January 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: Abstract, organic shapes of blue, green yellow, red, and orange. Image created by Ryan Edmund Thiel.

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

Through January 31, 2021
Audible: The Roedelius Cells
Experimental Sound Studio: 5925 N Ravenswood Ave
Free

Mon, January 4, 6pm
The Quarantine Concerts
Experimental Sound Studio: Online
Free

Tues, January 5, 12-12:30pm
Virtual Studio Visit: Joanna Furnans
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

Tues, January 5, 7pm
We Series: Food
Elastic Arts: Online
$10

Wed, January 6, 1-2pm
ONLY CONNECT Webinar | A Look Inside Correspondence
Carrie Secrist Gallery: Online
Free

Wed, January 6, 2-2:45pm
Virtual Talk: Attention and Testimony in Works by Lorna Simpson
Smart Museum of Art: Online
Free

January 6 – 21, 2021
Excavating Memory
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton Street
Free

January 6 – 21, 2021
Build Your Self: Tamara Becerra Valdez
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton Street
Free

Thurs, January 7, 12-1pm
Talk: Carolina Caycedo
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

Thurs, January 7, 3-5pm
DANCE IN CHICAGO 2021: Collecting. Hibernating. Emerging.
The Dance Center of Columbia College: Online
Free

Thurs, January 7, 7-8pm
Devon Price: LAZINESS DOES NOT EXIST
Women & Children First Bookstore: Online
Free

Thurs, January 7, 7-9:30pm
Quantum Negress: Video Works
Elastic Arts: Online
$10

January 8-29, 2021
Life Inside – Still
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave
Free

January 8- February 13, 2021
Holly Cahill: Sliver
65GRAND: 3252 W North Ave
Free

January 8- February 20, 2021
The Western Exhibitions Drawing Biennial
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave
Free

Fri, January 8, 12pm
LatinXAmerican Podcast, Episode 3: Harold Mendez
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

Sat, January 9, 2021
Liz McCarthy: Unheeding
Goldfinch: 319 N Albany Ave
Free

Sat, January 9, 2021
Andreas Fischer: And apologies for bringing this up
Goldfinch:319 N Albany Ave
Free

Sat, January 9, 10am- 12pm
Virtual Family Day: Reset
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

Sat, January 9, 1-6pm and Sun, January 10, 12-5pm
Caesar’s Palace
LVL3: 1542 N Milwaukee Ave
Free

Sat, January 9, 5:30-8pm
Noritaka Minami: “SGN” (2019-Present)
FLXST Contemporary: 2251 S Michigan Ave, Suite 220
Free

Tues, January 12, 7pm
We Series: Health
Elastic Arts: Online
$10

Tues, January 12, 7pm
Open Door Reading Series: Chia-Lun Chang, E’mon Lauren, Nilah Foster & Emily Brandt
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

Wed, January 13, 7-8pm
Virtual Lecture: Rescue and Restoration
Elmhurst Art Museum: Online
Free

Wed, January 13, 5:30-7:30pm
A Conversation with artists Katie Chung & Unyimeabasi Udoh
Chicago Artists Coalition: Online
Free

January 14- March 13 2021
Michael Joo: Michael Joo
Kavi Gupta Gallery: 219 N Elizabeth St
Free

Thurs, January 14, 5:30-6:30pm
Winter Virtual Conversation Series & Book Club
Chicago House and Social Service Agency: Online
Free

January 15- March 5 2021
Virginio Ferrari: Cosmos
Bridgeport Art Center: 1200 W 35th St
Free

Fri, January 15, 5-9pm
André Ramos-Woodard: a mediocre-ass nigga
Filter Photo: 1821 W Hubbard St, Ste 207
Free

January 16- February 26 2021
Raphaël Barontini: The Night of the Purple Moon
MARIANE IBRAHIM: 437 N Paulina St
Free

Sat, January 16, 2pm
The Dreamscape
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

Sat, January 16, 6-7pm
Virtual Artist Talk: Surface Tension
Heaven Gallery: Online
Free

Sat, January 16, 7-8:30pm
2020 Book of The Year Awards
Chicago Writers Association: Online
Free

Sat, January 16, 4pm-4am
THE OLD FUTURE’S ALMANAC Release
Flatland: Online
Free

January 16 – March 20, 2021
“From the Center” by Faheem Majeed
South Side Community Art Center: 3831 S. Michigan Ave.
Free

Sun, January 17, 2pm
Let’s Talk About: Thicc Thoughts
Brown and Proud Press & Huitlacooch: Online
Free

Mon, January 18, 12-4pm
Game changers & Name Changers: A Virtual MLK Day Celebration
Hyde Park Art Center: Online
Free

Mon, January 18, 5pm
IG LIVE talk with artist Stephanie Graham
South Side Community Art Center: Online
Free

Tues, January 19, 7pm
We Series: Sleep
Elastic Arts: Online
$10

January 19 – May 23, 2021
Reproductive: Health, Fertility, Agency
Museum of Contemporary Photography: 600 S. Michigan Ave.
Free

January 20- April 11 2021
For One and All: Prints from The Block’s Collection
Block Museum: 40 Arts Circle Dr, Evanston
Free

January 20m 7pm
Artist Talk: Alejandro T. Acierto
Roman Susan: Online
Free

January 21- March 5 2021
Kelly Kristin Jones
062: 1029 W 35th St
Free

Thurs, January 21, 12-1pm
Teaching Methods in the Virtual Museum
Smart Museum of Art: Online
Free

Thurs, January 21, 6pm
Coming to Terms: A Workshop about Political Nomenclatures — “Chicano,” “Hispanic,” “Latino,” Post-Chicano,” Latinx,” and “Brown”
DePaul Art Museum: Online
Free

January 22- February 13, 2021
4th Midwest Open
Woman Made Gallery: 2150 S Canalport Ave
Free

Sun, January 24, 6-8pm
Harold Mendez: The years now
Logan Center Exhibitions: 915 E 60th St
Free

Tues, January 26, 7pm
We Series: Screens
Elastic Arts: Online
$10

Wed, January 27, 7-8pm
Drinking Gourd Chapbook Launch: Darrel Alejandro Holnes
Poetry Foundation: Online
Free

Wed, January 27, 6:30pm
Gómez-Peñas Mex Files: Audio Art and Strange Poetry from the US/Mexico Border
Lumpen Radio: Online
Free

Thurs, January 28, 6pm
A conversation between Faheed Majeed & Tempestt Hazel
Society for Contemporary Art & the Art Institute of Chicago: Online
Free

Friday, January 29, 12pm
Soundtrack: Santiago X and Sadie Woods
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: Online
Free

January 29 – March 11, 2021
una noche maravillosa–a monarch butterfly makes an entrance at a nightclub…
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton Street
Free

January 29 – March 11, 2021
Repository and Repertoire: Jazmine Harris and José Santiago Pérez
Chicago Artists Coalition: 2130 W. Fulton Street
Free

January 29 – March 7, 2021
Earth (Em)body: Farah Salem, Hannah Bates, Zuleyka Alejandro
Heaven Gallery: 1550 N. Milwaukee Ave. #2
Free

January 31, 11am
CDHP Interview Marathon
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.