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

Woman Made Gallery is pleased to announce&nbsp;Bodies Luminous&nbsp;is a group exhibition bringing together 27 women and non-binary artists whose work was inspired by Diamond Forde's poem&nbsp;"Fat Girl Dances with a Stranger at a Block Party."Curated by Madeline McConico, Sarah Peecher, and Ren Buchness, the exhibition also features six artist-poet collaborations creating installations that explore our complex, evolving, and deeply personal relationships to our bodies. Embracing expressions of joy,&nbsp;Bodies Luminous&nbsp;fosters a space where all bodies are seen, celebrated, and luminous.<ul><li>Opening Reception on Saturday, May 23, from 6–8 p.m.,</li><li>Closing Reception &amp; Artist Walkthrough on Saturday, June 20, from 2–4 p.m.</li></ul>All events are free and open to the public.Exhibiting Artists:&nbsp;Julieta Beltran Lazo, Maura Benson, Molly Borth, Liya Du, Sarah Gerbasi, Julie Glass, Erin Gleason, Amy Hanks, London Heist, Hippo Artz, Anke Huyben, Mia Johnson, Lili Jones, Dahye Jung, Yuliya Klochan, Laurie LeBreton, Teresa Magana, Glenda Mah, Kathie Foley-Meyer, Mercury.N, Jacqueline W. Nuzzo, Kayla D. Smith, Daun Suh, Susanne Swanson Bernard, Skye Terry, Jennifer Warren, Leni Mae WiegandArt and Poetry Pairs:&nbsp;Izzy Cho &amp;&nbsp;Dawn Angelicca Barcelona,&nbsp;Xakilah Daniel &amp;&nbsp;Deanna Whitlow,&nbsp;Nitya Mehrotra &amp;&nbsp;Tanya Leon-Moreno,&nbsp;Kinsey Nelson &amp;&nbsp;Kala Wahl,&nbsp;Mariana Noreña &amp;&nbsp;Alyx Chandler,&nbsp;Emi O’Brochta &amp;&nbsp;Bea Forkan<a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=cd697e8d4e&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEE THEIR WORK AND STATEMENTS</a>

Bodies Luminous

Vibrance is an exhibition illuminated by movement, identity, and the electric pulse of human connection. Featuring four Chicago based artists, photography, paintings, and neon glass sculptures transform the gallery into a living atmosphere, one saturated with color, rhythm, intimacy, and unapologetic presence. Presented during Pride Month, Vibrance serves as both celebration and declaration: an affirmation of life, visibility, and the triumphs continually forged through collective resilience and self-expression. Spencer Gale constructs abstract neon sculptures that bend light into emotional architecture. His luminous and organic forms activate the surrounding environment, dissolving the boundary between object and observer.&nbsp;Photographer Francisco Malave turns his lens toward the nightlife culture. Navigating the dim corners of clubs and gay bars, Malave captures fleeting moments often hidden from public memory. His photographs reveal beauty within spaces society deems to remain unseen, preserving the spirit of nightlife not as spectacle, but as sanctuary. Painter Devon James approaches the human form as both landscape and language. Through fluorescent palettes, layered patterns, and intertwined humanoid figures, the work explores intimacy, coexistence, and the beauty found within human connection. Bodies merge and interlock within surreal compositions, suggesting the fragile yet powerful ways individuals influence and shape one another. Interdisciplinary artist Connor Young, presents paintings from his ongoing series, Killer Queen, a response to the right wing’s legislative attacks on Drag performers, queer spaces and forms of expression. In response to this, Young leans into the stereotypes that conservatives project onto Drag performers, depicting drag queens and queer icons in bright, saturated colors, with exaggerated, and often humorous poses and features.&nbsp; Together, these artists construct a bright dialogue centered on visibility, liberation, and communal energy. Vibrance explores the conditions that allow individuals to express themselves most freely, while honoring the cultural spaces, histories, and creative communities that make such expression possible. Rooted within the spirit of Chicago, the exhibition invites viewers into a world where light becomes language, color becomes emotion, and difference becomes connection.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Vibrance

My biomorphic imagery in this exhibition hinges on the comic with its gestural, voluminous – yet ambiguous forms. It is an inner world that is dreamlike – you know what it might be, but you’re not sure. The narratives are riddles with no clearly defined answer, allowing the interpretation of the viewer to be singular and as correct as the next.I have included a variety of sizes of panels in this exhibition to not only show my range, but also because I like the rhythmical play created by the juxtaposition of works. Viewers may also notice a cohesive thread of color between all the paintings. This was achieved by working on several works at the same time – carrying over colors from one panel to the next.-Denise PresnellMy current work contains two series: “Unrestrained Ambiguity” and “Extreme Makeovers – Painting Edition. Both series share some common threads, such as color palette, biomorphic forms, gestural lines, and a strong sense of motion. The subject matter is up for grabs – it’s all in the eye of the beholder. I’ve learned that what I see as a ‘horse’ is a ‘kitty’ to others. I am okay with the open interpretation. I like offering an open invitation for the viewer to explore the work from their imagination.Using a limited palette ties one work to another. I’ve developed a deeper relationship with color as a powerful vehicle of emotion. I’ve taken cues from the masters of color- Rothko, Matisse, Bonnard, and many more. Equally powerful in my method is the use of automatic, gestural line. Compositions are found through the automatic lines without a preconceived image or plan. Working from this standpoint has been extremely freeing for me.I enjoy working on panels that have many older paintings under them, leaving something from the older work in the newest iteration. It’s a family of paintings. I like using oil and cold wax on panel because of the ability to dig down through the painted surfaces. My love for tactile surfaces harkens back to my years of intaglio printmaking.Denise&nbsp;is a painter originally from Nebraska, currently living in Sheboygan, WI. She earned a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Nebraska and an MFA in Painting from the Pennsylvania State University. Graduate school was followed by a career of teaching art on the college level. Denise’s artwork has been exhibited in over 300 exhibitions, which include solo, invitational, group, and juried exhibitions in the United States, Tokyo, Botswana, Kenya, and Shanghai. Her work is in numerous private collections in the United States and abroad. GALLERY HOURS &amp; VISITOR INFORMATIONThis exhibition will be held in the Second Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmHOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORKArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.Image Credits: Denise Presnell, "Sparks Are Flying," oil and cold wax on panel

Unrestrained Ambiguity | Denise Presnell

Louis De Guzman (b. 1989) is a Filipino-American award-winning visual artist and designer who creates artwork that merges his past with his present. Over the last decade, De Guzman has proved himself as a true multidisciplinary artist by blending both traditional and experimental techniques in his work. His signature geometric abstraction style often blends together images and stories that represent his family's immigrant journey, as well as his own experience as a second-generation Filipino American. De Guzman's career has led him to create well-received original bodies of work as well as interpretations of licensed intellectual property.“The idea for this exhibition stems from the sentiment that as individuals, we all carry ideas within our core memories. I wanted to share visual anecdotes—specifically from our studio—for attendees to walk into a space to get a glimpse into ambience that the team and I are surrounded by each and every day. Each piece carries over a story, a memory, and a notch in the timeline from where it all started, where it’s been, and where it’ll all ultimately lead.”This exhibition will be held in the Second Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibition Manager, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Excerpts of Imagination | Louis De Guzman

“I start with a line–anywhere. A desire to open the space to uncover the reality living deep within.”&nbsp;-Barbara Nessim&nbsp;Since the 1960s, Barbara Nessim (b. 1939) has developed a unique visual language in painting and drawing that challenges traditional gender norms. As one of the first women to gain prominence in the male-dominated world of commercial art and illustration, Nessim’s work confronts stereotypes about femininity and sexuality, while also celebrating the agency of women. In every facet of her work—whether as a visual artist, illustrator, designer, teacher, or archivist—Nessim’s practice is guided by an insatiable curiosity, driving her to continually explore new ideas, techniques, and mediums. A pioneer in computer art during the 1980s, Nessim has had an impact far beyond the art world, including fashion, advertising, and pop culture. By consistently challenging norms and pushing the boundaries of artistic expression, Nessim continues creating work that is as relevant and resonant today as it was when she first began her career.&nbsp;Barbara Nessim’s solo exhibition at DePaul Art Museum—her first one in Chicago—includes paintings, drawings, computer art prints, a site specific installation, with special emphasis on the artist’s sketchbooks or her “forever books,” as she calls them, which have been instrumental to her creative process. “The books tell the story, they see it all, the good parts, the bad, and the ugly. Nothing escapes. Nothing edited. It’s the rule [...] It must have a beginning and an end, just as I live my life.”&nbsp;Barbara Nessim: My Compass Is the Line&nbsp;is organized by DePaul Art Museum and curated by Ionit Behar, PhD.&nbsp;Image: Barbara Nessim,&nbsp;Women with Mask,&nbsp;1966. Photo by David Smith.&nbsp;

Barbara Nessim: My Compass Is the Line

What is the difference between “looking” and “seeing”? How is meaning made and how do forms signify? These questions have concerned Chicago-based artist Alice Tippit (b. 1975) for more than a decade. Her paintings and works on paper generate multiple layers of meaning through poetic techniques like metaphor, serving as indirect references rather than clear, straightforward representations. The images in Tippit’s paintings float between the familiar and the enigmatic––recognizable forms and shapes are removed from any clear context or obvious meaning. Included in this exhibition are a selection of Tippit’s works from the past ten years as well as new commissioned works.&nbsp;This exhibition is Alice Tippit’s first museum solo presentation and is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalog published by DePaul Art Museum, distributed by the University of Chicago Press, designed by Omnivore, with essays from Ionit Behar, Johanna Fateman, and Mary Simpson.Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete&nbsp;is organized by DePaul Art Museum and curated by Ionit Behar, PhD. ​<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://patrongallery.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fe9966abed200e47655a01bab&amp;id=18119f4d8e&amp;e=9e3563b61b" target="_blank">More Information</a> Image: ALICE TIPPIT, Fool, 2022, Oil on canvas, 13" x 10" x 1"

Alice Tippit: Rose Obsolete

You are cordially invited to&nbsp;BAC's14th Annual Art Competition.&nbsp;This competition was created to showcase the exceptional talents and abilities of Chicago area artists.

14th Annual Juried Art Competition

Juror for Body Sovereignty: Danni O’BrienSolo artist: Audrey Yang

Body Sovereignty (Front/Group) & Solo (Back)

<h2>Feel Free</h2> Featuring Paulina Ho, Rachel Hayden, Jeremy Miranda, and Hanna Lee Joshi. May 15 to June 27, 2026 <a href="https://luma.com/mft1i4iz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details and opening RSVP</a>

Feel Free

Chicago Grand Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Natalia Shutiak HER Her explores the unstable terrain of memory, sensation, and inner perception. Moving between figuration and abstraction, the exhibition unfolds as a psychological landscape where identity becomes fluid, fragmented, and constantly shifting. Through layered textures, gesture, and atmosphere, Natalia Shutiak constructs works that resist fixed interpretation. Rather than presenting “her” as an image, the exhibition approaches femininity as a state of becoming — intimate, unresolved, and deeply felt. Opening ReceptionJune 5, 2026 · 5–9 PM

Natalia Shutiak: HER

<a href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/exhibitions/thinking-through-tapestry-american-tapestry-alliance" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Thinking Through Tapestry</a>&nbsp;is a juried exhibition featuring work that celebrates, explores, and builds upon specialized techniques often associated with tapestry.&nbsp;Selected artists&nbsp;explore techniques that consist of discontinuous weft-faced woven processes rooted in tapestry techniques, such as wedge weave, pulled tapestry, the use of hachures, or other structures, including the H.V. (Handarbetets Vänner) technique. The exhibition highlights work illustrating the close relationship between tapestry weaving, drawing, painting, and sculpture.&nbsp;The jurors of the exhibition are Emily Silver and Erin M. Riley.Emily Silver lives and works in Los Angeles and is on the faculty at Santa Monica College in the Sculpture Department and the Director/Curator of the Pete and Susan Barrett Gallery. She is also the co-founder of L.A. Tactile Lab, along with Svetlana Shigroff and Liv Aanrud.Erin M. Riley is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work focuses on women and women’s issues primarily in hand-woven, hand-dyed wool tapestries. Riley’s work challenges society’s comfort level by displaying shocking images, including nudity, drugs, violence, self-harm, sexuality, and menstruation.A catalog accompanies the exhibition and is available for purchase on the American Tapestry Alliance’s website.&nbsp;Juried Artists:Laura Burcin, Barbara Burns, Emily Cabaniss, Ching-Ting Chiu, Jasmine Claros, Molly Cleator, Deborah Corsini, Nancy Crampton, Sharon Crary, Liliana Crespi, Sam Dienst, Alex Friedman, Rama Ganesan, Tricia Goldberg, Anne Heide, Barbara Heller, Sally Heller, Sofia Herr, Connie Lynn Higgs, Christine Holtz, Rebecca Hooper, Cameron Kashani, Judit Eszter Kárpáti, Kristin Kelley-Munoz, Brendan Kenny, Riley Klein, Robbie LaFleur, Mary Lane, Fannie Lee, Monique Lehman, Connie Lippert, Kyle McKeown Mansfield, Ann Marie Miller, Pip Milton, Janet Moore, Annabelle O’Reilly, Tea Okropiridze, Anna Olsson, Libby Raab, Ellen Ramsey, Helena Richardson, Minna Rothman, Wendy Saam, Kristin Tinsa Saeterdal, Jennifer Sargent, Rowen Schussheim-Anderson, Mary-Ann Sievert, Kyla Sjogren, Rebecca Smith, Linda Soranno, Karmen Steigenga, Vicki Stone, Adrienn Szabo, Kathe Todd-Hooker, Trang Tran, Alta Turner, David van Buskirk, Stevie Van Housen, Ginny Wallace, Sue Weil, and Xingyi Zhao.GALLERY HOURS &amp; VISITOR INFORMATION:This exhibition will be held in the First Floor Gallery of the Evanston Art Center (EAC). Masks are optional but strongly recommended for students, visitors, and staff.Gallery HoursMonday–Thursday: 9am–6pmFriday: 9am–5pmSaturday–Sunday: 9am–4pmHOW TO PURCHASE ARTWORKArtwork sale proceeds benefit both the artist and the Evanston Art Center.&nbsp;If you are interested in purchasing artwork on display, please contact&nbsp;Emma Rose Gudewicz, Director of Development and Exhibitions, at&nbsp;egudewicz@evanstonartcenter.org&nbsp;or (847) 475-5300 x 102.This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.Image Credits (L to R):&nbsp;Sam Dienst,&nbsp;Tea Okropiridze, and Libby Raab

Thinking Through Tapestry | American Tapestry Alliance

Woman Made Gallery presents "Routes &amp; Roots," a juried virtual exhibition exploring immigration and migration through the work of women and non-binary artists. On view May 18–June 30, 2026.Juried by Eliana Miranda, the exhibition takes its name from the two forces shaping every immigrant story: the paths we travel and the ties we carry. Selected works span border crossings and&nbsp;ordeals, exile and quiet acts of belonging, cultural hybridity, intergenerational memory, and more. <a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=6b96d5a34c&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">EXPLORE THE EXHIBITION</a> Exhibiting Artists:&nbsp;Patricia Anderson-Turner, Alexandra Buxbaum, Mandel Cameron, Melisa Celaya, Colleen Coleman, Lauren Doorish, Michel Flores, Jennifer Godinez, Javiera González Velásquez, Sol Henriquez, Jee Hwang, Doina Iacob, Kelly Johnson, Yian Lin, Crystal Marshall, Danielle Muzina, Carol Neiger, Priscilla Otani, Jennie E. Park, Isabella Picardi, Julianna Sanroman, Jo Scheder, Marie Scherpe, Stephanie Tirado, Sharmeen Uqaili, Lucero Vargas, Alyssa Wilson, Jenn Wright, Elmira Yousefi, Amo Zeng<a href="https://womanmade.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=77610ec6940e4a7c0d652a863&amp;id=2ad6bc8a31&amp;e=a3993dd90f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SEE THEIR WORK AND STATEMENTS</a>

Routes & Roots

The paintings of Chicago artist Joan Holleb occupy an exciting place between between process and image, between poetry and narrative. The material qualities of these&nbsp;works set them apart from most paintings, generating the unexpected effect of slowing down our gaze and causing us to look carefully at the interaction of copper, patina, and paint on the surface of the work.Holleb begins the act of painting by pouring a patina solution on the surface of the copper and letting it run in various directions and oxidize. Typically, this process dictates the direction the composition will develop, and the use of chance and spontaneous activity becomes the foundation for all that follows. Says Holleb: "I actually paint/draw with the patinas and splash them across the metal because I enjoy the uncertainty of what will happen - it creates a challenge as to how to paint the piece."As Holleb develops the work, the paintings become compelling and ambitious meditations on our relationship to the natural world. Holleb uses oil paint to seemingly coax a landscape from the surface of the painting. In some of the recent work, her focus has turned upward, and the light through leaves and branches in the forest has become her subject. "For me, the light in my paintings is not just the light we see with our eyes but is also an allegorical light, something I think we all need every day in our lives to give us hope." Holleb continues: "I want my paintings to vibrate on the wall and I want viewers to have to stop and wonder for a moment, 'What am I looking at?' - I want to encourage them to create their own interpretations."&nbsp;

Joan Holleb: Woodland Tales

These artists employ a wide variety of artistic strategies and materials. Some utilize unconventional materials such as spray paint and PVC surfaces as canvases, while others incorporate traditional media in innovative and exciting ways, including encaustic and oil painting techniques. What unifies their work is a bold and dynamic use of color. True to modern sensibilities, color itself becomes the primary subject expressed through striking forms, expressive brushwork, and energetic processes. A public reception is scheduled for&nbsp;Thursday, June 4, from 11:00 AM–1:00 PM.&nbsp;Please join us as we celebrate the work of these outstanding artists. The exhibition opens tomorrow, Tuesday, May 26, and continues through July 2, 2026. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9:00 AM–5:00 PM.

The Shape of Color

Presented by: Ron Jerak &amp; Michael PreskiWhat happens when you bring an Abstract painter and a Surrealist together in one exhibition? The audience gets to take a journey through the artists’ story laid out on canvas, doused in color and covered in a vision.Ron Jerak creates the images he envisions by using strong color and contrast, incorporating straight lines and sharp angles. Symmetry is often present in his works, though asymmetrical compositions are employed as well. Michael Preski creates intricate and often highly detailed imagery with multiple mediums, layering different segments until they form the final piece. Like Ron’s works, they can cover a full range of concepts with their subjects, but all of them tell a story. Both of their stories are contained within each individual piece as well as the whole of their works. These stories are often drawn from everyday events, emotions and general life experiences as how the viewers experience the world. And though every piece is open to the audience’s interpretation, the artists guide their perceptions using the visuals themselves as a map. So feel free to join these two artists as they share their stories depicted in vibrant colors and unwavering imagery.<a href="https://www.bridgeportart.com/canvas-color-vision/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Details</a>

Canvas, Color, & Vision

This exhibition foregrounds the University of Chicago’s pivotal role in studying and exhibiting contemporary Chinese art since the mid-1990s. In February 1999, Wu Hung, Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Chinese Art History at the university, opened his first exhibition at the Smart Museum of Art. Entitled&nbsp;Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century&nbsp;(1999),&nbsp;&nbsp;the exhibition – and many more Wu curated in the ensuing years – was field-defining and forged new avenues for situating Chinese art within a broader global contemporary framework.Taking these earlier exhibitions as points of departure,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art at the Smart&nbsp;reflects on the enduring adaptability of contemporary art from China as it continues to grow within and beyond cultural and academic institutions. Bringing together artworks acquired by the Museum over the last three decades, archival materials, ephemera, as well as new work,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;explores how artists navigate and challenge physical limitations across cultural, environmental, and political terrains. Through strategies of fluidity, they confront dominant social expectations and political hegemonies – not only within a rapidly transforming China, but also amid broader global uncertainties. In doing so,&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;invites us to revisit fleeting moments, environments, and actions, and urges us to reconnect, return, and remember.Support for&nbsp;Beyond Boundaries&nbsp;is provided&nbsp;by Markovitz Family Foundation for the Arts and Education. Additional support is provided by the Smart Museum's Board of Governors, and SmartPartners.&nbsp;Presented in&nbsp;the Robert and Joan Feitler Gallery, and the Joel and Carole Bernstein Gallery.

Beyond Boundaries: Three Decades of Contemporary Chinese Art at the Smart

From a 6th-century gilt bronze Buddhist sculpture to white porcelain and contemporary paintings of the late 20th century, the works of art in this exhibition demonstrate the artistic legacy produced on the Korean peninsula over millennia. Among the 140 artworks on view, 22 are officially recognized as National Treasures or Treasures by the Korean government.

Korean National Treasures: 2,000 Years of Art

Alma Thomas (1891–1978) is a singular figure of twentieth-century American art. She developed her form of abstraction – characterized by the dazzling interplay of pattern and hue – late in life, after retiring from a long career as a schoolteacher. Her vibrant and rhythmic art transcended established genres, incorporating elements of gestural abstraction and color field painting and creating a style distinctly her own.Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas&nbsp;draws on the extensive holdings of the artist’s paintings at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) and offers an intimate view of Thomas’s evolving practice during her most prolific period, from 1959 to 1978. At a deeply politicized moment in American life, Thomas’s abiding sources of inspiration became the cosmos, nature, and music. As she stated, “Through color I have sought to concentrate on beauty and happiness, rather than on man’s inhumanity to man.” The exhibition&nbsp;invites visitors to see the world through the eyes of Alma Thomas.SUPPORTComposing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas&nbsp;is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support has been provided by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Chris G. Harris, the Wolf Kahn Foundation, and Susan Talley.

Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas

Join us Friday, May 29th, from 6-10pm for the Opening Reception of PRIDE! - Jackson Junge Gallery’s newest group exhibition featuring artists from the LGBTQ+ community. Giving queer and non-binary creators a platform to share their experiences through art, the gallery hopes to foster an inclusive space for marginalized voices. Explore your own identity and challenge traditional notions of gender and sexuality with PRIDE!

PRIDE! Group Exhibition

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

On Thursday, June 18 from 5:30pm - 7:00pm the JDMF invites you to attend the opening of the SkyART Teaching Artist exhibition. This new venture celebrates the success of SkyART's service to youth on Chicago's South and West sides The John David Mooney Foundation is proud to exhibit the work of the Chicago Artists who teach and uplift young artists from under-served communities, bringing local and emerging talent to our International Currents Gallery for the first time! SkyART The Teaching Artists Exhibition will be on display, free and open to the public, from June 18 to July 8, 2026 International Currents GalleryJohn David Mooney Foundation114 W. Kinzie St. Chicago IL, 60654 <a href="https://www.mooneyfoundation.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.mooneyfoundation.org </a> Valet Parking Available &amp; Reduced Rate Parking across the street at Sterling Park Garage Image: Victoria Jimenez, ‘Going on a Walk’, mixed media on paper, 18 x 24 in, 2021

SkyART Teaching Artist Exhibition

The devastation of the two world wars played a pivotal role in shaping the field of modern plastic surgery. In the early twentieth century, surgeons became artisans—suturing torn flesh like tailors mending fabric, reinforcing facial structures like carpenters restoring damaged frames. These groundbreaking reconstructive techniques laid the foundation for a discipline that would evolve beyond necessity into the realm of aesthetics.Simultaneously, artists—painters, sculptors, and draftsmen documenting the wars—engaged in parallel work. They studied the human form, deconstructing and reimagining faces and bodies through drawings, sculpture, and canvas. Anatomical study, once central to classical realism, became a bridge between art and medicine, guiding surgeons in their quest to restore symmetry, balance, and expression. The artist’s eye informed the surgeon’s hand, just as surgical reconstructions inspired new artistic interpretations of the human body.By the latter half of the twentieth century, plastic surgery had moved beyond reconstruction to self-reinvention. Like artists shaping raw material into beauty, surgeons refined and reshaped faces and bodies to align with personal desires and cultural ideals. The line between restoration and enhancement blurred, and the human body itself became a canvas for transformation.With the dawn of the new millennium came once-unimaginable feats—most notably, full-face transplantation. Surgeons, like sculptors working in living clay, not only rebuilt faces but gave patients entirely new ones. These innovations merged medicine, aesthetics, and identity in unprecedented ways.Today, the relationship between plastic surgery and art continues to evolve. Surgeons and artists share a common pursuit: to shape, refine, and redefine the human form. Whether working with marble or muscle, canvas or cartilage, both seek to capture the essence of beauty, resilience, and identity in constant flux.The International Museum of Surgical Science is proud to present these coinciding exhibitions as&nbsp;"A Year of Plastic Surgery"—a yearlong exploration of this remarkable field. Through monthly programs, we celebrate the masters of both flesh and form, bridging the worlds of surgical innovation and figurative art. Header Image: A soldier of Company K, 110th Regt. Infantry (formerly 3rd and 10th Inf., Pennsylvania National Guard), just wounded, receiving first-aid treatment from a comrade. Varennes-en-Argonne, France, on September 26, 1918. U.S. Army / U.S. National Archives

The Artistry of Plastic Surgery

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN EVENING RECEPTION ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 14TH FROM 6 - 8 PMSPARKLING WINE, SMALL BITES AND&nbsp;GORGEOUS ART WILL BE SERVEDRosenthal Fine Art is pleased to present eleven glorious paintings as a retrospective of Raffael's later works from1985 to 2020 -- the year before his death in 2021.&nbsp;In an interview with Betsy Dillard Stroud, Raffael reveals his process as almost a conversation with mystery. Nancy Hoffman, a well-respected New York dealer who knew Raffael well, was asked by Stroud how she would place Raffael in the contemporary art scene.&nbsp;She replied: "I don't think about him in the contemporary scene. It's not a relevant question, because he addresses the issue of beauty. He celebrates nature and stays true to his vision. No one uses watercolor the way he does."Clearly, Joseph Raffael transcends labeling, which underscores what Kierkegaard wrote: "Labeling me, negates me."As Betsy Dillard Stroud left Joseph Raffael's world she recalls, "When I think of Raffael's paintings, forms dissolve revealing a new universe of light charged with a confluence of incredible colors perhaps not found in anyone's vocabulary, and I remember what the great theologian Thomas Merton wrote: "The last great mystery to be solved will be the mystery of color."Surely, the answer to that mystery lies in the paintings of Joseph Raffael as he moves toward the light.

Joseph Raffael: Moving Toward the Light – A Retrospective

Flying Kites in a Windless World is composed of artworks from Filley’s projects over the past eight years. The works are inspired by a wide range of influences, including Emily Dickinson’s poem “We Send the Wave to Find the Wave,” drawings and weavings by Lenore Tawney, quilts passed down through generations, migratory patterns of birds, the shifting light of sunrise and sunset, and other investigations into the built and natural world. Filley generates her paper-based works using a methodical, repetitive process which functions as an act of discovery for the artist and a form of ritual that opens a pathway to the spiritual. Doing the same things over and over again--dot making, stitching, blending pencil marks—facilitates a close analysis of the how and why of doing. Repetition also allows for pattern to emerge and invites the question of how something might grow, shift or evolve over time. For Filley, moving through the world is an act of gathering disparate pieces—of “massing stardust,” in the artist’s words—that slowly cohere as experience is filtered into understanding. Her drawings, which can be likened to imagined cosmic maps, become the conduit for exploring an aspect of existence that is collective rather than individual. Beyond capturing a single moment, Filley’s art practice seeks to bridge time, expand an understanding of the present and come into harmony with that which is beyond the self. Merging sacred geometry and geometric abstraction with the error and energy of the human hand, her artwork expresses how the act of making transforms the body into a portal through which something unknown can pass.

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