Culture Brief
Chicago Exhibition Weekend grows into cultural mainstay
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Chicago Exhibition weekend Gareth Kaye and Iris Colburn with CXW producer Abby Pucker (center). Photo: Courtesy of Evan Jenkins
Now in its third year, Chicago Exhibition Weekend (CXW) is building into a destination event for experienced art collectors and novices alike, while opening the doors of smaller galleries to more visitors.
What to expect: CXW kicks off Friday with more than 70 participants, including galleries, museums and performance venues for tours, artist talks, music performances and hands-on activities for families.
Zoom in: Art organizer and philanthropist Abby Pucker, whose mother is Gov. JB Pritzker's cousin Gigi Pritzker, launched CXW in 2023 as an offshoot of Gertie, an agency focused on bringing the creative and corporate worlds together.
- CXW has run tandem programming in the past with Chicago's large-scale art fair, EXPO Chicago, but is carving its own path as its hip, younger cousin. It attracted about 10,000 people last year, according to its website.
State of play: One of the weekend's main exhibitions, "Over My Head: Encounters with Conceptual Art in a Flyover City, 1984-2015," in Fulton Market reflects on Chicago as an art world powerhouse, especially galleries that championed post-conceptural art and artists.
- Organizers have also tapped Chicago's creative community — from artists to entrepreneurs to chefs — to create curated routes for visitors to see art, eat, drink and listen to music over the weekend.
What they're saying: "We like to have different price points, though the exhibition at 400 N. Peoria is not a selling one, it's still nice that you can go somewhere where there's multi-million dollar work in the exhibition, but then also buy a 'zine upstairs," Pucker tells Axios.
- "That's something that hasn't changed, that we want this to be very accessible. And all of the programming at the central hub is free and open to the public."
What's next: This year's fest coincides with the launch of the 2025 Chicago Architectural Biennial, and CXW and CAB have partnered programming throughout the weekend.
💠My thought bubble: CXW removes some of the intimidating elements of the art collecting world, which can feel stuffy and expensive. This weekend offers plenty of places where an art lover can find work or artists that speak to them.