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.
Sun, September 1, 1-3:30pm
Indelible ORIGINS | Place + People: Why WE Are Here – Artist Talk
The GREYSTONE Collective: 4733 S Forrestville Ave, Chicago
Free
Tues, September 3, 7-8pm
Pinko Magazine + Queer Palestine with Eman Abdelhadi
Pilsen Community Books: 1102 W 18th St, Chicago
Free
Tues, September 3, 8pm
http://thevisualist.org/2024/09/paul-giallorenzo-trio/Elastic Arts: 3429 W Diversey Ave, #208, Chicago
$10-15
Wed, September 4, 7pm
Touching a Talis Text(ile) with the Lace Midrash
ACRE Projects: 2921 N Clark St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 5, 4-6pm
Walk: Encounters with Balbo in Chicago
Balbo Monument: 1410 S Special Olympics Dr, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 5, 5-7pm
Dawit L. Petros: Prospetto a Mare Opening Reception
Museum of Contemporary Photography: 600 S Michigan Ave, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 5, 6-8pm
Learning Together: Art, Education, and Community
Gallery 400: 400 S Peoria St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 5, 6:30-8pm
Free Film at the Figge
FIGGE ART MUSEUM: 225 W Second St, Davenport, IA
Free
September 6-15, 2024
Neither Here Nor There
Side Street Studio Arts: 15 Ziegler Ct, Elgin, IL
Free
September 6-October 19, 2024
Linnea Ryshke // Gregg Louis // Abbi Ruppert
The Foundry Art Centre: 520 N. Main Center, St. Charles, MO
Free
Fri, September 6, 4-7pm
Riva Lehrer: The Monster Studio
Zolla / Lieberman Gallery: 325 W Huron St, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 5-7pm
Suzanne Harris & Gordon Matta-Clark: 1971 – 1978
Rhona Hoffman Gallery: 1711 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 5-8pm
Aya Nakamura: Sight Lines
Western Exhibitions: 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 5-8pm
September First Friday
LUX Center for Arts: 2601 N 48th St, Lincoln, NE
Free
Fri, September 6, 5:30-7:30pm
LaToya M. Hobbs: Carving Out Time
Milwaukee Art Museum: 700 N Art Museum Dr, Milwaukee, WI
Free with admission
Fri, September 6, 6-9pm
bARBER / X.A. Li / Evan Stoler
Ignition project space: 3839 W Grand Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 7pm
Derek Spencer: Field of Flesh
Leisure: Division & Western Avenues, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 7-9pm
Transvengence
Clash On Clark: 4416 N Clark St Suite 2, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 6, 7-10pm
Freedom From and Freedom To
Comfort Station Logan Square: 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
September 7-December 2024
Birds in Art 2024
Woodson Art Museum: 700 N 12th St, Wausau, WI
Free
September 7-8, 12-6PM (EST)
Cincinnati Art Book Fair
The Carnegie: 1028 Scott St, Covington, KY
Free
Sat, September 7, 10:30-11:30am(EST)
Drag Story Hour with Prince Brentlee and Aqua Marie!
Indy Reads: 1066 Virginia Ave, Indianapolis, IN
Free
Sat, September 7, 10:30am-12pm
Summer Soundwalk Series: Deirdre Harrison, Ed Wilkerson and Avreeayl Ra
Washington Park: 5531 S King Dr, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 7, 1-2:15pm
Artist Talk: LaToya M. Hobbs
Milwaukee Art Museum: 700 N Art Museum Dr, Milwaukee, WI
Free
Sat, September 7, 2-4pm
Exhibition Tour with Indira Johnson, Gunjan Kumar, and Kunal Sen
South Asia Institute: 1925 S Michigan Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 7, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds Presents: Tommaso Moretti Inside Out 4tet
compound yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
$10-15
September 8-July 27, 2024
Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889-1935
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum: 800 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
September 8, 2024-January 20, 2025
Demons, Ghosts, and Goblins in Chinese Art
Cleveland Museum of Art: 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH
Free
Sun, September 8, 3-6pm
Yvette Marie Dostatni: Face Value: Identities Both Seen and Unseen
Riverside Arts Center Freeark Gallery: 32 E Quincy St, Riverside, IL
Free
Sun, September 8, 3-6pm
Holly Holmes: Companions
Riverside Arts Center FlexSpace: 32 E Quincy St, Riverside, IL
Free
Sun, September 8, 7:30-9:30pm
Art for the Living & the Dead – Death Cafe
Comfort Station Logan Square: 2579 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
Free
September 10, 2024-February 23, 2025
Clément Cogitore: Les Indes Galantes
Joslyn Art Museum: 2200 Dodge St, Omaha, NE
Free
Wed, September 11, 12-2pm
Art Design Chicago Talk Series: Designing for Change
Lumpen Radio: 105.5FM Chicago or lumpenradio.com
Free
Wed, September 11, 2pm
EveryDay Art Everyday Materials: The History of Everyday Art Now and then
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Wed, September 11, 5-8pm
Judith Brotman: Love Letters to My Strange Familiars
Material: 2025 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
Free
September 12, 2024-January 24, 2025
Indigenous Chicago
Newberry Library: 60 W Walton St, Chicago
Free
September 12, 2024-February 23, 2025
Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917–1967
DePaul Art Museum: 935 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 12, 5-7pm
FOUR: Lester Johnson’s Selected Works
Stamelos Gallery Center: 4901 Evergreen Rd, Dearborn, MI
Free
Thurs, September 12, 7-9pm
Sex In Colour Film Screening
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
$10
Thurs, September 12, 7-10pm
Legacy on the Line
El Anticuario: 1425 W 18th St, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 12, 6-9pm
Opening Reception for Theaster Gates: When Clouds Roll Away
Stony Island Arts Bank: 6760 S. Stony Island Ave.
Free
September 13-14, 2024
Design as Activism Symposium
Various Locations: Chicago
Free
September 13-28, 2024
Asher Pollock | Robin Mandel Kerry Boganwright
ROY G BIV: 435 W Rich St, Columbus, OH
Free
September 13-November 9, 2024
Harrison County Arts Annual
2024 Harrison County Arts: 113 E Beaver St, Corydon, IN
Free
Fri, September 13, 5-7pm
In Your Face: Barbara DeGenevieve, Artist & Educator
SAIC Galleries: 33 E Washington St, Chicago
Free
September 14, 2024-February 16, 2025
COMPLEX DREAMS
Broad Museum: 547 E Circle Dr, East Lansing, MI
Free
Sat, September 14, 6-10pm
Spencer Hutchinson & Alex Wilson: THIRTEEN + THIRTEEN
West Ridge Nature Park: 5801 N Western Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 14, 6:30-7:30pm
Summer Soundwalk Series: Eric Leonardson and Negin Almassi
Agitator Gallery: 3851 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 14, 7-9pm
Side Yard Sounds: Juliann Wang + Graham Nelson
compound yellow: 244 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
$15
Sat, September 14, 7-11pm
Diana Solis & Patric McCoy: Just Below The Surface
Chicago Art Department: 1926 S Halsted St, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 14, 12-4pm
Englewood Arts Collective Arts Village
Englewood Music Festival: S. 64th St. and S. Halsted St.
Free
September 14 – December 21, 2024
ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago
South Side Community Art Center: 3831 S. Michigan Ave.
Free
Sun, September 15, 12-4pm
Sowing Quilts in Diaspora: Octavia Butler and Tikkun Olam
Buddy, Chicago Cultural Center: 78 E Washington St, Chicago
Free
Sun, September 15, 10pm
Werk: Chicago’s Premiere Queer Comedy Show
The Lincoln Lodge: 2040 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago
$9-13
Sun, September 15, 1-4pm
Pleneros y Poetas, curated by Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center
Comfort Station Logan Square: 2579 N Milwaukee Ave
Free
September 19-22, and 27-29, 2024
Peripheries Experimental Film and Video Festival
Sweet Void Cinema: 3036 W Chicago Ave 1W, Chicago
$80
Thurs, September 19, 5:30-7pm
Could you dim the lights? Gallery Conversation with Jen Everett, Briona Simone Jones, madison moore, and Blair Ebony Smith
Krannert Art Museum: 500 E Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL
Free
September 20-July 13, 2024
Lucía Vidales: Hambre
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: 4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO
Free
September 20-November 3, 2024
no. 5: Lightness of Being by Adria Arch
Abel Contemporary Gallery: 524 E Main St, Stoughton, WI
Free
September 20, 2024-January 5, 2025
Minor Key
Des Moines Art Center: 4700 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA
Free
Fri, September 20, 5-9pm
Stochastic Book Fair
Purple Window Gallery: 2233 S Throop St, #845, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 20, 6-9pm
Jennifer Cronin: Star Stuff
Elephant Room Gallery: 704 S Wabash Ave, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 20, 7-9pm
Pump the Beat: Queer Nightlife at the Edge | A Performance Lecture with madison moore
Krannert Art Museum: 500 East Peabody Dr, Champaign, IL
Free
September 21, 2024-September 21, 2025
From the Earth through Her Hands: African Ceramics
Cleveland Museum of Art: 11150 East Boulevard, Cleveland, OH
Free
September 20 – November 1, 2024
diversión
Marquette Park Cultural Center: 6743 S. Kedzie Ave., Chicago
Free
September 21-December 22, 2024
Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art: 2320 W Chicago Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 21, 7-10pm
Fetish Film Forum – The Night Porter (1974)
Leather Archives & Museum: 6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago
$12-15
Sat, September 21, 3-6pm
Chicago Style Film & Fashion Show
Green Line Performing Arts Center: 329 E. Garfield Blvd. Chicago
Free
Sun, September 22, 3-7pm
Myth of the Organic City
6018North: 6018 N Kenmore Ave, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 26, 6:30-8pm
JeeYeun Lee: Shore Land at Berger Park
Berger Park Cultural Center: 6205 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago
Free
Thurs, September 26, 7pm
Monsters + MMoCA
Madison Museum of Contemporary Art: 227 State St, Madison, WI
Free
Fri, September 27, 5-8pm
CAPE Practices in Proximity: Learning and Unlearning from Pedagogical Experiences
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education: 1010 W 35th St, Suite 697, Chicago
Free
Fri, September 27, 9pm
June McDoom with Evan Wright
Hungry Brain: 2319 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
$15
September 28, 2024-May 17, 2025
beLONGING: Lithuanian Artists in Chicago 1900 to Now
Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture: 6500 S Pulaski Rd, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 28, 1-4pm
Water Music on the Beach
Lane Beach: 5915 N Sheridan Rd, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 28, 2-3pm
Hyde Park Jazz Festival: avery r. young & de deacon board
Hyde Park Art Center: 5020 S Cornell Ave, Chicago
Free
Sat, September 28, 1-3pm
Native American Dance and Regalia
Newberry Library: 60 West Walton Street, Chicago
Free
Sun, September 29, 9pm
Sunday Reading Series: Book Release Party for The Under Hum
Hungry Brain: 2319 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
$15
About the illustrator: Gaby FeBland is a multidisciplinary artist working in puppetry, illustration, playwriting, and performance. She is a proud co-founder of Foreshadow, an experimental shadow puppetry company. Her original plays and puppetry have been performed off-Broadway and at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Dixon Place, Green-Wood Cemetery, Coney Island U.S.A., Jalopy Theatre, the Owl Music Parlor, and the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
As an actor, she is represented by Big Mouth Talent. For five years, she was the accordionist for Friends of the Bog. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
Gaby attended Northwestern University, where she majored in Theatre Arts and Spanish. She holds a Graphic Design Certificate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Her illustration and design work is featured on trains, newspapers, magazines, websites, event posters, albums, band shirts, greeting cards, buttons, and wedding venues across the world. You can find more of her work at her website.
