Join me for a weaving workshop from 1pm - 4pm!

Open House Overview

Open House @ Chicago Cultural Center - artists in residence, music, galleries, shopping, socializing & more

Chicago Cultural Center Open Houses offer a later hours experience of DCASE's artists in residence, music programming , gallery exhibitions, shopping, socializing & more in our architecturally stunning homebase.

Chicago Cultural Center Open House: INTERGENERATIONAL CULTURAL FUN!

Intergenerational audiences welcome for music, dance performances & workshops, arts & craft workshops, Open House Bingo AND the visual arts exhibitions on display.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13 - 1-6 p.m.

Free and Open to the Public - ALL AGES Welcome

1ST FLOOR

WELCOME CENTER - Hands on Kwanzaa workshop with Chi Village!

LEARNING LAB - Architecture activity with Artist in Residence arKIDecture

RANDOLPH SQUARE - Hands on collage workshop with Honeycomb Network!

BUDDY - Open Until 6pm!

MICHIGAN AVE. GALLERIES - Chicago Architecture Biennial

LOBBIES - BINGO CARD Pick Up

2nd FLOOR

G.A.R. HALL - Youth Dance Groups!

1-2pm Bollywood Groove

230-330 - MSB Dance

4-5pm - Teatro Tariakuri

G.A.R. ROTUNDA - Hands on printmaking workshop with Pilsen Arts & Community House!

OPEN HOUSE BINGO Prize Pick Up

Until 6pm Exhibition: Uncertain Histories

CLAUDIA CASSIDY THEATER

35th Anniversary Film Screening with Industry Panel

HOME ALONE - presented by Facets Film Forum

2pm Screening

4pm Industry Panel

CHICAGO ROOMS Until 5:45pm Exhibition: Not A Soft Thing

3RD FLOOR

PRESTON BRADLEY HALL - Youth Music Ensembles!

1-2pm ChiMOP String Ensemble

2-3pm Uniting Voice Chicago Choir

330-430pm Son Monarcas

5-6pm BandWith Chicago's All Star Band

Hands on circuit ornament workshop with Chicago Public Library!

4TH FLOOR

YATES GALLERY

Until 5:45pm Chicago Architecture Biennial

EXHIBIT HALL

Until 5:45pm Chicago Architecture Biennial

4th FLOOR NORTH LANDING

Chill Out Space/Seating & Device Charging Area

Transportation Tips:

Discounted parking available if you purchase ahead of time at https://millenniumgarages.com/rates/ or take the CTA https://www.transitchicago.com/planatrip.

Chicago Cultural Center Open House programs are alcohol-free events.

We welcome all Chicago residents and visitors who are in the arts or love the arts.

RSVPs are requested but not required. The event may be photographed or video recorded.

More great cultural events at ChicagoCulturalCenter.org.

All events are FREE unless noted. A full schedule of DCASE events is available here.

Learn to weave on a cardboard loom with guidance from Chicago-based artist Bryana Bibbs. Inspired by the Smart’s current exhibition Theaster Gates: Unto Thee and Bibbs’ distinctive weaving practice, participants will use colorful fiber materials and a variety of objects to create a unique weaving of their own to take home.

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist and educator who works at the intersections of textiles, printmaking, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence, serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee, and was named one of Newcity’s Breakout Artists of 2024.

"Weaving & Valuable Objects" is generously supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Registration begins October 11th.

Join me for the opening reception of Moment to Moment on Friday, October 24, from 5 PM - 8 PM.

Moment to Moment is an exhibition that explores the complex lived experiences related to anxiety, loss, grief, and time. It features moments captured through Bibbs's extensive Polaroid archive, which has been growing over the past 3 years, alongside feelings and moments that are preserved through large-scale weaving installations. These installations incorporate a variety of textures, materials, and colors, reflecting overarching themes of healing, grieving, and the uncertainty that comes with such emotional journeys. Bibbs’s work not only functions as an archive but also as a way to process and navigate through lived experiences.

In the Churchman-Fehsenfeld Gallery, Bibbs creates large-scale, abstracted weavings that serve as externalized reflections and representations of past moments and feelings that are often unseen or too difficult to express directly. These weavings act as visual narratives, telling stories about moments of intense anxiety experienced in new environments, shifts in relationships, and the loss of her grandfather in December 2023 and the loss of her grandmother in August 2024.

Meanwhile, in the Basile Exhibition Corridor, viewers are invited to engage with a collection of Polaroids from Bibbs's archive. These photos mark the beginning of her journey into photo archiving, spanning from 2022 up to the present day. The exhibition documents her various opportunities, explorations, travels, and progressions within her studio practice. However, in late October 2023, things began to shift, highlighting Bibbs's deeply personal grief journey following caregiving and the deaths of her grandparents, along with the profound emotional and creative aftermath that ensued.

Artist Biography:

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist and educator who works at the intersections of textiles, printmaking, painting, and community-based practices. Her work comes from lived experiences of trauma, grief, and loss. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence and serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee.

Recent solo exhibitions include two hundred and fifty-one days, curated by Elise Butterfield (2025), Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; Unforeseen (2024), 21c Museum Hotel - Chicago, Chicago, IL; and Changes (2024), The Chesterton Art Center, Chesterton, IN.

Recent group exhibitions include No One Knows All It Takes, curated by Christopher Jobson and Grace Ebert (2025), Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI; All Fiber Show (2025), Art Center of Burlington, Burlington, IA; and Beyond: Tapestry Expanded, curated by Erica Warren (2024), The Richard E. Peeler Art Center, Greencastle, IN.

Bibbs has taught with organizations and institutions such as The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; The Design Museum of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, IL; Awakenings Art, Chicago, IL; and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME.

bryanabibbs.com

@bryanabibbs (Instagram)

No One Knows All It Takes

August 22 - December 20, 2025

There's a common misconception that trauma is avoidable and that those experiencing it bear some responsibility. In reality, though, as trauma reverberates from its origins, it impacts all of our lives, whether through injury, death, violence, sexism, racism, or other forms of adversity.

No One Knows All It Takes invites four artists (Bryana Bibbs, Raoul Deal, Maria Gaspar, and Swoon [Caledonia Curry]) whose work explores the effects of concealed trauma and the inextricable ties between personal health and collective wellness. By addressing issues like addiction, incarceration, immigration, and a lack of systemic support for caregivers, the artists emphasize the power of personal stories to illuminate problems that are often overlooked or purposefully hidden from view. Moving beyond self-care and individualized treatments, the work directs us to some of the root causes of trauma and highlights systemic issues that undermine societal well-being.

No One Knows All It Takes presents opportunities for contextualizing traumatic experiences and generating empathy. The exhibition offers ways to build connections that reach beyond the museum walls and helps us to recognize that achieving true well-being is impossible without care for all.

No One Knows All It Takes was curated by Christopher Jobson and Grace Ebert, of Colossal.

Support for this exhibition is generously provided by the Lacey Sadoff Foundation, Fred and Barb Syrjanen, and the Marquette University Women’s Council Endowment Fund. With in-kind support from Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel.

Wednesday, June 25, 6-8 p.m. 

Speakers: Nelly Agassi, Bryana Bibbs, Aram Han-Sifuentes, Victoria Martinez and Carina Yepez

Moderated by Alive Piliado

weaving and memory by Bryana Bibbs

NO RSVP NECESSARY

Inspired by Bryana Bibbs’ two hundred and fifty-one days exhibition, curated by Elise Butterfield, participants in this workshop will consider time, space, materiality, color, and form while weaving on cardboard looms. Open to beginners.

Within the exhibition two hundred and fifty-one days by Bryana Bibbs

Chicago Rooms, Chicago Cultural Center

two hundred and fifty-one days, a solo exhibition by Bryana Bibbs curated by Elise Butterfield, is an artist's exploration of loss, ancestry, time, and memory. The show’s title references the span of time between the death of Bibbs' grandfather on December 18, 2023, and her grandmother on August 25, 2024, during which Bibbs, along with her mom, lived in her grandparents’ home and cared for her grandmother. In two hundred and fifty-one days, Bibbs incorporates the objects of her grandparents’ everyday lives into weaving and print series. Painstakingly and lovingly, she took apart hospital blankets and favorite shirts to weave them into new artifacts; she cataloged socks and adult bibs in black and white prints. Bibbs’ repetitive artistic practice and commitment to witnessing her own inner landscape lays bare the profoundly emotional and yet mundane experience of processing the death of a loved one. Each object in two hundred and fifty-one days is a testament to the transformative potential of grief. 

Thursday, April 24, 2025, 6-9pm

Ages: 18+ (15-17 with parent permission)

Fee: $60

Explore the art of weaving on a frame loom! Participants will learn how to explore with plain weave. They will also be encouraged to bring their found objects and materials, such as old tees, ties, and jeans, from home, to incorporate into their weavings. Supplies included no experience necessary.

Photo: Bryana Bibbs with her art work. Photo credit: Tonal Simmons.

Members receive 15% off art classes! Want to become a member? Visit our website to learn more and register!

Contact membership@elmhurstartmuseum.org or call 630-834-0202 for your Member discount code to receive 15% off at checkout.

For questions call 630-834-0202 or email education@elmhurstartmuseum.org

Refunds will not be accepted within 48 hrs of the start of this program. A $12 administration fee is charged for all refund requests before 48 hrs of the start of this program. No refund or credit will be provided for time that a student may miss.

Stop by and enjoy the live activities, professional development opportunities and experience the transformative visual arts exhibitions on display.

Join Bryana Bibbs on the 3rd Floor, Preston Bradley Hall, for drop in-weaving. Participants will create a small scale weaving on cardboard looms.

Meet the Artist: Time 2 pm - 5 pm

two hundred and fifty-one days, a solo exhibition by Bryana Bibbs curated by Elise Butterfield, is an artist's exploration of loss, ancestry, time, and memory. The show’s title references the span of time between the death of Bibbs' grandfather on December 18, 2023, and her grandmother on August 25, 2024, during which Bibbs, along with her mom, lived in her grandparents’ home and cared for her grandmother. In two hundred and fifty-one days, Bibbs incorporates the objects of her grandparents’ everyday lives into weaving and print series. Painstakingly and lovingly, she took apart hospital blankets and favorite shirts to weave them into new artifacts; she cataloged socks and adult bibs in black and white prints. Bibbs’ repetitive artistic practice and commitment to witnessing her own inner landscape lays bare the profoundly emotional and yet mundane experience of processing the death of a loved one. Each object in two hundred and fifty-one days is a testament to the transformative potential of grief. 

RSVP Required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/weaving-stories-tickets-1058387859579?aff=oddtdtcreator

Weaving Stories is a series of community-building weaving workshops meant to connect our shared stories of heritage and culture to material practice. Taking place at Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in the coming months, the series invites participants to learn how to use a hand loom and contribute found materials to a collective weaving project on a standing loom. Participants are encouraged to bring non-wool materials from home, such as fabric scraps, fibers, ribbons, twigs, etc.

The second session in the series, taking place at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, is led by artists Bryana Bibbs and Jaroslava Lialia Kuchma, both of whom have artwork currently on display at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Participants are taught how to use a hand loom and receive kits to continue their projects at home. Participants are encouraged to bring fabrics from home to contribute to a community tapestry which will travel from site to site.

This series is free, family-friendly, for all ages, and open to the public. Materials and refreshments are provided.

Works by Bryana Bibbs, Bonnie Peterson, Daliah Silver, Katie Vota

Fabric of the Earth features a collection of fiber-based works that convey the urgent state of climate change. This polyphonic exhibition weaves together diverse perspectives on ecology and environment, including works that focus on scientific studies, social justice, and our lived experiences in relationship to the natural world.  Each artist's approach to textile lends a nuanced and tactile perspective on the current state of our climate. Not only does it challenge our ties to the textile production industry and its role in climate change and injustice, it also makes concrete and tangible our sense of environmental dread. Intentionally situated within a history of “craftivism,” the exhibition is marked by compelling conviction and prompting climate action for the sake of both planet and people alike. Fabric of the Earth features woven, sewn, quilted, and stitched artworks that welcome our community to intertwine our voices and stories to create the fabric of our future.

On Creative Practice brings together two artists in conversation to discuss studio practices, materiality and creation, and what it means to be a working artist today. Join us for this intimate conversation with Bryana Bibbs, current Elevate artist at 21c Chicago, and writer and cultural worker Erin Toale.

Bryana Bibbs is a Chicago-based artist who works at the intersection of textiles, painting, and community-based practices. Bibbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Fiber and Material Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the founder of The We Were Never Alone Project - a weaving workshop for victims and survivors of domestic violence, currently serves on the Surface Design Association’s Education Committee, and was named one of Newcity’s Breakout Artists of 2024. Bibbs has had recent solo exhibitions at the Chesterton Art Center (Chesterton, IN) and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Chicago, IL). She has had recent group exhibitions at Chicago Art Department (Chicago, IL), Chicago Artists Coalition (Chicago, IL), Elmhurst Art Museum (Elmhurst, IL), Portland Library (Portland, ME), and George Marshall Store Gallery Portland, ME), and George Marshall Store Gallery (York, ME). Bibbs has participated in residencies at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (Gatlinburg, TN), Surf Point Foundation (York, ME), the Lunder Institute for American Art (Waterville, ME), and Chicago Artists Coalition (Chicago, IL)

Erin Toale is a Chicago-based writer and cultural worker. She earned Dual MAs in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism - and Arts Administration and Policy - from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, and a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design in 2006. She has worked for a variety of nonprofits, galleries, and research centers including the Rebuild Foundation, the Social Impact of the Arts Project, the Sullivan Galleries at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Hyde Park Art Center. She participated in both the HATCH Projects Curatorial Residency at Chicago Artists Coalition (2015) and the Center Program at the Hyde Park Art Center (2016). She is a Teaching Artist at the Hyde Park Art Center, a Contributing Writer for the Chicago Reader and Newcity, and Founding Director of the outdoor project space Bird Show.

TICKET LINK BELOW

Enjoy a glass of wine with weaving artist Bryana Bibbs and learn the basics of hand looming while hearing about her artistic practice. Bibbs intuitively documents her personal experiences using traditional weaving techniques, hand-spun yarn and found objects.

Bibbs’ exhibition Unforeseen is currently on view as a part of our Elevate series and includes a selection of Journal Series weavings created in the winter of 2023 using found objects from her grandparents' backyard, her Mema's pantry, her Mema's sewing tins, and hand-spun wool that Bibbs had previously made.

Elevate at 21c presents temporary exhibitions of works by artists living and working in the communities surrounding each 21c Museum Hotel. Elevate provides hotel guests and visitors with unique access to the work of notable regional artists, while featuring their work in the context of 21c’s contemporary art space.

Price includes 1 drink ticket and all weaving supplies.

“Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s–80s and Beyond,” an exhibition that will explore the development and legacy of Chicago’s high craft movement, highlighting craft as a means for change and a mechanism for expressing agency outside of institutional frameworks. The exhibition will feature over 40 artists and focus on fiber, ceramics, jewelry, wood, and glass works. The project is presented as part of the citywide initiative Art Design Chicago.

Save the date for the opening reception on Saturday, September 21st from 11 - 6 p.m.

Portrait Society Gallery is pleased to present SEAMS II: Criss Cross, a fiber exhibition.

The second in the gallery’s series of group exhibitions dedicated to fibers and textiles, Criss Cross explores a broad theme of journeys, travels, and border crossings. It also alludes to the path and movement of stitching and weaving as threads leave map-like marks of an artist’s journey.

The exhibition includes more than 20 regional and national artists who stitch, weave, or build with fabric. Milwaukee based artist Heidi Parkes (currently the Pfister Hotel artist in residence) frequently travels to explore the cultural traditions of textiles or to lead sewing/quilting workshops. In response to the places she has visited, Parkes has created a series of travel quilts that record her impressions. In a newlarge-scale work, Anika M. Kowalik pieces together sections of canvas to construct a surface for painting, scraping, and sculpting textures, building a landscape of accumulation and erasure. Milwaukee based artist Ella Clemons produces small- scale stitched drawings that act as pages of a sketchbook recording unlikely places such as the bathrooms of dive bars. Rosemary Ollison is a textile artist and clothing designer who is working on new large scale composite pieces of repurposed fabric. Ray Materson’s artist journey began in prison when he started making tiny embroidered works by unraveling the threads in socks. Now released and living in Michigan, he continues to create these elaborately intricate works that have brought him national recognition.

Other artists include: Liv Aanrud, Lisa Marie Barber, Hannah O’Hare Benned, Bryana Bibbs, Phoenix Brown, Natasha Das, Alexis Lee Or[z-Duarte, Kate Flake, Gigi Gastevich, Elnaz Javani, Ray Materson, Judith Mullen, Melissa Scherrer Paré, Rosy Petri, Eden Quispe, Monica Rezman, Josie Love Roebuck, Divyangi Shukla, Anne Grgich and Della Wells.

Contact Portrait Society Gallery at portraitsocietygallery@gmail.com for additional information and images.