October Artist News
published: Oct. 7, 2025
Ariella Granados, Like and Subscribe, 2025. Courtesy the artist. On view in Ariella Granados: Like and Subscribe at Gallery 400 through December 13.
THINGS WITH FRIENDS at American Blues Theater
Showing now through October 5, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel (Vy-Cast Member) and Levi J. Wilkins (Lighting Design) perform in THINGS WITH FRIENDS, a thrilling dark comedy described as a “full-bodied "Twilight Zone" blend with notes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.”
Big White Fog at Court Theatre
Showing now through October 12, directed by Court Theatre’s resident artist Ron OJ Parson, Big White Fog follows the Mason family on the cusp of the Great Depression. “Between the precarious economy and racial violence on Chicago’s segregated South Side, something’s got to give. As different generations strive to secure the Mason family’s future, catastrophic decisions are made, leading to a heartbreaking twist and a blistering condemnation of America’s Big White Fog.” The play’s run includes a touch tour (October 4), audio description and ASL interpretation (October 4), and open captioning (October 5) performances.
Black Women and Clay at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
On view now through November 16, Black Women and Clay, a group exhibition at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art includes work by Cristal Sabbagh. The exhibition honors the remarkable but often overlooked contributions of Black female ceramic artist in Chicago. “Through their ceramic works, [the artists] create the representations they wished to see, crafting powerful visual narratives that celebrate Black identity, culture, and experience.” Exhibition programming includes an Artist Talk on October 25 (1-2pm CT).
On view now through November 16, HER SPACE, is a group exhibition at Heaven Gallery focusing on three lines of visual inquiry: the tensions between abstraction and figuration, colors and their spectrum of moods, and responses to architecture in the picture plane and beyond. The exhibition features work by Maria Gaspar, Cydney M. Lewis, Edra Soto, among many more.
Don’t mind if i do, Sandie Yi: Digital Technology, and Ariella Granados: Like and Subscribe at Gallery 400
On view now through December 13, Gallery 400 opens several new exhibitions featuring artists Ariella Granados, Sandie Yi, among many more.
Don’t mind if i do is a “collaborative experiment demonstrating how temporary changes in power structures create pathways of access for visitors, artists, and staff. Anchored by a conveyor belt that brings artworks to visitors who are invited to sit around comfortable furniture and engage with the objects, the exhibition features artworks by a selection of artists who have inspired Finnegan Shannon’s practice.”
Sandie Yi: Digital Technology is Sandie’s first solo exhibition in Chicago, reflecting on “how her craft produces objects and knowledge that foreground how she innovates technologies that have to do with how her body interacts with the world…The show includes a set of photographs demonstrating how she dons her couture, casts of her hands, which are used as props for displaying her jewelry, and sewn silk organza pouches holding callouses trimmed from her feet.”
In Ariella Granados: Like and Subscribe, Ariella explores “disability identity’s relationship to utopia through alter egos that borrow the visual language of Mexican television, YouTube vlogging, and world-building video games. With a keen interest in the uses of chromakey green screens to render space within cinema, Granados’ performances expand their body from the real world to the digital through playful diaristic narratives.”
Tengo Lincoln Park en mi Corazón: Young Lords in Chicago at the DePaul Art Museum
On view now through February 8, 2026, Tengo Lincoln Park en mi Corazón: Young Lords in Chicago, a group exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum includes work by Sam Kirk, Arif Smith and Rebel Betty. The exhibition “explores the Young Lords Organization’s (YLO) trajectory in the Lincoln Park neighborhood amidst gentrification and urban renewal, which displaced the vibrant Puerto Rican community of the 1950s and 1960s…The exhibition explores the origins of the movement, emphasizing the concept of counter-mapping as a means of activism and community empowerment.”
Afrofuturist Weekend at Elastic Arts
On October 1-5, Afrofuturist Weekend is a celebration of forward-looking music, art, and performance that envisions radically positive futures for Black people. “Deploying new technologies, drawing upon history, and subverting/inverting exploitative hierarchies, Afrofuturism puts Black people at the center of narratives about the future.” The free 5-day celebration includes performances, visual art installations, video presentations, panel discussions, and immersive experiences featuring artists Andres L. Hernandez, Norman Long, Ivelisse Diaz’s La Escuelita Bombera de Corazon, FINDING IJEOMA, and many more.
Showing October 2 through November 9, created by Terry Guest, OAK is a southern gothic play following three Black kids as they navigate a community where children aren’t safe, and the adults fail to protect them. The play’s run includes a pay what you can performance (October 3), mask required performance (October 10), student night (October 17), touch tour and audio description (October 19), and a closed captioning (October 26) performance.
Art/Access Lab Open Lab at Experimental Station
On October 5, Art/Access Lab Open Lab, featuring Terri Lynne Hudson and Tsehaye Geralyn Hébert, is a free hybrid event providing artis in the disability community an affinity space to share emerging projects, test ideas, and gain perspectives on their work through community exchange. The conversation is guided by the needs of artists and may explore themes presented in shared work or invite audience questions or critique.
RestoreHER: A Self-Love Sound Healing & Portrait Experience at The FoundHER Suite
On October 17, join Nashon Holloway for RestoreHER, a sound healing and portrait experience. Attendees are asked to bring their own mat and dress comfortably chic.
Glimmers in the Garden: An Intimate Gala Celebration at the Elizabeth F. Cheney Mansion
On October 23, join Winifred Haun & Dancers for Glimmers in the Garden: An Intimate Gala Celebration at the Elizabeth F. Cheney Mansion, a celebration of 27 seasons of Winifred Haun & Dancers. The event will feature performances throughout the mansion and surrounding gardens, as well as dinner, wine and dancing.
Damon Locks’s Black Monument Ensemble at the Harris Theater
On October 24, Damon Locks’s Black Monument Ensemble performs at the Harris Theater. “Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist and activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s conceptualizing, poeticizing, and guiding vision, the contributors come from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence in Chicago, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to uplifting, anthemic, and highly animated musical performances.”