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.
“All Materials are Mirrors” Sylvia Thomas Exhibition
June 6, 6 p.m. at Cafe Oztara, 1446 E. Washington St. (Indianapolis)
8th Annual Book Fest & Juneteenth Celebration featuring author Ashley C. Ford and librarian Mychal Threets, June 14, 10-4 p.m. at the Central Library, 40 E St Clair St. (Indianapolis)
“Hold On To This Instead” Summer Solstice Exhibition
June 20-22, 6-11 p.m., COMPANION, location to be revealed. (Indianapolis)
Click a button below to jump to a specific week of events.
Sunday, June 1, 11am-1pm(EST)
Art of Rest
Columbus Museum of Art: 480 E Broad St, Columbus, OH
Free
Sunday, June 1, 12-4pm
4th Annual Art of Pride
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 1, 2-3pm
Artist Talk: Meleko Mokgosi
Minneapolis Institute of Art: 2400 Third Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
Free
Sunday, June 1, 2-3pm
Reading with Prairieland Dogs
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library: 1515 SW 10th Ave, Topeka
Free
Sunday, June 1, 2-4pm
Threads of Identity: Stitching Stories through Portrait Quilts
Heritage Museum of Asian Art: 3500 S Morgan St, 3rd Fl, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 1, 3-5pm
Neighborhood Party and Artist Celebration
National Public Housing Museum: 919 S Ada St, Chicago
Free
Monday, June 2, 6-7:30pm
Simple Stitches Crochet Club
Austin-Irving: 6100 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago
Free
Monday, June 2, 6:30-7:30pm
Diagrams, Systems, Collective Power Workshop Series: Speculative Systems
Chicago Art Department: 1926 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
Tuesday, June 3, 10:30-11pm
Storytime with the Omaha Symphony
Saddlebrook Branch: 14850 Laurel Ave, Omaha, NE
Free
Tuesday, June 3, 6-8pm
From the Earth to the Skies: A Visioning Workshop In Mutual Abundance
Sisters in Cinema Media Arts Center: 2310 E 75th St, Chicago
Free
Tuesday, June 3, 6-9:30pm
HCL Benefit Performance
Links Hall: 3111 N Western Ave, Chicago
$25-250
Wednesday, June 4, 2-3pm
Wednesday Wonders: Color Our World with Spencer Museum of Art
Lawrence Public Library: 707 Vermont St, Lawrence, KS
Free
Wednesday, June 4, 6:30-8:30pm
From Hilde, With Love | Free Film Screening
Chicago History Museum: 1601 N Clark St, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, June 4, 7:30pm
First Wednesday Blues & Beyond Jam with Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith
Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago: 915 E 60th St, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, June 4, 6pm
Creation, Revolution, Liberation with Ismatu Gwendolyn
NU Women’s Center Chicago: 710 N Lakeshore Drive (Room 1400)
Thursday, June 5, 4-5pm
Queer Symbolism in Cosplay Props
Little Village Branch: 2311 S Kedzie Ave, Chicago
Free
Thursday, June 5, 6-8pm
Artist Panel Conversation: The Classroom as a Studio
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education: 1010 W 35th St, Suite 697, Chicago
Free
Thursday, June 5, 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Comfort Music: Tyler Wagner & Zander Raymond
Comfort Station Logan Square: 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6-8, 2025
Hyde Park 78th Annual 57th St Art Fair
57th Street: Between Woodlawn and Kenwood Avenues
Free
Friday, June 6, 6pm
Art Gallery Opening
Center on Halsted: 3656 N Halsted St, Chicago
Free
June 6-August 23, 2025
Thus masked, the world has a language
MARIANE IBRAHIM: 437 N Paulina St, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6, 5-7pm
Susan Volk: In The Element
Lillstreet Art Center: 4401 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6, 6pm
José A Rosa: Dulce Sueño
El Schomburg: 2538 W Division St, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6, 6-9pm
First Friday: Faeded
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis: 3750 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO
Free
Friday, June 6, 6-10pm
Jessica Zawadowicz and Yaismel Alba Garib: There’s a box they don’t tell you about
Patient Info: 902 N Western Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6, 6-10pm
18th Birthday Party and Print Battle
Spudnik Press: 1821 W Hubbard St, Chicago
$35-50
Friday, June 6, 7-9pm
The Artistic Expression of Adult Male Spanking Presented by Justin
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 6, 7:30pm
“A WAY OUT”
GURE: DM for Address
Free
Friday, June 6, 8pm
Pleiades Series: Butt Mommy, Mrs. Hands
Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, #208, Chicago
$10-15
Friday, June 6, 8pm
Gender Fucked Productions Presents: Trans Scribe: A New Works Festival
Steppenwolf: 1700 N Halsted St, Chicago
$28-43
June 7-8, 2025
2025 Mulvane Art Fair
Washburn University Campus: 1700 SW College Ave, Topeka, KS
Free
June 7-September 21, 2025
Made in the Plains
Joslyn Art Museum: 2200 Dodge St, Omaha, NE
Free
Saturday, June 7, 11am-4pm
Planting Seeds – an Indigenous Zine Fest
Newberry Library: 60 W Walton St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 1pm
Christine Shallenberg and Aurora Tabar: Tending to the Mother in Me
Berger Park Cultural Center: 6205 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 1-7pm
INCA Press pop-up and KIRKI QHAÑI book talk
Inga: 1740 W 18th St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 3-8pm
Caitlyn Min-ji Au: Panda
SHANGHAI SEMINARY: 3262 S Morgan St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 5-7pm
Marsh Melodies and the Breathing Ear – Sara Zalek & Norman Long
Big Marsh Park: 11559 S Stony Island Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 5-9pm
Unseen Forces
T. Mari Gallery: 1023 N Western Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 7pm
Lampo: Ikue Mori
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts: 4 W Burton Pl, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 10am-12pm
Braiding Sweetgrass: AIC Community Garden Series
American Indian Center: 3401 W Ainslie St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 7, 12–1:30pm
Drawing Workshop with AIC Art Exhibitor Negwes White
American Indian Center: 3401 W Ainslie St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 8, 1:30-3:30pm
Leave A Message(Sound Meditation with Sam Thousand and Jay Taylor)
Logan Center for the Arts, The University of Chicago: 915 E 60th St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 8, 2pm
Natasha Mijares: lighting rituals of joy
Roman Susan: 1224 W Loyola Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 8, 2-5pm
Claire Pentecost: Human as Euphemism
Cultivator: Bray Grove Farm, PO Box 576, Morris, IL
Free
Monday, June 9, 7-8:30pm
Banned Book Group Meeting
Women & Children First: 5233 N Clark St, Chicago
Free
Tuesday, June 10, 6pm
Know Your Rights Before You Hit the Streets
ACLU: Virtual
Free
Wednesday, June 11-17, 2025
A Queer Ritual
Interfacing Studio: 1756 W Lunt Ave, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, June 11, 6pm
Ximena Garrido-Lecca: Germinations: Public Reading: Myths from the Huarochirí Manuscript
The Renaissance Society: 5811 S Ellis Ave, Cobb Hall, 4th Fl, Chicago
Free
Wednesday, June 11, 6pm
The First Homosexuals Film Series: Love and Suffering
FACETS: 1517 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
$5-$15
Wednesday, June 11, 11:15am – 12:30pm
Lecture: Krista Franklin
SAIC: Sharp Building, Room 327 (37 S Wabash Ave)
Free
Wednesday, June 11, 6pm
CUNTEA: queer vendors + open mic
LUYA Poetry: California Clipper, 1002 N California Ave, Chicago
$5
June 12-October 12, 2025
Duane Slick: A Certain Cadence of Night
Sioux City Art Center: 225 Nebraska St, Sioux City, IA
Free
Thursday, June 12, 7-8pm
A Queer Ritual
Interfacing Studio: 1756 W Lunt Ave, Chicago
Free
June 13-September 21, 2025
Firelei Báez
Des Moines Art Center: 4700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA
Free
June 13-July 26, 2025
Natasha Moustache: Water Lines
Blanc Gallery: 4445 S MLK Drive, Chicago
Free
June 13-November 22, 2025
Scribbling Women
International Quilt Museum: 1523 N 33rd St, Lincoln, NE
Free
Friday, June 13, 5-8pm
Nanako Kono: Doublespeak
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 13, 5-8pm
Victoria Fu
DOCUMENT: 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 13, 6-9pm
A House Built on Sand
Color Club: 4146 N Elston Ave, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 13, 7:30-10:30pm
The Bridge Performance Incubator Showcase
Co-Prosperity: 3219-21 S Morgan St, Chicago
Free
June 14-September 21, 2025
Eventually Everything Connects: Mid-Century Modern Design in the US
Cranbrook Art Museum: 39221 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Free
Saturday, June 14, 12-9:30pm
CHROMA 63 | Midwest Art & Sound
RiverLoop Amphitheatre: 225 Commercial St, Waterloo, IA
Free
Saturday, June 14, 10am-1pm
Family Day: Bring it on Home!
Smart Museum of Art: 5550 S Greenwood Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 14, 11am
Festival del Niño
National Museum of Mexican Art: 1852 W 19th St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 14, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds presents: Mai Sugimoto + LeRoy Bach + Anton Hatwich
Compound Yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
$15
Saturday, 11am-5pm
5th Annual Bronzeville Juneteenth Celebration
35th through 37th and King Drive (east side of the street)
Free
Sunday, June 15, 12-1pm
Sonic Drifting through the Square – Allen Moore
Palmer Square: 2200 N Kedzie Blvd, Chicago
Free
Monday, June 16, 2:30-4pm
Preserving Local Queen & Trans History: Community-based Archivist Training
Invisible Histories Project: Virtual
Free
Tuesday, June 17, 7-9pm
Queer Zines: Discussion + Workshop Led by Larry Wolf
Gerber/Hart: 6500 N Clark St 2nd Fl, Chicago (and virtual)
Free
Wednesday, June 18, 10:30am-12pm
SPARK!: Pao Houa Her: The Imaginative Landscape
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Ave, Sheboygan, WI
Free
Thursday, June 19, 7-9pm
Concert: Formations Series for New & Improvised Music featuring Buttars/Ollman/Smith and John McCoy HYBRID
Woodland Pattern: 720 E Locust St, Milwaukee, WI
$10
Thursday, June 19, 7-8:30pm
Transcendance: A Black Trans Variety Show – JUNETEENTH EDITION
Dorothy: 2500 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago
$12 in advance and $15 at the door
Thursday, June 19, 1-2:30pm
Freedom Lullabies: Presented by D-Composed and The Nap Ministry
Gary Comer Youth Center: 7200 South Ingleside Avenue Chicago
Suggested Donation
Thursday, June 19, 3-8pm
Juneteenth Kickback x Community Renewal Society
Let Us Breathe Collective: 434 W 51st St, Chicago
Free
Thursday, June 19, 4-8pm
Radical Joy: A Juneteenth Kickback
Semicolon Bookstore: 1355 W Chicago Ave Unit Store, Chicago
Free
June 20-December 13, 2025
Chinese Quilts Today
International Quilt Museum: 1523 N 33rd St, Lincoln, NE
Free
Friday, June 20, 6-9pm
Chicago Memory Keepers: Strategies for Shaping Community Stories
First Church of the Brethren: 425 S. Central Park Blvd, Chicago
Free
Friday, June 20, 7-8:30pm
Queer Elder History Panel with Gerber/Hart Library & Archives
Dorothy: 2500 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago
Sliding scale of $15, $20 and $25
Friday, June 20, 9pm – 1am
Sapphic Serenade: Friday Night Feelings
Dorothy: 2500 West Chicago Avenue, Chicago
$5
Saturday, June 21, 12-5pm(EST)
The Gun Violence Memorial Project Collection Event
MOCAD: 4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI
Free
Saturday, June 21, 3pm
Pause: Artist Talk and Closing Reception
Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery: 32 East Quincy St, Riverside IL
Free
Saturday, June 21, 3-5pm(EST)
Growing Queer Care
MSU Broad Art Museum: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free
Saturday, June 21, 6-8pm
2nd Taste oÀkójọpọ̀ Presents: The Second Annual Taste of Nigeria, African Art Music Fundraiser Night
Connect Gallery: 1451 E 53rd St, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 21, 6-10pm
Ruby Greene: Teeth Over Diamonds Hair Over Pearls
SPACE.01: 2334 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 21, 7-10pm
Fetish Film Forum, Equation to an Unknown (1980)
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
Free
Saturday, June 21, 10am-12pm
1917 East St. Louis Race Massacre Tour
DraftKings at Casino Queen: 200 South Front Street East St. Louis, IL
Free
Saturday, June 21, 4pm
Roots & Reckoning: Juneteenth and the 1917 East St. Louis Commemoration
630 North 59th Street East St. Louis, IL
Free
Sunday, June 22, 11am
Taking Back Pride
Ida B Wells & Michigan Ave., Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 22, 2-6pm
A Juneteenth Hoodoo Revival
Let Us Breathe Collective: 434 W 51st St, Chicago
Free
Monday, June 23, 7-9pm
Field Notes Film Festival
Music Box Theatre: 3733 N Southport Ave, Chicago
$35
Wednesday, June 25, 9:30am-7:30pm
Arts in Bloom Garden Walk : A Brush with Nature
Christ the King Lutheran Church: 17195 Cleveland Rd, South Bend, IN
$20-25
Wednesday, June 25, 7:30pm
Werk: Chicago’s Premiere Queer Comedy Show
The Lincoln Lodge: 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
$14.39-19.01
June 26, 2025-May 24, 2026
Trisha Brown and Robert Rauschenberg: Glacial Decoy
moCa Cleveland: 11400 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH
Free
Thursday, June 26, 5:30-7:30pm(EST)
Art NOW: Summer/Fall Exhibition Preview Party
The Walker: 725 Vineland Pl, Minneapolis, MN
Free
Saturday, June 28, 5-7pm
Mond(e): 月亮代表我的心 – Performance Installation in Collaboration with Diego Campos
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 27, 6pm
Freedom From and Freedom To
The Chicago Justice Gallery: 1344 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
Sunday, June 27, 6-8pm
#EverybodyEats Community Dinner
Let Us Breathe Collective: 434 W 51st St, Chicago
Free
Monday, June 28, 11am-1pm
WORD is BOND Creative Writing Workshop
Let Us Breathe Collective: 434 W 51st St, Chicago
Free
Shahzia Sikander: Collective Behavior
Friday, February 14–Sunday, June 8, 2025
ka’yasu’/ne’nakw
January 21, 2025 – June 7, 2025 / 9:00am – 3:00pm
Maria Hupfield: The Endless Return of Fabulous Panther (Biimskojiwan)
Feb 08, 2025–Jun 29, 2025
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.
