Our Art Picks are created in collaboration with The Visualist, Chicago’s leading visual arts calendar, and cross-promoted through Windy City Times, one of the longest locally-published LGBTQ weeklies with a national reach. Click here to get our Art Picks and latest articles delivered to your inbox monthly.
This is a growing list, so check back often for new additions.
June Art Picks
Through Sept 24, 2017
Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (220 E Chicago Av)
Free with museum admission (Free on Tuesdays and for teens)
Through Oct 29, 2017
Cauleen Smith: Human_3.0 Reading List
Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Av)
Free with Museum Admission
Thurs, June 1, 6-8pm
Sidebar: Anthony Elms and Jan Verwoert
Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry (929 E 60th St)
Free
Thurs, June 1, 6-9pm
The POWER Project: POWER Potluck Kickoff
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $10
Thurs, June 1, 6-10pm
Day ONE: Rapid Pulse 2017 Vernissage
DfbrL8r (1463 W Chicago Ave)
Donation: $5-20
Thurs, June 1, 7-8pm
Harriet Reading Series: Harmony Holiday
Poetry Foundation (61 W Superior St)
Free
Fri, June 2, 12-6pm
The POWER Project: Intersectional Zine Library
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $5
Fri, June 2, 3-4pm
Lecture: Darby English
The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Ave)
Free (ticket required)
Fri, June 2, 3-5pm
Thursdayboy on Friday
Currency Exchange Café (305 E Garfield Blvd)
Free
Fri, June 2, 5-7pm
Marc Making: Artists of Marcfirst
University Galleries of Illinois State University (11 Uptown Cir)
Free
Fri, June 2, 6-8pm
William Weege: Peace is Patriotic
Corbett vs. Dempsey (1120 N Ashland Ave)
Free
Fri, June 2, 5-8pm
Brian T. Leahy: Prop(House)
Chicago Gallery News (213 W Institute Pl, Suite 309)
Free
Fri, June 2, 6-8pm
Fresh Ayers: Kevin Coval – “A People’s History of Chicago”
The Seminary Co-op Bookstores (5751 S Woodlawn Ave)
Free
Fri, June 2, 6-9pm
hex yeah, Witches!
Plus Gallery Chicago (1800 W 18th St, 1R)
Free
Fri, June 2, 6-9pm
Kate McCarthy: The Fantastic Nest
Matthew Rachman Gallery (1659 W Chicago Ave)
Free
Fri, June 2, 7-10pm
Visitors From Another World: New Works by Three Chicago Artists
Rotofugi Designer Toy Store & Gallery (2780 N Lincoln Ave)
Free
Sat, June 3, 12-2pm
The POWER Project: Free School Session 001: Living in the Wake
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $5–15
Sat, June 3, 2-5pm
The POWER Project: ‘Black and Blue’ Indigo Dye Workshop
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $10-25
Sat, June 3, 6pm
Burrow // Corinne Teed and Valentina Zamifrescu
ACRE (1345 W 19th St.)
Free
Sat, June 3, 1-4pm
First Saturdays at Mana: June 2017
Mana Contemporary Chicago (2233 S Throop St)
Free
Sat, June 3, 2-9pm
Design & Art Series #10
Dock 6 Collective (2100 N Major Ave)
Free
Sat, June 3, 6-8pm
Fresh Ayers: Kevin Coval – “A People’s History of Chicago”
The Seminary Co-op Bookstores (5751 S Woodlawn Ave)
Free
Sat, June 3, 3-5pm
Closing: Celebrating Our Cultural Giants and Ancestors
South Side Community Art Center (3831 S Michigan Ave)
Free
Sat, June 3, 6pm
Pure Evil: Hidden in Plain Sight
Vertical Gallery (1016 N Western Ave)
Free
Sat, June 3, 8pm-12am
RISE UP!
18th & Racine
$10-15
Sun, June 4, 2pm
2nd Annual Open TV Friendraiser
Home of Dr. E. Patrick Johnson
$25-75, RSVP
Sun, June 4, 12-3pm
Sashay With and Without History
Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago (319 N Albany Ave)
Free
Sun, June 4, 1-5pm
The Transparency of Evil
South of the Tracks (4223 W. Lake St #430)
Free
Sun, June 4, 1-3pm
The POWER Project: Making In The Margins – A Zine Workshop
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $5–15
Sun, June 4, 3-6pm
The POWER Project: Beauty Breaks Session 13: Words We Carry
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $5–15
Sun, June 4, 7-10pm
Let The Hunter Be The Hunted
Elastic Arts (3429 W Diversey #208)
$10
Mon, June 5, 6-9pm
Afro-Latinx Presente!
Plus Gallery Chicago (1800 W 18th St, 1R)
Free
Mon, June 5, 6:30-7:30pm
We Real Cool: A Celebration of Gwendolyn Brooks’s 100th Birthday
National Museum of Mexican Art (1852 W 19th St)
Free
Wed, June 7, 7pm
Called to Serve: America in Transition Community Premiere Party
AMFM Gallery (2151 W 21st St)
Free
Wed, June 7, 8-10pm
The POWER Project: Stranded by the State
Comfort Station Logan Square (2579 N Milwaukee Ave)
Suggested Donation: $10
Fri, June 9, 6:30-10pm
Alexandra Antione: Diaspora/Dyaspora: Haiti to Chicago and Back Again (A Migration Story)
Rootwork Gallery (645 W 18th St)
Free
Fri, June 9, 7pm
LGBTQ Muslims in Conversation
Center on Halsted (3656 N Halsted St)
Free
Fri, June 9, 7-9pm
The Petty Biennial Film Program
Arts and Public Life (301 E Garfield Blvd)
Free
Fri, June 9, 8pm-1am
AMFM Presents The Jazz Series Anniversary Show
Subterranean (2011 W North Ave)
Free
Fri, June 9, 5pm
Gregory Bae in Conversation with Ruslana Lichtzier
The Mission (1431 W. Chicago Av)
Free
June 10, 6pm
LATITUDE Turns 5
Fulton Street Collective (1821 West Hubbard Street, Suite 307)
$25 – $100
June 10-June 30, 2017
Lucky Pierre: the old is dying and the new cannot be born
Roman Susan (1224 W Loyola Ave)
Free
Sat, June 10, 5:30-8:30pm
Storytelling with Viktor Le. Givens
DuSable Museum of African American History (740 E 56th Pl)
Free
Sat, June 10, 6-10pm
CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE bbq
Cow House [Address provided on day of event]
Free
Sat, June 10, 11:59pm-2am
Hausu (aka House) in 35mm
Music Box Theatre (3733 N Southport Ave)
Free
Sat, June 10, 2-3pm
Songs and Stories: Folktales and Fun with Shanta
BING Reading Room (307 E Garfield Blvd)
Free
Sun, June 11, 4-11pm
Party Noire: Black Pride
The Promontory (5311 South Lake Park Av)
$10
Sun, June 11, 6:30-8pm
Publishing Prints: Artist in Dialog
Spudnik Press Cooperative (1821 W Hubbard, Suite 302)
Free
Tues, June 13, 6-7pm
MCA Talk: ASL Tour of Takashi Murakami
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (220 E Chicago Ave)
Free
Wed, June 14, 8:30-11:30pm
Ace of Cups I
Elastic Arts (3429 W Diversey #208)
$5-10
Fri, June 15, 6pm
Black Radical Imagination
Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton Hall (111 S Michigan Av)
Free
Thur, June 15, 6pm
West Side Arts: Rootwork, Girl Bands, and Activating Public Archives
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Free, RSVP
Fri, June 16, 5-10pm
Afrotrak Presents: Nappi Hour
The Wild Hare (2610 N Halsted St)
$5-10
Sat, June 17, 1-8pm
Symposium: Why is Graffiti
Hyde Park Art Center (5020 S Cornell Ave)
Free
Sat, June 17, 3-6pm
Marginal Green
Goldfinch (319 N. Albany)
Free
Sat, June 17, 1-2pm
Garden Project Opening: Amanda Williams
The Arts Club of Chicago (201 E Ontario St)
Free
Sun, June 18, 11am – 5pm
Queer Care Day at Reunion
Reunion Chicago (2557 W North Av)
Free, RSVP for Yoga
Tue, June 20, 10am-6pm
Letterpress Affirmations with Flatlands & RAR RAR Press
Elephant Room Gallery (704 S Wabash Av)
Free
Tues, June 20, 6 PM
The Rear View Mirror Sessions: Chaka, The IKhan
Arts Incubator (301 E Garfield Blvd)
Free
June 23- August 5, 2017
Black Light
Gallery 400 (400 S Peoria St)
Free
Fri, June 23, 6-9pm
Jeffrey Michael Austin: Stay Alive
Chicago Artists Coalition (217 N Carpenter St)
Free
Fri, June 23, 5-8pm
Bold Disobedience
Weinberg/Newton Gallery (300 West Superior, Suite 203)
Free
Fri, June 23, 6pm
You Draw Like A Girl
Logan Square Tattoo (2352 N Milwaukee Av)
Free
Fri, June 23, 8pm
Slo’Mo Presents: Paradise, A Queer Pride Ball in Bloom
Michelle’s Ballroom (2800 W Belmont Ave)
$65+
Fri, June 23, 6-8:30pm
100 Canvas Fundraiser and Silent Art Auction
The Silver Room (1506 E 53rd St)
$25
Sat, June 24, 4-10pm
Silent Funny Open House
Silent Funny (4106 W Chicago Ave)
Suggested Donation: $25
June 24, 12pm
Kimono Exhibition
Japanese Culture Center – 日本文化会館 (1016 W Belmont Av)
Free
Tues, June 27, 5:50-8pm
Tuesdays on the Terrace: Maggie Brown
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (220 E. Chicago Ave)
Free
Wed, June 28, 12-2pm
Riding and Striding, Reaching and Teaching: Gwendolyn Brooks
Poetry Foundation (61 W Superior St)
Free
Thurs, June 29, 12-2pm
Lecture: Helena Almeida—Work is never finished
The Art Institute of Chicago (111 S Michigan Ave)
Free
Thurs, June 29,
Spirit of 69 by Chema Skandal
IPaintMyMind (2545 W Diversey, Suite 255)
Free, RSVP
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Featured Image: From “Marginal Green,” featuring works by Stella Brown, Ellie Irons, Jaclyn Jacunski and Jenny Kendler and curated by Elizabeth Lalley at Goldfinch Gallery on June 17th.
