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

This Salon Series lecture, “New Frontiers and Trends in&nbsp;Sports&nbsp;Collectibles,” explores the expansion of the&nbsp;Sports&nbsp;Collectibles industry across collector demographics, new&nbsp;sports&nbsp;being collected, and overall market value. Join&nbsp;Sports&nbsp;Director Michael Provenzale as he outlines the recent growth of diversified interest in&nbsp;sports&nbsp;ranging from Soccer to F1 Racing to UFC, and how this has reflected in a boom in market value for&nbsp;Sports&nbsp;Collectibles at large. The memorabilia featured in the lecture will be offered in the upcoming&nbsp;Winter Platinum Night&nbsp;Sports&nbsp;Catalog Auction on February 28 - March 1.&nbsp;

Sports Collectibles Salon Talk: New Frontiers and Trends

Join us for a Book Reading and Discussion with Professors and Authors Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau, featuring selections from&nbsp;P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance. This event invites audiences into a conversation about Bad Bunny’s rise as a global cultural figure and how Puerto Rican music has long served as a space for joy, protest, and resistance. Through readings and discussion, the authors place the book within a broader historical, political, and cultural context of Puerto Rican life. Short Bio:&nbsp;Vanessa Díaz is Associate Professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at Loyola Marymount University. She is a multimedia ethnographer and journalist whose work focuses on issues of race, gender, and labor in popular culture across the Americas. Vanessa is author of the book Manufacturing Celebrity: Latino Paparazzi and Women Reporters in Hollywood (Duke 2020) and director of the bilingual documentary film Cuban HipHop: Desde el Principio (2006). She has written for such outlets as the Washington Post, USA Today, Latina, Rolling Stone and People magazine.&nbsp;Petra Rivera-Rideau is Associate Professor and Chair of American Studies at Wellesley College. Petra’s research explores race, popular music, Puerto Rico, and Latinx identities. She is the author of Remixing Reggaetón: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico and Fitness Fiesta! Selling Latinx Culture through Zumba, both with Duke University Press. She is co-editor of Afro-Latin@s in Movement: Critical Approaches to Blackness and Transnationalism in the Americas. She has also written for popular media outlets like LA Times, Washington Post, and Latina. She has served as a consultant on several reggaetón projects, including Bad Bunny’s 2023 Coachella headlining set. Together, Petra and Vanessa co-authored the book P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance (Duke 2026) and co-created the Bad Bunny Syllabus Project. At LMU, Vanessa teaches the course “Bad Bunny and Resistance in Puerto Rico” and at Wellesley, Petra teaches the course “Bad Bunny: Race, Gender, and Empire in Reggateón” which have both been featured in countless media outlets and were even discussed by Bad Bunny himself on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. SAVE THE DATE: SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2026, AT 11 AM Books will be available for purchase For more info: info@nmprac.org

Book Talk with Professors and Authors, Vanessa Díaz and Petra R. Rivera-Rideau

The Newberry will hold an event on Saturday, January 24, designed to help both new and returning visitors learn more about the independent research library in Chicago’s Gold Coast.&nbsp;“Winter NewberryFest”&nbsp;is an open house-style event that will lean into the library’s extensive collection of maps, dating from the 1500s through present. NewberryFest arrives as a current exhibition,&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/mapping-outside-the-lines" target="_blank">Mapping Outside the Lines</a>, takes visitors through a vast array of maps from mundane textbooks to avant garde art. Winter NewberryFest&nbsp;will take place on the first floor of the library (60 West Walton Place, Chicago) with a wide variety of activities that are free and open to all. A few of the activities taking place&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/newberryfest" target="_blank">on Saturday, January 24, from 12-3pm</a>, include: <ul><li>Coming face-to-face with extraordinary maps and related items&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/collection" target="_blank">from our collections</a>and having questions answered by our expert librarians and curators.</li><li> </li><li>Learning from our map curator about how to find and enjoy materials in our collection in a half-hour session, 12-12:30pm.</li><li> </li><li>Making map-inspired art through collage and papermaking from 1-3pm.</li><li>Shopping a used book sale, which promises to offer literary treasures at low prices.</li><li> </li><li>Visiting our latest exhibitions,&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/mapping-outside-the-lines" target="_blank">Mapping Outside the Lines</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/from-page-to-pixel" target="_blank">From Page to Pixel: Discovering the Digital Newberry</a>.</li><li> </li><li>Joining a docent-led building tour to learn about the library's nearly 140-year history.&nbsp;</li><li> </li><li>Visiting the&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.bookshop.newberry.org/" target="_blank">Newberry Bookshop</a>, which includes much more than just books. All attendees receive 10% off their purchase.</li><li> </li></ul><a style="color: rgb(70, 120, 134);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newberry.org/calendar/newberryfest" target="_blank">Registration is encouraged to receive updates and reminders about the event.</a>

Winter NewberryFest

In 2022, RAM organized a landmark exhibition for its street-facing Windows on Fifth Gallery. With artworks chosen from RAM’s collection,&nbsp;<a style="color: var(--link_color);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/on-fire-women-glass/" target="_blank">On Fire: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late-Twentieth Century</a>&nbsp;offered a cursory look at how women were shaping glass as an art material in the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibition title alludes to certain techniques of physically working with glass as well as the idea that some artists were innovating and making names for themselves—that they were “on fire” in their art world trajectory. This exhibition, an expanded version of the 2022 show, offers a deeper dive into this vital period in contemporary craft by outlining the concerns of artists who explore the sculptural, visual, metaphorical, and creative potential of glass. Seen through the eyes of women, it reflects developments with the medium as an art material two and three decades after studio glass concepts were being implemented into university programs and contemporary practices. Notably, a portion of the gallery is dedicated to supporting materials, such as images, articles, and books, which offer a broader context for understanding the artists, medium, and field.Glass does not have a single history as it has been used in many different ways. Its usage in a decorative context still exists, but the twentieth century also saw the academic establishment of it as a viable art-making material. This exhibition includes various examples of work produced within the studio glass framework—as self-consciously made art reflecting artistic investigations of materials, processes, and ideas. Artists represented include Sonja Blomdahl, Kimiake Higuchi, Concetta Mason, Flo Perkins, Kari Russell-Pool, Ginny Ruffner, Acquaetta Williams, Ann Wolff, and Toots Zynsky. Expanding on the 2022 exhibition, this iteration also features examples from collaborative teams, such as John Littleton and Kate Vogel and Benjamin Edols and Kathy Elliott. These artists explore numerous topics, including identity, beauty, color, pattern, nature, abstraction, form, the figure, metaphor, process, and the properties and abilities of glass as a material. There is also a range of techniques represented, including blowing, lampworking, casting, fusing, carving, polishing, pâte de verre, assembling, and various surface treatments. In essence, the exhibition summarizes the experimental nature of the artists and studio glass in general. A critic of another recent all-female glass exhibition lamented about needing to draw attention to the fact that all of the artists were women—are they artists first or women first? These conversations can also be limiting as they sidestep more fluid gender dynamics. Yet, in this particular moment in time, it is indeed important to draw attention to components beyond the objects themselves. Who the makers are and how they move through the world influences the work even if it is not the identifiable subject matter. Image: Ginny RuffnerTempest in a Spoon&nbsp;from the&nbsp;Structuring Beauty Series, 1999Glass and enamel paintRacine Art Museum, Gift of Stanley and Evelyn AsraelPhotography: Jarvis Lawson

On Fire Part II: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late-Twentieth Century

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

City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago

Sale 6466<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://freemansauction.com/auctions/6466-european-furniture-decorative-arts?tab=lots" target="_blank">European Furniture &amp; Decorative Arts</a> Jan 27, 2026&nbsp;10:00AM CT<h2> </h2><h2>Live / Chicago</h2>

European Furniture & Decorative Arts

Sale 6463<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://freemansauction.com/auctions/6463-essential-jewelry?page=1&amp;per=48&amp;tab=overview" target="_blank">Essential Jewelry</a> Jan 28, 2026&nbsp;10:00AM CT Online / Chicago

Essential Jewelry

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019Zs6dNFjX7qIcYdaZ8XX_Eff-Fb8JzDYn1L2P8gn-uAqJj96CDvdTMa5_smWVyCbxO-4qAc7vl3KM8exRRuogt08ukdYKZ64ip_8vNq83bRq5EI4YcatBvsusY7rLUvfVoKP05KTH1IS7PRG_016qRjN0G-v1HpIak3UGMDTasT_p_KcBfgSch8kLOujM7501cIw53QGFhM=&amp;c=UAse3PA9iSB-4Mj0SuvQGzlKGOWy0Nx2SbKZlCYkiKHksGmZSDk4Lw==&amp;ch=ZVooo2YRVsSxdN6CxIjYyHMGPkHLYBVf1zkjZEoneF1y2qqImyqpKQ==" target="_blank">From Its Own Ashes</a>, a two-person exhibition by 2024-26 Artist Residents&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019Zs6dNFjX7qIcYdaZ8XX_Eff-Fb8JzDYn1L2P8gn-uAqJj96CDvdTADW1hvQwLbfOmJwQcRg-utLAitPWJkmgZOiXHSaGRYX--zEwatwpgbHDsRJ7l94R_sg9A1V1yK7YuK6LMFO2YD6iLnxd05o387a884Hbha2inPAH1Q2MZuJA8aR8jzTRekHdN_cssoL&amp;c=UAse3PA9iSB-4Mj0SuvQGzlKGOWy0Nx2SbKZlCYkiKHksGmZSDk4Lw==&amp;ch=ZVooo2YRVsSxdN6CxIjYyHMGPkHLYBVf1zkjZEoneF1y2qqImyqpKQ==" target="_blank">Isaac Couch</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019Zs6dNFjX7qIcYdaZ8XX_Eff-Fb8JzDYn1L2P8gn-uAqJj96CDvdTADW1hvQwLbfGbqYnsj_lm9PGYZaQni0pwXDex0te1kaFalbLkf0rYiVc4ibvWBXXoi7-NIIgtdtZ0fsmLd92w3hWGAXlg9N77jB0A2ykZC7BLb61vViDqUB4nosWtJo2vIVwEwykvmM&amp;c=UAse3PA9iSB-4Mj0SuvQGzlKGOWy0Nx2SbKZlCYkiKHksGmZSDk4Lw==&amp;ch=ZVooo2YRVsSxdN6CxIjYyHMGPkHLYBVf1zkjZEoneF1y2qqImyqpKQ==" target="_blank">Sangwoo Yoo</a>,&nbsp;curated by 2024-26 Curatorial Resident&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0019Zs6dNFjX7qIcYdaZ8XX_Eff-Fb8JzDYn1L2P8gn-uAqJj96CDvdTPyiSucoXInJWbyvp3hen9WHUEPBqkLnXqTii3QuYPGoFsvTxdHMX8p6UdGPwinjxgg5nMUm-YpfNXzCDkT4yLmpxlgFwSITXL5Ww2kSvwlyDyrst5ymPJt1D8zMb9ogadA8-g95cxS2x4s2-hMkNOY=&amp;c=UAse3PA9iSB-4Mj0SuvQGzlKGOWy0Nx2SbKZlCYkiKHksGmZSDk4Lw==&amp;ch=ZVooo2YRVsSxdN6CxIjYyHMGPkHLYBVf1zkjZEoneF1y2qqImyqpKQ==" target="_blank">Francine Almeda</a>. With similar mechanisms and social inquiries at its core,&nbsp;From Its Own Ashes&nbsp;is a duo exhibition that originates from both artists' personal navigation of loss. Yoo recalls encountering a felled Christmas tree in downtown Chicago as a pivotal moment of unexpected sorrow, its fallen form symbolising both the tree’s life giving force and the grief he holds for friends and family lost; Couch embodies a similar mourning for loved ones lost, drawing upon his upbringing within the American Southern and the constraints of western garment design as a metaphor for the destructive forces of systemic oppression. Although influenced by grief, both artists embrace the potentiality of instability. Working across sculpture, scent, video installation, and garments, Yoo and Couch investigate how these processes of loss (both material and spiritual) can become an alchemic, generative site of transformation.

From Its Own Ashes

Opening reception Thursday, January 29, 20265:00 - 7:00 pmMoCP600 S. Michigan Ave.&nbsp;Chicago, IL Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) announces its next exhibition,&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mocp.us5.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9e4250b7536dc23e9352b28ee&amp;id=1157c0cf86&amp;e=58cea278c7" target="_blank">MoCP at Fifty: Collecting Through the Decades</a>, on view January 22-May 16, 2026. As we enter the new year, MoCP celebrates its 50th anniversary. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, MoCP has acquired over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists, representing a broad scope of aesthetics, technologies, and processes. The variety of artworks collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes. To celebrate this milestone,&nbsp;MoCP at Fifty&nbsp;examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection, presenting a range of objects, from the rarely exhibited to newly acquired works. Together, these selections question and reflect on the role cultural institutions play in shaping the photographic canon. Each of the museum’s five galleries represents a decade of collecting, beginning with the most recent acquisitions (2016-2026) in the first gallery, then moving backwards through time. “Over five decades, the MoCP has built a collection that traces shifting cultural, political, and visual histories. This moment allows us to look back with reflection and celebrate our holdings, knowing that every photograph we steward becomes part of a larger conversation about how images shape our understanding of the world.” Karen Irvine, Chief Curator and Deputy Director Looking at MoCP’s collection decade by decade is as much an archive of history as it is of art. Collections are fluid, often evolving in ways that mirror the values and trends of society at large. The first decades are noticeably missing many women and artists of color, not because such artists were not making work at the time, but because cultural institutions had yet to fully consider the value of varied perspectives and forms of practice. The later decades were collected with intention, not only of addressing gaps in representation, but to embrace conceptual works and works that push the boundary of what defines “photography,” in the process expanding, innovating, and redefining what a photography museum can offer the public. This exhibition displays over 100 objects from the MoCP collection. Featured artists include: Joel Sternfeld (American, b. 1944), Barbara Crane (American, 1928–2019), Matthew Finley (American, b. 1972), Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953), Yasuhiro Ishimoto (Japanese American, 1921-2012), Dayanita Singh (Indian, b.1961), Bob Thall (American, b. 1948), Carlotta Corpron (American, 1901-1988), and various others. Image: Danny Lyon,&nbsp;Crossing the Ohio, Louisville, from the portfolio&nbsp;Danny Lyon,&nbsp;1966; portfolio 1979. 1983:125.10

Opening Reception for MoCP at 50

Our&nbsp;Winter Salon&nbsp;show,&nbsp;featuring works by our gallery artists,&nbsp;opens on Friday, November 28th. Browse works by 40+ artists in a range of styles and sizes to find that perfect gift for someone special or to make your home ready for the holidays! We'll be open regular hours on both Friday and on Small Business Saturday (the 29th) and hope to see you then!Our&nbsp;Winter Salon&nbsp;will be on view through January 30th.

Winter Salon

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

CSI Project Space: Little, but Bold! 

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

January 2026 Featured Exhibitor: Gallery Artists

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

25 Years: Art + Design Alumni, 2000–2025

Goldilocks Moment&nbsp;is a playful yet contemplative exhibition that explores themes in the popular childhood fairy tale such as those moments&nbsp;when things are "just right." How do we find that moment? How do we keep it? What do we do when we lose it?&nbsp;The&nbsp;story changes when the Bears come home and disruption occurs. But who is the intruder in this story?&nbsp; There is a concept in the field of astronomy called the Goldilocks zone, which is the exact distance from the sun where human life is possible.&nbsp;The artists are interested in the Goldilocks Moment as functional folklore and how the concept gets adopted by economists, scientists, and culture makers to describe a kind of moment, the right moment to leave, the moment to stay, the moment of creation, the moment of equilibrium, the “just right” state of being.&nbsp; The artists are a collective of mostly University of Chicago graduates who have collaborated for many years. They have presented their work in unique spaces including the loading dock of a contemporary art museum and a friend’s garage as a drive-through exhibit during covid.&nbsp;Working together for them is an endeavor of joy that represents a Goldilocks Moment. Each of the artists bring these larger questions into a personal realm that they explore through a variety of media. The artists use photos, film, sculptures, painting and performance to wrestle with ideas such as cultural change, how images can illuminate qualities of common experiences, and one’s comfort and identity in society. They realize that even the practice of creating can bring Goldilocks Moments. As one of the artists put it,&nbsp;In the field, my Goldilocks Moment is when I am so much in the moment of making an image, that I can forget having made it or ever having been there. The artists in this exhibition are Anthony Adcock, dado, Marco G. Ferrari, Hannah Givler, Maymay Jumsai, Stacee Kalmanovsky, Paul G. Somers, and Jay Wolke. The Goldilocks Moment&nbsp;opens at SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art on Friday, January 9 from 5-8 p.m. The Reception for the show will be on Friday, January 16 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.&nbsp; There will be an Artist Talk on Saturday, January 31 from 2-3:30 pm, where a panel of several of the artists will be interviewed by Molly O’Donnell. SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art is located at 1527 N. Ashland Ave. Regular hours are Fridays 5-7 p.m., Saturdays from 12-4 p.m., and by appointment by calling Laura Botwinick at 773.513.4436 or emailing&nbsp;Lkbotwinick@gmail.com. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1767477319/hpghdooyyxg16gldj91i.jpg">

Goldilocks Moment Artist Talk

Triptych: Kate Berry-Brown, Vanessa Filley, and Darren Oberto&nbsp;&nbsp;Opening Reception: Saturday, January 10th&nbsp;from 4 to 7 PM&nbsp;&nbsp;Exhibition Dates: January 10th&nbsp;to Saturday, January 31st, 2026&nbsp;The points of convergence between the work of Berry-Brown, Filley and Oberto are a place of mystery that demands inquiry and invites contemplation. With practices as disparate as figurative photography, pencil based portraits and works of oil on canvas these three artists come from varied approaches, but continual probing investigation and a turn towards the abstract links their work together.&nbsp;Through a wide-range of subject&nbsp;matter as disparate as motherhood and the weight of belonging, relationship to place and environment, the cosmos, historical allusions and conversations with artists across time these artists navigate through life with the necessity to make.&nbsp;Each of them mulls what it is to exist in the here and now and how one might grapple with the complexity of being, often finding synthesis and answers in geometric abstraction. There is a profound interest in mark making, foundational craft-based skills, and acts of repetition&nbsp;that show up in the practices of all three, as well as a willingness and curiosity to experiment with materials and explore what medium might best support or express an idea. For these artists, each endeavor influences the direction of future projects, prompting subtle course corrections toward new horizons. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1766857477/yoyyg8ltvkzjnhh732qp.jpg">Darren Oberto <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dfafo598z/image/upload/v1766857478/mvu1bn4n17fpjbgxp9rh.jpg">Vanessa Filley Top image: Kate Berry-Brown

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

GRAND OPENING “Housewarming” marks the inaugural exhibition at Elise Seigenthaler Gallery Opening January 9, 2026, with works by Amira Diaw, Rebekka Federle, Ava Peterson, and Olivia Porter Opening Reception:Friday, January 9, 5–8 PM1709 W. Chicago Ave, 2nd Floor Image: Amira DiawUntitled (Lufadeju), 2023Oil on canvas16 x 16 in40.64 x 40.64 cm

Housewarming

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

William Harper: Fugue

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

Ellen Lustig: Transformations

We’re excited to announce Chicago’s first Museum Member Swap Weekend! During the last weekend of January, Driehaus Museum members can visit 11 museums around the city free of charge.&nbsp; Participating institutions include:<ul><li>American Writers Museum</li><li>Driehaus Museum</li><li>Glessner House</li><li>Illinois Holocaust Museum presents Experience360</li><li>International Museum of Surgical Science</li><li>Intuit Art Museum</li><li>Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago</li><li>National Museum of Mexican Art</li><li>National Public Housing Museum</li><li>National Hellenic Museum</li><li>Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art</li></ul> Present your Driehaus Museum membership card at any of the museums listed above to receive free admission. Keep an eye out for a reminder email with further details, and feel free to reach out to&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(136, 125, 255);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:membership@driehausmuseum.org" target="_blank">membership@driehausmuseum.org</a>&nbsp;with any questions.

Chicago Museum Member Swap Weekend

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

Projects: Recent Releases from Manneken Press

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

Projects: Recent Releases from Manneken Press (online exhibition)

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

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

Valentine Cards Printmaking Workshop: Carve a printing block and print your own Valentine’s Day cards in this hands-on workshop. The event will take place on Saturday, February 7, from 10 AM to 12 PM.

Valentine Cards Printmaking Workshop

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

Calendar

Chicago Gallery News