Chicago Exhibition Week is no longer just a weekend affair. The citywide art initiative, now in its fourth year, has expanded into a full seven-day program running from September 14 through September 20, featuring more than 70 galleries and art spaces across the city, along with art-making workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and performances meant to pull in people who have never felt invited into the gallery world.
The jump from a short weekend to a full week marks a significant leap for an event that started small. The 2025 edition of what was then called Chicago Exhibition Weekend drew 10,000 attendees over three days, while the Driehaus Museum reported this year's expansion across more than 50 participating galleries and creative spaces. That growth trajectory tracks with the event's earliest days: when founder Abby Pucker launched Chicago Exhibition Weekend in 2023, it lasted just three days.
Pucker and her team ultimately decided to stretch the event across a full week for 2026, according to Axios. The event now spans well-known galleries alongside newer players on the Chicago art scene, with organizers building a map of participating galleries and institutions that functions like a passport system — festgoers can collect a stamp at each participating location they visit.
A Permanent Home in the West Loop
This year's expansion comes as Gertie, the civic and cultural agency behind the event, opens its permanent headquarters at 400 North Peoria Street in Chicago's West Loop. The space is designed to serve as a year-round exhibition hub, not just a pop-up venue, according to the same Chicago Gallery News report — a sign that Gertie is investing in long-term infrastructure rather than one-off programming.
Special gallery offerings this year include Corbett vs. Dempsey presenting work by the late artist Pope.L centered on his experimental band, GRAY showing a monumental wooden relief sculpture by Jaume Plensa, and Mariane Ibrahim spotlighting artist Clotilde Jiménez, per the same Chicago Gallery News account. Other participating galleries named by Axios include M. LeBlanc, Julius Caesar, moniquemeloche and ACRE, while participating institutions include the Renaissance Society, Graham Foundation and National Public Housing Museum.
Lowering the Barrier to Entry
Chicago Exhibition Week is built around accessibility, offering a curated experience meant to welcome people who may never be able to collect art but still want to appreciate it. Festgoers who collect enough stamps on the event's passport map earn free admission to the Art Institute of Chicago, the Driehaus Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, according to the Driehaus Museum. Many of the week's events are free, and the program is designed to open up gallery programming to people who have never felt invited before.
Not every event is free, though. The Chicago Exhibition Week kickoff party, hosted by Vic Mensa at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, is a ticketed affair, and the week also includes a traveling dinner party that moves through collectors' homes on a ticketed basis, per Axios. Pucker has said the event is designed to bring current and future collectors into art spaces while still focusing on building relationships between collectors, future collectors and Chicago galleries.
Filling a Gap Left by EXPO Chicago
The Columbia Spectator discusses Abby Pucker and Gertie's role in Chicago's art scene. EXPO Chicago functions as a marketplace where galleries from around the world sell their work, and Chicago Exhibition Week now partners with the fair as part of the city's broader art calendar.
That fair's profile grew substantially after Frieze signed an agreement to acquire EXPO Chicago in July 2023, with closing expected later that quarter, a move that would fold the city's marquee commercial art fair into an international network that also includes fairs in London, New York, Los Angeles and Seoul, as reported by Art Now LA.
Gertie's Civic Track Record
Gertie's involvement in city-wide programming isn't limited to gallery openings. The agency powered Next Stop: Chicago, an initiative focused on cultural programming related to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, according to the initiative's press page.
That civic bent lines up with the broader stakes for Chicago's creative sector. This year's programming also features collaborative panels with Independent Curators International examining the Mississippi River Project, featuring Chicago-based curators Brandon Alvendia, Risa Puleo, Denny Mwaura and Pia Singh, according to Independent Curators International.
