Chicago activists in the 1960s and ’70s used design to create powerful slogans, symbols, and imagery to amplify their visions for social change. Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s features more than 100 posters, fliers, signs, buttons, newspapers, magazines, and books from the era, expressing often radical ideas about race, war, gender equality, […]
This exhibition makes visible the photograph collection of Japanese photographer Akito Tsuda, who documented Chicago's Mexican American Pilsen neighborhood in the early 1990s while attending art school at Columbia College. It also explores the relationships between the photographer and his subjects over time.
Over the last century, Chicago has led the nation in progressive arts education for K-12 students, as teachers and their students linked art education to movements for social justice, access, and self-determination. Gallery 400’s Learning Together centers the progressive art pedagogy of a diverse group of Chicago artist educators from the mid-1960s through the 2010s, […]
Radical Craft, an exhibition, catalog, and workshop series, celebrates the work of immigrant artists and reformers at the country's most important social settlement. The exhibition showcases Hull-House’s rarely exhibited textile collection, drawn from a wide array of immigrant traditions. Also included are handbound books from Ellen Gates Starr’s bookbindery, newly restored paintings by Alice Kellogg […]
Over the last nine years, artist Theaster Gates has been the steward of the Johnson Publishing Company’s ephemera, periodicals, furniture, inventory, and architectural fragments originally housed at the Johnson Publishing Company building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The devices for the interrogation of these objects and their permission to be public have created one of […]
Myth of the Organic City presents an historical and contemporary overview of Chicago’s design and land use, from its Indigenous roots through 20th century infrastructure projects to present-day developments. The exhibition includes maps, landscape designs, installations, wall drawings, sculptures, and multimedia works by more than 25 artists. The exhibition features artwork by Alexandra Antoine, Rebecca […]
For the Smart Museum’s 50th anniversary, South Side artist Robert Earl Paige creates a multi-part pattern-based installation and sprawling public art project that invites communities into a collective experience of space. Give the Drummer Some! is rooted in Paige’s decades-long practice as an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator who bridges cultural boundaries. A lifelong resident of the […]
Exploring identity and place through the diverse work, perspectives, and legacy of three immigration periods of Lithuanian artists in Chicago, this exhibition and its associated programs and publications consider the causes and consequences of immigration/migration, including displacement, colonization, trauma, and assimilation. The cost of belonging is choosing what to leave behind. Its reward: creating new […]
This exhibition explores typography, the shape and design of letters, within Chicago's diverse neighborhoods to investigate design legacies and their contemporary echoes. The exhibition highlights alternative modernisms by considering how revolutionary movements and concepts like love and safety shape the way communities spread and design information for one another. Featured designers and lettering artists activate […]
On Sundays from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m., join 6018North for soup and discussions about sustainability. Presented as a part of 6018North's Myth of the Organic City exhibition, Sunday Sustainable Soup is an opportunity to gather together—over soup—with likeminded people who want to advance sustainable actions. Early conversations formed the agenda/focus around three things: Be a […]
This exhibition and accompanying public program reflect on the lived experiences of immigrant printers, designers, and bookmakers in Chicago and explore how printing by and for immigrant communities has shaped the city’s cultural landscape.
Zhegagoynak, the place now known as Chicagoland, is a vital center for Indigenous art, past and present. Through the perspectives of four collaborating artists with connections to Zhegagoynak—Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe/European descent), Kelly Church (Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Tribe of Pottawatomi/Ottawa), Nora Moore Lloyd (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe), and Jason Wesaw (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi) —Woven Being explores confluences that are […]
This exhibition examines contemporary approaches to traditional Woodlands style art, highlighting the underrepresented and diverse Native cultures of the Great Lakes region and the materials, art forms, and processes they have carried forward over generations.
The Driehaus Museum is characterized by a rich history and an impressive wealth of architectural styles. The site of the Museum, the Gilded Age-era Samuel Nickerson Mansion, offers a rare opportunity to map important and often overlooked histories and genealogies. While the unique design and architecture of the Mansion have been documented and studied, A Tale […]
Tour Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland with Terra Foundation Guest Co-Curator Jordan Poorman Cocker. Through the perspectives of four collaborating artists with connections to Zhegagoynak—Andrea Carlson(Grand Portage Ojibwe/European descent), Kelly Church (Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Tribe of Pottawatomi/Ottawa), Nora Moore Lloyd (Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe), and Jason Wesaw (Pokagon Band of Potawatomi)—Woven Being explores confluences that continue to shape Indigenous creative […]
On these free admission days (March 1 and April 5), come explore A Tale of Today: Materialities. For this exhibition at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, curator Giovanni Aloi has invited artists to select a material from the museum, research its history, and produce site-specific installations designed to uncover hidden cultural, historical, and ecological networks, […]
The Block Museum’s Woven Being Community Room is a dedicated space for conversation, reflection, laughter, and relaxation within the exhibition, Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland. It’s open during regular museum hours, and while it is designed to center the Indigenous community, it is open to all. On the first Wednesday evening of each month, stop by for informal […]
Meet the Block Museum Student Associates in the galleries for a close look at one or two works on view in Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland. Block Museum Student Associates (BMSAs) are Northwestern undergraduates representing interdisciplinary fields of study from across the university. In the galleries, the BMSAs engage The Block’s visitors in conversations about artworks that spark their curiosity and ideas that are relevant […]
Join 6018North to help repurpose Christmas tree needles for Acres of Blooms, an artwork to be presented at EXPO Chicago 2025. While attendees process the trees, Luftwerk discusses the world of color and nature's palette. Join in the making of this huge field of color from old pine needles! A similar process was used in Luftwerk's Extraction, […]
Join the Design Museum of Chicago and Proof Studios at Fourtunehouse Art Center for City Script: A Street Art Workshop & Film Screening. Presented as part of the Design Museum’s exhibition, Letters Beyond Form: Chicago Types, this event connects local creative spaces to the larger conversation about lettering and public art by inviting participants to explore the styles […]
As a part of programming for the exhibition Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House 1889-1935, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum is partnering with The WasteShed to present their event series, “Radical Mending.” This includes “Mending Basics,” a series of workshops designed to build and develop basic sewing skills and promote the importance of sustainable fashion. The […]
Meet the Block Museum Student Associates in the galleries for a close look at one or two works on view in Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland. Block Museum Student Associates (BMSAs) are Northwestern undergraduates representing interdisciplinary fields of study from across the university. In the galleries, the BMSAs engage The Block’s visitors in conversations about artworks that spark their curiosity and ideas that are relevant to […]
This workshop, led by professional clown and performance artist Douglas Grew from Pilsen-based Pros Arts Studio, introduces participants to the essential principles of clown performance. You’ll explore the emotional depth of pathos, the comic absurdity of bathos, and how these contrasting elements combine to create impactful comedy. Journey through the history of clowning and explore […]
Join the Hyde Park Art Center and the Smart Museum of Art in celebrating the first major publication to focus on artist, designer, and educator Robert Earl Paige. Held in the Smart […]
Join 6018North at the Chicago Cultural Center's first floor Learning Lab to help repurpose Christmas tree needles for Acres of Blooms, an artwork to be presented at EXPO Chicago 2025. While attendees process the trees, Luftwerk discusses the world of color and nature’s palette. Join in the making of this huge field of color from old pine needles! A […]
Join the Design Museum of Chicago for an evening conversation with the type designers and letterform crafters in the Letters Beyond Form exhibition, featuring Kelsey McClellan of Heart & Bone […]
Weaving Stories is a series of community-building weaving workshops meant to connect our shared stories of heritage and culture to material practice. Taking place at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in the coming months, the series invites participants […]
Join the Design Museum of Chicago to celebrate the release of the Letters Beyond Form exhibition catalogue. The book captures the essence of the exhibition by exploring the artistry, history, and cultural significance of letterforms. The public is invited for a casual gathering to browse the catalogue, connect with fellow design enthusiasts, and revisit the […]
This exhibition, curated Dr. Lucy Mensah, uses art, archives, and public dialogue to explore and connect the histories of displacement of Indigenous people and African American families on the land where the National Public Housing Museum is located. The project includes a temporary mural outside the museum by artist Andrea Carlson (Ojibwe) that links Indigenous […]
On these free admission days (March 1 and April 5), come explore A Tale of Today: Materialities. For this exhibition at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, curator Giovanni Aloi has invited artists to select a material from the museum, research its history, and produce site-specific installations designed to uncover hidden cultural, historical, and ecological networks, […]
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An initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art in partnership with artists and organizations across the city, Art Design Chicago is a series of events and exhibitions that highlight the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.
