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

Fine Line Creative Arts Center is holding its annual juried Artisan Gift Sale from December 3 to December 8, 2026. We invite you to apply and sell your handmade, one-of-a-kind fine arts and fine crafts. Works will be displayed throughout the Kavanagh Gallery and building. No individual booth spaces are available. The entire show is set up in a gallery shop format. Your work will be inventoried, so you need not be present to conduct sales.

Artisan Gift Sale 2026

Prairie State College Art Faculty Exhibition will be held from November 16 to December 10. There will be a public reception on Wednesday, November 18, from 11am to 1pm.

Prairie State College Art Faculty Exhibition

A new exhibition of works by painter Eleanor Spiess-Ferris and her son, sculptor Michael Ferris.

Unfamiliar Patterns

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to announce our Call for Art for our 24th Annual Winter Arts &amp; Crafts Expo.&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;The <a href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/events/winter-arts-craft-expo-applications" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Winter Arts &amp; Crafts Expo</a> includes original, handmade works of jewelry, ceramics, fiber, metal, glass, painting, photography, mixed media, and more. All proceeds from the Expo will benefit the ongoing exhibition, education, and outreach programs at the Art Center.&nbsp;

24th Annual Winter Arts & Crafts Expo

Elmhurst Art Museum kicks off the 2026 Veteran Art Triennial and Summit, RESISTING THE LONG WAR, with the opening of the group exhibition, A REVOLUTION OF VALUES. Organized by the Chicago-based<a href="https://www.veteran-art-movement.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Emerging Veteran Art Movement</a>, A REVOLUTION OF VALUES builds on the legacy of <a href="https://www.vvaw.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vietnam Veterans Against the War</a> through the work of cutting-edge contemporary veteran artists who are turning from militarism toward solidarity. Bringing together nearly a dozen local, national, and international artists, the exhibition celebrates the range of ways veteran artists examine their military experiences and critique militarism.

Resisting the Long War: A Revolution of Values

This intimate exhibition highlights the midcentury modern sculptures of Chicago-born artist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbott_Pattison" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Abbott Pattison</a> (1916-1999). Drawn from the museum's permanent collection, the show captures the broad range of Pattison's expression, from classical figuration to bold, textured abstraction, with works dating from the 1950s into the 1970’s.Featuring small-scale bronzes, carved stone, and welded brass works, the exhibition highlights his signature organic geometries and cubist influences. The selected works anchored by his expressive tactile surfaces, evoke human lyricism. This focused display provides a rare, powerful look at a skilled sculptor who seamlessly bridged the gap between traditional form and avant-garde midcentury expression.

Abbott Pattison: The Figure Forward

<h2>Think Again</h2> December 3, 2026 - March 13, 2027 Think Again presents posters created by the Yugoslavian artist collective IRWIN for the 1989-90 Slovenian National Theatre season. In the year 1984 the IRWIN artists joined with other artists to form the Neue Slowenische Kunst (New Slovenian Art) political art collective, or NSK. Aware that the government was co-opting artwork and images to bolster their power, NSK intentionally used only recycled images to challenge the authoritarian establishment. This exhibit examines how the IRWIN Collective artists used their artwork and design to undermine the oppressive communist regime of former Yugoslavia. Think Again is centered around IRWIN Collective posters, held in the College of DuPage Permanent Art Collection, which will be contextualized with historical information and showcased alongside contemporary designs.&nbsp; The title “Think Again” is related to the term “doublethink” introduced by George Orwell in the novel 1984. Orwell presented “Doublethink” as the act of holding two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time, tricking oneself into accepting a false fact while forgetting you ever knew the truth. This concept parallels propaganda attempts by the Yugoslavia regime that the IRWIN Collective worked against.&nbsp;

Think Again

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to our upcoming exhibition, Contemporary Reflections on Tiffany Glass: Light, Color &amp; Form. The exhibition will be on display from January 10 - April 15, 2027, and will be free and open to the public. The Evanston Art Center and Richard H. Driehaus Art Exhibition Lending Foundation (AELF) are celebrating a collaboration between our institutions with a special loan exhibition creating a dialogue between historic Tiffany stained glass windows and contemporary artists. Contemporary Reflections on Tiffany Glass: Light, Color &amp; Form will be on view at the EAC from January 10 to April 15, 2027.

Contemporary Reflections on Tiffany Glass: Light, Color & Form

The Elmhurst Art Museum is proud to present the first major museum exhibition of celebrated artist Pooja Pittie this winter. Titled Undercurrent and curated by Allison Peters Quinn, Executive Director and Chief Curator, the exhibition highlights a decade of the Mumbai-born, Chicago-based artist’s practice. Featuring over 40 paintings, drawings, and fiber works, the survey explores Pittie’s creative evolution and determination to articulate the body-mind experience through material experimentation, searching for balance while living with a progressive muscular disability. Praised for her large-scale, seductive abstract paintings since 2015, Pittie has had to shift her mark-making gestures in recent years to accommodate her body’s altered state. The result is a masterful exploration of hand-crocheted objects informed by painting, inviting visitors to enter a tactile, meditative space to reflect on the relationship between the body and its material surroundings. The Museum is proud to present a solo exhibition of contemporary Chicago artist and educator Matthew Girson in the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Mies van der Roe-designed McCormick House. Titled Still Lives at 4:00 AM and curated by Liz Chilsen, Manager of Exhibitions and Collections, the exhibition features a series of still life paintings of empty vessels and floral prints, captured in restrained color and diminished light, as a way of reflecting on loss, absence, and lack. Using “4:00 AM colors” that dissolve into grey, visitors’ eyes struggle to discern detail and form, as brushstrokes and subtle shifts in color slowly reveal themselves upon longer looking. For Girson, the subjects he paints are not as important as the things Girson chooses not to include: absent are the flowers themselves, as well as their color--but their beauty is gleaned in the duration of time taken with them.Peters Quinn says, “We are thrilled to present two concurrent solo exhibitions featuring the extraordinary work of Chicago-based painters Matthew Girson and Pooja Pittie. Through focused engagement with color, dynamic patterning, and nuanced texture, both artists invite viewers to slow down and enter into a quiet dialogue with the traditional medium. Their contributions to contemporary painting represent the high standard of artistic practice coming out of the Midwest, and we are honored to bring their significant work to the Museum&nbsp; to be seen and celebrated.”The exhibitions will be on view at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst, from January 23 to April 25, 2027.ABOUT POOJA PITTIEPooja Pittie is a visual artist based in Chicago, whose work explores the complex interplay between body and mind, movement and stillness. Raised in Mumbai, India, Pittie trained as an accountant and earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago before transitioning to a full-time art practice in 2016. Living with a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, Pittie’s work draws on the dynamics between a slowing body and an active, curious mind. Through painting and fiber art, she weaves together personal memories, cultural heritage, motherhood, and her experiences of disability, creating intricate compositions that speak to resilience and identity. Pittie has completed the Center Program at Hyde Park Art Center, the HATCH residency at Chicago Artists' Coalition, and the 3Arts Bodies of Work Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was the recipient of the 2022 3Arts Next Level/Spare Room Award. Her work is part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi, India). She is represented by McCormick Gallery in Chicago.ABOUT MATTHEW GIRSONMatthew Girson makes paintings that explore the depth and range of the discipline as a physical medium, historical subject, and poetic opportunity. Specific themes in his paintings over the past 30 years include the relationship between abstraction and representation and how they operate within modern democracies. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and will be an Artist In Residence at the Lost and Found Lab in Connecticut in March 2027. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He is a Professor in the Art School at DePaul University where he teaches painting, drawing, and seminars on contemporary art. ABOUT THE ELMHURST ART MUSEUMThe Elmhurst Art Museum is located at 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst (IL), 25 minutes from downtown Chicago by car or public transportation (Metra). On the museum’s campus is the McCormick House, a single-family home designed in 1952 by Mies van der Rohe, one of the great architects of the 20th Century. The McCormick House is one of only three residences designed and built by Mies in the United States – and one of only two open to the public.The Museum is open Wednesday and Thursday from 12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Regular admission prices are $18 for adults (ages 18+), $15 for seniors, $10 for students, and $5 for children. For more information, please call 630.834.0202 or visit<a href="https://www.elmhurstartmuseum.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">elmhurstartmuseum.org</a>.

Pooja Pittie and Matthew Girson 

The Elmhurst Art Museum is proud to present a solo exhibition of contemporary Chicago artist and educator&nbsp;Matthew Girson&nbsp;in the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Mies van der Roe-designed McCormick House. Titled&nbsp;Still Lives at 4:00 AM&nbsp;and curated by&nbsp;Liz Chilsen, Manager of Exhibitions and Collections, the exhibition features a series of still life paintings of empty vessels and floral prints, captured in restrained color and diminished light, as a way of reflecting on loss, absence, and lack. Using “4:00 AM colors” that dissolve into grey, visitors’ eyes struggle to discern detail and form, as brushstrokes and subtle shifts in color slowly reveal themselves upon longer looking. For Girson, the subjects he paints are not as important as the things Girson chooses not to include: absent are the flowers themselves, as well as their color--but their beauty is gleaned in the duration of time taken with them. Matthew Girson&nbsp;makes paintings that explore the depth and range of the discipline as a physical medium, historical subject, and poetic opportunity. Specific themes in his paintings over the past 30 years include the relationship between abstraction and representation and how they operate within modern democracies. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and will be an Artist In Residence at the Lost and Found Lab in Connecticut in March 2027. His work is held in numerous public and private collections including the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He is a Professor in the Art School at DePaul University where he teaches painting, drawing, and seminars on contemporary art. The exhibition will be on view at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 South Cottage Hill Avenue in Elmhurst, from&nbsp;January 23 to April 25, 2027.

Still Lives: Matthrew Girson

The&nbsp;Elmhurst Art Museum&nbsp;is proud to present the first major museum exhibition of celebrated artist&nbsp;Pooja Pittie&nbsp;this winter. Titled&nbsp;Undercurrent&nbsp;and curated by&nbsp;Allison Peters Quinn, Executive Director and Chief Curator, the exhibition highlights a decade of the Mumbai-born, Chicago-based artist’s practice. Featuring over 40 paintings, drawings, and fiber works, the survey explores Pittie’s creative evolution and determination to articulate the body-mind experience through material experimentation,&nbsp;searching for balance while living with a progressive muscular disability. Praised for her large-scale, seductive abstract paintings since 2015, Pittie has had to shift her mark-making gestures in recent years to accommodate her body’s altered state. The result is a masterful exploration of hand-crocheted objects informed by painting, inviting visitors to enter a tactile, meditative space to reflect on the relationship between the body and its material surroundings. Pooja Pittie is a visual artist based in Chicago, whose work explores the complex interplay between body and mind, movement and stillness. Raised in Mumbai, India, Pittie trained as an accountant and earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago before transitioning to a full-time art practice in 2016. Living with a progressive form of muscular dystrophy, Pittie’s work draws on the dynamics between a slowing body and an active, curious mind. Through painting and fiber art, she weaves together personal memories, cultural heritage, motherhood, and her experiences of disability, creating intricate compositions that speak to resilience and identity. Pittie has completed the Center Program at Hyde Park Art Center, the HATCH residency at Chicago Artists' Coalition, and the 3Arts Bodies of Work Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was the recipient of the 2022 3Arts Next Level/Spare Room Award. Her work is part of the permanent collections at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; University of Chicago; University of Illinois at Chicago; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi, India). She is represented by McCormick Gallery in Chicago.

Pooja Pittie: Undercurrent

In 2027, The Block will present&nbsp;Pasados Presentes: Cultural Memory in the Americas, an original, bilingual exhibition that places colonial paintings from the Carl &amp; Marilynn Thoma Foundation’s Art of the Spanish Americas collection in dialogue with contemporary sculpture, textiles, photography, painting, and mixed-media installations by artists from across the Americas and the Philippines.Together, these works reveal how artists have used and adapted materials and artistic forms to transmit cultural memory, reinterpret inherited histories, and shape understandings of identity and place. By approaching materials and media as inseparable from a work's meaning,&nbsp;Pasados Presentes&nbsp;asks how art participates in shaping the history of the Americas and whose stories are preserved, obscured, or reimagined within those narratives.Pasados Presentes: Cultural Memory in the Americas&nbsp;is curated by Jesús Escobar, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in the Humanities, and Kyle Stephan, Steven and Lisa Munster Tananbaum Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University. Lead support for the exhibition is provided by the Carl &amp; Marilynn Thoma Foundation. Additional generous support is provided by the Illinois Arts Council and The Alumnae of Northwestern University.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Pasados Presentes: Cultural Memory in the Americas

Each spring The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University is pleased to present the work of the Masters of Fine Arts candidates in the&nbsp;<a href="https://art.northwestern.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Department of Art Theory &amp; Practice</a>.&nbsp;The exhibition marks an early milestone in these artists' careers, and also offers a glimpse into the future of contemporary art.This exhibition and the associated events are co-organized by the Department of Art Theory and Practice and the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. The Block acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council, the Norton S. Walbridge Fund, the Myers Foundations, the Jerrold Loebl Fund for the Arts, and the Alsdorf Endowment.

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