Our Art Picks are created in collaboration with The Visualist, Chicago’s leading visual arts calendar, and cross-promoted through Windy City Times, one of the longest locally-published LGBTQ weeklies with a national reach. Click here to get our Art Picks and latest articles delivered to your inbox monthly.
This is a growing list, so check back often for new additions.
Featured
Thurs, April 13, 6-8pm
Self-publishing for Activism
Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry (929 E 60th St)
Free
Fri, April 21 – Sat, April 22
Lake FX CreativeCon
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sixty Inches From Center @ Lake FX:
Fri, April 21, 3-4pm
Waves, Web and Page: Dialogue + Cultural Coverage Across Platforms
Featuring Ed Marszewski/Logan Bay (Lumpen), Alex Cox (Cards Against Humanity + Postloudness), Andrea Hart (City Bureau), Tracy Baim (Windy City Times); Moderated by Lee Bey (Photographer, Journalist)
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sat, April 22, 12-1pm
The Party Politic: Building Movements through Movement
Featuring Aay Preston Myint (Chances Dances), Eric Williams (The Silver Room), Jane Beachy (Salonathon), Rae Chardonnay (Party Noire), Ciera McKissick (AmFm); Moderated by Abra Johnson (Scholar, Dancer, Honey Pot Performance)
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sat, April 22, 1:30-2:30pm
Individual as Archivist: Taking Your Story Into Your Own Hands
Featuring Stacie Williams (Archivist, Archives Activist, Case Western Reserve University) in conversation with Analú López (Archivist, Sixty Inches From Center + Newberry Library)
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sat, April 22, 4:30-5:30pm
Fresh Walls: New Space for Artists to Occupy
Featuring Maggie Crowley + Javier Bosques (Produce Model Gallery), Mashuska Matthews + Torie McMillan (Plus Gallery), Tracie Hall (Rootwork Gallery), Fontaine Capel (Hume), and Claudine Ise (Goldfinch); Moderated by Caroline Picard (Sector 2337)
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sat, April 22, 3-4pm
Movement Matters: Body Politic
Old Town School of Folk Music (4544 N. Lincoln Av)
Free
Sat, April 28, 6pm
In The Company of Black – Book Launch
Filter Space (1821 W. Hubbard St., Ste. 207)
Free
Sat, April 29, 12-1pm
Photographing Black Life: Cecil McDonald, Jr. & Dawoud Bey
The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Ave)
Free
April Art Picks
Sat, April 1, 10am-1pm
Young People’s Poetry Day: A Celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks
Poetry Foundation (61 W Superior St)
Free
Sat, April 1, 1-3pm
Lecture: Kenyon Farrow and Jennifer Brier
DePaul Art Museum (DePaul Art Museum)
Free
Sat, April 1, 1-4pm
First Saturdays at Mana
Mana Contemporary Chicago (2233 S Throop St)
Free
Sat, April 1, 1-5pm
How to Get Read: Symposium and Exhibition
SAIC (37 S Wabash Ave)
Free
Sat, April 1, 4-7pm
Ryosuke Kumakura: Belongings
PATRON (673 N Milwaukee Ave)
Free
Sat, April 1, 6-10pm
For The Love of Farnsworth 2017
Matthew Rachman Gallery (1659 W Chicago Ave)
$95 for 1/ $175 for 2
Sat, April 1, 7-10pm
Kevin Coval: A People’s History of Chicago
Volumes Bookcafe (1474 N Milwaukee Ave)
Free
April 1-15
Chicago Dance Month 2017 at Old Town School
Old Town School of Folk Music (4544 N. Lincoln Ave)
$10-$45
Sun, April 2, 10am-2pm
Back Of The Yards Se Defiende!
TRP: Back of the Yards Office (4600 S Wood)
Free
Sun, April 2, 3-7pm
MFA Art Theory and Practice Open Studios
Locy Hall, Basement, Northwestern University (1850 Campus Dr, Evanston)
Free
Mon, April 3, 6pm
Chicago Dance Month Opening Celebration
Navy Pier (600 E Grand)
Free
Mon, April 3, 8:30-11:59pm
Salonathon: Believe Them
Beauty Bar (1444 W Chicago Ave)
Free
Wed, April 5, 6-8pm
Malcolm Daniel
Ferguson Lecture Hall (600 S Michigan Ave)
Free
Wed, April 5, 5:30pm
Gwendolyn Brooks and A Street in Bronzeville
Newberry Library (60 W Walton)
Free
Wed, April 5, 6-8pm
Visual Vanguard: Bisi Silva
Block Museum (40 Arts Circle Dr, Evanston)
Free
Thurs, April 6, 5pm
Youth Voices and Verses for Violence Prevention
The Chicago Arts Center (1932 S Halsted St)
Free
Thurs, April 6, 5pm
PastForward/ In Black
Gallery 400 Lecture Hall (400 S Peoria St)
Free
Thurs, April 6, 6-8pm
Melika Bass: Devotional Animals
Conversations at the Edge (164 N State St)
Free
Fri, April 7, 6pm
Feeling Homesick At Home
Featuring Nic Kay, Grace Kubilius, Ato Ribiero, Work/Play and curated by Anastasia Karpova Tinari.
ACRE (1345 W 19th St.)
Free
Fri, April 7, 6pm
Natural Inclinations Opening Reception
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (2320 W Chicago Av)
Free
Fri, April 7, 9am-7pm
Day 2: UChicago’s Centennial Brooks
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (915 E 60th St)
Free
Fri, April 7, 5-8pm
In Acts
Weinberg/Newton Gallery (300 W Superior St)
Free
Sat, April 8, 7:30-9:30pm
Centennial Brooks w/ Nicole Mitchell & Jamila Woods
Logan Center for the Arts (915 E. 60th St)
Free
Sat, April 8, 6pm
A New Look
Monique Meloche Gallery (2154 W Division St)
Free
Sat, April 8, 6-9pm
Alejandro T. Acierto: Breathing Room
Roman Susan (1224 W Loyola Ave)
Free
Sat, April 8, 7pm
Battles #1: Ground Work
No Nation – Art Gallery and Tangential Unspace Lab (1542 N Milwaukee Av)
Free, RSVP Requested
Wed, April 12, 6:30pm
In-Session 3: Jaclyn Jacunski, Norman Long, and Rose Hernandez
Navy Pier (600 E Grand Av)
Free
Thurs, April 13, 6:30-9pm
The Rear View Mirror Sessions: The Excellence of Donny Hathaway
Arts Incubator in Washington Park (301 E Garfield Blvd)
Free
Thurs, April 13, 5-7pm
#AiWeiwei
Museum of Contemporary Photography (600 s Michigan Ave)
Free
Thurs, April 13, 6-8pm
Cabaret Crusades
Conversations at the Edge (164 N State St)
Free
Thurs, April 13, 6-8pm
West Side/South Side: Bridging the Divide
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (800 S Halsted St)
Free
Thurs, April 13, 6-8pm
William Cordova Networking Event: Part 2
Threewalls (2738 W North Ave)
Free
April 14-16
Printmaking In Art Fair 2017
DfbrL8r (1463 W Chicago Ave)
Free
Fri, April 14, 6:30pm
Intercessions: Art as Intervention and Prayer
Rootwork Gallery (645 W 18th St)
Free
Sat, April 15, 7pm
Sustain: Performance as Activism
Lillstreet Lofts (4437 N. Ravenswood, 2nd Floor)
$10
Sat, April 15, 6:30pm
Poetics: A Conversation about Queer Spaces of Color
Latitude (1821 W Hubbard St. Ste 207)
Free
Sat, April 15, 7pm
Battles #2: Weaponize
The Learning Machine (3145 S Morgan St)
Free, RSVP Requested
Sat, April 15, 5pm
John Opera > Opening reception
DOCUMENT (1709 W Chicago Av)
Free
Mon, April 17, 6-8pm
Co-MISSION Residency works in progress
Links Hall (3111 N Western Ave)
$0-15
Thurs, April 19, 11am-12pm
College of DuPage Spring 2017 Visiting Artist Series: Amanda Williams
McAninch Arts Center, Playhouse Theatre (425 Fawell Blvd, Glen Ellyn)
Free
Wed, April 19, 6pm
Gods Do Handstands; Spices Simmer: Artist Talk
Chicago Artists Coalition (217 N Carpenter St)
Free
April 21 – 23
Open Engagement: Justice
Various locations, Check website for schedule
Sliding Scale Registration
Fri, April 21, 6-8pm
CAKE Art Auction 2017
826 Chi (1276 N Milwaukee Ave)
$10-15
Sat, April 21, 12-1pm
Working Through It: Mindfulness in Critical Art Practice
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St)
Free
Sat, April 22, 12pm
Funding for Artists: The Inside Scoop @ Lake FX
Chicago Cultural Center (78 E Washington St.)
Free
Sat, April 22, 10am
For the toward at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E Chicago Ave)
Free with museum admission.
Sun, April 23, 5pm
Beauty Breaks at Open Engagement
Jane Addams Hull House (800 S Halsted St)
Free
Mon, April 24, 7-8:30pm
Set Free
Links Hall (3111 N Western Ave)
$0-5
Wed, April 26, 6:30pm
In-Session: Jacquelyn Guerrero, Natalie Murillo, Holly Chernobyl
Navy Pier (600 E Grand Av)
Free
Fri, April 28, 6pm
The Last Poets
DuSable Museum of African American History (740 E 56th Pl)
Free
April 28-29
Art, Publics, Politics: Legacies of the Wall of Respect
Block Museum (40 Arts Circle Dr, Evanston)
Free
Sat, April 29, 9:30am
Summit: What is an Artistic Practice of Human Rights?
Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry (929 E 60th St)
Free
Sat, April 19, 10am – 1pm
Memoria Presente: Running Street Art Tour
National Museum of Mexican Art
Free
Sat, April 29, 7pm
Battles #3: Spoils & Return
Japanese Culture Center – 日本文化会館 (1016 W Belmont Av)
Free, RSVP Requested
Sat, April 29, 2-3pm
Kimberly Drew: Curating Art in a Digital World
The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Ave)
Free
Up through May 6th
David Leggett: Their funeral, our dance floor
Shane Campbell Gallery (2021 S Wabash)
Free
Featured Image: From Cecil McDonald Jr’s series Domestic Observations, part of the book In The Company of Black. Join him for the release of his book at Filter Space (April 28) or witness him in conversation with Dawoud Bey at the Art Institute of Chicago (April 29).
