Art for which the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art object.&nbsp;

Conceptual / Performance

<h3>Developed during the Italian Renaissance, primarily for aesthetics or beauty, the highest art was that which allowed the full expression and display of the artist's imagination.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – Pre 18th Century

<h3>Graphic Art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional. It includes calligraphy, photography, painting, typography, computer graphics, and bindery.&nbsp;</h3>

Graphic Art

Works of art that utilize the form of the book. They are often published in small editions, though they are sometimes produced as one-of-a-kind objects.

Artists' Books

The exploration of video art and music or sound set, including visual music, abstract film, audiovisual performances and installations.

Video / Sound

The objects produced by shaping pieces of clay that are then hardened by baking, or the skill of making such objects.

Ceramics

An artistic form in which hard or plastic materials are carved, modeled, casted, and constructed into a three-dimensional art object.&nbsp;

Sculpture

The process of creating artworks by printing, typically on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting.

Printmaking

<h3>Something made in an earlier period that is collected and considered to have value because it is beautiful, rare, old, or of high quality.</h3>

Antiques and Artifacts

Imagery where the subject matter centers around a view or depiction of Chicago.&nbsp;

Chicago Scenes & Regionalism

Old Masters refer to any painter of skill who worked in Europe before about 1800.

Old Masters

Socio-Political art is used to help the public understand a particular social or political issue.

Socio-Political

<h3>The attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, or implausible, exotic, and supernatural elements.</h3>

Realism

<h3>Artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real objects and is representational.</h3>

Figurative

<h3>Individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. Glass art ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces, to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glass jewelry and tableware.</h3>

Glass

<h3>Artwork that often deals with Rococo, the Enlightenment, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – 18th & 19th C.

From the Tate Museum's website: Modernism refers to a global movement in society and culture that from the early decades of the twentieth century sought a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life. Building on late nineteenth-century precedents, artists around the world used new imagery, materials and techniques to create artworks that they felt better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies.

Modernism

<h3>Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue to challenge boundaries.</h3>

Fine Prints & Painting – Contemporary

<h3>Art that is concerned with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities including, ceramics, glassware, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and more.</h3>

Furniture & Decorative Arts

<h3>Emerging art is work by artists who are still building their artistic careers and have not yet reached a more established and widely recognized status.&nbsp;</h3>

Emerging

<h3>Fiber art refers to fine art whose material consists of natural or synthetic fiber and other components, such as fabric or yarn. It focuses on the materials and on the manual labour on the part of the artist as part of the works' significance, and prioritizes aesthetic value over utility.</h3>

Fiber Arts / Textiles

The quality of dealing with ideas rather than events. Freedom from representational qualities in art.

Abstraction

<h3>Art by African-American artists.</h3>

African-American

<h3>The art and science of designing and making buildings, or the style of a building.</h3>

Architecture

<h3>Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, an emphasis on light and its changing qualities, and inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience.</h3>

Impressionism

From the Tate Museum's website: Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning in the 1940s and 1950s. It is often characterized by gestural brush-strokes or mark-making, and the impression of spontaneity.

Abstract Expressionism

Numismatics

Relating to Africa or people of African descent.

African

Eastern European art is a product of recent history. It can be traced to the division of Europe into the Western and Soviet spheres of influence of the allied victory over Germany in World War two.

Eastern European

LGBTQIA+

Feminist

Considered one of the most influential periods of art, featuring movements including Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Dada, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism.

Early 20th Century

Skill and experience, especially in relation to making objects by hand.

Craft

<h3>The skill of making plans, drawings, or arrangements to show how a building or product is made.</h3>

Design

Asian art is diverse and rich, spanning thousands of years and dozens of countries. It is known for its ritual bronzes, beautiful ceramics, calligraphy, jades, textiles, painted landscapes, garden design, pagodas and stupas, and woodblock prints.

Asian

Italian

<h3>An artistic genre of three-dimensional works that often are site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space.</h3>

Installations

An art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance.

Performance

Some of the most prominent, highly influential artists, who challenged preconceptions and pushed the limits of visual art, shaping the art world of our time.

Modern Contemporary Masters

Created in accordance with the vision of the artist as a photographer, using photography as a medium to bring something to life that only lives in the artist's mind.

Photography

The design movement in interior, product, graphic design, architecture, and urban development from roughly the 1930's to 1965.

Mid-Century

A movement in art and literature that flourished in the early 20th-century. Surrealism aimed at expressing imaginative dreams and visions free from conscious rational control.&nbsp;

Surrealism

An innovative discipline which seeks to unify a large range of art forms. This is creatively achieved by combining an array of artistic insights and crafts such as film, literature, performance, music and sound, drama, visual arts, or design.

Multi-Media

<h3>The depiction of landscapes in art—natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composition.</h3>

Landscape

Plein air is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look.

Plein-air

Printed 2-D artwork which is designed to be affixed to a vertical surface, may consist exclusively of images, or images and text.

Poster / Lithography

<h3>A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.</h3>

Portraits / Portraiture

<h3>These works are often stunningly beautiful, and encourage the viewer to engage with the rich history of research and experimentation that led to the piece’s conception.</h3>

Scientific

<h3>The Art of the American West is defined by geographical subject, consists of historic and contemporary works of art which focus on varying expressions of individuals, landscapes, ideals, and myths of the American West.</h3>

Western (The American West)

<h3>Borrowed from Wikipedia: In visual arts, music, and other mediums, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Dan Flavin, Robert Morris, Anne Truitt, and Frank Stella. It derives from the reductive aspects of modernism and is often interpreted as a reaction against abstract expressionism and a bridge to postminimal art practices.</h3>

Minimalism

<h3>Occupying the space between fine art and the everyday, functional art refers to aesthetic objects that serve utilitarian purposes. The genre is remarkably inclusive, it encompasses everything from furniture and lighting to dishes and even books.</h3>

Functional Art - Jewelry / Fashion

A range of artistic practices encompassing both historical approaches to nature in art and more recent ecological and politically motivated types of works.

Wildlife / Nature

Watches & Timepieces

Sports Collectibles

3-Dimensonal

Rare Books / Manuscripts

Western European art represents a continuous, though disrupted, tradition from antiquity until the present time. Until the mid-19th century it was primarily concerned with representational and Classical modes of production. After the mid-19th century modern, abstract and conceptual forms gained favor.

Western European

Comics

Large Scale (over 6')

Visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned artwork executed outside of the context of traditional art venues. Common forms and media include spray paint graffiti, stencil graffiti, poster art, sticker art, street installations, and sculpture.

Pop / Street Art / Graffiti

Indigenous & Native

Chicago Imagists

East Asian

Medieval / Renaissance 

Non-Western

Southeast & South Asian

<h3>Art produced by self-taught or naïve art makers. Typically, those labeled as outsider artists have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrates extreme mental states, unconventional ideas, or elaborate fantasy worlds.</h3>

Folk / Outsider / Self Taught

American Regionalism

Literary Arts

Mosiac

Includes manuscripts, prints, drawings, collages, and paintings on paper.

Works on Paper

Prints and Drawings

West Asia  & North Africa

Middle Eastern & Islamic

Land Art

<h3>Artistic expression of Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, as well as Latin and Hispanic Americans living in other regions. Latin American art has roots in the many different indigenous cultures that inhabited the Americas before European colonization in the 16th-century.</h3>

Hispanic/Latinx

The Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles offers new and existing artists a place to show their work. Each year, the gallery hosts six to seven exhibitions featuring art by local and national artists and artmakers. These curated shows bring together both established and up-and-coming artists, using all forms of media, in a wide range of price points. The gallery team at the Kavanagh strives to bring innovative and exciting artists to the gallery. Admission to the Kavanagh Gallery is always free and open to all. We invite you to stop by to view our gallery and see for yourself the fantastic space at Fine Line. Fine Line Creative Arts Center is a thriving community where artists and art lovers have been experiencing, learning and sharing for over forty years. The center offers year-round adult classes for artists of all levels, from complete beginners to more advanced. Class options include blacksmithing, glassblowing, weaving, basketry, jewelry and ceramics. Please visit our <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.fineline.org" target="_blank">website</a> for the current exhibition and opening reception details.&nbsp; There is ample free onsite parking available. Image: Outside of The Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center. Pictured: The Other Side of the Wall, sculpture by Dan Caldwell.

Kavanagh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) is a nationally acclaimed visual and performing arts complex located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. It is known worldwide for preserving and exhibiting artist-built environments—where artists transform their surroundings into exceptional, multifaceted works of art, and visitors experience art in a deeply personal way that speaks to them and also reflects our common humanity. JMKAC’s mission is to generate a creative exchange between artists and the public. The Arts Center features rotating contemporary art exhibitions and hosts multidisciplinary artist residencies throughout the year. Onsite are eight gallery spaces, a performing arts theatre, and a family-friendly café serving fresh, seasonal fare. The museum gift shop features unique gifts and handmade artist creations. Classes and workshops are offered throughout the year for students of all ages. A hands-on art studio and award-winning, artist-designed washrooms round out the experience. During the summer months, JMKAC presents a free outdoor concert series and a popular arts festival. Admission and parking are always free. Winner of the 2023 Governor’s Tourism Award for Arts, Culture &amp; Heritage. Image: John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 2023. Photo courtesy of John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC)

Racine Art Museum (RAM) is a nationally recognized institution that presents exhibitions and programming curated around contemporary art, craft, and design. Located in Racine, Wisconsin, a historic community on the shores of Lake Michigan, it occupies two facilities—the Racine Art Museum, an expansive modern gallery with award-winning architecture on the downtown waterfront, and the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts (Wustum), an exhibition space and studio art center housed in a historic farmhouse surrounded by lawns and gardens. RAM is known for having the largest contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 14,000 works by renowned artists in ceramics, fiber, glass, metal, polymer, wood, and more. RAM's thoughtful exhibitions invite visitors to engage with artistic innovation, the physicality of materials, and the intersection of the craft and contemporary art movements. Wustum—located just two miles away from RAM—offers community outreach programs, studio art classes for students of all ages and abilities, and exhibitions like Watercolor Wisconsin and annual themed Community Art Shows that showcase the vitality of the area's arts scene. Please visit the website for information about current onsite and virtual programming. Image: Jarvis Lawson

Racine Art Museum

The Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College features eight exhibitions a year, six of which are works by major artists primarily from the Midwest; two student exhibitions take place in spring and fall.&nbsp;&nbsp;Image:&nbsp;Gallery view

Christopher Art Gallery at Prairie State College

Bridgeport Art Center (BAC) is home to artists, woodworkers, sculptors,&nbsp;fashion designers, architects, interior designers, attorneys, counselors, therapists, non for profits, for profits, and many other professionals.&nbsp;BAC features 3 galleries, Fashion Design Center, Shared Floor Ceramics, Chicago Maritime Museum, and Base cafe.&nbsp;BAC is home for creative minds, emerging artists, and evolving professionals in Chicagoland. Visit <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.bridgeportart.com" target="_blank">bridgeportart.com</a> for a complete 2026 exhibition schedule and to see what we offer.&nbsp; Join us every third Friday of the month from 7–10 pm when artists open their studios to the public.&nbsp; For information on leasing, please call us at 773–843–9000. The office and galleries are open Monday–Saturday, 8am–6pm, Sunday, 8am–12pm.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bridgeport Art Center

The Evanston Art Center (EAC), founded over 95 years ago in 1929, is an integral part of community life, providing access and experiences in the arts to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. Through community-based events, classes and exhibitions, EAC helps expand its mission to provide accessible arts education and arts enrichment experiences to the community and the surrounding areas. The Evanston Art Center’s galleries exhibit contemporary artwork by emerging and established artists, and are free and open to the public seven days a week. Exhibition programming includes publications, artist talks, interviews with curators, opening receptions, In Focus lectures and docent led tours for groups (please call to schedule a tour) at no charge to the public. The Evanston Art Center’s in-person and online art courses have something for everyone and every schedule. Subjects include: painting, drawing, sculpting, jewelry, bookbinding, and much more! Browse our online adult and youth course schedule at <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.evanstonartcenter.org" target="_blank">EvanstonArtCenter.org</a> Opening receptions typically held on first Sunday of exhibition 1–4pm.&nbsp; Photo credit: Erica McKeehen

Evanston Art Center

Hyde Park Art Center, on Chicago’s vibrant South Side, is a hub for contemporary arts in Chicago, serving as a gathering, production, and exhibition space for artists and the broader community to cultivate ideas, impact social change, and connect with new networks. Since its inception in 1939, Hyde Park Art Center has grown from a small collective of artists to establishing a strong legacy of risk-taking and experimentation, emerging as a unique Chicago arts institution with social impact. Today, the Art Center offers a diverse suite of programs for artists and art lovers of all backgrounds, ages, and stages in their careers including: contemporary art exhibitions in six galleries; an open-access community-based school with 2,500 annual enrollments; weekly arts education to over 1,000 public elementary school students; weekly and summer programs for 250 teen artists; professional-advancement programs for artists; a local and international artist residency; and public programs that connect residents with Chicago art and artists. The Art Center’s Oakman Clinton School + Studio is the nation’s first fully contribute-what-you-can visual art school for all ages. The Art Center functions as an amplifier for creative voices of today and tomorrow, providing the space to cultivate new work and connections. All exhibitions and events are free and open to the public. Visit our <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.hydeparkart.org" target="_blank">website</a> for updated hours and info. Image: Installation View: Yasmin Spiro: Cornerstone, Hyde Park Art Center, 2025; photo by Tran Tran

Hyde Park Art Center

Toomey &amp; Co. Auctioneers is a premier specialty auction house and has been&nbsp;conducting auctions of 20th century art and design since 1987.&nbsp; Steeped in the midwestern origins of Prairie School architecture, Toomey &amp; Co.&nbsp;is a leading purveyor of fine art and design. From the Arts &amp; Crafts movement&nbsp;and early art pottery to modern and contemporary art, our dedicated team brings a wealth of experience and attention to every work we handle. Whether a single work or a single-owner sale, we take pride in our focused approach and our dedication to crafting a quality experience for each of our clients and customers. In the fall of 2022, Toomey &amp; Co. relocated from historic Oak Park to the city of Chicago, sharing office and gallery space with Wright. This move consolidates our consignment, production, and creative efforts, allowing us to serve our clients more effectively from a centrally located, downtown site.

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers

Established in 2010, Volume Gallery focuses on material-driven practices across disciplines with a concentration on contemporary and historical American art and design. There is a commitment to finding meaning in materiality and a dedication to advancing innovative makers of the present and recent past. In addition to its exhibitions program, Volume Gallery releases editions, publications, and engages in site-specific commissions that showcase the work of American artists and designers to regional, national, and international audiences. Image: Work by Christy Matson and Jennefer Hoffmann, installation view, Volume Gallery

Volume Gallery

GRAY is a globally recognized team of art professionals devoted to fostering the development of artists’ careers and to building outstanding art collections. For more than six decades GRAY has supported the visions of artists by bringing exhibitions and projects to audiences around the world, working with collectors and institutions to foster practices and preserve legacies. Founded in Chicago in 1963 as Richard Gray Gallery and since 1997 also in New York City, the gallery, now under the leadership of Paul Gray and Valerie Carberry, continues to be recognized for the exceptional quality of its program and for the expert counsel it provides to private and museum clients worldwide. Member of Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) Image: Installation view of Theaster Gates: OH, YOU’VE GOT TO COME BACK TO THE CITY at GRAY Chicago, 2025.

GRAY

Established by Kimberly Oliva in 2016, Oliva Gallery brings to Chicago provocative emerging and mid-career contemporary artists.&nbsp; In addition to the gallery’s ongoing exhibition programming, Oliva Gallery regularly participates in national art fairs, including Door County Contemporary Art in Wisconsin and Design Round Top in Texas. Image: Molly J. Schiff

Oliva Gallery

SoNa Chicago is an art gallery in the Wicker Park / Bucktown / West Town area of Chicago. We are located just “South of North Avenue” (SoNa) on Ashland Avenue and east of the iconic intersection of Damen, Milwaukee, and North Avenue.&nbsp; The gallery features art in a variety of media including paintings, prints, sculpture, photography, collages, ceramics, textiles, and occasional performances of poetry, music, and theater. The artwork carried by SoNa Chicago reflects the creativity and abundant energy of the human spirit, affirming the beauty in the world and the potential for joy and the advancement of humanity as a force for good. Although we will put a spotlight on Chicago artists, we want the dialogue between artists and the community to be global. We view our space as a venue for conversation, community, and a celebration of the arts. SoNa Chicago opened in May 2023. We look forward to collaborating with our neighbors and with artists and galleries across the city. Image: Jill Fox,&nbsp;graphic designer

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art

Intimate East Erie Gallery established in 2022, specializes in legacy art from local and regional, contemporary artists, in a variety of mediums (oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolor, graphite, clay, mixed media) and styles (abstract and representational paintings, drawings, collage and ceramics). NO AI (Artificial Ingredients or Intelligence!). Our desire is to connect patrons and art lovers with original work, to add too or start their own collection, within an in-person experience.&nbsp; We are located in the Streeterville neighborhood, steps away from Michigan Ave., and housed in the newly land-marked, Erie Street Row Building, built in 1877. Exhibitions and events throughout the year. Visit our website for details. Image: Gallery Front Room Entrance

East Erie Gallery

The Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics (GoCM) exhibits internationally recognized, emerging, and established contemporary artists working across various disciplines, including mosaic art. GoCM champions artists who demonstrate exceptional conceptual and technical skill through a wide range of approaches and materials. In the US, contemporary mosaics remain relatively unacknowledged as a fine art; therefore, GoCM offers a platform for highly respected and regarded artists to showcase their work in our state-of-the-art facility. GoCM is affiliated with The Chicago Mosaic School (CMS), the preeminent center for mosaic arts education in the Americas. The Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics will significantly transform how audiences experience mosaics, both within and beyond our walls. Image: Gallery view

Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics

Located in the heart of Milwaukee, the Kim Storage Gallery is a vibrant space celebrating the creativity of Wisconsin and beyond. This gallery features a diverse mix of museum-quality artwork, ranging from innovative pieces by emerging local talents to esteemed works by established artists. It’s a dynamic hub where art enthusiasts can explore the evolving landscape of contemporary art in an inviting and accessible environment. Jan 2–Feb 14: Susan Hall. Opening Jan 16, 5–8pmFeb 27–Apr 10: Gabrielle Marie Stone. Opening Feb 27, 5-8pmApr 17–May 30: Katherine Steichen Rosing. Opening: Apr 17, 5-8pmJul 10–Aug 15: Color Play. Opening: July 17, 5-8pmAug 21–Sept 26: Tim Anderson. Opening: Aug 21, 5-8pmOct 2–Nov 7: Hector Acuna &amp; Andy Paczos. Opening: Oct 16, 5-8pmNov 13–Dec 19: Doug Fath. Opening: Nov 13, 5-8pm Image: Art by Paul Krainak

Kim Storage Gallery

old friends is an art gallery located in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago. The gallery presents practices with increased focus on material application, supporting critical conversation through archival and communal programming.&nbsp; old friends was founded by Fawn Penn and Delia Pelli-Walbert in 2024. The gallery entrance is on street level off of Paulina, at the intersection of Paulina, Lincoln, and Roscoe. The main doorway is 37-1/2 inches wide, accessed through a 40-inch-wide gated vestibule. The gallery is right off the Paulina Brown Line EL stop. If you need physical assistance or a virtual viewing of any of our exhibitions, please contact us.&nbsp; Image: Installation view of E. Saffronia Downing: Tracks and Other Signs at Old Friends

Old Friends Gallery

Joy Machine is a contemporary art gallery in Chicago’s Irving Park neighborhood. Founded in 2025 by Grace Ebert and Christopher Jobson, the gallery exhibits works by emerging and established artists, with a particular focus on creating dialogues between those working locally and others making their Chicago debuts. Fostering joy through accessibility and the unexpected remains a central tenet of our programming. Image: Installation view of Light Preserver (2025). Photo by Daniel Kwon

Ceramics

Other Specialties

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