{"article":{"id":5414,"title":"CGN Art Preview: February 2025","excerpt":"","body":"

From left: The Seldoms and Elmhurst Art Museum, Wafaa Bilal at the MCA, and MoCP's annual DARKROOM benefit.



CGN adds to its calendar of art events daily, and there is no shortage of new exhibitions, openings, art fairs, talks and family art events to explore. We have put together a preview of what is coming up the rest of this month. Events happen throughout the city as well as in the suburbs and within a days drive. Whether you have an hour after work or you are looking for a weekend road trip, take a look and do a little planning in order to take a step into the world of art. Everyone is welcome!


Highlights are organized by event type. Dates vary and are subject to change.


– Ginny

CGN Publisher



• Family Events




Family Day: Filling the Paige


Saturday, Feb 8, 2025 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Smart Museum of Art


Discover how artists featured in The 50th create their work in unexpected ways. Families will experiment with pattern, printing, and repetition using unique art-making techniques such as printmaking, paint, and ink. Drop in; all families and kids of all ages are welcome. 




Family Day: Comfy Cozy


Saturday, Feb 8, 2025 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)


Spend the afternoon crafting your own incense, tea, and heartfelt art. Family Days are always free for kids and their grownups!



• Performance and Screenings




Insert Coin Documentary Screening and Discussion


Tuesday, Feb 11, 2025 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

The Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA)


In conjunction with the Insert Coin exhibition at Cleve Carney Museum of Art, enjoy a special screening of the documentary, “Insert Coin,” followed by a panel discussion with key members of Midway Games featured in the documentary. “Insert Coin” is the amazing behind-the-scenes story of the making of Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam and other massive videogame hits. 




The Seldoms: An Evening of Dance Inspired by the Earth


Friday, Feb 14, 2025 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Elmhurst Art Museum


The Seldoms, a contemporary Chicago-based dance troupe, perform excerpts from three celebrated works: Floe (2020), GRASS (2021), and Superbloom (2023). Inspired by themes of the museum’s current exhibition Sustenance & Land, such as climate, nature, and transformation, these innovative works are followed by a lively discussion with the dancers. The program includes light bites, beverages, and exhibition viewing.



• Exhibitions



Arvie Smith: Crossing Clear Creek


Feb 8, 2025 - Mar 22, 2025

Opening: Saturday, Feb 8, 2025 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM

moniquemeloche


Arvie Smith: Crossing Clear Creek is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery. Smith is a 2024 recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts, with an artistic career spanning over four decades. His ongoing passion for advancing social and racial justice is reflected through his narrative paintings depicting historical and contemporary policies, influencers, bigotry, and institutional white supremacy, transforming the history of oppressed and stereotyped segments of the American experience into lyrical two-dimensional master works.




A Tale of Today: Materialities


Feb 7 - Apr 25, 2025

The Driehaus Museum


A Tale of Today: Materialities, an expansive contemporary exhibition that invites viewers to discover the history and architectural richness of the Museum through the eyes of artists who are rooted in the Midwest. In the autumn of 2023, the Driehaus Museum held an open call for submissions, asking artists to identify a material from the Museum, research its history, and produce site-specific responses that connect the fabric of the building to distant shores, traditions, and ideologies. The commissioned works connect the past and present in original and compelling ways, linking different cultures to specific materials and allowing visitors to see the Nickerson Mansion through different perspectives.




Wafaa Bilal: Indulge Me


Thru Oct 25, 2025

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA)


Indulge Me is a major survey of renowned artist Wafaa Bilal (b. 1966, Najaf, Iraq; lives in New York, NY). Crucially, the exhibition will take a comprehensive look at Bilal’s myriad practice, highlighting the development of his work across decades and placing it in conversation with broader art histories. It will also explore cultural cannibalism—that is, how culture (specifically the culture of the other) is used, disassembled, and consumed.





• Art Fairs and Markets




West Loop Contemporary Fine Art Expo


Feb 21–Feb 23


Featuring over 40 invitation-only artists from 8 states, this Midwest inaugural event takes place at Plumber's Hall, the historic Beaux-Arts building in Chicago's trendy and convenient West Loop.




• Galas and Benefits




Celebrate 25 Years of Arts of Life


Saturday, Feb 22

Circle Contemporary (Arts of Life)


Come raise a glass, meet the artists, eat some cake, and be part of a celebration dedicated to art and community. Here's to the next 25 years! Join us as we mark a milestone—our 25th anniversary of championing creativity, vision, and the arts. Longtime supporter and Guest of Honor Cindy Shanker will join us to commemorate this special occasion.




DARKROOM 2025: Annual Benefit Auction Party


Thursday, Feb 27

Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)


DARKROOM is MoCP’s renowned benefit auction party featuring premier artworks and one-of-a-kind arts experiences by emerging and established contemporary artists from around the world.





JMKAC Gala 2025: This is the Place


Saturday, Feb 22

John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC)


The JMKAC Gala is an outta-sight celebration of how far we’ve come since the 1960s and our 1967 grand opening. There’ll be dinner from The American Club, a fabulous auction featuring one-of-a-kind items and far-out treasures, an open bar, valet parking, and more. It’ll be a gas!





• Last Call - Closing Soon



Kayla Risko: Interiors


Thru Feb 15

65GRAND




Home Sweet Home: Nostalgia...ish 3


Thru Feb 15, 2025

Chicago Truborn


\"Home Sweet Home: Nostalgia...ish 3\" dives deeper into reimagined vintage, thrifted, and found objects. This time, it’s more expansive, more playful, and filled with even more unforgettable creations.



View the CGN Calendar here. Updated daily.


#

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This weekend's art plans can take you across Chicago, into the far suburbs, and north to Wisconsin.


The Chicago Architecture Center’s annual Open House Chicago opens doors to distinctive spaces, while family activities and an outdoor sculpture tour offer more ways to spend time with art.


Here is a look at what’s on this Saturday and Sunday. Follow the event links for any registration details and updates, and keep an eye on CGN’s calendar as more details are added.


– CGN




Open House Chicago at the Driehaus Museum

Saturday–Sunday, October 17–18; Saturday performance 1–2 p.m.

The Driehaus Museum

Murphy Auditorium, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago


Explore the historic Murphy Auditorium during the Chicago Architecture Center’s annual Open House Chicago weekend. The landmark, reopened after renovation in 2024, also hosts Hanna DiLorenzo’s Behind Closed Doors on Saturday. Entry is free without reservations; access does not include the museum’s exhibition galleries.




Family Day: Proud to Be Me

Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.

Smart Museum of Art

5550 S. Greenwood Ave., Chicago


Exhibiting artist Nina Chanel Abney guides visitors in creating colorful self-portrait collages. A collaborative card-deck project extends the activities beyond the canvas, offering families a chance to explore identity and creativity together.




Open House Chicago: Etching Demonstrations

Saturday–Sunday, October 17–18, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. each day

WING Studio

4883 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago


Add printmaking to your Open House Chicago itinerary. WING Studio welcomes visitors for etching demonstrations on both days, offering a closer look at an art-making process inside a working studio in Lincoln Square.




Guided Tour of theNate with Director and Curator Jeff Stevenson

Saturday, October 17, 1–2:30 p.m.

Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park

Governors State University, University Park


Head outdoors with Jeff Stevenson for a tour of the South Collection, considering visiting artists’ installations alongside familiar works and their connections to the Earth. Admission is $10. Meet at the F Entrance, wear shoes for grass paths, and dress for the weather; parking is free.




Kevin Blake: Sundowning

Saturday, October 17, 2–4 p.m.

Bert Green Fine Art

8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 620, Chicago


This Saturday event highlights Kevin Blake’s solo exhibition, guest curated by Dan Cameron. Blake’s paintings scrutinize inherited ideas of masculinity, placing familiar social roles in unsettled situations and revealing vulnerability beneath the outward performance of confidence.




*


View the full CGN Calendar here


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This week’s art plans can take you across Chicago, into the suburbs, and north to Wisconsin. Bridgeport is busy with Third Friday festivities and Milwaukee’s quarterly Gallery Night MKE is back. New exhibitions, live calligraphy, and an art sale round out Friday’s choices.


Here is a look at what’s ahead on Friday. Follow the event links for registration and updates, and keep an eye on CGN’s calendar as more details are added.


– CGN




Between Reflection and Revelation: David Dunlop’s Material Alchemy

Gallery Night: Friday, October 16, 5–9 p.m.; Gallery Day: Saturday, October 17, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; exhibition opens October 14

JK Art House

191 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin


Make a Wisconsin art outing part of the weekend. David Dunlop combines traditional translucent oil techniques with metal supports, producing paintings whose surfaces change with light and movement. The opening joins Milwaukee’s quarterly Gallery Night MKE, with a free John Michael Kohler Arts Center workshop also taking place in the gallery.


Also taking place is Treasured Postcards on Friday, October 16, 5–9 p.m. This is a John Michael Kohler Arts Center workshop at JK Art House. Inspired by Lenore Tawney’s correspondence, this free Gallery Night workshop invites participants to make small collage postcards from photographs, printed papers, and other materials. Stop into JK Art House’s Parlor to create an artwork that can travel through the mail.




Out There

Gallery Night: Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.; Gallery Day: Saturday, October 17, 11 am. Exhibition on view through November 7

Kim Storage Gallery

207 E Buffalo St., Ste 404, Milwaukee, WI 53202


Out There is a two-person exhibition of new work by Hector Acuna and Andy Paczos. The title borrows the advice a teacher gave Paczos at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago: look out the window, \"there's lots of good stuff out there.\" He took it, and has painted Chicago from direct observation for three decades since. Acuna works the same way, returning to his Wisconsin sites across multiple plein air sessions and staging handmade props to paint in natural light. Both find their subjects by standing in front of them




Recycled 2026

First Look: Friday, October 16, 5 p.m.; opening-night event at 6 p.m.; sale through October 24

The Art Center Highland Park

1957 Sheridan Rd., Highland Park


Rediscovered art finds new homes at The Art Center’s annual sale, with donated works selected and priced for accessible collecting. Opening-night tickets offer an early look; weekend hours are Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sunday, noon–4 p.m. Entry is free October 19–24.




Calligraphy Performance

Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.; artist conversation 5–6:30 p.m.; performances begin at 6:30 p.m.

Research House for Asian Art

3217 S. Morgan St., Chicago


The Becoming Words reception brings calligraphy to life through performances by Hekiun Oda and Bahman Panahi. Panahi joins musician Kerry Leung for Musicalligraphy, while Oda demonstrates his distinctive practice. Food reflecting both artists’ cultures accompanies the evening. Admission is $40, plus the ticket service fee.




Structure in Stature

Opening: Friday, October 16, 6–9 p.m.; on view through November 20

Forum 301

301 W. Ohio St., Chicago


Fashion becomes a meeting point for architecture, sculpture, and performance in this group exhibition. The participating artists examine how clothing shapes bodily presence, from protection and concealment to exaggeration and transformation, and how we construct the space we occupy.




Open Studios Third Friday at the Bridgeport Art Center

Friday, October 16, 7–10 p.m.

Bridgeport Art Center

1200 W. 35th St., Chicago


Explore studios and three gallery presentations: Decadence Deux, presented by Pigment International and September Gray Fine Art; Art Connection: Past Meets Present, from ArtConnectED; and Robert Lipton’s Una Vuelta a Mis Raices. The free evening offers opportunities to encounter artists and their work throughout the building.




Bridgeport Third Friday Art Walk

Friday, October 16, 7–10 p.m.

Bridgeport Artist Community

Multiple neighborhood locations in Bridgeport, Chicago


Extend your Third Friday visit beyond a single building. The Bridgeport Artist Community’s route connects more than 45 galleries, studios, shops, and cultural spaces. Use the linked neighborhood map to plan stops, and check individual venues for their evening hours.




Szukalski. The Mythshaper / Szukalski. Rzeźbiarz mitu

Opening: Friday, October 16, 7–9 p.m.; on view through October 2027

Polish Museum of America

984 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago


A major exhibition revisits Stanisław Szukalski’s complex legacy through sculpture, drawing, prints, and photography. Organized with the POLONIKA Institute, it examines his imaginative mythmaking and contested ideas. Opening admission is $25; a Saturday discussion at 1 p.m. is $20, or $40 for both programs.




*


View the full CGN Calendar here

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October 14 and 15","excerpt":null,"body":"

This week’s art plans can take you across Chicago, into the suburbs, and north to Wisconsin. Auctions and museum conversations lead into Lincoln Park Art Night on Thursday, followed by Bridgeport’s Third Friday festivities and Milwaukee’s quarterly Gallery Night MKE. New exhibitions, live calligraphy, and an art sale round out Friday’s choices. Over the weekend, the Chicago Architecture Center’s annual Open House Chicago opens doors to distinctive spaces, while family activities and an outdoor sculpture tour offer more ways to spend time with art.


Here is a date-by-date look at what’s ahead. Follow the event links for registration and updates, and keep an eye on CGN’s calendar as more details are added.


– CGN




Curated: CALDER

Auction: Wednesday, October 14, 10 a.m. Central / 11 a.m. Eastern

Rago and Wright

online bidding


A midweek auction offers another way to engage with art. Rago and Wright’s current Curated: CALDER sale brings the artist’s work to the auction block, with bidding available online. See the current auction catalog for lots and registration.




European Furniture & Decorative Arts

Auction: October 14–15, 10 a.m. Central each day

Freeman’s

1550 W. Carroll Ave., Chicago


Freeman’s two-day sale spans English and Continental furnishings, decorative objects, and sculpture. Collections from across the country, including Barrington Hills, contribute to a selection ranging from clocks and tapestries to Minton porcelain.




Symposium: Religion, Art, and Provenance in Museums

October 14–16

Smart Museum of Art

University of Chicago | Hyde Park


What happens to religious objects when they enter museum collections? Keynotes, panels, and roundtable conversations consider their changing meanings and histories in this multi-day symposium. Consult the program for individual session times and locations.




Art and Women in Sports: Looking at Amber Morningstar

Wednesday, October 14, 3:30–5 p.m.

Block Museum of Art

40 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston


Northwestern Athletics’ Ava Earl and Associate Provost Michelle Manno consider Cara Romero’s photograph Amber Morningstar through the lens of women in sports and self-representation. The conversation connects art with identity, teamwork, and the power to shape one’s own image.


Coffee and tea begin at 3 p.m.




Becoming Words: A Joint Calligraphy Exhibition

October 15–November 15; opening reception Friday, October 16, 5–8 p.m.

Heritage Museum of Asian Art and Seldon Institute

Exhibition at Research House for Asian Art, 3217 S. Morgan St., Chicago


Japanese calligrapher Hekiun Oda and Iranian artist Bahman Panahi bring different traditions into conversation, moving from written language toward gesture, abstraction, and sound. The exhibition opens Thursday, followed by Friday’s live performance program and a free artist-led tour Saturday, October 17, 1–3 p.m.



The Fine Art of [Madron Gallery]

Opening: Thursday, October 15, 5:30–8:30 p.m.; on view through December 18

Madron Gallery

1000 W. North Ave., 3rd Floor, Chicago


Madron marks its 25th anniversary with twenty-five works by twenty-five artists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The free opening joins the fifth annual Lincoln Park Art Night, making it a lively evening to explore Madron, Leslie Wolfe Gallery, gallery 1871, Art City, and Art on Sedgwick.




Wander and Wallow: Must We Dwell — Brian Lathan

Opening: Thursday, October 15, 6–8 p.m.; artist remarks at 6:30 p.m.; on view through November 20

Kavanagh Gallery, Fine Line Creative Arts Center

37W570 Bolcum Rd., St. Charles


Brian Lathan’s brightly colored prints explore the uneasy relationship between escape and self-care. Figures shelter smaller versions of themselves inside exposed headspaces, inviting viewers to consider the habits and interior worlds that sustain us. Meet the artist at the free opening reception.


*


View the full CGN Calendar here



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