Image Title: FaceTime Dreams, 2020 by Brandon Carlton; Photo by Alyssa Gregory

UChicago Arts continues its years-long partnership with EXPO CHICAGO to co-host South Side Night on Tuesday April 22, 2025. South Side Night is part of the official programming of EXPO CHICAGO, the annual contemporary art fair that showcases leading contemporary and modern art galleries every April at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall. With the fair at Navy Pier as its centerpiece, EXPO ART WEEK partners with institutions and galleries to activate arts sites and communities across the city—including exhibitions, receptions, open studios, curator-led tours and more. 

UChicago Arts will co-host the official kick off to EXPO ART WEEK with the opening reception of South Side Night, “A Toast to the South Side,” at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago from 6:00-7:00 PM prior to a special performance by artists Margaret Crowley and Eli Greene. South Side Night welcomes EXPO visitors and community members to experience the dynamic artistic energy of UChicago Arts at five locations across the university, in addition to hosted exhibits, performances, and extended hours at multiple arts spaces in Hyde Park, Bronzeville, and neighboring south side communities.  

EXPO CHICAGO 2025 draws on the city’s vibrant art scene and artistic history to feature artwork from leading modern and contemporary art galleries, as well as public art initiatives, talks, and installations from April 24-27, 2025 at Navy Pier. In 2024 EXPO CHICAGO drew more than 35,000 visitors, collectors, curators, and museum directors, showcasing the depth and breadth of the Chicago’s cultural landscape, and its visibility as a global arts destination. 

“We are grateful to have partnered with EXPO CHICAGO, the largest arts fair in the Midwest, for the past 5 years," said Jessica Musselwhite, Executive Director of UChicago Arts. " Together we've been working to bring EXPO's visitors from around the world to the historic South Side and our many vibrant arts organizations and for the opportunity to celebrate our vibrant and diverse community in our community and with our community. We are especially excited to partner with the First Presbyterian Church, which is not only one of those most significant and historic parishes in the city, but continues a century long commitment to faith, community support, justice, and a very exciting new arts program."  

UChicago Arts, part of the Division of the Arts & Humanities, works with arts units across the university to integrate arts practice, research, and teaching throughout the UChicago community, while also facilitating and elevating the University’s arts engagement and partnership with local, national, and global audiences.

Visitors can explore exhibitions and institutions in Hyde Park and Bronzeville, ranging from the Smart Museum of Art to The DuSable Black History Museum to The Renaissance Society. A complete list of exhibitions and extended hours are below. To facilitate easy access between events, UChicago Arts offers a shuttle that will loop between locations from 5 pm to 10 pm on Tuesday, April 22. Additional information on the route, can be found here. 

To register for reception at the First Presbyterian of Chicago, please RSVP here. 

Participating venues and programs include: 

Smart Museum of Art
Extended Hours 4:30–6:30pm

Visit Expanding the 50th: Shared Stories, an updated presentation of the institution’s anniversary exhibition to explore the histories that have made up the Smart Museum over the last five decades. Drawn entirely from the permanent collection—which has grown from nearly 2,500 works in 1974, when the Smart opened its doors, to over 17,000 objects today—the exhibition is organized loosely chronologically to illuminate how the institution, its mission, and collection, have continued to change.

Hyde Park Art Center
Artist-Led Exhibition Tour by Yasmin Spiro 5:00–6:00pm

Join Yasmin Spiro for an artist-led exhibition tour of her solo exhibition Cornerstone. This immersive installation draws deeply from the geographic and architectural forms of her homeland, Jamaica, weaving together elements of cultural hybridity that resonate throughout Spiro’s practice. The exhibition features newly-cast sculptures of varying scales, soundscapes, scent work, and large natural fiber weavings that create a multi-sensory experience. 

The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center
Extended Hours 5:00–7:00pm

Enjoy extended hours at the museum and the opportunity to visit The Art of Our Storytellers: Selections from the Johnson Publishing Company collection, which celebrated African American life not just through its publications but also through its stunning art collection. Many pieces reflected African-centered viewpoints and the African American experience, creating a vibrant cultural tapestry that filled the building’s halls and offices.

Neubauer Collegium for Culture & Society
Extended Hours for Let's Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar 5:00–9:00pm

This exhibition offers the first sustained look at a pivotal moment in Betye Saar’s career, when a visit to Chicago’s Field Museum in 1974 transformed the way she conceived of herself as an artist. A display of over 60 objects—including a ceremonial robe from Cameroon, costumes and jewelry designed by Saar, drawings, photos, and more—casts new light on the way Saar’s early career in costume design informed her pioneering work in assemblage and installation. The show is presented as part of a series of exhibitions and events linked to the multi-year Panafrica research project at the Neubauer Collegium.

The Renaissance Society
Extended Hours 6:00–8:00pm

Visit If Uganda Was America after hours during South Side Night. Wakaliga Uganda presents their first wide-ranging exhibition in the US, including a new film alongside other recent films, all within a customized installation.

First Presbyterian Church of Chicago 
Toast to the South Side Reception 6:00–7:15pm

Join EXPO CHICAGO and UChicago Arts for a Toast to the South Side at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago. This reception is the official kick-off for EXPO ART WEEK and celebrates the creative community in this neighborhood of Chicago. Remarks at 7:00 PM.

First Presbyterian Church of Chicago
 Midnight: Performance in Two Parts 7:30–9:00pm

On the occasion of the exhibition, Midnight, two performances will take place during South Side Night at the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago's indoor basketball court. The program will begin with Milking it, a group performance about basketball and physical therapy by Margaret Crowley and end with On Falling, Part V, the fifth iteration of an ongoing performance about time, loss and memory by Eli Greene. 

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Blanc Gallery and South Side Community Art Center
Extended Hours 6:00–9:00pm

Visit this two part exhibition Futurescapes: Ecowomanist Worldbuilding, at both South Side Community Art Center and a more extensive exhibit of the same group show at Blanc Gallery. With sculptural work as well as film and soundscapes, the artists will more fully develop their themes in the Community that they consider their artistic home.

Arts + Public Life
Extended Hours 6:00–9:00pm

Arts + Public Life presents the undercommons, the first solo exhibition by painter Brandon Carlton. Through his distinctive approach to stylized figuration, Carlton explores the complexities of contemporary Black life, using portraiture and spatial composition to evoke intimacy, distance, and presence.