February Art Picks

If you’ve followed us for a while, you know that our Art Picks offer a wide scope of events that are relevant to our audiences because we and the artists, cultural workers, curators, spaces, and projects we support live full lives that know no boundaries. We maintain expansive practices and work toward justice for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disability communities in Chicago and the Midwest.  

Created in collaboration with The Visualist and adapted for social-distancing due to COVID-19, this list offers online exhibitions, streaming events, a list of online collections from Black and LGBTQIA+ archives, and other ways to spend time in the virtual space. 

Featured image: A collage illustration of fuchsia, pink, and orange wave-like shapes. Image created by Ryan Edmund Thiel.

This is a growing list, so check back often with new additions.

Dreams of a New Day — Songs by Black Composers
Cedille Records: Online
$0-16

Through February 4, 2021
Paper Pavilions
FAR Center for Contemporary Arts: 202 S. Rogers St. Bloomington, IN
Free

Every Sunday from February 7 – 28, 2021, 1pm
Rehearsals: José Santiago Pérez’s Unburdenings
Chicago Artists Coalition: Online
Free

February 1 – March 18, 2021
Julie Weber: re|process
Harper College: Online
Free

Through February 13, 2021
Date Night
2701 Cherokee St, Saint Louis, MO
Free

Through February 20, 2021
Zachary Cahill & Scott Wolniak: Everything is Touching
Boundary: 2334 W. 111th Place, Chicago, IL
Free

Through February 21, 2021
2021 MFA Biennial
University Galleries: 11 Uptown Circle, Normal, IL
Free

Through February 28, 2021
In/Stability: Part One: Apocalyptic Landscapes
Wexner Center for the Arts: Online
Free

Through March 11
una noche maravillosa–a monarch butterfly makes an entrance at a nightclub…
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL
Free, by appointment

Through March 11
Repository and Repertoire
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton St., Chicago, IL
Free, by appointment

Through March 2021
10X10 Crossbody Collaborations
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago: Online
Free

Through May 16, 2021
Hive
Krannert Art Museum: 500 E Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL
Free

February 1-28, 2021
Art Personas: Building Celebratory Worlds
Circle Contemporary: Online
Free

Tues, February 2, 6-7pm
Paula McCarty Artist Lecture
Giertz Gallery at Parkland College: Online
Free

Tues, February 2, 6-7pm
Reuben Jonathan Miller: Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration
The Seminary Co-op Bookstores: Online
Free

Tues, February 2, 7-10:30pm
Virtual OUTspoken! LGBTQ Storytelling via Zoom
Sidetrack The Video Bar: Online
Free

Tues, February 2, 7:30pm
Artist Talk: Zachary Cahill & Scott Wolniak
Boundary: Online
Free

Wed, February 3, 5pm
Artist Talk: Sadie Woods
Roman Susan: Online
Free

February 3, 7:30pm
AnySquared Spotlight: Makeba Kedem-DuBose
Online
Free

February 3- March 27, 2021
Collective Communities: Actions on Environmental Crises
Weinberg/Newton Gallery: 688 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Wed, February 3, 7pm
Virtual Paperback Release: EVERYWHERE YOU DON’T BELONG by Gabriel Bump
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Wed, February 3, 7-7:30pm
Guillermo Gómez-Peña: An Open Letter to the Museum of the Future
Smart Museum of Art, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Public Media Institute: Online
Free

Thurs, February 4, 6pm
Latinx Inclusivity: A Conversation between Arlene Dávila and Ed Morales, moderated by Bill Johnson González
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Thurs, February 4, 6pm
Poetry & BYOBiscuits with BYOBicuits
Black Ocean: Online
Free

February 5 – 19, 2021
Art Unites Cbus Film Awards
Wexner Center for the Arts: Online
Free

February 5- April 18, 2021
DETROIT NARRATIVE AGENCY: RADICAL REMEDIES
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free

February 5- April 18, 2021
BLACK ART LIBRARY
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free

February 5- April 18, 2021
LENI SINCLAIR: MOTOR CITY UNDERGROUND
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free

Fri, February 5, 2021
Shahrbanoo Hamzeh: Artist Talk
University Galleries: Online
Free

Fri, February 5, 12pm
LatinXAmerican Podcast: Episode 5: Salvador Jiménez-Flores
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Fri, February 5, 12pm
2021 Student Juried Exhibition
Ralph Arnold Gallery: 1131 W Sheridan Rd (reception online), Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, February 5, 2-3pm
Lawrence Brown: The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America
The Seminary Co-op Bookstores: Online
Free

Fri, February 5, 4pm
Black Art Library With Asmaa Walton
MOCAD: Online
Free

Fri, February 5, 4-5pm
First Friday
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis:: Online
$0-5

Fri, February 5, 3-5:30pm
Black Caribbean Waters: Decolonizing the Archive
Northwestern University Black Arts Consortium: Online
Free

Fri, February 5, 7:30pm
Aaron Shapiro Organ Trio
Elastic Arts: Online
$0-10

Fri, Februari 5, 5pm
LP’s Happy Hour
The Hideout: Online
$5

February 6-March 20, 2021
Jerry Birchfield: A Pale, A Post, A Boundary
Devening Projects: 3039 West Carroll Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

February 6-March 21, 2021
Haig Aivazian: All of the Lights
The Renaissance Society: 5811 S Ellis Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, February 6, 11am-6pm
It Was All A Dream
Vertical Gallery: 1016 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, February 6, 11am
Virtual Walkthrough: The Shallow Act of Seeing
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: Online
Free

Sun, February 7, 2-3pm
Rebecca Zorach
Evanston Art Center: Online
Free

February 8-28,2021
24th Annual Fillet of Solo Festival
Lifeline Theatre: Online
Free

Mon, February 8, 7pm
THAW 2021: Abundance
Links Hall: Online
Free

Mon, February 8, 7-8:30pm
Hanes Visiting Artist Lecture Series: Maria Gaspar, Huong Ngo, and Anna Martine Whitehead
UNC Art & Art history: Online
Free

Tues, February 9, 6-7pm
Julian Bond’s Time to Teach with Jeanne Theoharis, Pam Horowitz, and Judy Richardson
Pilsen Community Books: Online
Free

Tues, February 9, 7-8pm
Open Door Reading: Kristy Bowen, laaura goldstein, Dominique Dusek & Damon Locks
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

Wed, February 10, 6pm
A Photo History of Reproductive Justice: Special Presentation by Loretta J. Ross
Museum of Contemporary Photography: Online
Free

Wed, February 10, 7pm
Emma Copley Eisenberg & Wendy C. Ortiz
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Wed, February 10, 7pm
Colleen Plumb: Surveilling Snow Lily
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Wed, February 10, 6-9pm
Write to Speak
Chicago BIPOC Playwrights: Online
Free

February 11-March 28, 2021
Against Impossibility
FLXST CONTEMPORARY: 2251 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Thurs, February 11, 4-5pm
Educations in Colonialism and White Supremacy
Newberry Library: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 6pm
Talk: Carolina Caycedo
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 6-7:30pm
Guillermo Gómez-Peña: WE ARE ALL ALIENS
Wexner Center for the Arts: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 6-7:30pm
Radical Pleasures: Artist Talk
C33: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 6-8pm
MAS Context presents: Pioneering Black Architects in Los Angeles and Chicago
MAS Context: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 6:30pm
Panel Discussion: Great Rivers Biennial Artists and Jurors
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: Online
Free

Thurs, February 11, 7pm
A Very Special Valentine’s Day: A Benefit for Chicago Community Jail Support
The Hideout: Online
$10

February 12-14 & 19-21, 2021
Black Arts Festival
Columbia College Chicago
Free

February 12 – March 11, 2021
DANCE@30FPS: A festival of dance-film
Wexner Center for the Arts: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 10-11am
Play Date: Versatile Value
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 3pm
How to Love Theaters as a BIPOC Artist
Chicago BIPOC Playwrights: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 1-3pm
Studio Visit with Norman Teague Furniture (Maker) Designer
Diasporal Rhythms: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 10am
Emma Oliver: Beginning Knits with Emma
University Galleries: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 11-11:30am
Reading for Young People: Jillian Tamaki (Online)
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

Sat, February 13, 7-8pm
Tarrey Torae: Catching Feelings
Eighth Blackbird: Online
Free

Sun, February 14, 2021
Our Right to Gaze: Black Film Identities
Full Spectrum Features: Online
Free

Sun, February 14, 12-1:30pm
Viva la Vida: Recetas de la Vida
National Museum of Mexican Art: Online
Free

Sun, February 14, 6-7pm
Virtual Panel Discussion: Photography and Awareness: Sharing Survivors’ Stories
Milwaukee Art Museum: Online
Free

Sun, February 14, 6-7pm
For Six Voices (perhaps)
Annas | Lumpen Radio: Online
Free

Mon, February 15, 6:30pm
Chicago Police Torture Archive
Online
Free

Wed, February 17, 7pm
Palabra Pura Fifteenth Anniversary Celebration / Celebración del Décimoquinto Aniversario de Palabra Pura
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

Wed, February 17, 6pm
2021 Artists-in-Residence Virtual Welcome Event + Artist Talk
Arts & Public Life: Online
Free

February 17 – April 24, 2021
The Dog Named Sit: Max Guy and Lili Huston-Herterich
Apparatus Projects: 2639 W Ainslie St, Chicago, IL 60625
Free

Thurs, February 18, 8-9pm
Studio (in)Conversation: Santiago Montoya
MSU Broad: Online
Free

February 18-August 15, 2021
Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli
DePaul Art Museum: 935 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, February 19, 12pm
LatinXAmerican Podcast, Episode 6: Caroline Kent
School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Online
Free

Fri, February 19, 5-6pm
OLD WAYS NEW TOOLS: A Festival of Online Performance
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Fri, February 19, 6-9pm
Millee Tibbs: Mount Analogue
Filter Photo: 1821 W Hubbard St, Chicago, IL
Free

Fri, February 19 through March 27
Derrick Adams: The Last Resort
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Free

February 20- August 22, 2021
24/7: Art + Labor Around the Clock
MSU Broad: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free

Sat, February 20, 2-3pm
African Diaspora in Arts Panel
Chicago Public Library: Online
Free

Sat, February 20, 7pm
TQC: Archive Dive Broadcast – Phill Niblock’s “The Magic Sun” + Special Interview
Experimental Sound Studio: Online
Free

February 22 – June 12, 2021
Cuts & Beats: Cecil McDonald
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Chicago, IL
Free

February 22 – April 3, 2021
Ground Floor
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Chicago, IL
Free

February 22 – April 3, 2021
Next Window, Please!
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Chicago, IL
Free

February 22 – March 3, 2021
This Set of Actions is a Mirror
Gene Siskel Film Center: Online
Free

Tues, February 23, 5pm
We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Shira Hassan, Kelly Hayes, Rachel Herzing, Mariame Kaba, Erica Meiners and Tamara K. Nopper
Haymarket Books: Online
$0 – $25

Tues, February 23, 12-1:30pm
Yinka Shonibare CBE
School of the Art Institute of Chicago: Online
Free

Tues, February 23, 6pm
Tamara Winfrey Harris: DEAR BLACK GIRL
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Feb 24 – March 11, 2021
Black Diaspora Short Film Festival
DePaul University: Online
Free

Wed, February 24, 7pm
Artist Talk: Maddie Reyna
Roman Susan: Online
Free

Wed, February 24, 6-8pm
Black Feminist Ecologies: Virtual Salon
Wesleyan University: Online
Free

Thurs, February 25, 7pm
Discussing with Dustin Gibson, Robert McRuer, and Liza Sylvestre
Gene Siskel Film Center: Online
Free

Thurs, February 25, 6pm
Virtual Fundraiser
Chicago Public Art Group: Online
Free with Registration

Thurs, February 25, 4pm
Working It Out: A conversation with artist Bea Nettles and curator Mary Statzer
Krannert Art Museuml: Online
Free

Thurs, February 25, 6-7:30pm
“Carving Out Rights From Inside of the Prison Industrial Complex” Book Launch
Human Rights Lab
Free

Thurs, February 25, 6-9pm
Collective Ear
Chicago BIPOC Playwrights: Online
Free

Thurs, February 25, 6pm
Queer Networks in Latinx Art with C. Ondine Chavoya
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

February 26-April 3, 2021
Mie Kongo
65GRAND: 3252 W North Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

February 26 – April 3, 2021
Severance: Vaughn Davis Jr.
Monaco Project Gallery: 2701 Cherokee St., St. Louis, MO
Free

February 26 – April 3, 2021
To You A Million Times Over: Justin Solomon
Monaco Project Gallery: 2701 Cherokee St., St. Louis, MO
Free

February 27-April 10, 2021
Geoffrey Todd Smith: Sordid Orchestra
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL
Free

Sat, February 27, 2pm
OWNING YOUR STORY WITH DETROIT NARRATIVE AGENCY
MOCAD: Online
Free

Write For Us:
Sixty welcomes writers and artists to contribute through traditional and experimental arts writing around ideas, topics, and practices that are relevant to Chicago’s cultural landscapes. Priority will be given to writing by, about, and for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, artists with disabilities, and the long list of writing, art-making, and cultural practices that have been neglected in mainstream conversations and canons about art and culture. If you are interested in pitching an idea or covering one of the listed art events, contact us at WriteForSixty@sixtyinchesfromcenter.org. See full pitch guidelines here.