Featured Events in Chicago in March 2025 (March Updated)

The Chicago Bulls, established in 1966 and based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, play their home games at United Center. The Bulls have won the NBA Championship six times, including two three-peats from 1991 to 1998. Current key players include Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević. The Los Angeles Lakers, established in 1947 and based in Los Angeles, California, USA, play their home games at Crypto.com Arena. The Lakers have won the NBA Championship 17 times. Current key players include LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Access the adventure where science and imagination meet. Explore the iconic cars, gadgets and props of the James Bond film series. 007 Science: Inventing the World of James Bond is the first-ever official exhibition to focus on the science and technology behind the world’s longest-running movie franchise. Go behind the scenes to learn how the Bond production teams harness real-world science to craft 007’s on-screen adventures. See fantastical gadgets created for the Bond films alongside the real-life inventions they prefigured—see a prototype jetpack from “Thunderball” and the modern Gravity Industries Jet Suit.

In the early 1970s, Nancy Holt (American, 1938–2014) created her first sculpture, a viewing device that she called a Locator. Made from two pieces of welded steel pipe, with a viewing aperture set at the height of her own eyes, the Locator became a powerful means for Holt to ground her viewer in the conscious process of perception. The first Locators were installed in Holt’s New York studio in 1971. From here she could train a viewer’s eye on overlooked aspects of the urban landscape, focusing attention on found elements, such as ventilators on nearby rooftops or windows on neighboring buildings. She then created site-responsive installations, using the Locator as an apparatus to frame surprising passages in the built environment, which she selected and marked with paint. In this installation, conceived in collaboration with the Holt/Smithson Foundation, two historical works—Dual Locators (1972) and Locator (PS1) (1980)—are presented for the first time out-of-doors on a sculpture terrace, where the interior and exterior architecture of the museum are in constant dialogue with each other and the surrounding city. Drawing awareness to the act of looking, these devices ask us to attend to our individual experience of vision, while challenging the presumption that how we see is in any way self-evident.

In the early 1970s, Nancy Holt (American, 1938–2014) created her first sculpture, a viewing device that she called a Locator. Made from two pieces of welded steel pipe, with a viewing aperture set at the height of her own eyes, the Locator became a powerful means for Holt to ground her viewer in the conscious process of perception. The first Locators were installed in Holt’s New York studio in 1971. From here she could train a viewer’s eye on overlooked aspects of the urban landscape, focusing attention on found elements, such as ventilators on nearby rooftops or windows on neighboring buildings. She then created site-responsive installations, using the Locator as an apparatus to frame surprising passages in the built environment, which she selected and marked with paint. In this installation, conceived in collaboration with the Holt/Smithson Foundation, two historical works—Dual Locators (1972) and Locator (PS1) (1980)—are presented for the first time out-of-doors on a sculpture terrace, where the interior and exterior architecture of the museum are in constant dialogue with each other and the surrounding city. Drawing awareness to the act of looking, these devices ask us to attend to our individual experience of vision, while challenging the presumption that how we see is in any way self-evident.

In the early 1970s, Nancy Holt (American, 1938–2014) created her first sculpture, a viewing device that she called a Locator. Made from two pieces of welded steel pipe, with a viewing aperture set at the height of her own eyes, the Locator became a powerful means for Holt to ground her viewer in the conscious process of perception. The first Locators were installed in Holt’s New York studio in 1971. From here she could train a viewer’s eye on overlooked aspects of the urban landscape, focusing attention on found elements, such as ventilators on nearby rooftops or windows on neighboring buildings. She then created site-responsive installations, using the Locator as an apparatus to frame surprising passages in the built environment, which she selected and marked with paint. In this installation, conceived in collaboration with the Holt/Smithson Foundation, two historical works—Dual Locators (1972) and Locator (PS1) (1980)—are presented for the first time out-of-doors on a sculpture terrace, where the interior and exterior architecture of the museum are in constant dialogue with each other and the surrounding city. Drawing awareness to the act of looking, these devices ask us to attend to our individual experience of vision, while challenging the presumption that how we see is in any way self-evident.

From wild carnivores to domestic companions, cats have their paws in science and culture alike. Learn about the characteristics of cats, big and small; walk through dynamic dioramas with dozens of felines frozen in time; and spot your own furry friends in a fan submission photo gallery. This interactive exhibition is the purr-fect blend of science, history, and pop culture.

Pan-Africanism, first named and theorized around 1900, is commonly regarded as an umbrella term for political movements that have advanced the call for both individual self-determination and global solidarity among peoples of African descent. It has yet to be fully examined as a worldview that takes its force from art and culture.As the first major exhibition to survey Pan-Africanism’s cultural manifestations, Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica gathers together some 350 objects, spanning the 1920s to the present, made by artists on four continents: Africa, North and South America, and Europe. Panafrica, the promised land named in the exhibition title, is presented as a conceptual place where arguments about decolonization, solidarity, and freedom are advanced and negotiated with the aim of an emancipatory future.

Pan-Africanism, first named and theorized around 1900, is commonly regarded as an umbrella term for political movements that have advanced the call for both individual self-determination and global solidarity among peoples of African descent. It has yet to be fully examined as a worldview that takes its force from art and culture.As the first major exhibition to survey Pan-Africanism’s cultural manifestations, Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica gathers together some 350 objects, spanning the 1920s to the present, made by artists on four continents: Africa, North and South America, and Europe. Panafrica, the promised land named in the exhibition title, is presented as a conceptual place where arguments about decolonization, solidarity, and freedom are advanced and negotiated with the aim of an emancipatory future.

The upcoming ProMat 2025 event in Chicago, held at the renowned McCormick Place, will be featuring an exciting addition to its lineup. This year, attendees can look forward to exploring the brand-new Robotics & Automation Solution Center, which will be located in the North Hall of McCormick Place. From AS/RS and G2P to AGVs and AGCs, all the way to autonomous mobile robots and articulated robotic arms, this cutting-edge Solution Center will serve as a showcase for the crucial role these innovative solutions play in enhancing various operational aspects, including receiving, storage, assembly, picking, sortation, packing, and shipping. As the event approaches in 2025, visitors can anticipate a comprehensive display of the latest advancements in robotics and automation, providing them with valuable insights into the future of the industry. ProMat 2025 is a must-attend event for professionals seeking to stay ahead of the curve and explore the latest trends and technologies shaping the logistics and supply chain landscape. Join us from March 17th to March 20th, 2025, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, to experience this groundbreaking Solution Center firsthand.

Get ready for an unforgettable experience at Movements with Citizen in Chicago. The event will take place at the prestigious Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom located at 1106 W Lawrence, Chicago, IL, 60640 on March 22, 2025. Join fellow attendees in exploring various citizen movements and engaging discussions aimed at creating positive change in the community. Don't miss out on this opportunity to be part of a meaningful dialogue and contribute to the advancement of society.

honestav is a highly anticipated event taking place at Chop Shop in Chicago on March 28, 2025. This event promises to offer a unique and engaging experience for attendees at 2033 W North Ave, Chicago, IL, 60647. With a focus on authenticity and integrity, honestav is set to attract a diverse audience looking to connect with like-minded individuals in a vibrant and dynamic setting. Don't miss out on this exclusive opportunity to be part of an event that celebrates honesty and openness in a welcoming environment.

The Chicago Bulls, established in 1966 and based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, play their home games at United Center. The Bulls have won the NBA Championship six times, including two three-peats from 1991 to 1998. Current key players include Zach LaVine and Nikola Vučević. The Dallas Mavericks, established in 1980 and based in Dallas, Texas, USA, play their home games at American Airlines Center. The Mavericks won the NBA Championship in 2011. Current key players include Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.

Experience the unforgettable Deftones - North American Tour 2025 at the United Center in Chicago on March 31, 2025. Get ready to witness an epic performance by the renowned band at one of the most iconic venues in the city. The United Center, located at 1901 W Madison, Chicago, IL, 60612, will set the stage for a night filled with incredible music and unforgettable moments. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a truly memorable event.

Across three decades, artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa has developed a singularly dynamic practice comprising films and videos, photographs, and sculptures. Through his multidisciplinary work, Jafa seeks to encompass what he describes as “the full complexity, specificity, beauty, and potentiality of what Black folks have made and continue to make out of the bleak existential circumstance we’ve attended to over the past several hundred years.” Utilizing found imagery, music, and artistic techniques such as montage and collage, he has constructed an extensive assemblage of Black expression, layered and arranged in ways that reveal the diverse and complex realities of Black being.

Across three decades, artist and filmmaker Arthur Jafa has developed a singularly dynamic practice comprising films and videos, photographs, and sculptures. Through his multidisciplinary work, Jafa seeks to encompass what he describes as “the full complexity, specificity, beauty, and potentiality of what Black folks have made and continue to make out of the bleak existential circumstance we’ve attended to over the past several hundred years.” Utilizing found imagery, music, and artistic techniques such as montage and collage, he has constructed an extensive assemblage of Black expression, layered and arranged in ways that reveal the diverse and complex realities of Black being.

Jitish Kallat’s site-specific installation, Public Notice 3, returns to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Grand Staircase this fall after a 14-year hiatus. Initially unveiled on September 11, 2010, the work connects two significant historical events separated by 108 years: the First World’s Parliament of Religions which began on September 11, 1893, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. At the earlier event, the World Parliament of Religions, held in an auditorium that encompassed the area that today includes both the museum’s Fullerton Hall and Woman’s Board Grand Staircase, a young Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda electrified audiences with a powerful speech calling for an end to religious fundamentalism, intolerance, and bigotry.

Jitish Kallat’s site-specific installation, Public Notice 3, returns to the Art Institute of Chicago’s Grand Staircase this fall after a 14-year hiatus. Initially unveiled on September 11, 2010, the work connects two significant historical events separated by 108 years: the First World’s Parliament of Religions which began on September 11, 1893, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. At the earlier event, the World Parliament of Religions, held in an auditorium that encompassed the area that today includes both the museum’s Fullerton Hall and Woman’s Board Grand Staircase, a young Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda electrified audiences with a powerful speech calling for an end to religious fundamentalism, intolerance, and bigotry.

What meanings has Earth held for people of African descent, and what can an environmental consciousness grounded in Pan-Africanist perspectives teach all of humanity today? Conceived to accompany the major survey exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (on view at the Art Institute December 15, 2024–March 30, 2025), this exhibition, drawn from the museum’s collection, addresses the planet itself. Works by 17 artists in film, photography, and book arts draw attention to three vital and intertwined interactions with the land: as a path to freedom, as a means of spiritual and bodily sustenance, and as a source of enlightenment. Works by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems and Dawoud Bey retrace nocturnal paths to freedom. For example, Weems’s North Star stems from the experience of her grandfather, labor organizer Frank Weems, who made a path from rural Arkansas to Chicago in 1936 by traveling at night and following Polaris, the North Star. Like many others who found their way to freedom, Weems saved his life but lost his family and never could return to his birthplace. Foregrounding the interrelation of food and spiritual wisdom are works by Radcliffe Bailey and Luis Medina as well as the room-filling photo installation Bori (Feed the Head) by Candomblé priest and visual artist Ayrson Heráclito. Bori memorializes a ritual performance in which Heráclito encircled the heads of one dozen initiated participants with mounded ingredients to nourish individual Yoruba deities.

What meanings has Earth held for people of African descent, and what can an environmental consciousness grounded in Pan-Africanist perspectives teach all of humanity today? Conceived to accompany the major survey exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (on view at the Art Institute December 15, 2024–March 30, 2025), this exhibition, drawn from the museum’s collection, addresses the planet itself. Works by 17 artists in film, photography, and book arts draw attention to three vital and intertwined interactions with the land: as a path to freedom, as a means of spiritual and bodily sustenance, and as a source of enlightenment. Works by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems and Dawoud Bey retrace nocturnal paths to freedom. For example, Weems’s North Star stems from the experience of her grandfather, labor organizer Frank Weems, who made a path from rural Arkansas to Chicago in 1936 by traveling at night and following Polaris, the North Star. Like many others who found their way to freedom, Weems saved his life but lost his family and never could return to his birthplace. Foregrounding the interrelation of food and spiritual wisdom are works by Radcliffe Bailey and Luis Medina as well as the room-filling photo installation Bori (Feed the Head) by Candomblé priest and visual artist Ayrson Heráclito. Bori memorializes a ritual performance in which Heráclito encircled the heads of one dozen initiated participants with mounded ingredients to nourish individual Yoruba deities.

What meanings has Earth held for people of African descent, and what can an environmental consciousness grounded in Pan-Africanist perspectives teach all of humanity today? Conceived to accompany the major survey exhibition Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica (on view at the Art Institute December 15, 2024–March 30, 2025), this exhibition, drawn from the museum’s collection, addresses the planet itself. Works by 17 artists in film, photography, and book arts draw attention to three vital and intertwined interactions with the land: as a path to freedom, as a means of spiritual and bodily sustenance, and as a source of enlightenment. Works by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems and Dawoud Bey retrace nocturnal paths to freedom. For example, Weems’s North Star stems from the experience of her grandfather, labor organizer Frank Weems, who made a path from rural Arkansas to Chicago in 1936 by traveling at night and following Polaris, the North Star. Like many others who found their way to freedom, Weems saved his life but lost his family and never could return to his birthplace. Foregrounding the interrelation of food and spiritual wisdom are works by Radcliffe Bailey and Luis Medina as well as the room-filling photo installation Bori (Feed the Head) by Candomblé priest and visual artist Ayrson Heráclito. Bori memorializes a ritual performance in which Heráclito encircled the heads of one dozen initiated participants with mounded ingredients to nourish individual Yoruba deities.

For decades, critics have argued that painting is dead. Despite this, artists continue to push the medium forward. This exhibition defines painting itself as a manual “technique,” ​​showing viewers that painting is an ever-changing artistic expression.

Descending the Staircase considers novel artistic approaches to representing the human body. Spread across two floors of the museum, the exhibition presents figures of all kinds, from the fragmented, absurd, and surreal to the curated, self-aware, and media savvy. Puppets, masks, and automatons merge bodies with objects, juxtaposing the animate and inanimate, while abstract sculptures evoke the human form through soft and fleshy materials such as nylon, wax, hair, and latex. Elsewhere, artists deploy the living body as a medium, setting it in motion with performance and gesture. Together, these artworks delve into fundamental questions about the human body in the contemporary world, including its relationship to labor and machines, its presentation in advertising and social media, and its role within the everyday domestic sphere.

Descending the Staircase considers novel artistic approaches to representing the human body. Spread across two floors of the museum, the exhibition presents figures of all kinds, from the fragmented, absurd, and surreal to the curated, self-aware, and media savvy. Puppets, masks, and automatons merge bodies with objects, juxtaposing the animate and inanimate, while abstract sculptures evoke the human form through soft and fleshy materials such as nylon, wax, hair, and latex. Elsewhere, artists deploy the living body as a medium, setting it in motion with performance and gesture. Together, these artworks delve into fundamental questions about the human body in the contemporary world, including its relationship to labor and machines, its presentation in advertising and social media, and its role within the everyday domestic sphere.

Renowned multimedia artist Dieter Roth’s preferred form, and the one he spent his lifetime pursuing, was the Gesamtkunstwerk, a German term for “total work of art.” Working across a diverse range of media, disciplines, and creative activities, Roth developed an artistic practice that dissolved the boundaries between art and life, upending traditional categories, hierarchies, and even timeworn notions of singular authorship. Often collaborating with other artists, including his son Björn, Roth produced an ever-expanding body of work that gestured toward the cumulative effects of a life spent making and remaking.

This longest-running exhibition of African American art has been displayed annually at Griffin MSI since 1970. Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition features paintings, drawings, fine art prints, sculpture, mixed-media, ceramics and photography by African Americans, including youth artists between the ages of 14 and 17.

This longest-running exhibition of African American art has been displayed annually at Griffin MSI since 1970. Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition features paintings, drawings, fine art prints, sculpture, mixed-media, ceramics and photography by African Americans, including youth artists between the ages of 14 and 17.

This longest-running exhibition of African American art has been displayed annually at Griffin MSI since 1970. Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition features paintings, drawings, fine art prints, sculpture, mixed-media, ceramics and photography by African Americans, including youth artists between the ages of 14 and 17.

The 1940s and 1950s were a pivotal time for Japan’s creative print movement, known as sōsaku hanga. Just after World War II, artists who had primarily trained in oil painting turned to woodblock prints to portray the people around them, using the medium’s power and immediacy to capture a disappearing traditional world. This exhibition features the work of four sōsaku hanga artists: Onchi Kōshirō (1891–1955) and his followers Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914–1988), Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997), and Kitaoka Fumio (1918–2007). Onchi was the movement’s main advocate, and his name is synonymous with the group. From 1939, sōsaku hanga artists met at his home on the first Thursday of every month, where they received the encouragement they needed to flourish.

The 1940s and 1950s were a pivotal time for Japan’s creative print movement, known as sōsaku hanga. Just after World War II, artists who had primarily trained in oil painting turned to woodblock prints to portray the people around them, using the medium’s power and immediacy to capture a disappearing traditional world. This exhibition features the work of four sōsaku hanga artists: Onchi Kōshirō (1891–1955) and his followers Sekino Jun’ichirō (1914–1988), Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997), and Kitaoka Fumio (1918–2007). Onchi was the movement’s main advocate, and his name is synonymous with the group. From 1939, sōsaku hanga artists met at his home on the first Thursday of every month, where they received the encouragement they needed to flourish.