February Art Picks
Sixty’s selection of art exhibitions and events in Chicago and the Midwest for February 2023.
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, Chicago’s leading visual arts calendar. Click here to get our Art Picks and latest articles delivered to your inbox monthly. This is a growing list, so check back often with new additions. All times are listed in Central Standard Time unless otherwise noted.
Click a button below to jump to a specific week of events
In solidarity with and in support of an open letter to the Chicago party scene we recently published here at Sixty, we’d like to share this you in hopes that you read and consider while looking through the events listed below. The letter was cowritten by a group of disabled queers with the goal of reaching organizers who plan events and cultivate spaces for queer community building and joy.
This month’s featured imagemaker is EdVetté Wilson Jones.
Thurs, February 2, 5:30 pm
Hmong Garments & Headwear: Presentation
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum: 700 N 12th St, Wausau, WI
Free
Thurs, February 2, 6 pm
Percussionist Ian Antonio and Ben LaMar Gay interact with Assaf Evron’s Collage for The Arts Club of Chicago
The Arts Club of Chicago: 201 E Ontario St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 2, 7-8:30 pm
Latinx Poetics Anthology Launch Celebration
The Poetry Foundation: 61 W Superior St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 2, 8-9 pm
Live @ LOW END | Angélica Negrón
724 S. 12th St, Omaha, NE
Free
Friday, February 3, 5-6:
Lecture: AKIRASH, McKinney International Artist in Residence
Fine Arts Building, 1201 E 7th Street, Bloomington, IN
Free
February 3-March 25, 2023
Anne Austin Pearce: Midwestern Green / Western Blue
Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art: 2004 Baltimore Ave, Kansas City, MO
Fri, February 3, 5-8 pm
Off White Colors of Perception
Circle Contemporary Chicago: 2010 W Carroll Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, February 3, 6-9 pm
SankofaWaters: The Mak Blagic Experience
Connect Gallery: 1520 E Harper Ct, Chicago
Free
Fri, February 3, 7pm (EST)
Wendell Harrison: Fighting for the Children
Detroit Film Theatre: 5200 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free
Fri, February 3, 7-9pm (EST)
Blind Spot: Stephanie Syjuco
MSU Broad Art Museum: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free
February 4 – March 10, 2023
Lavar Munroe: Sometime Come To Someplace
moniquemeloche: 451 N Paulina St, Chicago
Free
Sat, February 4, 11 am
Final Curatorial Tour: Barbara Chase-Riboud
Pulitzer Arts Foundation: 3716 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Free
Sat, February 4, 1 pm (EST)
BREE GANT
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
$10
Sat, February 4, 2-3pm
Joanne Aono: Prairie Passage: Artist Talk
Geneva Center for the Arts, 321 Stevens St, Chicago
Free
Sat, February 4, 3-5:30 pm
kWEe(a)r(e)
Charlotte Street Foundation: 3333 Wyoming St, Kansas City, MO
Free
Sat, February 4, 5-9 pm
Myra Greene: Kept
PATRON: 1612 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
February 6-June 25, 2023
re:mancipation
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin: 750 University Ave, Madison, WI
Free
February 8-March 19, 2023
Anna in the Tropics
Remy Bumppo: 3759 N. Ravenswood Ave, Chicago
$10-47
February 8-April 22, 2023
Museum of Broken Relationships Indianapolis
Eskenazi Hall: 735 W. New York St, Indianapolis, IN
Free
February 9-March 5, 2023
Floor Show
CHOPIN THEATRE: 1543 W Division St, Chicago
$20-35
Wed, February 8, 7pm
DK Nnuro book reading: “What Napoleon Could Not Do”
Prairie Lights Books: 15 S Dubuque St, Iowa City, IA
Free
Thurs, February 9, 12-1:30pm
Intro to the Visual Artists Rights Act
Lawyers for the Creative Arts: Online
Free
Thurs, February 9, 5-6:30pm
Natasha Mijares and Matthew Goulish
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 9, 6-7pm
Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast
Newberry Library: Online
Free
Thurs, February 9, 7-8pm
Open Door: José Olivarez, Britteney Black Rose Kapri, Vic Chávez & Raych Jackson
The Poetry Foundation: 61 W Superior St, Chicago
Free
February 10-August 6, 2023
Ecologies of Elsewhere
Contemporary Arts Center: 44 E 6th St, Cincinnati, OH
Free
Fri, February 10, 5-9pm
David Nasca & Ava Wanbli: Soft Bodies in the Shimmering Mirage
Roots & Culture: 1034 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, February 10, 6pm
Chicago Stage at the Logan: The Arman Sangalang Quartet
Logan Center: 915 E 60th St, Chicago
Free
Fri, February 10, 6-9pm
Anti-Valentine’s Day
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
Free
Fri, February 10, 7pm
ON GO ING: an evening with Bob Eisen
Links Hall: 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago
Free
February 11-April 29, 2023
Make a Picture: A Selection of Michigan Photographers from GRAM’s Collection
Grand Rapids Art Museum: 101 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI
Free
Sat, February 11, 5-8pm
Miller & Shellabarger: Photography
(northern) Western Exhibitions: 7933 N Lincoln Ave, Skokie, IL
Free
Sat, February 11, 6-9pm
Habitat
Produce Model Gallery: 1918 S Canalport Ave, Chicago
Free
Mon, February 13, 6pm
NIGHTINGALE PROJECTS: HORSEGIRL
Gene Siskel Film Center: 164 N State St, Chicago
$13
Wed, February 15, 6pm
Art & Krimes Documentary Film & Panel Discussion
Wichita Art Museum: 1400 W Museum Blvd, Wichita, KS
$10-15
Thurs, February 16, 5-7pm
Norman W. Long: Calumet in Dub: Closing Reception, Performance, and Catalog Release Party
Glass Curtain Gallery: 1104 S Wabash Ave, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 16, 5-8pm(EST)
GRAM Educator Professional Development: Rethinking Monuments: American Sculpture in its Time, 1850 – 2000
Grand Rapids Art Museum: 101 Monroe Center St NW, Grand Rapids, MI
$35
Thurs, February 16, 6:30-8pm
Leon Jett Memorial Lecture with Kyle T. Mays (Saginaw Chippewa)
Eiteljorg Museum: 500 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN
Free with admission
February 17-23, 2023
The Melt Goes On Forever
Detroit Institute of Art: Online
Free
February 17-March 12, 2023
INDOOR CATS
The Edge Off Broadway: 1133 W Catalpa Ave, Chicago
Free
February 17-April 1, 2023
Cody Hudson + Richard Colman
ANDREW RAFACZ: 1749 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
February 18-July 9, 2023
DIE/GEST
MSU Broad Art Museum: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free
Sat, February 18, 12-4pm(EST)
Black Arts Showcase
moCa Cleveland: 11400 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH
Free
Sat, February 18, 6pm
Exhibition #32
GRANITE CITY ART AND DESIGN DISTRICT: 1822 State St, Granite City, IL
Free
Sat, February 18, 6-10pm
They have to seek it out
Patient Info: 902 N Western Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, February 18, 7pm
February Watershed Reading
Arts + Literature Laboratory: 111 S Livingston St, Suite 100, Madison, WI
Free
Tues, February 21, 6pm
Latino Writers Initiative
National Museum of Mexican Art: Online
Free
Tues, February 21, 8pm
Timbre: Open Jam Hosted by Naydja Bruton
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, Chicago
$15
Wed, February 22, 5-7pm
The Chicago Cli-Fi Library
Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society: 5701 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago
Free
February 23-May 21, 2023
Pat Hidson: Compositions
MOWA | West Bend: 205 Veterans Ave, West Bend, WI
Free
Thurs, February 23, 5-7pm
VOICES: Marissa Lee Benedict, Daniel de Paula, and David Rueter
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 23, 6pm
Opening-Day Talk: Kahlil Robert Irving
Walker: 725 Vineland Pl, Minneapolis, MN
Free
Thurs, February 23, 6-7:30pm
Poetry Reading with Claire Hong
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Thurs, February 23, 5-7pm
not all realisms
Smart Museum of Art: 5550 S Greenwood Ave, Chicago
Free
Thurs, February 23, 8-9pm
Live @ LOW END | C. Spencer Yeh
724 S. 12th St, Omaha, NE
Free
Fri, February 24, 5:30-8pm
Circle Dinner for Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ogresse: Envisioned
Walker: 725 Vineland Pl, Minneapolis, MN
$100-135
Fri, February 24, 6-8pm
Performance featuring C. Tai Tai
Logan Center Exhibitions: 915 E 60 St, Chicago
Free
Sat, February 25, 1pm (EST)
JUDY BOWMAN
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
$10
Sun, February 26, 6-9pm
COBRA: 彼らは、透明に、爽やかに、ただ酔いしれ、漂う目玉なのさ: They’re transparent, refreshing, just intoxicated, drifting eyeballs
Good Weather: 1524 S Western Ave, Chicago
Free
Tues, February 28, 6-7:30pm
Soundtrack | Joelle Mercedes
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Tues, February 28, 6-8pm
Dovetail
Intersect: 3636 Texas Ave, St. Louis, MO
Free
Through February 2
Amy Reidel: Cling II: A Carescape
High Low: 3301 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO
Free
Through February 5
Faithfully Askew Too
Monaco: 2701 Cherokee Street, Saint Louis, MO
Free
Through February 5
Max Guy: But tell me, is it a civilized country?
Renaissance Society: 5811 S Ellis Ave, Cobb Hall, 4th Fl, Chicago
Free
Through February 5
19 winters / 7 springs, Photographs by Gregory Halpern
Transformer Station: 1460 West 29th Street, Cleveland, OH
Free
Through February 10
Rick Lowe: Notes on the Great Migration
The Neubauer Collegium for Culture & Society: 5701 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 11
Joseriberto: BoboDeco
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 11
James Wines: Nature’s Revenge
Rhona Hoffman Gallery: 1711 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 12
Martine Syms: She Mad Season One
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free to $15
Through February 12
Great Rivers Biennial: Yowshien Kuo, Yvonne Osei, Jon Young
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: 3750 Washington Boulevard, St. Louis, MO
Free
Through February 12
Tensile Strength
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: 4420 Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, MO
Free
Through February 12
Different Names (for the same thing)
The Martin: 2500 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 17
Norman W. Long: Calumet in Dub
Glass Curtain Gallery: 1104 S Wabash Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 17
BETWEEN YESTERDAY AND WHERE, THE MAGIC OF MACONDO I ENTRE AYER Y EL ADONDE, LA MAGIA DE MACONDO
Latino Arts: 1028 S 9th St, Milwaukee, WI
$20-45
Through February 19
Sky Hopinka: I’ll Remember You as You Were, Not as What You’ll Become
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Through February 19
SOLO(S): KRISTA FRANKLIN
DePaul Art Museum: 935 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 20
Jared Brook: Sacrifice and Revelations
FLXST Contemporary: 2251 S Michigan Ave, Suite 220, Chicago
Free
Through February 20
Em Elise, Jane Sun Kim, Simon Plemon: delicate(s)
Big Car: 1125 Cruft Street, Indianapolis, IN
Free
Through February 22
Waŋna niš niyepi: Continuity of Culture
Plains Art Museum: 704 First Ave, N Fargo,ND
Free
Through February 23
Assaf Evron: Collage for the Arts Club
The Arts Club of Chicago: 201 E Ontario St, Chicago
Free
Through February 24
Jean Alexander Frater & Margaret Welsh: Centered.
ENGAGE Projects: 864 N Ashland Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 24
We Are Us: The Human Condition
Lubeznik Center: 101 W. 2nd Street Michigan City, IN
Free
Through February 25
Into the World There Came a Soul Called Ida
Adds Donna: 3252 W North Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 25
Dove Drury Hornbuckle: What Cannot Be Said Will Be Wept
Goldfinch: 319 N Albany Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 25
Mie Kongo: Concordance
65GRAND: 3252 W North Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 25
The 2023 Western Exhibitions Drawing Biennial
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 26
Melanie Wiksell: Spun Time
Jargon Projects: 3310 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
Through February 27
The Language of Beauty in African Art
The Art Institute of Chicago: 111 S Michigan Ave, Chicago
Free to $35
Through February 27
Regarding The Missing Objects
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago, IL 60615
Free
Through February 28
Ezra Wube Videoworks: Volume 1
Flint Institute of Arts:1120 East Kearsley Street Flint, MI
Free-$10
About the photographer: EdVetté Wilson Jones is a Chicago-born artist, photographer, poet, performer, and storyteller. During their childhood years living at the Cabrini Green housing projects, EdVetté was introduced to acting through the work of Chicago theater legends and veterans Jackie Taylor, actress and founder of Black Ensemble Theater, and the late Patrick Henry, founder of Free Street Theater. From there, EdVetté’s practice grew to include not only acting, but screenwriting, storytelling, poetry, journalism, fashion, and more. To learn more about their work, visit their website at edvette.com.