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.
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, graphic designer
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SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art is proud to host the culminating exhibition of the Industry of the Ordinary (IOTO) Summer Residency 2025, opening Saturday, September 6th, and running through September 27th, 2025. Now in its eighth year, IOTO's enduring and ever-evolving program continues to offer a platform for critical experimentation and bold expression by emerging artists.
The 2025 residency expands its reach with a three-week public exhibition, offering viewers an extended opportunity to engage with the fresh, challenging, and diverse perspectives produced over the course of this unique summer program. For the first time, the show will take place at SoNa Chicago, creating a new context for these artists to consider the economic and spatial realities of exhibiting work professionally — including the opportunity to offer work for sale.
At the opening on Saturday, September 6th from 5–8pm, all 15 residents will activate the full site of the exhibition address - moving beyond the traditional white cube to engage both interior and exterior spaces. Visitors can expect a mix of time-based, performative, and spatial interventions alongside two- and three-dimensional works, continuing the Residency’s longstanding commitment to diverse and experimental practices.
At its core, the IOTO Summer Residency is rooted in the belief that art has the unique power to bring diverse voices together, revealing new dimensions of what it means to be human. The program is structured around intensive studio development, open discussion, and critical inquiry — with weekly meetings and mentorship from Industry of the Ordinary, whose own practice challenges the boundaries between the personal and the public, the ordinary and the extraordinary.
Housed primarily at IOTO’s studio at Mana Contemporary in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood, the residency invites participants to develop new work across a variety of media while engaging in deep conversations around process, form, value, and impact. This year's cohort reflects the spirit of the program: intellectually curious, materially adventurous, and socially aware. Their work, shaped through both individual exploration and group dialogue, invites us to consider not only artistic outcomes but also the systems of meaning and connection through which those outcomes arise.
Since its founding in 2015, the IOTO Summer Residency has cultivated a space for radical questioning and creative rigor. This year’s exhibition continues that tradition, inviting visitors to witness the unfolding of new artistic voices engaged in both personal narrative and public discourse — and to be part of a conversation that extends well beyond the gallery walls.
Contact: Laura Botwinick, Phone: (773) 513-4436, Email: lkbotwinick@gmail.com Gallery website: https://sonachicagoart.com/ Facebook & Instagram: @sonachicagoart
Industry of the Ordinary (Adam Brooks, 773-301-7162, adambrooks9@gmail.com; Mathew Wilson, 312-927-8855, mathewcwilson98@yahoo.com)
Image: Akemi Nomo, LifeTime ( 人间，人間 )
Photo credit: Industry of the Ordinary
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