZhengSun, Mar 22, 2pmFor this informal discussion in the gallery space, Leah Ke Yi Zheng is joined by three people from her close circle: artists Danny Bredar and Gaylen Gerber, and her son Oscar Zheng. Each of them brings an intimate familiarity with her practice and a deeply personal perspective on her work. In an impromptu, unscripted exchange, they surface aspects of Zheng’s exhibition that might not emerge in a formal artist talk. Their conversation mirrors the spirit of the&nbsp;I Ching&nbsp;itself, which, according to Zheng, absorbs all aspects of life. Visit&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://renaissancesociety.org/" target="_blank">renaissancesociety.org</a>&nbsp;for more information.

Leah Ke Yi Zheng: Change

Most think of books as familiar. In fact, the familiarity with these objects shapes expectations of them–their size, material, or content. Artist books offer an opportunity to leave behind those expectations, opening new possibilities for how readers might structure, find meaning, and experience books. For the last twenty years, artist and educator Yoonshin Park has engaged artist books as an experimental form and conceptual space to expand the understanding of what an artist book can be. This exhibition presents new and ongoing works by Park that further her exploration of artist books as spatial, symbolic, and participatory sites capable of engaging notions of authority, memory, societal expectations, and marginality. Since 2019, Park has been teaching courses on artist books virtually at Hyde Park Art Center and has found her practice of teaching to be as generative for her as it is for her students. The title of the exhibition,&nbsp;Prompt and Prompted&nbsp;refers to this reciprocal exchange.&nbsp;

Yoonshin Park: Prompt and Prompted

In partnership with Chicago Housing Authority, during the summer of 2025 Hyde Park Art Center carried out a mural production program. Artist and educator&nbsp;Dorian&nbsp;Sylvain led a select group of young adults to design and complete a mural on the exterior of Hyde Park Art Center’s building. The education of individuals of all ages and backgrounds is core to Sylvain’s practice, with a particular focus on students within the age group of 18 – 25 years old. Sylvain’s teaching and leadership with this group centered on developing artistic skills and professionalism, while working with Art Center community to carry out a design process towards a finished mural. Through hands-on experience, this summer cohort were provided with materials, resources, and instruction to complete a large-scale mural while being exposed to professional artists, public art in Chicago through, and the Art Center’s expansive community.

Nature is Arts Muse

Ann Toebbe’s ongoing series,&nbsp;Cooler by the Lake,&nbsp;is set in Hyde Park. For nearly two decades, Toebbe has lived in this Southside Chicago neighborhood with her husband, working and raising her two daughters and stepson. Toebbe’s domestic paintings explore the people, places, culture, and climate that are woven into her daily routine as a working artist and mother—home, garden, studio, grocery store, bakery, park, and local school. Her densely composed multi-point-of-view vignettes capture the sensory impressions and memory layers accumulated in hours and days spent in Hyde Park, meditating on the realization that this is the neighborhood her children know as home and where Toebbe and her husband will grow old.

Ann Toebbe: Cooler by the Lake

Weeds Grow in All Directions&nbsp;is an exhibition of Cydney Lewis's collage works and large-scale assemblages. Using everyday materials found in her daily life–plastic bags, packing paper, magazine cutouts, as well as rhinestones and textiles–Lewis creates otherworldly landscapes that prompt meditation on the destruction and resilience of the natural world. The works in the exhibition reward close looking—to find the extraordinary in the overlooked, to reconnect with energies around us, and to feel the pulse of our shared ecology through playful wonder and poignant reflection. In this body of work, the resilient weed is both metaphor and guide, challenging our perceptions of the disregarded and revealing the quiet spirit inherent in all natural matter. In Lewis's work, the material world intersects with the realm of elemental spirits, creating a layered tapestry of human emotion and urgent ecological awareness.

Cydney M. Lewis: Weeds Grow in All Directions

The Paradox of Inaction&nbsp;is a new site-specific installation composed of over 160 cast ceramic forms. The ceramic pieces, arranged in low-lying platforms throughout the 2300 sq ft gallery, appear abstract at first glance, but when seen collectively, create the illusion of a submerged suburban neighborhood. The installation recreates a catastrophic scene that has become increasingly common in coastal communities as a result of global warming. Placing the viewers at the center of the scene, the installation invites reflection and a deeper understanding of the threat of current and future natural disasters.&nbsp;Throughout her career, Ruttan has endeavored to create visual representations of massive traumatic events that defy the human capacity to comprehend fully. For Ruttan, the process of representing these events by spending countless hours rendering them visible is an attempt to make them feel more real for herself as well as others. Her hope is that this work serves as a call to action for others to shift habits and prevent further inaction.&nbsp;This exhibition is generously supported by the Graham Foundation. Ruttan is a project-based artist whose work focuses on topical investigations. Her work has been exhibited at Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Chicago Cultural Center, Crystal Bridges Art Museum (Bentonville, AR), The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Elmhurst Art Museum (Elmhurst, IL), Kent State University Art Museum (Kent, OH), The Frist Museum (Nashville, TN), Sweeney Art Gallery (Riverside, CA), Document Gallery (Chicago, IL), Galerie Wit (Netherlands), Rocket Gallery (London), The Drawing Center (New York City, NY). Awards include recognition from The Illinois Arts Council; Jerome Foundation, Art &amp; Technology Residency; Wexner Museum, Artists Residency; and Wild Animal Park.

Alison Ruttan: The Paradox of Inaction

Part I, September 23, 2025 - February 22, 2026Part II, March 24, 2026 - July 26, 2026Why and how do people form political communities? How does political society organize our economic lives - and vice versa? And how as individuals do we navigate society?Smart to the Core: Wise to Power&nbsp;examines these questions by integrating visual art with foundational texts of modern social and political thought spanning nearly four centuries. Through a wide range of creative practices and philosophical perspectives, the exhibition addresses themes that are widely familiar yet deeply connected to specific political, economic, and cultural histories.<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://uchicago.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=aba2086a45b4ee8391b89447b&amp;id=a6520b5f11&amp;e=00938adab1" target="_blank">Learn more about this exhibition</a>

Smart to the Core: Wise to Power (Part II)

Since 2020, Carter has developed an extensive body of work exploring the site, history, and significance of the Singer Pavilion–the last remaining building of the former Michael Reese Hospital complex in Bronzeville–a design collaboration led by architect Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus School. This exhibition presents for the first time together the ten artworks including sculptures, digital images, sound works, installations, and a series of zines developed in collaboration with artists and community members with connections to the hospital. Together, the works prompt reflection on the importance of this site as a case study of past and future efforts to develop this culturally rich yet under-resourced neighborhood while also examining evolving ideas about urban development, architectural preservation, and the legacy of Modernist aesthetic and social philosophy.

Jeff Carter: The Singer Pavilion Project

The annual exhibition highlights paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, prints, animation, and multimedia work by young artists participating in Hyde Park Art Center’s Teen programs. Each year, the Teen programs provide a structured independence that encourages young artists to develop their creative voices, learn new skills, and build relationships in the context of a community-based art center, where artists of all ages and backgrounds do the same. The exhibition is a testament to the evolution and dedication of these young artists. They have taken on the challenge of expressing perplexed thoughts, feelings, and emotions into individual works of art.

Teen Show

Ground Floor, an ongoing biennial exhibition since 2010, brings together work by Chicago’s most promising emerging talent. The exhibition offers a single destination to encounter the work of twenty artists who have recently graduated (in 2025 and 2026) from one of Chicago’s five outstanding MFA programs: Columbia College, Northwestern University, The University of Chicago, The University of Illinois at Chicago, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.&nbsp;Ground Floor&nbsp;presents art made in the past couple of years in hopes of investigating and articulating conceptual and stylistic trends coming out of Chicago art schools right now.&nbsp;

Ground Floor

Hyde Park Art Center is excited to partner with the Veteran Art Movement, Chicago Cultural Center, Elmhurst Art Museum, and Walls Turned Sideways for the 2026 Veteran Art Triennial and Summit. The Hyde Park Art Center chapter&nbsp;Shifting Horizons&nbsp;considers land, migration, and decolonization through ideas informed by thinkers like Frantz Fanon and Harsha Walia. The exhibition invites reflections on how borders shape experience, how people navigate systems of control and resistance, and the uncertain landscapes that emerge amid ongoing struggles. The 2026 Veteran Art Triennial and Summit,&nbsp;Resisting the Long Wars, organized by curators Aaron Hughes, Mohamed Mehdi, Meranda Roberts, and Amber Zora, highlights artists’ creative defiance of war and militarism.

Veteran Art Triennial - RESISTING THE LONG WARS: Shifting Horizons 

The triennial program, created by Hyde Park Art Center in the mid-1990s, facilitates a fun and accessible commissioning process that builds lasting relationships between artists and patrons, creates a new base of support for artists, and invests in the vitality of Chicago’s cultural community.&nbsp;Not Just Another Pretty Face&nbsp;cultivates collectors, who are essential to the ecosystem that artists need to thrive, by embracing and encouraging the concept of patronage in contemporary art. Artists need not only collectors but also a community of people who know, support, and value what they do. To date, the Art Center has raised nearly&nbsp;$2,000,000&nbsp;through this program—half of which goes directly to artists, with the other half supporting Art Center programs. Through&nbsp;Not Just Another Pretty Face,&nbsp;375+&nbsp;original works&nbsp;of art have been commissioned by&nbsp;275&nbsp;new and established collectors&nbsp;interested in investing in Chicago’s artists. This exhibition will showcase the nearly&nbsp;100 new artworks&nbsp;made in this year’s iteration of this popular program.

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