September 2026 Issue: Art 50 + Fall Arts (Digital Edition)

Art 50 2026

Chicago's Visual Vanguard

The opening of the Obama Presidential Center this summer was, to say the least, the cultural event of the year, not only in Chicago but in America. Not only is the center a place for art and, especially, Chicago artists, but the center, in so many ways, demonstrates the attributes that distinguish the Chicago art world that you'll find depicted in this year's Art 50.  Art in Chicago manages to be curatorially creative and rigorous while also commercially viable.  Art in Chicago is diasporic and assimilative, as those who once lived and worked here never lose their identification with it, while those who arrive newly to live and work here quickly become its advocates.  Art in Chicago is global in its reach but community-based at its core.  (Brian Hieggelke)

FALL ARTS PREVIEW 2026

When Pope.L Played in a Band

Resurrecting the late artist's musical legacy

"There is no exact date for when Pope.L started visiting Corbett vs. Dempsey, but it was sometime before the pandemic when, on one Saturday, he began to be a regular fixture at the gallery. “We would talk about the exhibitions,” says co-owner John Corbett, “and at a certain point started discussing the possibility of doing a show of his work. He was very enthusiastic. Things took a long time for him. He let them brew.'” (Jon Bonfiglio)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Art Events 

Motivations to Obey

Ginger Krebs brings “Protected By Invisible Fence” to the MCA

"If you can remember a time before you walked through life with a networked computer in your pocket tracking your every move and conversation, have you ever considered the ways this little device influences your thoughts? Even your movements, your gestures? Choreographer Ginger Krebs thinks about it a lot. Krebs is fascinated by our relationship to technology and uses dance to explore surveillance and dystopian systems of power with tenderness and offbeat humor." (Sharon Hoyer)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Dance Events 

The Radical Care of Shaker Design

In a world where making, belief and community are deeply intertwined

"Shaker design is best known for its clean lines, quiet restraint and enduring influence on modern interiors. But “The Shakers: A World in the Making” at the Milwaukee Art Museum asks visitors to look beyond the familiar aesthetic and consider the larger world that produced it." (Vasia Rigou)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Design Events 

Time Between Worlds

Audrey Niffenegger on her sequel to “The Time Traveler’s Wife”

"Chicago artist and writer Audrey Niffenegger is best known for her debut novel, “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” Published in 2003, the New York Times bestseller follows Clare Abshire, an artist who marries Henry DeTamble, a librarian with a genetic disorder that drives him to time-travel. “Life Out of Order," her third novel, is its sequel, arriving twenty-three years after “The Time Traveler’s Wife.'” (Brendan Tynan Buck)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Lit Events 

The Dawn of a New Festival Era?

Brent Heyl on the City’s Music Landscape

"In the wake of this turmoil, the contours of a new music-festival era began to take shape. In Chicago, this has meant a shift to more small, boutique festivals, often with a stronger focus on genre, an unconventional approach to locations or a local creative force acting as the face of it." (Dylan Weinert)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Music Events 

Kokandy’s Musicals for Now

Chicago’s rising storefront company on the look of success

"Kokandy Productions is experiencing a rise-to-superstar moment. In recent years they’ve consistently produced well-received shows and audience hits. This fall, their 2025 production of “Jekyll & Hyde” will move to Broadway in Chicago, while highly anticipated new productions like “Sunday in the Park with George” will take the stage as well. There’s some special ingredient in Kokandy’s recipe—can we sample it and discover the secrets of a successful Chicago storefront company?" (Robert Eric Shoemaker)

+ Can't-Miss Fall Stage Events 

Arts & Culture

Art:  Bad at Sports hits a milestone

+ Adriana Varejão reaches a new apotheosis in Venice

Dance: Into the dark world of John Neumeier's "Liliom" with the Joffrey Ballet

Design: Expanding the language of fashion with Justin Dougan-LeBlanc

Film: The rental renaissance at Lincoln Square’s Davis Theater

Lit: Reflections on the Ragdale story, as the artist residency turns fifty

Music: Hyde Park Jazz Festival turns twenty

Stage: How “The Birth of the Pill” moved from book to stage

Reviews

See what you think

Poetry

“For F”: A new poem by Laine Derr

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