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

Hilton Contemporary is pleased to present&nbsp;Cristina Mittermeier: Marks of Memory, a solo exhibition of new works on view from&nbsp;July 22 - September 15&nbsp;at Hilton Contemporary's River North gallery. The exhibition features a new body of mixed-media collages alongside a selection of limited-edition photographs, expanding Mittermeier’s celebrated visual language through layered, tactile works that reflect on memory, place, and the fragile beauty of the natural world.These new collage works extend Mittermeier’s longstanding exploration of our connection to nature while introducing a new physicality to her practice. Built through layers of image, texture, and mark-making, the works reflect both personal remembrance and collective environmental memory—traces of landscapes, coastlines, wildlife, and lived experience that remain with us long after a moment has passed. The result is a body of work that feels both expansive and deeply personal, balancing wonder with urgency. Coinciding with the exhibition, Mittermeier will also appear in Chicago as an honorary guest speaker at Aspen Institute's&nbsp;Aspen Ideas: Climate Chicago&nbsp;at&nbsp;Shedd Aquarium on&nbsp;July 21st&nbsp;— a fitting extension of the environmental and conservation themes that have defined her career. Serving as the focal point for the summit's "Evenings at Ideas", the event brings together global leaders, policymakers, and climate innovators. <ul><li>Evening at the Shedd (July 21): From 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM attendees can enjoy climate-focused dialogue surrounded by marine life. The festival's signature "Spark Talks" transforms into "Shark Talks," exploring nature-inspired climate solutions from sea otters, coral reefs, and electric eels.</li></ul> <ul><li>Speakers: In addition to Cristina Mittermeier, the speaker roster includes figures like Al Roker, actor Rainn Wilson, Chef Rick Bayless, and Shedd’s Vice President of Environmental Operations, Allen LaPointe</li></ul> Mittermeier is widely known as one of the leading voices in contemporary conservation photography. A photographer, marine biologist, and co-founder of the conservation organization&nbsp;<a href="https://vl6pibjab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Mn0h9qKSeNKjj9qj_8-HRZR8K7J5AxQr5yvA7QmdMKUIpIfLJi9XzJoFOQMoEOBzmBGerXHbxZkwFboJbNHM_shT9MLxWwjyKyCqXCWeyNOC7DOeyuWZT185eQWprAEGerJjyqiqAVQB2F6fLRprw4wnmQ_sjjzoVYvulustOWLQl0vcXR4PPGiZs8206qyP&amp;c=yN_KKghckIyp5r5sh56YsUgVn8wywT0gOJ6wtVAErUEzgJqn-GEuyg==&amp;ch=wtknYliUM8ea4LR5mTae8Vu9rGMlJJYRdV-bL2HVP-6vtieFAfDiwQ==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">SeaLegacy</a>, her work has helped shape global conversations around climate change, biodiversity, and ocean protection.&nbsp; ﻿Yet even as her images bear witness to the environmental crisis, they are rooted in reverence—an effort to inspire care, responsibility, and a deeper sense of belonging within the natural world.﻿In&nbsp;Marks of Memory, that sense of reverence takes on new form. The exhibition invites viewers to consider how images function not only as records, but as vessels: carrying emotion, experience, and evidence of what has been loved, witnessed, and at risk of being lost. Together, the collages and photographs offer a meditation on remembrance, stewardship, and the enduring marks left by both nature and human presence. Marks of Memory&nbsp;will be on view at Hilton Contemporary through September 15, 2026 312.852.8200 •&nbsp;<a href="mailto:arica@hiltoncontemporary.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" target="_blank">arica@hiltoncontemporary.com</a>&nbsp;•&nbsp;<a href="https://vl6pibjab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Mn0h9qKSeNKjj9qj_8-HRZR8K7J5AxQr5yvA7QmdMKUIpIfLJi9XzLIV9ZLYw1n7JlEAeV3DQhp04tBKDv7fqg9igZEhiMW1Qq3rURa4FhV4gb8t0SX7HlqK6qbDZu1ZrCENzC8EJO4dNUTg_9EKch0u1NkerN0_Ei8yuTh8ULw=&amp;c=yN_KKghckIyp5r5sh56YsUgVn8wywT0gOJ6wtVAErUEzgJqn-GEuyg==&amp;ch=wtknYliUM8ea4LR5mTae8Vu9rGMlJJYRdV-bL2HVP-6vtieFAfDiwQ==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" target="_blank">http://www.hiltoncontemporary.com</a>&nbsp; Image: Muñeca con Flores

Cristina Mittermeier: Marks of Memory

International Currents Gallery Taqi Spateen is a contemporary Palestinian painter and muralist, who held a 3 month Residency at the John David Mooney Foundation through our Artists at Risk Program. Born in Husan, Bethlehem, his work is inspired by the sacred beauty of the Palestinian countryside, as well as the displacement caused by the settler expansion. From That Land will be on display and open to the public from August 27 through September 17. Parking Available across the street at Sterling Park. Garage. Image: Committed Nature, Acrylic on Canvas, 2025

Taqi Spateen: From That Land

Artists'&nbsp;Talk&nbsp;at Gallery:&nbsp;Thursday, September 17, 7pmThe artists will give a&nbsp;talk about their work&nbsp;on Thursday, September 17 at 7pm. Please note: This will be an in-person event, held at Perspective Gallery.Perspective Gallery in Evanston is excited to host&nbsp;an exhibition featuring new work by gallery members&nbsp;<a href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=9b849841b0&amp;e=d73170d386" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maria Finitzo</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://perspectivegallery.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=04a588cae42ffc5c2d944d823&amp;id=976e5acd37&amp;e=d73170d386" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">William Bridges</a>.&nbsp;In her debut exhibition at Perspective, Finitzo&nbsp;presents the first public viewing of&nbsp;Ice &amp; Light,&nbsp;which revisits images made in 1993 on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High&nbsp;Arctic. Unresolved at the time of their making, the&nbsp;original color transparencies were set&nbsp;aside for three decades before being rediscovered. Their return contrasts&nbsp;the material endurance of analog photography with the fragility of the subject matter. The ice shelves of northern Ellesmere Island, among the oldest in the Northern Hemisphere, have since undergone significant loss due to climate change, rendering these images a record of a disappearing landscape.In&nbsp;MY&nbsp;Photographic Memory?,&nbsp;Bridgesexplores an alternate, possible link between memory and photography. "Some people are said to have 'photographic memories', the ability to recall comprehensive, detailed pictures of everything they have seen," he writes. "I believe that everyone has a photographic memory but that the type of mental imagery differs from one person to the next. What I offer here are not crystallized pictures of the past, but photographs of how my recollections appear in my head."The exhibition opens Thursday, September 3 and runs through Sunday, September 27, 2026.&nbsp;An&nbsp;opening reception&nbsp;will be held on Saturday, September 12, from 5-7pm.

Artists' Talk: Maria Finitzo and William Bridges. 

Paintings by Thomas McCueOak Park Public Library (Main Branch)2nd Floor Gallery834 Lake St. Oak Park, IL 60302 Generative Interference is a solo exhibition of paintngs by Thomas McCue The artist will exhibit recent work representative of ongoing explorations into expressive and abstract image making. The work is a product of a highly intuitive, spontaneous, and "generative" process.Influenced by biological entities, processes, and environments, both real and imagined, with form and composition emerge over&nbsp;the course of layering intuitive mark making and color. The artist is legally blind, having experienced significant vision loss&nbsp;over twenty years ago. Thomas has had to contendl loss of central vision, relying ofn his peripheral vision to do both every-day life tasks and make art. "Interference" in part refers to the artist's condition, called Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON). In addition to loss of central vision, LHON presents with dynamic visual artifacts, simple visual hallucinations and "noise". The artist has had to adapt and work using memory, close-looking, technology, and intuition the work reflects both a process of real-time adaptation and a running internal narrative of nature's complexity, chaos, and beauty. The work is also defined by the effort to see through the interference with the use of contrast, saturated color, line, and repetition. Generative Interference will be at the Oak Park Public Library mMain branch from August 18 to September 18. Image: "The Idyll" 48" x 60" , Oil on Canvas, 2026, Thomas McCue

Generative Interference

Woman Made Gallery (WMG) proudly announces the launch of its inaugural <a href="https://womanmade.org/makers-shakers-bash-2026-fundraiser/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">Makers &amp; Shakers Bash</a>, a new annual celebration honoring the artists and activists who are reshaping culture and driving equity across the nation. The event will take place Friday, September 18, 2026, from 6 to 9 PM at the stunning indoor/outdoor venue at Morningstar’s Headquarters, 22W Washington St., 7th Floor, Chicago, IL.As the United States reflects on 250 years of history, WMG poses a vital question: Who is writing the next chapter? The Makers &amp; Shakers Bash recognizes those already forging the future. In this inaugural year, WMG honors:<a href="https://scheherazadetillet.com/bio" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">Scheherazade Tillet</a> — 2026 Maker, an artist whose visionary work shifts culture and expands the possibilities of creative expression.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lwvchicago.org/jane-ruby" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">Jane Ruby</a> — 2026 Shaker, an activist whose leadership as President of the League of Women Voters Chicago moves communities toward justice, equity, and shared freedom.The Bash is presented alongside WMG’s exhibition, Feminism 250: Woman Made America, marking both the nation’s semi-quincentennial and 34 years of WMG’s commitment to uplifting women and non?binary artists.2026 Event Highlights<ul><li>Tête-à-Tête Conversation featuring the inaugural honorees</li><li>Silent Auction of original artworks and one-of-a-kind experiences</li><li>&nbsp;Live Blues Performance by Patch of Blues, Chicago Music Award 2024&nbsp;</li><li>DJ Set by DJ Justeez, spinning sounds curated to the Makers &amp; Shakers vibe</li><li>Immersive Art Experiences, including hands-on creativity stations</li><li>Mystery Bags filled with art-inspired treasures</li><li>Cocktails + Bites and sweet + savory offerings on one of the Loop’s best patios</li><li>Virtual tour of the Feminism 250: Woman Made America exhibit</li><li>Showcase of the Resilience Community Quilt by Dorothy Straughter&nbsp;</li></ul>WMG Member Tickets: $95 for one | $160 for twoGeneral Admission: $125 for one | $200 for twoFor more details on how to get involved, purchase tickets, or sponsor the event, visit <a href="https://womanmade.org/makers-shakers-bash-2026-fundraiser/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://womanmade.org/makers-shakers-bash-2026-fundraiser/</a>Woman Made Gallery | 1332 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60607312-738-0400 | general@womanmade.org | <a href="http://email.mg2.lglcrm.net/c/eJxdjt0OgyAMhZ8GLoktiHDBhdPsNQxK_UlEF8ey1x9u2cWWNOk5bXr6BUdejRr54rBAKCQgaCklCBBa1qpp0LS1bVGBZaqIE4p1Wocjio0Sz7KLflmXbeqWwMoLK1t3NsxRBiRUWeUZX92c0u3OZM3wmuu5R79FH0jsx5Q9P1xPPlF-8bPiyflh2B9b6kCh0Xx2BUHojZLWj5Ulq1VpMRCYigbo9Vi9ob5H_1BnxgfpBV2PR2w" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">https://womanmade.org/</a>Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday 12–5 PM CST

Inaugural Makers & Shakers Bash 

Brendan Fernandes: In the Round

Letica Pardo: Carcasa (109 E. Ontario St.)Through a material reconfiguration of the Mies van der Rohe stair and walls from The Arts Club building, the installation foregrounds aspects of architectural production often minimized or rendered invisible within dominant historical narratives. Originally produced for The Arts Club’s former location, the stair was salvaged from demolition and reinstalled in the institution’s current building, becoming an object in the collection.Translating the stair into exposed rebar—a material typically embedded within built infrastructure and intentionally concealed—brings construction to the surface. The seemingly unfinished structure draws attention to manual labor carried out by immigrant workers who have sustained the U.S. building industry. Silicone casts taken from travertine slabs surrounding the staircase function as reversed impressions of the stone, revealing internal veining and voids as surface textures. Together, the rebar structure and silicone casts establish a dialogue between structure and body, visibility and concealment, and value and labor.Reducing architecture to bone and skin, Carcasa (109 E. Ontario St.) approaches modernism as a system whose authority and visibility were produced through selective recognition. In doing so, it positions architecture as a cultural record of collective making shaped by social relations.This project was curated by Executive Director and Chief Curator Janine Mileaf.This site-specific installation involved production assistance by Dishan Rahman, and metal fabrication by Alejandro Castellanos, Ernesto Garcia, Jair Martínez, José Martinez, Ricardo Martínez, Danilo Medina, Ernesto Medina, Gonzalo Medina, Nelson Ramírez, Francisco Rivadeneyra, Heriberto Valdez, Daniel Valencia, Randi Vigueras, D5 Design and Metal Fabrication.Special thanks goes to Gallery Manager Colby Starck and preparators Reggie Williamson, Xavier Hughes, and Adele Henning. Carcasa (109 E. Ontario St.) (detail), Leticia Pardo. Photo by Fran Peñaflor.

Letica Pardo: Carcasa

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence defined “unalienable rights” as “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” And five years after the end of the Revolutionary War, the founding generation ratified a new Constitution to, among other things, “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” What it meant to dedicate a country to liberty was immediately contested and continues to be contested to this day. For whom were these “Blessings of Liberty” to be secured? Under what circumstances could individuals expect the inalienable right of liberty to be recognized? What justifies limitations on liberty, and what does a dedication to liberty demand of us?Though Americans grappled with these issues in all times and places, nothing crystallized the tensions around liberty quite like war. President Abraham Lincoln, in his address at the newly dedicated Gettysburg National Cemetery in the midst of the Civil War, centered his reflection on this very question: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” At the site of so much death and destruction, he wondered whether a nation, “so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.”Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918&nbsp;will draw on the Newberry’s collection to show how artists living through wartime “conceived” cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations that grappled with questions about liberty. These images appeared throughout broader print culture (newspapers, magazines, sheet music, broadsides, posters) as well as in more private contexts, such as diaries, letters, or sketchbooks. Whether patriotic or dissenting, available to the masses or only to a few, wartime imagery reveals in dramatic, visually compelling ways how the people of the US have used the occasion of war to question, revise, challenge, and champion this core value of the country since its founding 250 years ago.<a href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/conceived-in-liberty" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DETAILS</a>

Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918

Willem de Kooning Drawing&nbsp;is the first exhibition to explore the full scope of Willem de Kooning’s drawing practice and how it was foundational to his boundary-breaking artistic career. Featuring more than 200 artworks including rarely-seen drawings—alongside paintings, sculptures, and prints—this exhibition offers an unprecedented opportunity to experience the totality of his graphic production over seven decades and sheds light on his experimentation with materials, tools, and techniques.

Willem de Kooning Drawing

Have you ever kneaded wet dough? It feels amazing. Smack smack thwap stretch flop. Throw it in the air and see what happens. It can be any shape you want.&nbsp;Fruit flies like dough too. Buzzzzz buzz buzz.My face is stiff and my arms are somewhat immobilized by a complex arrangement of bandages, but a sweet young thing named Annie sits&nbsp;patiently&nbsp;next to me, holding a plastic cup with a straw up to my parched lips. Pink sparkling rosé, my favorite. It’s about the little things. Miami Beach. Printed minidress. Chunky necklace on tan skin.... Cars slow down to get a better look at me....

Jesse Bond: Own Who You Are

The 78th Greenwich Village Art Fair is a two-day outdoor event held at Rockford Art Museum featuring juried artists, live music by local musicians, children’s art activities, a local vendor marketplace, food trucks, cocktails, and more.Established in 1948, GVAF is the longest-running art fair of its kind in the Midwest. All artwork on display at Greenwich Village Art Fair is original and produced entirely by the hands of the exhibiting artist.Admission proceeds support Rockford Art Museum, located at 711 North Main Street in downtown Rockford, Illinois.<a href="https://us.list-manage.com/j5SLl2sLHHP?e=7aced3c85f&amp;c2id=022ea89fe4e8ce5503f91bd1a7cb9b2e" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here</a>&nbsp;for more information.&nbsp;

Greenwich Village Art Fair

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is thrilled to announce&nbsp;Dancing the Revolution. This exhibition is the first of its kind to explore and expand the visual, political and spiritual histories of dancehall and reggaetón through contemporary art—two dynamic genres that have transcended their grassroots origins to shape global culture. From Kingston to San Juan through London, Toronto, New York City and Panama,&nbsp;Dancing the Revolutionpositions music and dance as a revolutionary practice for collective liberation rooted in the struggle against colonial oppression. Dancehall and reggaetón are not only musical genres but cultural practices and powerful expressions of resistance and joy—reminders of the Caribbean's centuries-old traditions of dance and music as means of liberation and protest rooted in Black Atlantic history and culture.&nbsp;Dancing the Revolution&nbsp;showcases pivotal moments and themes from these histories, starting with the sound system—a mobile disco that embodies both a community experience and a vital civic institution.&nbsp; Presenting work across varied mediums,&nbsp;Dancing the Revolution&nbsp;includes painting, sound sculptures, installations, photographs, and video, showcasing how artists have been and continue to be inspired by these histories and the visual forms that emerge from them. The exhibition features more than 35 artists, including Isaac Julien, Jean Michel Basquiat, Edra Soto, Alberta Whittle, Carolina Caycedo, supakid and Lee "Scratch" Perry. A special commissioned mixtape project invites visitors to learn about the evolution of these popular genres in Panama and hear iconic songs that have paved the way for the global phenomenon of reggaetón. Audiences also will be able to purchase the exhibition’s bilingual catalogue (Spanish/English), which features scholarship on topics such as sound system and sonic aesthetics in painting, dancing and protest during Puerto Rico's&nbsp;Verano del 19, or Summer of 2019, and Panama’s reggae en español, as well as extensive illustrations reproducing exhibition artworks. Dancing the Revolution&nbsp;considers music and dance as powerful tools for sexual and political liberation. The exhibition’s title is inspired by the shifting RPMs (revolutions per minute) that mark the tempo and history of Caribbean popular music, including historic events like Verano del 19 (which famously included protests attended by singers iLe, Residente, Ricky Martin, and Bad Bunny). At this critical moment of collective action, LGBTQ+ and feminist activists led&nbsp;perreo combativo, or “combative twerking,” on the steps of San Juan Cathedral prior to Governor Ricardo Roselló’s resignation, transforming reggaetón’s characteristic dance into a form of political protest. This reclamation of public space through dance—an act deeply rooted in dancehall history and culture—demonstrates how music and dance can serve as bold acts of collective resistance and emancipation. Dancing the Revolution&nbsp;is curated by Carla Acevedo-Yates, former Marilyn and Larry Fields Curator and Director of Curatorial Initiatives, with Iris Colburn, Curatorial Associate, Nolan Jimbo, Assistant Curator, Cecilia González Godino, former Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow, and nibia pastrana santiago, Curatorial Consultant.

Dancing the Revolution

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to our upcoming exhibition,&nbsp;Glass Castles | Curated by Azul Alberto Nogueron. The exhibition will be on display from August 8 - September 20, 2026 with an opening reception on Sunday, August 9, 1-3pm that will be free and open to the public.Glass Castles&nbsp;is a whimsical, surrealist exhibition of works about spirituality and religious trauma curated through the queer perspective.&nbsp;Glass Castles&nbsp;is the second of three exhibitions curated by Azul Alberto Nogueron as part of their time as the EAC's COMPASS Resident.The COMPASS Curator Residency provides an emerging curator with an opportunity to curate three shows in the Evanston Art Center’s Lobby Gallery space. The EAC’s Lobby Gallery is a space dedicated to exhibiting emerging and underrepresented artists/curators and responds to current social events. This dynamic and inclusive space draws in new curators, artists, and audiences. Glass Castles | Curated by Azul Alberto Nogueron&nbsp;will be exhibited in the Lobby Gallery on the FirstFloor of the Art Center. The opening reception is free and open to the public. This exhibition is partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the EAC’s general membership.Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and community outreach initiatives.

Glass Castles | Curated by Azul Alberto Nogueron

<a href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hyde Park Art Center</a>, the renowned non-profit hub for contemporary art located on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is proud to announce&nbsp;Jeff Carter: The Singer Pavilion Project, on view&nbsp;June 6 – September 20, 2026. Exploring the historic and architectural significance of the Singer Pavilion—the only building remaining of the former Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Bronzeville, the exhibition prompts critical reflection on the Modernist promise of social progress, and considers how architectural ideals are compromised by histories of institutional failure, abandonment, and inequality.Since 2020, Carter has developed an extensive body of work exploring the site, history, and significance of the Singer Pavilion, a structure he refers to as a “Modernist ruin.” The exhibition presents eleven artworks, including sculptures, digital images, sound works and installations. Several artworks in the exhibition are made using materials extracted from the abandoned site: a waiting room chair, vinyl records, and native plants that have reclaimed the neglected landscape. The excavated materials were transformed into sculptures and conjure both the life in and around the building during its active years as a psychiatric institute (1948-2009) and the building’s dereliction following the hospital’s closure in 2009. A series of ‘zines developed in collaboration with artists with connections to the hospital and the surrounding Bronzeville community will be included.Founded in 1881, Michael Reese Hospital was a major research and teaching hospital, and one of the oldest and largest hospitals in Chicago, providing care to all people regardless of religion, nationality, or race. Its architecture, whose designers included Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus School, is considered by preservationists to hold historic value. ABOUT THE ARTISTJeff Carter (1967, he/his) is a multimedia artist living and working in Chicago. He earned his BFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder and his MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His practice includes sculpture, kinetics, sound, installation, and digital media. Jeff has exhibited his work in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Renaissance Society, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and the Hyde Park Art Center. His work has been shown internationally at the Hayward Gallery, London, the Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan, the IKEA Museum, Sweden, and the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, University College Cork, Ireland. His solo shows include the Chicago Cultural Center and the DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York, and Galeria Valle Orti, Valencia, Spain. A previous project about the demolished Michael Reese Hospital campus,&nbsp;The Common Citizenship of Forms&nbsp;(2011), was reviewed in Art In America and profiled in the 7th edition of Bauhaus Magazine. He is a Professor in The Art School at DePaul University. ABOUT THE 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 href="https://www.hydeparkart.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.hydeparkart.org</a>.

Jeff Carter: The Singer Pavilion Project

Panel Talk: Performance Art in Chicago moderated by Leon J. Hilton Sept 20, 2026 | 11 amThe Commons&nbsp;In partnership with the Performance Art Museum and on the eve of the MCA’s 60thanniversary,&nbsp;Chicago Performs&nbsp;audiences are invited to gather for a conversation on the history of performance art in Chicago. Artists and scholars Lin Hixson and Vanessa Damilola Macaulay are joined by former MCA curator of performance Peter Taub and moderator Leon J. Hilton to reflect on key questions about the city’s performance ecology across generations. As a point of departure, the panel will revisit Christine Tamblyn’s “Chicago Performance: An Annotated Guide”&nbsp;(from&nbsp;High Performance&nbsp;#17/18, 1982).

Performance Art in Chicago moderated by Leon J. Hilton

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eacportfolioday.org/portfolio-day" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" target="_blank">EAC Portfolio Day 2026</a>. Portfolio Day is a chance for local students to connect with art college admissions teams, get information, and/or have art portfolios reviewed before applying to colleges and universities. Portfolio Review &amp; Informational Meetings are 10 minutes each and require registration in addition to the general event registration. To view the full Portfolio Day schedule, visit the Evanston Art Center website. Students will have a chance to meet with representatives from Art Academy of Cincinnati, College of Creative Studies, Loyola University, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University, Ohio University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Stamps School of Art &amp; Design, University of Michigan, and University of Illinois Chicago: College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts, and University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign.To get started, register for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eacportfolioday.org/portfolio-day" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(16, 60, 192);" target="_blank">Portfolio Day</a>, reserve your limited spot for meetings with representatives from art &amp; design colleges, and review the online guides to “What should I bring?” “Who will be there?” and “Where is the EAC?” Portfolio Day&nbsp;will be in the First Floor Gallery of the Art Center. This event is free and open to the public; registration is required. This exhibition is partially funded by the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation.Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and community outreach initiatives.

4th Annual Portfolio Day

Join Us for an In-Person Presentation by Evanston/California Photobook Artist Richard (Chip) Hay, Jr. on Thursday, September 24, 2026, from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at 1310 1/2 B Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL. You are invited to meet Richard (Chip) Hay, Jr. as he presents and leads a discussion on his inaugural photobook, Resounding with Echoes: Sojourns across Africa and America. (Kehrer Verlag, 2026). Through a nuanced interplay of black-and-white and color photography, Hay traces quiet correspondences between West Africa and the Americas, offering a lyrical meditation on everyday life across geography and time. Framed by an essay by renowned Nigerian author Emmanuel Iduma, the images are situated within a broader reflective context, collapsing temporal distance and proposing photography as a means of attentive witnessing—one that honors the ordinary while acknowledging the layered histories embedded within it. As part of the discussion, Hay will also provide his insights into the process of using images from a multi-decade archive to create a printed photo volume. Reviews of Resounding with Echoes have appeared in About Photography and in All About Photo. More information about the book can also be found on his website: RHayPhotography.com. About the Artist Richard (Chip) Hay visually explores the dynamics between people and the environments that they create and inhabit.&nbsp;Reflecting his interests and training in sociology, architecture, photography and design, Hay views built and natural environments as cultural manifestations of people and their societies. Hay has exhibited in several group shows including those at the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, the Los Angeles Center of Photography, PhotoPlace Gallery, Blue Ski Gallery and the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel.&nbsp;&nbsp;He studied photography at Northwestern University, where he earned a PhD in Sociology.&nbsp;He lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area.

Gallery Talk and Book Presentation with Richard (Chip) Hay, Jr.

CAVA's Signature Annual Juried Exhibition&nbsp;Later Impressions&nbsp;Opens August 7 at The Art Center Highland Park (Highland Park, IL). More than ninety contemporary works by artists age 50 and older will fill the galleries of The Art Center Highland Park when the Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists (CAVA) presents Later Impressions, its signature annual juried exhibition and longest-running yearly exhibition, August 7 through September 26, 2026. The exhibition marks CAVA's first partnership with The Art Center Highland Park and showcases artwork created within the past two years, emphasizing the continued creativity and vitality of experienced artists.&nbsp;&nbsp;Selected from more than 230 submissions, the exhibition features 93 works spanning painting, photography, printmaking, encaustic, pastel, mixed media, and sculpture in bronze, wood, metal, assemblage, and other media. Installed throughout the Main Gallery, the Cindi Elkins Gallery, the main foyer, and additional first-floor spaces, the exhibition offers visitors an immersive fine art experience.&nbsp;Fellow Highland Park artist Julie Scoma describes her acrylic painting “Clouds” as quiet and meditative, adding that she values CAVA because "so often people don't find their art until later in life."CAVA’s Exhibition Manager Susan Bennett believes The Art Center Highland Park provides an exceptional setting for CAVA's signature exhibition, allowing visitors to experience the remarkable diversity of the artwork. James Lynch, Executive Director of The Art Center Highland Park, called the exhibition "a wonderful way to close out our gallery season. Many of CAVA's members regularly exhibit at TAC, and we're excited to welcome both familiar and new artists into our galleries,” while TAC Gallery Manager Caleb Smith said the exhibition will foster new artistic connections and creative collaborations.Awards of Excellence, including Best in Show, will be presented during the Opening Reception on Friday, August 14, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m., with awards announced at approximately 6:30 p.m. Admission to both the exhibition and reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. All artwork is available for purchase with proceeds supporting independent artists and The Art Center Highland Park.CAVA will also present its annual Learning Symposium on Saturday, September 26, from noon to 3:00 p.m. at The Art Center Highland Park. Topics include estate planning for visual artists, the VibrantCast digital platform, and a panel discussion on gallery representation for older artists. The symposium is free for CAVA members and open to the public for a $10 fee.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;About CAVAFounded in 1988, the Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting, exhibiting, and promoting experienced visual artists through exhibitions, education, professional development, and community engagement. Learn more about&nbsp;CAVA, its events and exhibitions, or to become a member at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wearecava.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.wearecava.org</a>.&nbsp;About The Art Center Highland ParkThe Art Center Highland Park is the North Shore's home for artistic discovery and creative exploration, offering exhibitions, classes, and programs for artists and the community. Learn more at&nbsp;<a href="http://theartcenterhp.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">theartcenterhp.org</a>.&nbsp;The Art Center Highland Park is located at 1957 Sheridan Road in Highland Park IL and is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. -- 4:00 p.m.&nbsp;Closed Sundays.

Later Impressions

Please join us for a new installation, Interrobang, by Jenal Dolson to kick off the project space at 65GRAND. Enveloped in an overtly bright, striped environment, Interrobang stages a dynamic interplay of color, pattern, and optical vibration, destabilizing perceptual assumptions and enacting a phenomenological encounter in which space, surface, and body are inseparably entangled. In this way, the paintings hold gesture as the body holds touch: as residue, as a lingering presence - embodying the interrogative tension of the interrobang itself. Image: Jenal Dolson,&nbsp;Play House,&nbsp;2026, oil and pumice on canvas, 41.25 x 34 inches

Jenal Dolson: Interrobang

Kim Storage Gallery is pleased to present Mythologies, a solo exhibition of new oil paintings by Tim Anderson, on view August 21 through September 26, 2026.The works draw on a lifetime of research into world mythology — the ancient, the obscure, and the enduring — tracing the stories that have shaped human culture across every civilization since the beginning of recorded time, and long before.Mythology is not a relic. It lives on in literature, graphic novels, and film — in every retelling of the eternal struggle between good and evil, love and fear. What Anderson finds so compelling is not the differences between these stories across cultures, but their profound similarities. The names and faces change; the essential human truths beneath them do not.The works in Mythologies also sit with a deeper silence: the knowledge that the vast majority of cultures and civilizations that have existed on this earth left behind little that survives. Their stories, their wisdom, their ways of making meaning are largely gone. Against that absence, mythology functions as a thread of continuity — connecting what we know to what has been lost, and asking what it means that the same stories keep returning.Image: Tim Anderson, Aphrodite, Oil on canvas, 40 x 30”

Tim Anderson: Mythologies

September 26, 2026, 11:00am-12:30pm$35 | Student: $18While plenty can be learned by walking Chicago's streets, a whole hidden history can be seen in its alleys. Discover how Chicago became the alleyway capital of the country, dig into the history of urban trash, and see Chicago architecture from a new perspective on this alleyway walking tour. This tour with curator and historian Madeline Crispell will trace a route through the Gold Coast and end at Washington Square Park, covering everything from how activists like Jane Addams worked to clean up the alleyways to how a new generation of green alleys can help the city adapt to a changing climate.

Walking Chicago’s Alleys

Chicago Truborn's 13 Year Anniversary is up nextChicago Truborn opened its doors in West Town with a pretty simple idea: make art accessible, to support artists, and create a space that felt less like a traditional gallery and a more like a place to call home.&nbsp;I've watched artists and galleries come and go. I've seen our neighborhood change, the buildings, the businesses, and entire casts of people come through the Chicago art scene. I've seen artists who were just getting started become household names. Taken chances on people I believed in. Put paintings in living rooms and bedrooms and kitchens... murals on walls, weird objects on bookshelves, and art in the hands of people who maybe never thought they were “art collectors.”&nbsp;Chicago Truborn is Still here. Still independently owned, putting artists first. Still trying to make art feel approachable. Still got that door propped open. Playing my tunes.It's only right to celebrate my business Bat Mitzvah by showing an artist who has been Instrumental in my experience, both professionally and personally. An artist whose name and work can not be seperated from the history of Chicago: That artist is my friend Anthony Lewellen.&nbsp;Anthony has been an important part of the Chicago Truborn story for years, as an artist, as a friend, and as someone whose work has continued to evolve alongside the city around him. His paintings occupy that strange and wonderful space between familiar and surreal : Recognizable pieces of Chicago, memory, culture and everyday life filtered through his own visual language.&nbsp;ANTCK will take over the gallery with a new body of work created specifically for this exhibition.&nbsp;Two site specific murals will be painted and a new, limited edition, print drop will be released!&nbsp;And while this show itself honors Anthony, the anniversary represents all the artists who have trusted me with their work. The collectors who bought their first piece here. The people who wandered in because they saw a mural outside. The friends who helped support me and wound up becoming die hard collectors. My fellow business owners who come to check on me throughout the day.The people who have been coming through our doors since 2011, those who just discovered us last week! Anyone who has ever walked in and thought, “Oh shit. I LOVE this.”13 years is a long time to do anything independently. It’s long enough to see entire chapters of your life come and go. I know how incredibly lucky I am to have built something that's lasted this long. I also know it's less about luck, or me... And more about YOU and what you've allowed this to become. SO, let's celebrate!

Anthony Lewellen: Various Work 

Gelsy Verna (1962–2008) was a Haitian-Canadian artist, educator, and collaborator who taught at UW–Madison and left a lasting impact on students and colleagues. Working primarily in collage and drawing, Verna used symbols, text, and layered images to explore how meaning is never fixed, but constantly shifting.Throughout her work, Verna often challenged familiar cultural icons. In one series, she reimagined Martin Luther King Jr. with different hairstyles, patterns, and even Mickey Mouse ears. In another, she portrayed Marilyn Monroe with brown skin. With wit, courage, and imagination, these works invite viewers to question how identity, history, and power are constructed.Mother, Father, Please Help Me&nbsp;was drawn and redrawn over several years in collaboration with artist and frequent collaborator David Dunlap. Built through many layers of images and marks, it functions as a palimpsest—a surface that holds traces of earlier versions beneath what we see now. The work embodies Verna’s belief that images and symbols change over time, and that new meanings emerge through revision, proximity, and combination.This artwork has both a front and a back, and both are essential to fully experiencing the piece. To allow visitors to encounter the complete work, the reverse side has been carefully reproduced and printed for display.Recently acquired by MMoCA from the artist’s estate,&nbsp;Mother, Father, Please Help Me&nbsp;is among the last major works available from Verna’s studio. Verna died suddenly in 2008 at just 46, leaving behind a rich artistic legacy that her sister, Mahalia Verna now works to preserve.&nbsp;

Gelsy Verna: Mother, Father, Please Help Me

<a href="https://oh4nipbab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ZTVM3iEHVvEKfhwQsCJ46nYsOtugxTCRnJWFhXj3C4aw2b1ikI2RR4bYcKnJo2bJATn5nKUzl94dLIGZzzK25Y46MNSWLvkFmhvBxipnTnvMCQeXwQ1ZwvLH9SnpA4LMbjM42UkAyzISFt19C8admA==&amp;c=OpWSoMN78G4oRFySMyD1OGhkbkImsazZhB2hDzq3Yu3L4fVJztoJXw==&amp;ch=A80OcZyC2k_H1KvHKq452YZCNJAZS-2W9p5885Am_AmD1dQAYpBqUg==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">Jackson Junge Gallery</a> is excited to present their third group exhibition of the year, <a href="https://oh4nipbab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ZTVM3iEHVvEKfhwQsCJ46nYsOtugxTCRnJWFhXj3C4aw2b1ikI2RR-HxZAJtVFApv_EQP7elVU7vi8Zg5fbFsuRSFYiRsL8u3KCLREJzsf9QXpzXoEL9J_gBwDRGAk6zs_y2B1xYdIU-53YqsoY7zKv3TBHyzAT5tjC0UEhMSxkD7lznfWI9eg==&amp;c=OpWSoMN78G4oRFySMyD1OGhkbkImsazZhB2hDzq3Yu3L4fVJztoJXw==&amp;ch=A80OcZyC2k_H1KvHKq452YZCNJAZS-2W9p5885Am_AmD1dQAYpBqUg==" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204);" target="_blank">AFTER DARK</a>, featuring artwork that shines a light on nightlife in Chicago. The exhibition will feature the work of 28 artists local to the Chicagoland area. From the beginning of a big night out, to the eventful CTA ride home, AFTER DARK explores both the&nbsp;well-known and the hidden corners of Chicago&nbsp;﻿after the sun has gone down.

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