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

“Trees, grasses, water, sun, stars, moon, clouds, rain, all are our friends. Nature embraces us, and we embrace nature. We are nature.” ~ Ram Dass&nbsp;Women give life; women build foundations; women offer love; women provide strength. Women deserve to take up space.&nbsp;My name, Sholo, by definition, means “fire” in Sanskrit. I am a believer in the healing powers of nature and tie my appreciation for nature with my joy of being a woman. The power of nature is vast in my life: for healing, learning, creating art, and building community. I wanted to share my personal and artistic experiences with other creative women to hear and see their stories. This show is specially juried with women whose art practice and lives are strongly connected to nature and their femininity. The art will be displayed on a large scale to immerse the viewer in a curated environment.&nbsp;Women and nature are intrinsically linked. Both uphold the foundation of the human race. This show, Women In Nature: Taking Up Space, is meant to touch the audience with all of these traits and emotions, while at the same time creating a community to experience and reflect. Through the eyes of women in nature, you will gain witness to the beauty and secrets of memories, ancestors, connection, and the stories of strength related to the beauty of the natural world.&nbsp;&nbsp;This show will reflect all the earthly elements we seek for peace of mind, especially in this unpredictable time in the world. The senses will be enticed by color, texture, and sound from the perspective of an all-female art show. Curatorial StatementThis exhibition was a very personal curation when seeking artists.The selected artists are dedicated to their artistic practices for human rights, nature, and the ability to make change in the world through their art, while enduring the complexity of being a woman in today’s world.This show will explore the concept of female artists from different cultures, diverse backgrounds, and artistic skills in painting. Through the lens of large-scale paintings, we will become witness to the stories these women want to share.&nbsp; By displaying the paintings on a large scale, the viewer will become part of the story. These pieces will highlight both the beauty and mystery of nature in all its vastness of expression through the eyes of a woman. This exhibition invites viewers to contemplate their own relationship with nature and all humans.&nbsp; Exhibition StatementThe foundation of this show is to be immersed in nature with art. Art specifically created by women with visions and strengths from nature, which reflect wildly in their creations.&nbsp;The gallery will, for one night, embark on a journey in nature to commune with art and create a community to share with. Give credit to women for their divine connection, creating the foundations for nurturing, nature, and the human race.&nbsp;&nbsp;See and feel the energy from shadows that will be created, bringing the outside IN.Quiet your mind to the sensations that will be offered for your experience. Wind, water, nature, and earth. There will be something for everyone to experience during this show.

Women in Nature: Taking up Space | 2025 Curatorial Fellowship Exhibition

The Evanston Art Center (EAC) is excited to welcome the public to&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org/exhibitions/try-remember-karen-perl" target="_blank">Try to Remember | Karen Perl</a>On July 8th, the Evanston Art Center will open an exhibition showcasing the works of Karen Perl, an Evanston based artist.At around the age of 13, I inherited a box of paints and some brushes. I knew absolutely nothing about oil paints. But I had an image in my head of a thick wooded area with a path running through the center. A person was walking down the path. This coincidence of the acquisition of the painting materials and the presence of the inner vision ignited my desire to paint. Here was a means of describing something that I could not express in words. I spent several years attending various colleges, intermittently studying physics and psychology, before getting a degree in drawing and painting, with an emphasis on the figure, from the School of the Art Institute in 1985. During my third year of art school, I attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland, where I worked primarily from dreams and imagination. I also spent several years in the South of France cultivating a practice of setting up my easel outside and painting the landscape. I currently work out of my studio located in my home in Evanston Illinois. Try to Remember | Karen Perl&nbsp;will be exhibited in the Second Floor Atrium Gallery of the Art Center. The opening reception is free and open to the public. This exhibition is partially funded by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the EAC’s general membership.&nbsp;Evanston Art Center, a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, is dedicated to fostering the appreciation and expression of the arts among diverse audiences. The Art Center offers extensive and innovative instruction in broad areas of artistic endeavor through classes, exhibitions, interactive arts activities, and community outreach initiatives.&nbsp;Evanston Art Center is located at 1717 Central St., Evanston, IL. Evanston Art Center Gallery Hours:&nbsp;Monday–Thursday, 9 am–6 pm; Friday, 9 am–5 pm; Saturday &amp; Sunday, 9 am–4 pm. First and second-floor gallery spaces are accessible. Limited free parking is available.&nbsp;

Try to Remember | Karen Perl

Early prototypes of 3D printers can be traced back to the 1980's in Japan, but not until more recently have we seen contemporary jewelers incorporating this technology into their creative practices. Three international artists -&nbsp;Eve Balashova, Lynne MacLachlan, and Ryungjae Jung - each utilize this modality of creating, exemplifying what it means to bring 3D printed jewelry to the highest standard. On June 5, 2025 you're invited to see the exhibition in person while enjoying a glass of champagne and charcuterie! Try the work on and chat with our knowledgeable team members about contemporary art jewelry. This event is free and open to the public.

Wearing Technology

Jackson Junge Gallery is excited to hold&nbsp;#TRENDING, their third group exhibition of the year.&nbsp;#TRENDING&nbsp;features art about trending topics from the year leading up to the show. In the digital age, almost anything can become a global phenomenon.&nbsp;#TRENDING&nbsp;puts our pop culture, media, music, fashion, memes and more under the microscope. Check out this exhibition to see if you’re also staying current with trends! What is trending? The exhibition&nbsp;#TRENDING&nbsp;takes a lighthearted approach to the question. As many people turn to their screens, social media and social trends for a bit of escapism during rough times, Jackson Junge Gallery hopes to provide the same in a physical space. In “Jeep and Duck,” well known Bodyscapes photographer Allan Teger captures the inside joke between Jeep owners who leave rubber ducks on each other’s hoods. Zapiain’s “Irish (Trend) Setter” does a good job at acknowledging playful trends as well! Zapiain’s colorful painting of a fabulous dog with fashionable accessories plays with a pun on the word trendsetter. Zapiain describes the subject: “With their doggy bag in heel and their custom matching star doggles to boot, they're pawsitively iconic. Often imitated but never duplicated, K-9 out of 10 critics agree this pup isn't just a cliché but the genuine article." Zapiain’s work views trends playfully, and&nbsp;#TRENDING&nbsp;similarly hopes to have fun and laugh at our ideas of what’s trending. It’d take some time to see all the pop culture references featured in the artwork of&nbsp;#TRENDING. To name a few - Peter Brourman’s portrait of the character Carmy from the currently airing tv show The Bear in “Yes, Chef,” Victoria Park’s painting of the redlight greenlight doll from December 2024’s Squid Game season 2 in “Squid Game”, Megan Nixon’s landscape transforming Chicago into The Emerald City from Wicked in “ When I Meet the Wizard”,&nbsp;and Audrey Jewell’s painting of a Charli XCX concert coming off Brat Summer in “Sweat Tour September 30th&nbsp;2024 United Center”. Huy Nguyen’s “Bat” and “Bart” were also created in celebration of Brat Summer. Nguyen channels Brat energy through unexpected icons - Batman and Bart Simpson, who are fashionably decked out in trendy items like Labubu keychains, Trader Joe’s tote, 2000’s digital camera and long shorts with docs. Nguyen says while Batman is “traditionally a symbol of justice, here he’s moonlighting as a fashion icon, serving not only justice, but a look as well. This piece channels the exhilaration of late nights, bold looks, and dancing like no one’s watching. It’s about reclaiming power through self-expression and turning every sidewalk into a runway, even after dark.” Nguyen’s “Bart” reimagines Brat Summer as Bart summer, “channeling the spirit of the iconic Bart Simpson as a symbol of living in the moment. This piece captures the attitude of being unapologetically yourself, having fun for fun’s sake, and not taking life too seriously. It’s about the ones who are here for a good time, not necessarily a long time.” Nothing trends on the internet quite like a cute animal. In the fall of 2024, the baby pygmy hippo Moo Deng took the world by storm from the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Sophie Levit’s bright painting “Bubble Bath Bliss” playfully depicts the adorable hippo at bath time. Levit says that “In a time of so much uncertainty and stress, sometimes all you can do is try and find the small things that make you smile and escape the horrors of the world, even if it’s just for a little bit. For many, that escape came from a small baby Pygmy hippo that quickly captured hearts all over the world with her cuteness and playful personality. Moo Deng or “bouncy pork” was a welcome escape and ray of sunshine in an incredibly cloudy time.” Yuliya Klochan’s beaded piece “Moo Deng and Pesto” also features Moo Deng alongside another baby animal sensation that appeared on the internet at the same time - Pesto the penguin at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium in Australia, who rose to fame for weighing more as a chick than both his King penguin parents combined. Using 2,160 Miyuki Delica beads to craft images of the pair, Klochan “couldn't resist imagining them meeting. Moo Deng is tiny and sassy: Her body is made of iridescent gray and neon pink beads. Pesto is giant and resolute: His baby fuzz is a low-shine dark brown with matte beak and feet.” Kara Volle’s digital painting “The Child” also immortalizes Pesto the giant baby penguin, but it is Volle’s painting of a small anglerfish titled “Ascension” which may offer insight into why cute animals go viral beyond our desire for sweet distraction. In February of 2025, a little six-inch anglerfish from the deep sea mysteriously ascended to the surface off the coast of Spain. Volle recollects how “perplexing scientists, she took over the internet as different theories for her swim to the surface arose. Did she know her life was coming to an end and want to see the sun? Did a volcanic current push her upwards? We may never know, but this now famous fish has inspired many in her final journey.” Our screens can provide much needed distraction, but too much screentime can also be overwhelming for the chronically online. Bridget Gallagher addresses this stress in “In This Economy?!” Gallagher’s silly painting is of a scared opossum clinging to a pole plastered with a sanity wanted poster, and it has an undeniable relatability. Gallagher empathizes “if opossums could talk, they'd probably have a Better Help-sponsored TikTok account dedicated to explaining the "freeze" stress response. This opossum, like her creator, is at her wit's end. It seems impossible to keep up with rapidly shifting pop culture trends, an increasingly absurd news cycle, and the laundry. She's not super qualified for "fight" or "flight," so she'll keep holding on for dear life, hoping that someone has some sanity to spare. But that's tough to find in this economy.” #TRENDING&nbsp;is sure to be a bit of fun escapism. An Opening Reception for&nbsp;#TRENDING&nbsp;will be held Friday, July 11th, from 6pm - 10pm and is free to the public. The exhibition will be on view at Jackson Junge Gallery July 1st&nbsp;– August 10th, 2025. It is curated by Owners Chris Jackson &amp; Laura Lee Junge, Gallery Director Kaitlyn Miller, Assistant Gallery Director Kristen Arcus, and Gallery Assistant Marisa Taravella.

#TRENDING

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DETAILS</a>

The Collected Library: Summer Reading

Line Weight&nbsp;is guest curated by Teralyn Brown, our 2024-2025 University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate Student Curatorial Assistant. During her time working at Tandem over the past year, Brown familiarized herself with many of the prints that have been created at Tandem Press. As one of her final projects, she was challenged to conceptualize and curate an exhibition of prints, selecting pieces from the Tandem Press inventory and contextualizing them to create a unique statement.The concept of line weight refers to the ability for texture, depth, value, and emotion to be conveyed through line alone by way of varying the thickness and qualities of line marks.&nbsp;In this exhibition of prints, the weight of the artists’ intentions is carried by the illusions of the printed line across multiple techniques.This exhibition includes prints by Suzanne Caporael, Manabu Ikeda, Michelle Grabner, Cameron Martin, Mickett/Stackhouse, Swoon, Dan Rizzie, David Shapiro, and Steven Sorman.This exhibition is supported by the Anonymous Fund.

Line Weight 

July 26 – August 15 CSI Project Space: New works by Jyl Bonaguro, Darlys Ewoldt and Stephanie Sailor

CSI Project Space: New works by Jyl Bonaguro, Darlys Ewoldt and Stephanie Sailor

Oliva Gallery presents LUMINOSITY: The Ocean Between VIIIA group exhibition curated by Marianna Buchwald and Tamara WassermanLUMINOSITY:&nbsp;The Ocean Between VIII&nbsp;brings together a dynamic roster of international and Chicago-based artists whose work reflects the fluid intersections of culture, imagination, and personal mythology. The exhibition explores light, not only as a visual phenomenon, but as a metaphor for transformation, connection, and creative vision.Through diverse media including painting, sculpture, mixed media, and installation, the featured artists illuminate the conceptual distance between places, people, and identities, transforming it into a shared space of artistic inquiry.Participating artists include:&nbsp;Betty Kirk Chernansky, Bishal Manandhar, Bonnie Katz, Dale Pesmen, Franz Betz, Harro D.B Schmidt, Jenny Chernansky, Judith Meyer, Kao Ra Zen, Kathryn Hempel, Kevin B.Chatham, Lars Schumacher, Lori Kaplan, Marianna Buchwald, Michaela Hanemann, and Tamara Wasserman.<a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/programming-for-luminosity-the-ocean-between-viii-4348793" target="_blank">Browse Event Programming</a>

LUMINOSITY: The Ocean Between VIII

Guest curated by Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas, and Laura Wexler, along with Kristin Taylor, MoCP Curator of Academic Programs and CollectionsThis exhibition will feature works in the MoCP permanent collection that are included in the recent and groundbreaking publication titled&nbsp;Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography.&nbsp;The book&nbsp;was created by a group of artists, art historians, activists, and scholars—Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, Wendy Ewald, Susan Meiselas, Leigh Raiford, and Laura Wexler—and published by Thames and Hudson in 2024. It is an extension of a project that these five authors have collaborated on for over ten years, in which they reassess a range of photographs and projects that portray stories of humanity and social movements to decenter the photographer as the only author of the image, and to emphasize the act of photographing as an inherently collaborative process in which many parties are involved. By sharing both artists’ statements and excerpts from interviews with people depicted in photographs, they question whether memories align: Did both sides remember the moment in the same way? How did the photographed feel about the photograph’s life after it circulated through art markets, print media, and online? And what role might the photograph have played in perpetuating harmful or liberatory narratives about specific histories, places, or individuals?The works—both historical and contemporary—are presented in clusters focused on topics,&nbsp;to highlight and propose questions about photographed moments of coercion, friendship, exploitation, community, and violence.&nbsp;The exhibition will also feature a reflection space for the audience engagement, as part of the project’s ongoing effort to consider the history of photography as a living and evolving entity that is unfixed and expanding as we learn more about the people, communities, and histories that images depict.MoCP is supported by Columbia College Chicago, MoCP Advisory Board, Museum Council, individuals, private and corporate foundations, and government grants.The 2024–2025 exhibition season is sponsored in part by the Efroymson Family Fund, Henry Nias Foundation, The Rowan Foundation, Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Comer Family Foundation, and Venable Foundation. It is partially supported by a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and 21c Museum Hotel, Chicago. MoCP acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.This project is generously supported through the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Impact Fund for Photography and the Westridge Foundation.&nbsp;

Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography in Dialogue with the MoCP Collection

Juror: Kristen Carter&nbsp;is an assistant professor of art history at Florida Southern College. She holds a PhD in modern and contemporary art from the University of British Columbia and a BA in art history from DePaul University. Her research concerns different modes of relationality, care, and institutional critique with an emphasis on artistic praxis and pedagogy in the 1960s and 1970s. She has presented and published on a range of topics, including performance, body art, and dance, histories of art and pedagogy in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America, and the changing relationship between art and politics. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the University of British Columbia and the Getty Research Institute.Committed to collaborative and inclusive pedagogy, Carter serves on the College Art Association’s Education Committee, advocating for undergraduate research and innovative teaching.Exhibiting Artists:&nbsp;​Lynne Breitfeller, Anna Brody, Oona Bruss, Ingrid Butterer, Maddie Casagranda, Christeina Nena, Krista Cibis, Jeanne Ciravolo, Kimberleigh Collins-Peynaud, Samantha Degucz, Leslie Drennan, Jessica Gomez Ferrer, Veronica Hicks, Rana Huwais, Blond Jenny, Lauren Johnston, Khin, Yuliya Klochan, Beth Lemerand, Anna Lentz, Annamaria Eleanor Loia, Lindsay Lion Lord, Ashley Mangum, Ashley Martin, Susan Messer McBride, Laura Lee McCartney, Lorena Molina, Mackenna Morse, Abbey Peters, Felicia L. Reed, Astrid Reichenbach, Elke Richter, Robyn Rozelle, Ramya Shenoy, Vivian Smith, Victoria Smits, Phoebe Snyder, Kelly Sturhahn, Gwynneth VanLaven, Julie Waltz-Stalker, and Danielle C. Wyckoff

Acts of Care: Nurturing the Present, Shaping the Future

Artist Talk: Saturday, July 19 beginning at 1PM (Gallery Day)Kim Storage Gallery is thrilled to present "Mind Games," a solo exhibition by Chicago-based artist April Behnke. This captivating show features a new body of work showcasing Behnke's exploration of perceptual play through paintings and drawings. The exhibition delves into the ways we use vision to perceive patterns and make sense of the world. Behnke skillfully interrupts these patterns, mixing up foreground and background to create a visual experience that is both familiar and disorienting. Visitors will be intrigued by the dynamic interplay of colors and shapes, which challenge and engage the viewer's perception. "Mind Games" not only references the show's main theme but also invites viewers to participate in a playful and interactive experience. Behnke's work draws inspiration from both board games and early video games, incorporating structured patterns and visual interruptions that evoke a sense of nostalgia and curiosity. This exhibition marks Behnke's first solo show at Kim Storage Gallery, and it promises to be a thought-provoking and visually stimulating event. Join us for the opening reception and artist talk, where Behnke will provide deeper insights into her creative process and the conceptual underpinnings of her work.Electric Dreams, Flashe on canvas, 48 x 60"

April Behnke: Mind Games

JUNE 21 - AUGUST 16, 2025OPENING RECEPTION | Saturday, June 21, 5:00&nbsp;–&nbsp;7:30pm The word ‘mine’ is both a declaration of ownership, and a verb that describes acts of<a style="color: rgb(0, 124, 137);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://patrongallery.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fe9966abed200e47655a01bab&amp;id=8144e1bb02&amp;e=9e3563b61b" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a>excavation and extraction. Alex Chitty’s solo exhibition,&nbsp;Mine,&nbsp;is an assembly of new works situated within a former theater. Each artwork leans on borrowed histories, past lives, and accumulative actions, all toying with the notion of how ‘mine’ is, perhaps, an impossibility. # ALEX CHITTY&nbsp;(b. 1979, Miami, FL) lives and works in Chicago. Chitty received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Smith College with a combined major in fine art, biology and education. She received a Master of Fine Arts from the Printmedia department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.&nbsp; Recent exhibitions include:&nbsp;Entirely opposite, with moments of overlap&nbsp;(2025)&nbsp;Abroms-Engel Institute for Visual Arts, Birmingham, AL;&nbsp;Dialogues&nbsp;(2023),&nbsp;PATRON, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Bright day will turn to night, my love&nbsp;(2023),&nbsp;Tiny&nbsp;Table Gallery, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Amuleto&nbsp;(2023),&nbsp;Mayfield, Forest Park, IL&nbsp;Figs break open of themselves&nbsp;(2022),&nbsp;PATRON, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Both And&nbsp;(2021),&nbsp;Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;State of the Art II&nbsp;(2020),&nbsp;Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AK;&nbsp;Becoming the Breeze: Alex Chitty with Alexander Calder&nbsp;(2019),&nbsp;Museum of Contemporary Art,&nbsp;Chicago, IL;&nbsp;In the Hot Seat,&nbsp;KMAC Museum&nbsp;(2019) Louisville KY;&nbsp;pulling flavor from the dirt (2018),&nbsp;PATRON, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;After (the sun-drenched neutral that goes with everything)&nbsp;(2018),The Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA;&nbsp;Living Architecture&nbsp;(2020),&nbsp;6018 North, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;They will bloom without you&nbsp;(2017),&nbsp;Elmhurst Art Museum,&nbsp;Elmhurst IL;&nbsp;Small Sculpture&nbsp;(2017),&nbsp;Corbett Vs. Dempsey,&nbsp;Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Stranger Things&nbsp;(2017),&nbsp;DePaul Art Museum, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Objectifying the Photograph&nbsp;(2017),&nbsp;NIU Art Museum, DeKalb, IL;&nbsp;slight pitch&nbsp;(2016),&nbsp;LUCE&nbsp;Turin, Italy,&nbsp;the sun-drenched neutral that goes with everything&nbsp;(2016),&nbsp;PATRON&nbsp;Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Turning Spoons into Forks&nbsp;(2016),&nbsp;Hyde Park Art CenterChicago, IL;&nbsp;&nbsp;Theory of Forms&nbsp;(2015),&nbsp;&nbsp;PATRON, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Orchid&nbsp;(2014),&nbsp;ADDS DONNA, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Almost Ergonomic&nbsp;(2014),&nbsp;Studio 424, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Codification&nbsp;(2014)&nbsp;LVL3, Chicago, IL;&nbsp;Alex Chitty: Recent Work&nbsp;(2013),&nbsp;Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL and&nbsp;Ella Hatchet&nbsp;(2013) at&nbsp;Roots and Culture, Chicago, IL. Chitty is the recipient of a Illinois Arts Council Agency&nbsp;Artist Fellowship Award (2022); DCASE Individual Arts Program Grant (2021);&nbsp;The Nancy Graves Grant for Visual Artists (2017);&nbsp;has been an artist in residence at&nbsp;Writing Space, Chicago (2023);&nbsp;Warburg Library, London (2019);&nbsp;Wright Auction House&nbsp;(2019);&nbsp;Fundación Casa Wabi; Oaxaca (2018);&nbsp;Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Omaha (2017);&nbsp;Fountainhead Residency, Miami (2015);&nbsp;Cargo Space, Milwaukee (2014);&nbsp;Latitude, Chicago (2014), among others.

Alex Chitty : Mine

PATRON is proud to announce our second solo exhibition with conceptual photo-based artist Carmen Winant.&nbsp;Manuals for Living&nbsp;brings together two long standing tenants of Winant's practice: instructional pictures as an educative&nbsp;genre, and studio practice as the site of material transformation and inquiry. Throughout the exhibition, Winant adopts strategies of repetition, procedural memory, and intuition to enact strategies of what it means to "practice".&nbsp;﻿

Carmen Winant: Manuals for Living

Saturday, August 16, 2-5 pm,&nbsp;Collage and Thinking: a Writing Workshop&nbsp;with Dale Pesmen at Oliva Gallery&nbsp;Dale Pesmen, a painter, collage and encaustic artist, author, and PhD in Cultural Anthropology, has run creative nonfiction writing workshops for over ten years in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, and Serbia. Influenced by dadaist techniques, the workshops are inspired by the principle that making art can be thinking. In this 3-hour session, we will do exercises to demonstrate to ourselves how it feels when unexpected jumps, ideas, and images emerge in the process of wordplay. ﻿Image Credit Dale Pesmen

Collage and Thinking: a Writing Workshop with Dale Pesmen

Enjoy sunshine, sculpture, and support small-town artists with Krasl Art Center this summer! KAC’s Summer Art Market on the Green is a free community event featuring different artists each month. The event is from 10am- 5pm on August 16, 2025. Each market features 12 regional artists, including one Emerging Artist vendor. Purchases made support the artists directly, and guests are encouraged to explore KAC’s&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(20, 24, 39);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://krasl.org/krasl-art-centers-new-biennial-2022-invitational/" target="_blank">sculpture</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(20, 24, 39);" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://krasl.org/art/current-exhibitions/" target="_blank">gallery exhibitions</a>&nbsp;during their visit.

2025 Summer Art Market

The&nbsp;Driehaus Museum&nbsp;is proud to announce&nbsp;Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, an exhibition exploring the trailblazing career and legacy of Scottish artist Rory McEwen, whose work is considered one of the major turning points in the development of contemporary botanical art. Presenting over one hundred works, including sculpture and manuscripts, the exhibition reveals how McEwen forged his own personal interpretation of 20th century modernism, portraying flowers, leaves, and vegetables as individual subjects worthy of their own portraits. Establishing McEwen’s role in shaping new generations of artists, the exhibition also features the work of contemporary botanical artists who&nbsp;continue to&nbsp;shape&nbsp;McEwen’s&nbsp;artistic&nbsp;legacy today.&nbsp;Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature&nbsp;will be on view at the Driehaus Museum,&nbsp;50 E. Erie Street&nbsp;from&nbsp;May 16 to August 17, 2025.&nbsp;McEwen’s vibrant paintings balance the scientific detail of traditional botanical art with a modernist perspective influenced by other visual artists of his time. A student of the Old Masters as well as his contemporaries, McEwen developed a distinctive style over the course of his career, painting on vellum and using large empty backgrounds on which his plant portraits seem to float. In his paintings, he forged his own personal interpretation of twentieth-century modernism, portraying individual flowers, leaves, and vegetables as subject matter, “as a way of getting as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth, my truth of the time in which I live.” By encompassing a rare ability to see a plant as more than “just” a plant—to imbue his paintings with a sense of his subject’s “soul”—his techniques have had a lasting impact on botanical artists today. McEwen was a modern-day Renaissance man, whose artistry extended to sculpture, poetry, and most notably, music, where he was a successful folk revival musician and host of the popular 1960’s music show, “Hullabaloo!”“We are pleased to welcome audiences to the Museum this summer with an exhibition that invites us to approach our natural surroundings with curiosity and wonder and to feature an artist who is lesser known on these shores but who embodies the kind of excellence the Museum celebrates,” says&nbsp;Driehaus Museum Executive Director&nbsp;Lisa M. Key. She continues, “McEwen’s&nbsp;naturalistic paintings will echo the organic forms and ornamentation throughout our historic interiors.At the Driehaus Museum, we are committed to special exhibitions that bring visitors new perspectives and this exhibition hits that mark.”“The ability to give&nbsp;life and luminosity to a spectrum of emotions is what gives Rory McEwen’s art those qualities that distinguish it from the ordinary,” says&nbsp;Ruth L. A. Stiff, guest curator. “As Rory McEwen conceded to Wilfrid Blunt, his drawing master at Eton, ‘I have never really been interested in botanical illustration per se, but rather in that moment when painting starts to breathe poetry.’ “Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature&nbsp;offers viewers&nbsp;an&nbsp;unparalleled&nbsp;context&nbsp;to&nbsp;explore McEwen’s pioneering artistic vision. The exhibition presents works by McEwen alongside works by the 17th&nbsp;and 18th&nbsp;century painters whom he studied—such as Nicolas Robert, Pierre Joseph Redouté, Georg Dionysius Ehret, and Claude Aubriet—as well as early illuminated manuscripts and folio volumes drawn from the Mellon Collection, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and the RoyalBotanic&nbsp;Gardens,&nbsp;Kew.&nbsp;It includes works on loan from McEwen’s family as well as works drawn from numerous private collections, most of which have never been seen by the American public. Loans&nbsp;from&nbsp;the&nbsp;extensive&nbsp;contemporary&nbsp;botanical collection of British botanist and philanthropist, Dr. Shirley Sherwood, showcase contemporary artists following in McEwen’s techniques and styles.As part of&nbsp;Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, the Driehaus Museum will partner with local institutions across exhibits and programs, including Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Old Town School of Folk Music, and the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. The Driehaus Museum will also be participating in the Magnificent Mile Association’s annual Tulip festival with a special presentation of tulips and a tulip sculpture in the Museum’s garden.Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature&nbsp;is&nbsp;generously supported by the&nbsp;Driehaus Trust Company, LLC., the Kovler Family Foundation, and Barbi and Tom Donnelley. Additional support provided by&nbsp;Friends of&nbsp;Rory McEwen.The exhibition is curated by Ruth L. A. Stiff, Curator of International Exhibitions, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London) and accompanied by a full-color catalogue produced by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. It is presented in association with the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Virginia) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Major support is provided by the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation. The Driehaus Museum is the final U.S. institution to host the exhibition, which included the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina; the Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Massachusetts; and the Society of Four Arts in Palm Beach, Florida.&nbsp; ABOUT THE ARTISTRory McEwen (1932-1982) grew up in Scotland as the third of seven children at Marchmont House, the family’s Palladian stately home, where he learned to draw flowers from an early age encouraged by his French governess, who instructed him in drawing from nature. He was influenced by 17th&nbsp;and 18th-century French flower painters throughout his education at Eton, including visits to the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, and his continued studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. After serving with the British Army, he discovered his passion for art. Initially a blues musician, McEwen toured the U.S. in 1956 with his brother Alexander, recording an LP for Smithsonian Folkways Records and appearing twice on the Ed Sullivan show. Back in Britain, he became known as a guitarist and singer, appearing nightly on the BBC’s&nbsp;Tonight&nbsp;show and produced, presented, and performed on the seminal music program,&nbsp;Hullabaloo. However, from 1964 until his death in 1982, McEwen focused solely on his work as a visual artist, known for his detailed work on vellum with watercolors. His posthumous 1988 exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London is considered one of the pivotal turning points in the development of contemporary botanical art, and his techniques have had a lasting impact on botanical artists today. McEwen’s&nbsp;work&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;found&nbsp;in&nbsp;private&nbsp;and&nbsp;public&nbsp;collections&nbsp;across&nbsp;the&nbsp;globe,&nbsp;including&nbsp;the British&nbsp;Museum;&nbsp;Victoria&nbsp;and&nbsp;Albert&nbsp;Museum;&nbsp;Tate;&nbsp;National&nbsp;Gallery&nbsp;of&nbsp;Modern&nbsp;Art,&nbsp;Scotland; Fitzwilliam&nbsp;Museum,&nbsp;Cambridge;&nbsp;Hunt&nbsp;Institute,&nbsp;Pittsburgh;&nbsp;andMuseum&nbsp;of&nbsp;Modern&nbsp;Art,&nbsp;New&nbsp;York. ABOUT THE DRIEHAUS MUSEUMThe Driehaus Museum engages and inspires the global community through exploration and ongoing conversations in art, architecture, and design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions are presented in an immersive experience within the restored Nickerson Mansion, completed in 1883, at the height of the Gilded Age, and the Murphy Auditorium, built in 1926. The Museum’s collection reflects and is inspired by the collecting interests, vision, and focus of its founder, the late Richard H. Driehaus. For more information, visit&nbsp;<a style="color: windowtext;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.driehausmuseum.org/" target="_blank">driehausmuseum.org</a>&nbsp;and connect with the Museum on&nbsp;<a style="color: windowtext;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Driehaus-Museum/362867207176025" target="_blank">Facebook</a>,&nbsp;<a style="color: windowtext;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://twitter.com/DriehausMuseum" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and&nbsp;<a style="color: windowtext;" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.instagram.com/driehausmuseum/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>.

Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature

CROSSINGS&nbsp;traverses the Museum’s campus and features several dynamic vehicle sculptures by Bernard Williams in Wilder Park, Hostetler Gallery and large paintings in the McCormick House. Through the artworks on view, the artist addresses the concept of mobility as both the physical movement forward and the human aspiration to rise to better circumstances.The Chicago-based artist has been making public murals and sculptures for over thirty years. Bold thick lines and generalized, flat shapes common in graphic illustration define his unique and playful sculptural style. Williams often researches and highlights little known or forgotten narratives in history to make his sculptures, paintings and murals, which offer new perspectives on the engineering innovations of the past and how they impact contemporary culture. The works are also a tribute to Black achievement in transportation and agriculture throughout American history. Pilot Bessie Coleman, NASCAR driver Wendell Scott, and the recent Black Farmers’ Settlement are some of the histories being honored in this exhibition. For Elmhurst, Williams also recognizes the lifetime achievements of the local NASCAR winner, Fred Lorenzen (1934-2024).CROSSINGS&nbsp;runs concurrently with the exhibition&nbsp;Legacies: New Views of the Elmhurst Art Collection, which features Williams’ small sculptures from the collection of Cleve Carney, along with dozens of other artists in the Museum’s collection.Curated by Allison Peters Quinn. Image: Bernard Williams, Route 27, painted plywood, aluminum, 6 x 6 x 20 feet. Photography by Michelle W.C. Anderson&nbsp;

CROSSINGS by Bernard Williams

Legacies: Selections from the Elmhurst Art Museum Permanent Collection&nbsp;features dozens of artists from Salvador Dali and Mies van der Rohe to Kay Rosen and Michiko Itatani drawn from the Elmhurst Art Museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition explores the relationships between artists, collectors, and museums that lead to larger, ongoing narratives connecting people across time and place.A regional center of 20th&nbsp;century American Art and Midcentury Design, the Elmhurst Art Museum Collection began in the 1990s and now includes approximately 1,000 works drawn from over 200 collections or donors, with a focus on modern and contemporary art works by Midwestern artists, architects, and designers that have exhibited at the museum, and furniture design items related to McCormick House.The exhibition will feature micro installations of paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures from over a dozen collections donated to the Museum, and includes local, regional, national, and international artists.

Legacies: New Views of the Elmhurst Art Museum's Permanent Collection

Join us on Thursday, August 21st, from 6-8 pm for an inspiring evening of conversation, creativity, and connection—complete with wine and the stunning art collection at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. This invitation is open to the public; however, space is limited, and an RSVP is required. Please email jmurray@21cChicago.com Inspired by the book by Grace Bonney, In the Company of Women explores the paths of over 100 creative female entrepreneurs, sharing their advice and tips for others looking to form a similar career path. Vagabond Art is recreating this experience by inviting both mid-career and high-profile female entrepreneurs working in the creative industry to mingle, exchange ideas, and form connections. This invitation extends beyond the art industry to include women and female-identifying individuals from fields such as visual merchandising, design, culinary arts, and more. Vagabond Art is an events-based, community-driven curatorial initiative spearheaded by seasoned arts professional Camilla Mikolajewska. Deeply embedded in the creative community, both in Chicago and internationally, Vagabond Art seeks to forge impactful connections that uplift emerging creatives and transcend physical location. Vagabond Art creates conversations between artists and local businesses through events and exhibitions in order to break down barriers and provide widespread networks for artists in every career stage. All are welcome at a Vagabond Art show, as they look to elevate exciting new voices, support established ones, and bring connection to the arts community.

In the Company of Women

Woven Worlds&nbsp;brings together a dynamic and diverse group of contemporary artists who are redefining the boundaries of fiber art. Once considered a niche or domestic craft, fiber has emerged as a powerful medium for innovation, social commentary, and storytelling in the 21st&nbsp;century. This survey showcases works that span weaving, quilting, embroidery, soft sculpture, and textile installation, emphasizing the tactile and conceptual richness of fiber-based practices.&nbsp;

Woven Worlds

On April 17 from 6-8pm The Poetry Foundation will host a poetry reading, artist talk, and reception to celebrate the opening of the exhibition Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home. Free and open to all. The opening will feature an artist talk by Jaeggi, followed by readings by Sáenz and Silva, and closing with a celebratory reception featuring music by Sones de México Ensemble.&nbsp; A window into the subculture of Mexican American women’s equestrian performance, presented through poetry and photography, Escaramuza is a collaborative work by photographer Constance Jaeggi and poets Angelina Sáenz and ire’ne lara silva. The exhibition explores escaramuza, the team sport of women’s precision horse riding, addressing complex themes of identity, family, and gender with a lush combination of poetry and photography.&nbsp; Escaramuza, translated from Spanish as “skirmish,” is the team sport of women’s precision horse riding within charrería—the Mexican national sport of roping, equestrian activities, and working with cattle. Inspired by the soldaderas (women soldiers) of the Mexican Revolution, teams ride sidesaddle during intricately choreographed dances set to music while wearing vivid, traditional Mexican dresses. Image: Photograph by Constance Jaeggi, courtesy of the Poetry Foundation&nbsp;

Escaramuza, the Poetics of Home

Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to present&nbsp;Thus masked, the world has a language, a group exhibition exploring the masquerade and mask traditions across the African diasporas in Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States.&nbsp;Across the exhibition, masks are activated forms—a vessel through which truths can be expressed, history can be questioned, and memory can be reactivated. The exhibition will feature works by gallery artists Raphaël&nbsp;Barontini&nbsp;and Lorraine O’Grady, alongside invited artists Nick Cave, Ebony G. Patterson, Darryl Richardson, and Tavares Strachan.&nbsp;Through lens-based practices, collage, and sculpture, the artists engage the performative, political, and intergenerational dimensions of masks that bridge geographies and social histories. As a threshold between the visible and the invisible, the archival and the contemporary,&nbsp;African diasporic&nbsp;masquerades are rituals that summon the essence of nature, from the bush and swamp to animals, spirits, foreigners, witches, the past itself, or ancestors —to allow spiritual presence&nbsp;to be embodied for communal and social transformation.&nbsp;&nbsp;As masquerade culture spans between and beyond ritual, carnival, and street processions; ceremoniously the mask becomes a conduit: a threshold to the divine, a channel for the ancestral realm, or a vessel for collective memory. Darryl Richardson and Raphaël&nbsp;Barontini&nbsp;focus on the intersection of communal erasure and recovery, using partial concealment as a strategy to counter erasure and assert diasporic lineage. Their meditations on systemic erasure&nbsp;lead&nbsp;to&nbsp;Encourage from the&nbsp;Fambily&nbsp;series&nbsp;(2010) by Ebony G. Patterson,&nbsp;and&nbsp;sculpture&nbsp;by Nick Cave,&nbsp;that&nbsp;adorn figures&nbsp;whom&nbsp;transform the masked body into a site of reemergence and historical agency. Like&nbsp;Barontini, Tavares Strachan reclaims the archive through collage—but where&nbsp;Barontini&nbsp;gestures&nbsp;toward partial visibility, Strachan leans toward total concealment.&nbsp;Self Portrait: Loyalty to the Past (Blue Guro Mask)&nbsp;2023, emphasizes loyalty to ancestral heritage while addressing the metaphysical complexities of identity and memory, making the mask a statement on resilience and continuity within the African diaspora.&nbsp;Similar to&nbsp;traditional masks, Cave’s&nbsp;Soundsuits&nbsp;are constructed with everyday materials—twigs, sequins, fur, wire. These suits conceal the body entirely, freeing the wearer from assumptions tied to race, class, or gender. Within the context of masquerade, O’Grady’s concealment in&nbsp;Announcement&nbsp;(2020) becomes a vessel of deflection and power—resisting legibility while confronting the demands of visibility and representation. Both Cave and O’Grady activate concealment as a choreography of refusal and renewal.&nbsp;In&nbsp;Thus masked, the world has a language, concealment is not absence—it is redirection, resistance, and transformation. From object to action, the mask’s power lies in its ability to be worn, danced, and inhabited—activating knowledge that is both embodied and inherited. As Lorraine O’Grady posits, through&nbsp;Announcement&nbsp;(2020),&nbsp;what truths&nbsp;emerge&nbsp;through concealment?&nbsp;Thus masked, the world has a language, will be on view at Mariane Ibrahim Chicago until August 23, 2025.Image: Tavares Strachan, Self Portrait: Loyalty to the Past (Blue Guro Mask), 2023. Photo by Miho Suzuki.

Thus masked, the world has a language

Fine Arts Building: Impressions: Works From Chicago Sculpture International

Forms of Flesh: Contemplating Embodiment&nbsp;is a group exhibition exploring the strange, intimate, and often absurd experience of living in a body. Through sculpture, drawing, performance, video, and installation, the artists in this show consider flesh not as a neutral container but as a charged site of memory, identity, vulnerability, and transformation.Drawing from dance, trauma studies, queer aesthetics, speculative fiction, body horror, and decorative traditions, the exhibition invites viewers to examine how bodies hold sensation, gesture, history, and meaning. Ceramic figures defy function with flamboyant flair; otherworldly creatures pulse in chaotic ecosystems; projected bodies dissolve into light and architecture; improvised movements echo physical memory and emotional landscapes.Viewers are invited to reflect on their own embodiment: to see, to be seen, to feel, to question.&nbsp;Forms of Flesh&nbsp;sets the stage for curiosity, intimacy, and transformation.&nbsp;Featured artists:Jeremy Plotkin WongGeroge Mosher&nbsp;Kat BawdinPerformance:Hannah Marcus&nbsp; Curated by Alicja Seledec Email:&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="mailto:chicagograndgallery@gmail.com" target="_blank">chicagograndgallery@gmail.com</a>Instagram: @chicagograndgalleryPhone: (773) 502-6010<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.chicagograndgallery.com/" target="_blank">www.chicagograndgallery.com</a>&nbsp;

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