Created in collaboration with The Visualist, Chicago’s leading visual arts calendar, Sixty’s Art Picks is a wide selection of Midwest arts events, handpicked for our audience of artists, cultural workers, and curators, prioritizing the spaces and events of historically marginalized peoples. Our list is broad but by no means comprehensive; please look at venue calendars to find more events.
All times are listed in Central Standard Time unless otherwise noted. Click here to get our Art Picks and latest articles delivered to your inbox monthly. You can find Art Picks from previous months here.
Before attending any in-person events, we hope you’ll read this open letter cowritten by a group of disabled queers to the Chicago party community, demanding COVID-safe protocols and mindful gathering to protect the most vulnerable members of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of this letter is to reach organizers who plan events and cultivate spaces for queer community building and joy. Please remember to mask; the pandemic is on-going.
Click a button below to jump to a specific week of events.
Thursday, May 1, 1-2pm
Ask a Librarian
Ronning Library: 3100 E 49th St, Sioux Falls, SD
Free
Thursday, May 1, 4-8pm
The Stain Lab: mud + acid launch
The Stain Lab: 2108 N Damen Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 1, 6-7pm(EST)
Pottery Basics Class
Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library: 1515 SW 10th Ave, Topeka, KS
Free
Thursday, May 1, 6-7pm(EST)
Mind/Body/Art
Cincinnati Art Museum: 953 Eden Park Dr, Cincinnati, OH
Free
Thursday, May 1, 6-8pm
Mary Patten: At The Risk Of Seeming Ridiculous
Gene Siskel Film Center: 164 N State St, Chicago
$5-13
Thursday, May 1, 6-8pm
Bard African Night: A Showcase of Works Exploring the Queer African Mind
Walker Art Center: 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN
Free
Thursday, May 1, 6-9pm
It’s Weird Eggs Were Ever Cheap
Bodock: 3216 W Augusta Blvd, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 1, 6:30pm
Reclaiming Heritage: Leadership in Restitution and Repatriation in Iowa
University of Iowa Main Library, Shambaugh Auditorium: 125 W Washington St, Iowa City, IA
Free
Thursday, May 1, 7-10pm
Screening: VOICES OF DEOLI (2025) with director Lulu Men and producer Joy Ma
Block Museum of Art: 40 Arts Circle Dr, Evanston, IL
Free
Friday, May 2, 1:30-3:30pm
Silver Screen Society: Plan 75
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615
Free
Friday, May 2, 2-4pm
Mellon Team Provenance Research Panel and Conversation
Stanley Museum of Art: 160 West Burlington Street, Iowa City, IA
Free
Friday, May 2, 3-4:30pm
Drifting Timelines 流动时序
Cochrane Woods Art Center: 5540 S Greenwood Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Friday, May 2, 3-5pm
SoFo Tap and Full Kit Gear Happy Hour – Chicago Leather Pride Weekend
SoFo Tap: 4923 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640
Free
Friday, May 2, 4-8pm
In Search of America: Photography and the Road Trip
Saint Louis Art Museum: One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO
Free
Friday, May 2, 5-7pm
Ellen Hanson: Swimmers
Care of Gallery: 990 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL
Free
Friday, May 2, 5-8pm(EST)
ArtWorks Live!: The Future in Progress
moCa Cleveland: 11400 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH
Free
Friday, May 2, 6pm
Molly English & Kristyn McKinney: Animorph
Roots & Culture: 1034 N Milwaukee Ave. Chicago
Free
Friday, May 2, 6-8pm
2025 MFA Thesis Exhibition: Substitute Equal Amounts (Part 1)
Logan Center Exhibitions: 915 E 60th St, Chicago, IL 60637
Free
Friday, May 2, 6-9pm
TRAIN RATTLING: AGITATOR MEMBERS SHOW 2025: Closing
Agitator Gallery: 3851 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
6PM – 9PM
Free
Friday, May 2, 6-9pm
Vanessa Woods: Recast
Filter Photo: 1821 W Hubbard St, Ste 207, Chicago
Free
Friday, May 2, 6-10pm
다 빈치: Closing Reception
Shanghai Seminary: 3262 S. Morgan St. Chicago, IL 60608
Friday, May 2, 6-11pm
Gala de Arte : Orgullo Mexicano
Hyatt Regency Chicago: 151 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60601
$500
Friday, May 2, 7pm
SO LOVELY TO BE: The Everyday Poetics of Sandra Davis
Chicago Filmmakers: 1326 W Hollywood Ave, Chicago
$15
Friday, May 2, 7-8:30pm
Co-MISSION Works-In-Progress Spring 2025
Links Hall: 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago
$16-42
Friday, May 2, 7-9pm
Artwork and Arias
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Free
Friday, May 2, 7-10pm
How to See in the Dark
Co-prosperity Sphere: 3219 S Morgan St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 3, 11am-1pm
Con cariño: Letters to Women in Prison
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 3, 11am-5pm(EST)
Grand Opening of You and Me and the Space Between: Our Expedition Starts Now by Karen Saunders
Cincinnati Art Museum: 953 Eden Park Dr, Cincinnati, OH
Free
Saturday, May 3, 1pm
Damon Locks: We Are Our People/Listen to This: Artist Talk
Goldfinch: 319 N Albany Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 3, 5-8pm
Chang-Ching Su: A Dream Cast in Dormancy (Even Shadows Glow in the Dark)
Murmuration: 2846 W North Ave Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 3, 6-8pm
Support Milk, an upcoming Palestinian short film!
Chicago: RSVP for address
$15
Saturday, May 3, 7pm
Intermissions: Dorota Gawęda & Eglė Kulbokaitė
The Renaissance Society: 5811 S Ellis Ave, Cobb Hall, 4th Fl, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 3, 7pm
Georgia, Georgia by Stig Björkman
Walker Art Center: 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN
$12-15
Saturday, May 3, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds: Michael Zerang and Chad M. Clark + Bill Harris, Caroline Jesalva, and Jason Stein.
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
Free
Sunday, May 4, 2-4pm
Art/Access Lab: Incongruent Access
Experimental Station: 6100 S Blackstone Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 4, 2-4pm
Jamie Wendt: Book Launch & Signing Event
Woman Made Gallery: 1332 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 4, 2-5pm
Madeline Aguilar and Jordan Knecht: (un)learning Center
Comfort Station Logan Square: 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 4, 7pm
Horizons, Epiphany I (1973, 2023)
Doc Films at the University of Chicago: 1212 E 59th St, Chicago
$9
Monday, May 5, 1-2pm
HEAR BELOW, a soundwalk through Chicago’s Pedway system with Allen Moore
Block 37: 108 N State St (near the elevators), Chicago, IL 60602
Free
Monday, May 5, 5pm
Virtual Talks with Video Activists: Streets of Ulster, with Louise Denver and Dr. Ciara Chambers
Media Burn Archive: Online
Free
May 7-10, 2025
SAIC FILM, VIDEO, NEW MEDIA, ANIMATION, AND SOUND FESTIVAL
Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago: 164 N State St, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 8, 4pm
Raqs Media Collective: Cavalcade
Newberry Library: 5701 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 8, 4pm
Bridging The Divide: Arts As Resistance Uplifting APIDA Voices
South Asia Institute: 1925 S Michigan Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 8, 6-8pm(EST)
InsideOut Youth Poetry Slam
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free with admission
Thursday, May 8, 7pm
Off the Page: an evening of queer comics readings
Dorothy: 2500 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
$12-17
Friday, May 9, 6pm
Alexis Estrada: My Vision of You
Cleaner Gallery + Projects: 1856 N Richmond St. STO, Chicago
Free
Friday, May 9, 6-9pm
Lauren Iacoponi and Millicent: All Houses Are Haunted
Purple Window Gallery: 2233 S Throop St, Unit 845, Chicago
Free
Friday, May 9, 8pm
Lampo: Valentina Magaletti
Ida Noyes Hall: 212 E 59th St, 3rd Floor Theater, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 10, 11am-3pm
Kemper Museum Block Party
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: 4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Free
Saturday, May 10, 3-4pm
Maryam Kashani: Medina by the Bay
Seminary Co-op Bookstore: 5751 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 10, 3-4pm(EST)
Code Switch Curatorial Tour
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free with admission
Saturday, May 10, 7pm
Elastic Arts 7th Annual Benefit
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, #208, Chicago
$50-60
Sunday, May 11, 9am(EST)
Wex Community Studio
Wexner Center for the Arts: 1871 N High St, Columbus, OH
Free
Sunday, May 11, 12-4pm
Home: An Exhibition of Palestinian Artists
Haymarket House: 800 W Buena Ave, Chicago
Free
May 14-September 13, 2025
Sara Schellenberg
International Quilt Museum: 1523 N 33rd St, Lincoln, NE
Free
Friday, May 14, 12:30pm
Indie Lens Pop-Up
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Friday, May 14, 3:30-5pm
Knitting Circle with Sam Barsky at The Last Sheepicorn
The Last Sheepicorn; 632 N 8th St, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Thursday, May 15, 6-7:30pm
Sobremesa
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: 4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Free
Thursday, May 15, 6-7:30pm
Yasmin Spiro in conversation with Seph Rodney
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 15, 7pm(EST)
Art Film Night: Nevelson: Awareness in the Fourth Dimension
Columbus Museum of Art: 480 E Broad St, Columbus, OH
$12-15
Thursday, May 15, 7-9pm
Concert: Formations Series for New & Improvised Music featuring Nicholas Elert, Jay Mollerskov, and Steve Nelson-Raney
Woodland Pattern: 720 E Locust St, Milwaukee, WI
$10
Thursday, May 15, 7:30pm
Werk: Chicago’s Premiere Queer Comedy Show
The Lincoln Lodge: 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
$12-16
Friday, May 16, 6-10pm
Yollocalli Fundraiser
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
$40-60
Saturday, May 17, 11am-12:30pm
Conversation—Gender and the Automobile
Saint Louis Art Museum: One Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park, St. Louis, MO
Free
Saturday, May 17, 1-2:30pm
How art can help us envision climate futures
The Theatre School at DePaul University: 2350 N Racine Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 18, 3-5:30pm
Missing from Fire Trail Road
Rapid City Public Library: 610 Quincy St, Rapid City, SD
Free
Thursday, May 22, 5-7pm
‘Free for All’ Screening
Rapid City Public Library: 610 Quincy St, Rapid City, SD
Free
Thursday, May 22, 6pm
Compass
Parlour and Ramp: 2130 W 21st St. Chicago
Free
Thursday, May 22, 7pm
An Evening of Spirited Sound-Making: Activating Ritaj Al-Tanbura
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, May 23, 6-9pm
Workshop: Poetics of Relation: Oracle & Guide, a reading and writing workshop with Liat Tzvi Mayer
Woodland Pattern: 720 E Locust St, Milwaukee, WI
$100
Saturday, May 24, 3-4:30pm
Drown-Proofing
Epiphany Center for the Arts: 201 S Ashland Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 25, 2pm
MUSIC FROM MARS : Mars Williams’ Toy Story
Rosehill Cemetery – May Chapel: 5800 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, May 25, 2-4pm
Kintsugi Workshop for Beginners
International Museum of Surgical Science: 1524 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago
Free
Tuesday, May 27, 7:30pm
Making Multichannel Music w/ Veronica Anne Salinas
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, #208, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, May 28, 7:30-9pm
Performance: Pleiades at IMSS
International Museum of Surgical Science: 1524 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago
$10-20
Thursday, May 29, 6:30pm
Chicago Books to Women in Prison, Midwest Books to Prisons, & Restore Justice Teach In on Mail Bans
Women & Children First Bookstore: 5233 N Clark St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, May 31, 10am-1pm
Downstream Discourse: An Ongoing Conversation about Watershed and Human Health
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Free
About the illustrator: Alexis Stein (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist, designer, and community organizer based in Chicago. Her creative practice spans illustration, graphic design, photography, printmaking, and painting, often exploring themes of queerness and community. Alexis works as a graphic designer and illustrator for queer organizations and events throughout the city, using design to bring people together and build community. When they aren’t creating, Alexis spends time working as an urban designer, picking up new hobbies, and DJing whenever they can.
