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

Renaissance Court Gallery, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IllinoisReception: September 24, 3 - 5pm The Big Picture: Midwest Large Format Asylum: Large Format Photography, opening this August at the Renaissance Court Gallery in the Chicago Cultural Center. This exhibition brings together more than 70 works by photographers from the greater Midwest and beyond, celebrating the enduring vitality of large format photography — from historic view camera traditions to contemporary artistic practice.&nbsp;The show is organized by the Midwest Large Format Asylum, an association of large-format photographers, dedicated to continuing the traditional practices of large format photography and expanding them. At a time when digital photography and AI increasingly shape how images are made, The Big Picture invites us to slow down and consider the continued power of craft, attention, material process, and the hand-made image. The exhibition will also include artist talks, demonstrations, hands-on workshops, a cyanotype workshop, a large format self-portrait experience, and the Chicago premiere of George Tice: Seeing Beyond the Moment. Curated by Hillary Irene Johnson, MFAOrganized by the Midwest Large Format Asylum Alongside The Big Picture, we’re offering a full series of public programs exploring large format photography — from historic processes to hands-on experiences. Visitors can attend talks and demonstrations on wet-plate collodion, long-term documentary work, historic and contemporary cameras, cyanotype, photographic motion, and more. There will also be chances to make your own cyanotype and even create a large format self-portrait using a 4 × 5 view camera. Some workshops require advance registration. All events are free and open to the public at the Renaissance Court Gallery at the Chicago Cultural Center Workshops and Presentations 1. History of Large Format Photography and the Collodion ProcessThursday, August 13, 12:30–2:30 pmWet-plate collodion is one of the most important early photographic processes in the history of large format photography.Join Eric Nelson and D Anson Brody for a lecture and demonstration exploring the history, material beauty, and technical demands of this process, which requires each glass or metal plate to be prepared, exposed, and processed while still wet. 2. Creating a Long-Term Photo DocumentaryMonday, August 17, 12:30–2:30 pmWhat does it mean to build a photographic project over decades?Chris Walker has spent more than 30 years photographing youth culture through rural county fairs. In this program, he will discuss the technical, aesthetic, and conceptual choices that shaped the work, including his move from 35mm film to an 8 × 10 inch view camera. 3. Introduction to Large Format Photography: What’s the Big Deal?Thursday, August 20, 10:30 am–12:30 pmWhy do artists still choose large format photography in a digital age?This introductory program brings together historic and contemporary cameras, including Deardorff, Crown Graphic, Cirkut, stereo, and ultra-large format cameras. Photographers will share their cameras, examples of their work, and what continues to draw them to this slow and powerful format. 4. Taking Your Own Large Format Self-PortraitFriday, August 21, 10:30 am–1:30 pmExperience large format photography firsthand.In this hands-on program, Francis Fullam will guide participants in making their own self-portrait with a 4 × 5 inch view camera and direct positive paper. Photographs will be developed on site at the Renaissance Court Gallery.Space is limited to 20 participants, and advance registration is required.&nbsp;Register by calling the Renaissance Court Gallery (312) 744-4550. 5. Making Your Own CyanotypeThursday, September 10, 10:15 am–12:30 pmMake your own cyanotype.Cyanotype is one of the earliest photographic processes, known for its distinctive deep blue color. In this hands-on workshop, Ryan Zoghlin will introduce the process and provide materials for participants to assemble and expose their own images using sunlight.Participants will take home their finished cyanotype prints.Space is limited to 24 participants, and advance registration is required.&nbsp;Register by calling the Renaissance Court Gallery (312) 744-4550. 6. Screening of George Tice: Seeing Beyond the MomentMonday, September 21, 12:30–2:00 pmJoin us for the Chicago premiere of George Tice: Seeing Beyond the Moment.This 72-minute documentary offers an intimate look at the life, process, and artistic development of George Tice, an influential postwar photographer known for his work with the 8 × 10 inch view camera. 7. Reception: Come Meet The Big Picture PhotographersThursday, September 24, 3:00–5:00 pmJoin us for the public reception for The Big Picture.Meet participating photographers, view the exhibition, and learn more about the cameras, processes, and ideas behind the works on display. The exhibition includes large format photographs spanning abstraction, landscape, portraiture, still life, documentary photography, and more.Light refreshments will be served. 8. Expanding Photographic PossibilitiesMonday, September 28, 12:30–2:00 pmHow can still photography reveal motion?Seder Burns will discuss the history of photographic motion studies, from Eadweard Muybridge to contemporary experiments, and introduce his current work with a large format digital scanning camera he developed.This program explores new ways of seeing movement, time, and photographic possibility.

The Big Picture: Midwest Large Format Asylum: Large Format Photography

Special Note: This exhibition takes place at Glass Curtain Gallery – 1104 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, ILThe Museum of Contemporary Photography and School of Visual Arts at Columbia College Chicago proudly present the Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts &amp; Social Issues exhibition featuring 2025-2026 fellow Lali Khalid.Khalid’s exhibition will be on view&nbsp;June 25-October 3, 2026&nbsp;at Columbia College Chicago’s&nbsp;Glass Curtain Gallery&nbsp;with exclusive programming during Filter Photo Festival.In partnership with CAIR Chicago, Khalid’s multimedia project of video, audio, and photography represents personal narratives within Muslim culture and the everyday by providing a broader perspective beyond stereotypes and inviting conversation on belonging, resilience, and the importance of representation.Click the embedded links to learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lalikhalid.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lali Khalid</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://google.com/search?q=CAIR+Chicago&amp;rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS1078US1079&amp;oq=CAIR+Chicago&amp;gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDEzODlqMGo0qAIAsAIA&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CAIR Chicago</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.colum.edu/academics/initiatives/diane-dammeyer-fellowship" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Diane Dammeyer Fellowship for Photographic Arts &amp; Social Issues</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.colum.edu/academics/visual-arts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">School of Visual Arts</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.filterphoto.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Filter Photo</a>.

Diane Dammeyer Fellowship Exhibition: Lali Khalid

Papercutting as a creative handcraft has roots in many cultures, including centuries-old examples from China, the Polish tradition of&nbsp;wycinanki,&nbsp;and the Mexican history of&nbsp;papel picado. Celebrating handwork and recognizing its potential to connect across time, space, and geography, this exhibition combines various forms of papercutting.&nbsp;Through large- and small-scale works, contemporary makers expand upon tradition, adding their voices to rich creative lineages. To further illustrate this concept, shadow puppet theater utilizing paper silhouettes will be performed throughout the run of the show.Cut It Out&nbsp;is part of&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.handwork2026.org/" target="_blank">Handwork 2026</a>, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

Cut It Out: Papercutting Traditions and Beyond

September 4–October 3, 2026 Opening Reception: Friday, September 4, 2026, 5:00–9:00 PM Closing Reception and Conversation: Saturday, October 3, 2026, 1:00–3:00 PM — Moderated by Chanelle Lacy Oliva Gallery presents Witness to Bedlam, a two-person exhibition featuring Olivia Petrides and Lynn Basa. Bringing Petrides’s fractured works on paper into proximity with Basa’s ceramic forms, the exhibition examines disorder through its physical traces. Through ruptured structures, obscured language, unstable surfaces, cavities, and accretions, Witness to Bedlam considers what remains after coherence has broken down. Rather than treating disorder as spectacle, Petrides and Basa work across paper and clay with rupture, compression, and residue, creating forms that are unsettled but deliberate, marked by seams, collisions, fissures, and the suggestion of an unnamed aftermath. Petrides presents works from her ongoing Split / Divide series, created with ink, gouache, and collaged newspaper on paper. Extended fields are interrupted by visible divisions, as though each composition has been broken apart and provisionally reassembled. Newsprint survives beneath veils of black ink and abrasive passages of yellow, pink, blue-gray, and mineral green. Printed language is cut, obscured, and absorbed into gestural surfaces, turning information into material. The works resist both conventional abstraction and descriptive landscape. They suggest damaged records, storm systems, geological faults, and walls layered with successive histories. Each composition holds together, but its unity remains visibly contested. Basa’s ceramic sculptures occupy related terrain through radically different means. Her forms shift between artifact, organism, vessel, fossil, and geological specimen. Surfaces are fissured, blistered, folded, and encrusted. Openings resemble mouths, vents, shells, or excavated chambers, with glaze and glass gathering inside cavities or clinging to irregular edges. The objects appear simultaneously ancient, damaged, and newly formed. Where Petrides works through division across the plane, Basa builds outward from rupture. Petrides preserves interruption through seams and exposed fragments of language. Basa transforms fracture into volume. Together, their work presents bedlam as a material condition that can be mapped, excavated, and observed without being resolved. The title Witness to Bedlam emphasizes the position of the observer. To witness is not necessarily to understand. Petrides and Basa do not impose order on disorder. Their work records its pressure, studies its remnants, and gives form to what remains difficult to name. About the Artists: Olivia Petrides is a painter, illustrator, and Associate Professor Adjunct at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she has taught since 1985. She received an Illinois Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship in 2024 and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2021, in addition to multiple Illinois Arts Council project grants. Her research and residency history includes extended work in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland. Lynn Basa is a Chicago-based artist whose work is held in numerous public, private, and museum collections, including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Spencer Museum of Art, and the Tacoma Art Museum. Her work appeared in Craft Today: Poetry of the Physical, organized by the American Craft Museum, and in the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling Threadworks exhibition. Basa has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, and Creative Capital. She is the author of The Artist’s Guide to Public Art and holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MPA in public art policy from the University of Washington.

Witness to Bedlam with Olivia Petrides and Lynn Basa

Bad at Sports&nbsp;| 21stAnniversary and Season One Wrap Party Oct 3, 2026 | 11 am–6 pm Anne &amp; Kern Terrace Garden and Edlis Neeson Theater&nbsp;Bad at Sports,&nbsp;the world’s oldest contemporary art podcast, wraps its 21-year first season with a series of interview events around the museum. Tailgate in the afternoon with episodes live on the MCA Terrace, followed by a celebratory recording of the climactic and unforgettable episode 999 in the Edlis Neeson Theater.

Bad at Sports | 21stAnniversary and Season One Wrap Party

For the People, By the People: America at 250&nbsp;looks to the nation’s impending semiquincentennial as an opportunity to reflect on America’s enduring ties to liberty, justice, and identity. Drawing inspiration from the democratic ideals articulated in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, this exhibition considers how the promise of freedom has been expressed, questioned, and reimagined across generations. Organized into four thematic sections,&nbsp;For the People, By the People&nbsp;brings together artworks from the KIA’s collection and loans of historic significance and bold contemporary voices to examine the symbols, struggles, and aspirations that shaped and continue to inform American life.Spanning photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, and installation-based works, this exhibition juxtaposes notable artists such as Dorothea Lange, Jacob Lawrence, Alfred Stieglitz, Hank Willis Thomas, and Andy Warhol with rising artists like Erica Lord, Julio Cesar Morales, and Cara Romero, among many others. From iconic images of migration and protest to neon text works and staged portraits that center Indigenous, African American, and diasporic experiences, the artists featured in For the People, By the People fashion and challenge the rhetoric and visual language of patriotism, social consciousness, labor, visibility, and belonging.Simultaneously celebratory and contemplative, this exhibition invites visitors to reflect on America’s founding principles and our current lived realities. By placing historic works in dialogue with contemporary practices,&nbsp;For the People, By the People: America at 250&nbsp;not only commemorates the nation’s 250th anniversary, but it also serves as a timely meditation on who “the people” were then—and who we aspire to be now.<a href="https://www.kiarts.org/events/tag/america250/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Click here to see all events in connection with this exhibition</a>.﻿

For the People, By the People: America at 250

How do you throw a brick through the window… is inspired by artist and activist Johanna Hedva, who poses the question, “How do you throw a brick through the window of a bank if you can’t get out of bed?” Hedva’s statement questions the rights and opportunities of individuals with disabilities as they navigate forms of protest.Through new commissions and recent works, artists Yani aviles, Chloe P. Crawford, Nat Decker, Jeff Kasper, Carly Mandel, Jeffrey Meris, and Libby Paloma look toward Hedva’s work to prioritize modes of dissent that influence personal, political, and social systems.&nbsp; Each artist uses strategies of movement, communication, interruptions in time and space, or moments of play to achieve such transformation. As Hedva suggests in her question, the most meaningful strategies for challenging cultural systems and governing bodies are actions that take place beyond the streets. By circulating these artists’ processes of resistance, this exhibition makes enacting a revolution become more approachable and possible on both individual and communal scales.How do you throw a brick through the window… is co-organized by Tufts University Art Galleries (TUAG) with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC).

How do you throw a brick through the window…

For the People, By the People: America at 250 looks to the nation’s impending 250th anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on America’s enduring ties to liberty, justice, and identity. Drawing inspiration from the democratic ideals expressed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” this exhibition considers how the promise of freedom has been represented, questioned, and reevaluated across generations.

Drawing with Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady&nbsp;is&nbsp;the largest solo exhibition of the artist’s work outside his native Pennsylvania. Known for transforming tin-plated steel and welding rods into forms that evoke figures, machines, spacecraft, and whimsical abstractions, the retrospective features more than 40 dynamic sculptures alongside images from Brady’s sketchbooks. Curated by IAM Chief Curator&nbsp;Alison Amick,&nbsp;Drawing with Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady&nbsp;features a selection of works from over five decades, providing insight into the imaginative sources behind the artist’s practice.&nbsp;

Drawing with Metal: Sculpture by Bill Brady

Please join us on Sunday, October 4 at 4pm for the next in our series of “Perspectives on Photography” events. We’re honored to host Chicago native Patty Carroll for this free, in-person presentation.Patty Carroll is known for her use of highly intense, saturated color photographs that delight viewers with playful critiques of home and excess. Her ongoing project, “Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise,” is a series of studio installations made for the camera, addressing women and their complicated relationships with domestic life. The resulting photos (made on a full-size “stage”) humorously comment on the mania of running and decorating a home. The objects take over, leading to mishaps and mayhem for the lone figure of a woman. More than 175 “Anonymous Women” have been photographed by Carroll over the years.In a 2024 interview with NewCity Chicago, Carroll revealed some of the strategy behind the staging of the life-size mannequins in her dioramas. “You never see their faces,” she says. “The best response I get is from women who walk around the show and say, ‘That one is me.’ They relate to the domestic situation we’ve created, whether it is collections of crap, a kitchen scene or multitasking.”Carroll’s photographs are exhibited on a dramatically large scale, and previous iterations have been published in several books. The series has been exhibited internationally, has won multiple awards, and has been acknowledged as one of Photolucida’s “Top 50” in 2014 and in 2017, and has been featured in prestigious blogs and international magazines such as the Huffington Post, the BJP in Britain, and NYT LensBlog, Washington Post Insight, Vanity Fair, Italia, and many others. Lecture/Discussion:Sunday, October 4, 2026, In-person4 PM at Perspective GallerySeating is limited and late comers may be turned away. We invite you to arrive early and visit our current exhibition before the event. Regular Gallery Hours:Thursday - Saturday, Noon - 6 PMSunday, Noon - 5 PM Address:&nbsp;1310-½ B Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201Dempster CTA Station (Purple Line) is just two blocks from the Gallery.Founded in 2010 Perspective Group and Photography Gallery is a not-for-profit, community-oriented cooperative of fine art photographers whose purpose is to promote fine art photography. In addition to monthly exhibitions and artist talks, the gallery features:&nbsp;Perspectives on Photography, a guest speaker lecture series;&nbsp;Lens, an international juried exhibition; an annual invitational show;&nbsp;Vicinity, a juried exhibition of photographers from the greater Chicago area; and,&nbsp;Student Perspectives, an annual, juried exhibit for Chicago-area high school students.

Perspectives on Photography: Lecture and Discussion by Patty Carroll

Forum 301 is delighted to present, Where I Sleep, a group photographic exhibition. Where I Sleep includes artists that investigate the nuances of the “home” through vast photographic practices. Each artist examines the complexities of connecting to a physical space, as their various perspectives operate under the commonality of our notion of home. These works draw us to consider the isolated opportunities seated inside an individual’s sense of home– including the potential to encourage memory, seeing, and story. Curated by Mikayla Dore and David Imundo Artists: Philip Alvy, Greta Bell, Sam Burzak, Jillian M. Browning, Sophia Cutino, Renata Escamilla, Alex Franklin, Tom Gallagher, Daniel Hartmann, Amy Hiley, Hillary I. Johnson, Michelle Kaffko, Kamille Kirschling, Robert Knight, Nathan Miller, Félix Mirel, Lynn Silverman, Riley Valentine

Where I Sleep

Italian immigrant Silvio Barile spent decades converting his pizzeria into a museum to honor his heritage. The Italian American Historic Artistic Museum in Redford Charter Township, Michigan, was once enormous. The interior walls of the restaurant were covered with murals, photos, and postcards of iconic Italian imagery such as statues of Julius Caesar, Roman ruins, Renaissance-era paintings, olive trees, and Italian and American pop culture figures. In addition to two-dimensional adornments, Barile fabricated large-scale concrete statues depicting events and characters renowned in Italian and American history. His sculptures filled the pizzeria, then the patio behind it, then the acre of woodland behind the patio. Even after the restaurant closed in 2002, the museum remained and continued to grow.After Barile’s death in February 2019, increasing costs and pressure from the community resulted in the destruction of the site in 2020. In May 2021, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center acquired three large painted concrete works by Barile that were believed to be the last remaining components of the museum. In the early months of 2022, a grouping of eight additional works was found and acquired by the Arts Center. This is the first time these works are being shown outside of the Michigan site.

Silvio Barile

<h3>Visionary: Celebrating Leadership in the Arts</h3><h3>October 05, 202611:00 am - 1:30 pm</h3> <a href="https://experience.mcachicago.org/7707" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(255, 255, 0);" target="_blank">Tickets and Sponsorship Opportunities</a> OFF-SITE Please note that this event is held at The Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 East Delaware Place. The Visionary luncheon celebrates arts philanthropy in Chicago and extraordinary women artists.&nbsp;The 2026 event features a program with multidisciplinary artist and MacArthur Fellow Amanda Williams and the presentation of the 2026 Arts Philanthropy Award to Bank of America for its commitment to arts and culture in Chicago. For tickets or more information, please contact&nbsp;<a href="mailto:Visionary@mcachicago.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">Visionary@mcachicago.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="tel:+13123973871" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">312-397-3871</a>. <h3>2026 Visionary Honorees</h3> <h3>Artist Honoree</h3>Amanda Williams <h3>Arts Philanthropy Honoree</h3> Rita Sola Cook and Bank of America Image: Amanda Williams. Photo courtesy of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Visionary: Celebrating Leadership in the Arts

Our Free Days Are Taking The Night Shift! From March through November, we’re returning to Free First Tuesdays! On the first Tuesday of every month, enjoy extended hours from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm - admission is free for all, no residency restrictions.

Free First Tuesday

Aspects of Nature is a two-person gallery show by Jay Walsh and Carol Zack, both of whom teach at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles. Jay Walsh is a ceramic artist who has been playing in the mud for years. Having been introduced to ceramics in high school and continuing in college, Walsh has been teaching ceramics for several decades. Walsh says the chemistry of glaze and clay has always appealed to him. For the past couple of years, he has been exploring crystalline firings. The process of crystalline glazing combines chemistry, application, and variable firing schedules. The crystals are grown on the glaze surface, much as they do in nature, reminiscent of frost on windows, agates, snow, and other natural patterns. Walsh says, “I love teaching and creating work from clay. There is always something new and exciting to learn in this art form. Rabbit holes are everywhere when it comes to ceramics. You can dedicate your life to ceramics and there is always more to explore”. Like Walsh, Carol Zack has been teaching at Fine Line for many years. Having always enjoyed finding beautiful places to explore and realizing that artistic expression is everywhere, high school and college formed the basis of her training in Fine Arts, along with teaching certification/ Zack loves playing in the paint, particularly with soft and oil pastels, both of which seem extra-sensory and immediate, and can be quickly pushed and manipulated into beautiful, colorful layers and textures with just fingers and blenders. Just paper and pastel sticks are all she needs. As she says, “The advantage to working with pastel is that it never dries, so you can leave it and return to the painting, picking up where you left off. Clean-up is also less complicated than with other painting media”.

Aspects of Nature

Family Day | Warmups Oct 10, 2026 | 11 am–3 pm The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Join us for a slow start to the Family Day season—dust off your creative muscles and get ready to play, see, and create.

Family Day | Warmups

Terra Machina explores the relationship between nature and technology. Using exceptional materials sourced from around the world, Lefty OUT There combines modern machinery with handcrafted techniques to reveal their natural beauty. The result honors each material's origins while celebrating fine art and contemporary craftsmanship. Running through every piece is Lefty's signature polymorph pattern, inspired by vibration, frequency, and the interconnected systems found throughout nature. The pattern reflects the rhythms that exist at every scale, from microscopic cellular structures to the landscapes of our terrain. It serves as a reminder that the same forces shaping the natural world are constantly at work around and within us. Terra Machina also represents a new chapter in Lefty's practice. Every work in the exhibition introduces new materials, fabrication methods, and creative processes that have never before appeared in his work. By combining natural materials with contemporary machines, the exhibition challenges the idea that nature and technology exist in opposition. Instead, it presents them as collaborators, working together to reveal new perspectives on the beauty, complexity, and interconnectedness of the world around us. Image: LEFTY OUT THERESYLVAN CONNECTION,&nbsp;2026Pacific Northwest maplereclaimed from a 100+ year-old fallen tree38 x 72 x 2 in.96.5 x 182.9 x 5.1 cm

Terra Machina:  Lefty OUT There

OS Projects is honored to present Fenestra Falsa, a solo exhibition of collages and paintings by Chicago artist Dan Devening. The exhibit opens August 8, 2026 and continues through October 10, 2026. A public reception for the artist takes place on Saturday, August 8 from 1 – 3 pm. Dan Devening is an image builder who combines decisive subject matter with gestural mark-making, spray enamel, collage and stitching to express a life experience shaped by the unexpected, the surprising and the unknown. Like much of what has held his interest over the years, the works in this exhibition engage the ways in which perceptual nuance and optical and spatial play come alive in compositions built on rigorously considered parameters. The project’s point of departure is the rounded rectangle, a shape that is ubiquitous in the devices that connect us to the outside world: iPhones, iPads, computer monitors and televisions. All these devices employ the "friendliness" of the rounded rectangle to suggest comfort and simplicity while effortlessly holding us captive. The shape’s affability—and invitation to use, peer into, and be mesmerized—mirrors the current state of culture, reflecting not only how we consume information, find entertainment and create connections but also the darker, more sinister undertones that are ever-present. The rounded rectangle also serves as a portal. It can frame an aperture or function as a window revealing a landscape. It can press outward against the picture space, swelling and suffocating the frame, as if straining toward its breaking point. This capacity, to both expand outward and pictorially recede and dissolve inward, makes the shape both flexible and multivalent, giving Devening room to explore the ways in which physical and perceptual experiences frame psychological response. Fenestra Falsa’s collages and paintings are fully grounded in the formal concerns of art making, offering the viewer the opportunity to be transported through purely material means. Form builds the image, reveals the subject and tells the story. Form creates chromatic intensity and calibrates the relationship between sharpness and blur, qualities that echo the devices that hold us hostage. Like those devices that incessantly demand speed and immediacy, the works in Fenestra Falsa induce the same pull toward absorption, elevation and immersion—only slowed down, stilled, held. <a href="https://www.osprojects.art/fenestra-falsa" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details</a> Image: Altadena by Dan Devening, 2025

Fenestra Falsa

Amy Morrison Heinrich, Honorary Chair &amp;&nbsp;Elizabeth Pruett, Chair Honoring 2026 Environmental Leadership Award RecipientKARENNA GOREAuthor, Climate Activist, and Founder of the Center for Earth Ethics ​​SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 20266:00 PMCHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN1000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL <a href="https://brushwoodcenter.org/43rd-annual-smith-nature-symposium/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIP</a>

43rd Annual Smith Nature Symposium Awards Dinner

Butterfly Disco is an installation by Brian Keith Stephens in the JK Art House Parlor. This is a fun, immersive experience with black lights and artwork on mylar. It can only be seen at JK Art House. The opening reception is on Thursday, September 3, 2026, from 6–8 p.m. The exhibition dates are from September 2 to October 11, 2026. Private appointments are available now through the opening; contact the gallery to schedule. Please RSVP for the Opening Reception.

Brian Keith Stephens: Butterfly Disco

The annual exhibition highlighting paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, prints, animation, and multimedia work by young artists participating in Hyde Park Art Center’s Teen programs&nbsp;opens June 27!Each year, the Teen programs provide a structured independence that encourages young artists to develop their creative voices, learn new skills, and build relationships in the context of a community-based art center, where artists of all ages and backgrounds do the same.&nbsp;﻿The exhibition celebrates the evolution of these young artists, who have taken on the challenge of expressing perplexed thoughts, feelings, and emotions into individual works of art.<a href="https://oq8cplyab.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001Wqw2lXqKHjJMAiBTkE6UO4TiVroLZtRn2GPPCnysGocIMq16gCBCtVXI6Y9vNV4LnxnPaVVHOZWnzKTe-l23USIalPSlI06q5CL7CzRgNCeEoIk6f7wocRTKcxxQJ886DpVJ4VVccxRgQYJOzCB737DkeFGJtOWQxufxv6JTBtuqw7Y7PRy9b_FQSdyKkR949er9HwE-dA-10TaeUmQwb8xXNBu8915h&amp;c=uqF6ZiMKOJ3BPb8W17UMdPyQHbxBcvaEGSDlq7ILbiojHbm2qfxegw==&amp;ch=_7JCnwZR1ujgh7H7gi0opkTxAvwTXcSXYBZo_WloBO8fhoTgu8aUJg==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">LEARN MORE HERE</a>

Off the Wall! Teen Show

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to our upcoming exhibition, <a href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/exhibitions/nancy-good-layl-mcdill-and-jemsy-pradunn" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Unseen Connections | Nancy Good, Layl McDill, and Jemsy Pradunn</a>. The exhibition will be on display from September 12 - October 11, 2026 with a closing reception on Sunday, October&nbsp; 11, 1-3pm and an artist talk on Saturday, September 12, 2026 from 1-3pm. Mostly known for mural-sized, physically-interactive/immersive conceptual abstracts, Las Vegas artist Nancy Good's practice is rooted in an unwavering passion to create strong contemporary art that invites dialogue and human connection. Layl McDill grew up in Gillette, Wyoming, where her early works were dollhouses, marionettes, and even an entire “Smurf Village.” Polymer clay has been her medium of choice, using the millefiori technique and mixed media materials. Jemsy Pradunn is a Chicago born and based artist currently attending the School of the Art Institute. Pradunn uses markers, crayons, and paint markers on paper to inspire others to open their perspective and imagination.

Unseen Connections | Nancy Good, Layl McDill, and Jemsy Pradunn

Charlotte Kaplan: This is Knot Art!

Opening Reception: Friday, September 4 from 5-8pm<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-92BXv-L8fcaeNeQJUw_iVoKmqL_aWsSQXxFYZvb0MQX89lZJs2VUL3iEgPhEMoDe_1pUOYVCuLv4WOIWwkrE24tcJvu4gLygmkn8HKd21nEDnotKPrcOBbNW029DRHSr8AC2bwOf9WPP_pGQaDDxD279ipFIaCCOB&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">All Is Fish That Comes to the Net</a>, a four-person exhibition by 2025 Artist Residents&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9HjTDMRi5wlIP7pnXQFb4YgtLBGJsBRWckh_1r6mdLd4hnsnNzBF-mnDr-HUI-QH5iCg1G74aUEL021zJBfsx1B_1PiNvMEmf6nBI5tx0Xdx0H_iPcl_Lr7tVLlFHmVnAyfRV0_PQ7LAMObfrYJlcLGEFy3dvde_S&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sebastian Bruno-Harris</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9B40u__HIQzrjY5jARDPoHxh4xjMUNEPSVw7VHkzDFUV8EeBGTjWCglJZdmp5LyiGPOQiG_tL5b3n8Q6lzxRHr7AAy5sGuVhk2nM8pcUN6Hu_pCAKkT68llcGHDkeOLCICyMYnAw6kWY=&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rob Croll</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1Q7_sFJRx_rFXU7LBHC8LpnIugfW7dYlWPnWT5dieKmfYOn7thGxA4xQ94SlBrl6EI9cz9rVMhhKfdzbIURYmXvKdfRDvj88X9Mb4LUsOjh-lag-UOdQ7YzVxU-9Pcx2Ujx90d4fGuK0H29KSIs_YvgqdZR82rjLnA==&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nick D'Alessandro</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9HbyGU15aOZdofSFLUAKHx6uoko4HDuARKO17GXB0L8-Ste1EkjCW_xORmFSXDKy-WMFG4P8A3J1f58o5Pv7R9BoZSBfqwwHzh7fCtxDH1KvcWGY33DTAejst6p28q-kA3XBEnWPl7Fc=&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Van Payne</a>, curated by 2025 Curatorial Resident&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9ENyyQmSfWYYJNuHwQiAqQ6Poudb_qcznZOs1v0KO8Nx98MzOtDAHvUaKCx5JIUHP0_NjHKmhoOUdJhhPIoJUHQ4krX8sF_TPLbmIC-21bEmOAg7MKXZb_XrgDp2F-Ld4JxHsgPP3IynFfQoS_yth8Q==&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Taj Richardson</a>.Collage Making Workshop: Thursday, September 17 from 4-6pmRSVP for free admission&nbsp;<a href="https://tnxbinhbb.cc.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012jM1dIPeKk-2OaQxjf2YsoZP6Ie3GHSfGH6p4NcMd7tnIGQp4MbN1YvzIZMEms-9nbY2QWxQ7NZbMXadjhLVlny3A6cLGZjBgzK4Z6OtGKXE6_JmSMH-qRvgQ7xYaZdioBgRncMzXfO7bR3yfzlbaEdcKg3MXtoiCfjfrUlfhBFTP3EqlJjbkJgZWPub4WBSlOW-Gza7qJFH117F9gKXmHwyc_xCkGSU&amp;c=bD896lr8puQS9OpriSDqJ5qP301iIMQPRg3-oiQgr3v9xnrZ4ms2eA==&amp;ch=GHuyJjfF96DJzWfZBftksx_STJdSZNbJ3P3CeymchD-YzwoohbH4WA==" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">HERE</a>Image: Sebastian Bruno-Harris,&nbsp;A Wild Sheep Chase,&nbsp;2018, Charcoal, graphite, and correction tape on vellum, 30” x 52.5”

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