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.
Tuesday, July 1, 2-3:30pm
Upcycling with a Twist: Embroidery
Chicago Public Library, China Town: 2100 S Wentworth Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, July 3, 3-6pm
Danger AKA Dan Wininger: Ancient Future
International Museum of Surgical Science: 1524 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 5, 1:30-4:30pm
Workshop: Ukiyo-e with Mami Takahashi
International Museum of Surgical Science: 1524 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago
$45
Saturday, July 5, 2-3pm
Beading Time: Crafts for Adults
Chicago Public Library, Archer Heights: 5055 S. Archer Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 5, 2-6pm
Connie Noyes: Dispatched
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
Free
Saturday, July 5, 8pm
Alex J. Cope and VAY sarolta: A Swamp Beneath the Concrete
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 5, 10pm
Sapphic Factory: queer joy party
Empty Bottle: 1035 N Western Ave, Chicago
$21.42
July 6-September 20, 2025
Jayne King: Memory Vessels: Porcelain Paintings and Other Anthologies
Harold Washington Library: 400 S State St, Chicago
Free
Monday, July 7, 10-11am
Illustrator Visit with Chloe Burgett
W. Clarke Swanson Branch: 9101 W. Dodge Rd, Omaha NE
Free
Monday, July 7, 6-8pm
Liberation Stories: Book Tour
Chicago Justice Gallery: 1344 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
July 8-August 29, 2029
20th Century Japanese Prints: Shin Hanga And Sosaku Hanga in the Print and Drawing Study Center
Fort Wayne Museum of Art: 311 E Main St, Fort Wayne, IN
Free
Tuesday, July 8, 5-9pm
Kiss Wine & M. LeBlanc
M. LeBlanc: 3514 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
Free
Tuesday, July 8, 7-9pm
FEK Draw: Fetish, Erotica and Kink
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, July 9, 6:30-8pm
Dreaming of a Future Catalog Launch
The Black Arts Consortium, Abbott Hall: 710 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago
Free
Thursday, July 10, 6-8pm
“In Community” Summer Madness: Silent Concert
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: 4420 Warwick Boulevard Kansas City, MO
Free
Friday, July 11, 5-8pm
Monica J. Brown: The Biomythography of Jaybird & The Queen of Hearts
ARC Gallery: 1463 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, July 11, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds is excited to present NadNavillus: Dan Sullivan, Andy Hall, Eddie Matthews, Rob Bochnik
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL
$15
Friday, July 11, 7-10pm
Darkening Age
Parlour and Ramp: 2130 W 21st St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 12, 5-9pm
Naomi Elson and Rebecca Griffith: Left to Settle
Purple Window Gallery: 2233 S Throop St Unit 845, Chicago
Free
Monday, July 14, 6-9pm
Eliza Fernand: 1-833-NATR-XXX Freshwater Beach Walk
Tobey Prinz Beach Park: 1101 W Pratt Blvd, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, July 16, 1-3pm
Sam Barsky Arts Center Sweater Selfies
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Thursday, July 17, 5-6pm
Hemispheric Blackface
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St, Chicago
Free
Thursday, July 17, 6:30-8pm
Show & Tell with Rachel Hays of Taxonomy Press
Quimby’s Bookstore: 1854 W North Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, July 17, 6:30-8:30pm
Art Initiative Launch and Artist Reception
Skokie Public Library: 5215 Oakton St, Skokie, IL
Free
Thursday, July 17, 7:30pm
Werk: Chicago’s Premiere Queer Comedy Show
The Lincoln Lodge: 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
$14.39
Friday, July 18, 5-9pm
Luminosity: The Ocean Between VIII
Oliva Gallery: 3816 W Armitage Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, July 18, 7-10pm
Fetish Film Forum – La Pieta (2022)
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 19, 1-9:30pm
¡FIESTA!
Waterloo Center for the Arts: 225 Commercial St, Waterloo, IA
Free
Saturday, July 19, 2-4pm
Walking as an Infra-Antenna – Veronica Anne Salinas with Amanda Guitérrez
Lemon: 1600 W Grand Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 19, 11pm
Lust for Life: A Rock-Out BurlyQ Revue
West Ridge Nature Park: 5801 N Western Ave, Chicago
$15
Sunday, July 20, 1:15-2:15pm
Women Aging with Wisdom and Grace Salon July Meeting: The Swimmers: A novel
Women & Children First: 5233 N Clark St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, July 20, 5-8pm
Mari Miller: Community Dye Pot and Leaf Meditation
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago
Free
July 22-27
Indy Shorts
Heartland Film: 8950 Otis Ave, Indianapolis, IN
Free
Wednesday, July 23, 6-7pm
Maria Gaspar: We Lit the Fire and Trusted the Heat (after Angela Davis)
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, July 26, 10am
Public Tours
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, July 27, 1-6pm
Copitas de Sol: : A Spirited Mixer
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
$65
Sunday, July 27, 2-3:30pm
Music Talk | Remembering Charles Stepney, with Duane Powell and the Stepney Sisters
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago: 220 E Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, July 27, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds presents: Paul Abella’s Questionable Decisions
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL
$15
Sunday, July 31, 6-7:30pm
Body Bits: poetry, prose and performance in the gallery
The Arts Club of Chicago: 201 E Ontario St, Chicago, IL
Free
Through July 6, 2025
Bold Women
Spencer Museum of Art: 1301 Mississippi St, Lawrence, KS
Free
Through July 13, 2025
Expanding the 50th: Shared Stories
Smart Museum of Art, The University of Chicago: 5550 S Greenwood Ave, Chicago, IL
Free
Through July 13, 2025
Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys
Minneapolis Institute of Art: 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
$0-20
Through July 19, 2025
Native Pop!
Newberry Library: 60 W Walton St, Chicago, IL
Free
Through July 26, 2025
The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity, 1869-1939
Wrightwood 659: 659 Wrightwood Ave, Chicago
Free
Through July 27, 2025
FAILE: A Riot of Existence, Wishing on You
Fort Wayne Museum of Art: 311 E Main St, Fort Wayne, IN
Free
About the illustrator: summer mills (she/her) is a printmaker, illustrator, and graphic designer from Chicago. Her work is inspired by the art nouveau movement, religious/spiritual imagery and concepts, music, and various types of literature. For her, the enjoyment of creation is the patience and trust it requires her to practice.
