• Performance
• General Public

Hyde Park Jazz Festival Performances at the Smart

Sat. September 27 • 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival returns to the Smart Museum of Art’s courtyard with performances by the Isaiah Spencer Quartet (1:00PM - 2:00PM) and Modern Black Music Ensemble (3:00PM - 4:00PM).

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. October 10 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Special Event
• UChicago Students

Art to Live With: Brunch & Loan

Sun. October 12 • 11:00 AM

Art to Live With offers UChicago students living in residence halls the unique opportunity to borrow original works of art to display in their dorm rooms.

• Talk
• Conversation Pieces

Conversation Piece: Jennifer Spruill and João Sanches

Fri. October 17 • 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM

Jennifer Spruill and João Sanches launch this year’s "Conversation Piece" series, discussing in-depth one work on view in "Smart to the Core: Wise to Power."

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. October 17 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Art Making
• Families

Family Day: Make Some Noise

Sat. October 18 • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Create handmade instruments from everyday materials, with a special musical performance by artist and musician Joe Rauen.

• Tour
• General Public

Unto Thee Campus Tour

Sat. October 18 • 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Join curators of "Theaster Gates: Unto Thee," for a guided tour of architectural and campus spaces at the University of Chicago that have contributed to Theaster Gates's artistic practice.

• Social
• General Public

Museum Teaching Open House for UChicago Educators

Fri. October 24 • 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Drop in to explore the Smart's teaching spaces, including the new Collections Research Lab and Collections Hub, and take away a boxed lunch courtesy of the Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry.

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. October 24 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Tour
• General Public

Tour: Stony Island Arts Bank

Wed. October 29 • 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Take a guided tour of the restored Stony Island Arts Bank, one of artist Theaster Gates's most notable building projects. Co-presented by the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Dorchester Avenue.

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. October 31 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Tour
• General Public

Tour: Dorchester Avenue: The Block & The Gardens (Archive House, Listening House, the 6 Flat and the Gardens)

Wed. November 5 • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Experience Theaster Gates's land-based artistic practice in place with a guided tour of Rebuild’s sites along Dorchester Avenue, a decades-long spatial and sculptural project.

• Talk
• General Public

In Conversation: Danny Lyon, with Sarah Conway

Thu. November 6 • 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM

Join photographer, filmmaker, writer, and UChicago alumnus Danny Lyon as he speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Sarah Conway. Co-presented by the Chicago Center on Democracy.

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. November 7 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Art Making
• Families

Family Day: Weaving & Valuable Objects

Sat. November 8 • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Learn to work on a cardboard loom and create a colorful weaving, with guidance from Chicago-based artist Bryana Bibbs.

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. November 14 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Special Event
• General Public

4th Annual Frankie Knuckles Festival

Sat. November 15 • All Day Event

Celebrate the Godfather of House music, Frankie Knuckles, at Rebuild's annual House music festival. More details to come.

• Talk
• General Public

Theaster Gates & Marty Nesbitt in Conversation

Tue. November 18 • 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Join Theaster Gates and Marty Nesbitt for a conversation on the intersection of the arts and entrepreneurship. Co-presented by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

• Tour
• General Public

Tour: The Hardware Store and Arts + Public Life

Wed. November 19 • 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Join us for a special tour of one of Theaster Gates's largest land-based sculptural projects, The Hardware Store. Followed by a guided-tour of the Arts Block, managed by Arts + Public Life.

• Tour
• General Public

Friday Tour: Unto Thee

Fri. November 21 • 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM

Join a 1-hour guided tour of Theaster Gates: Unto Thee, led by Smart Museum Fellow, Ian Brundige. Please arrive 10 minutes early to check in. Free; RSVP encouraged as space will be limited.

• Talk
• Conversation Pieces

Conversation Piece: Allyson Nadia Field

Fri. November 21 • 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM

Allyson Nadia Field, Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, continues this year’s "Conversation Piece" series, discussing in-depth one work on view in Theaster Gates: Unto Thee.

• Performance
• Families

Bedtime Stories with Chicago Public Library

Fri. November 21 • 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

Wear your comfiest pajamas, grab your favorite stuffed animal, and join us for an after-hours story time experience, in partnership with the Chicago Public Library.

• Talk
• General Public

Day With(out) Art 2025: Meet Us Where We’re At… With Artist Mary Patten

Mon. December 1 • 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

A film series, curated by Visual AIDS NYC, and conversation with Chicago-based artist and activist Mary Patten on this international day of action and mourning in response to the AIDS crisis.

• Special Event
• General Public

Collections Pop-Up Curated by CeCe Rodriguez

Fri. December 5 • 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM

The Smart's education study room transforms into an extension of the galleries for a one-day-only, pop-up exhibition, curated by Smart Education Intern CeCe Rodriguez.

• Tour
• General Public

Tour: The Land School

Sat. December 6 • 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Join a guided tour of Theaster Gates's and Dorchester Projects' newest artistic project, The Land School.

• Screening
• General Public

An Unto Thee Film Screening at The Land School

Sat. December 6 • 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

A screening of Theaster Gates's recent moving-image work at The Land School (formerly St. Laurence Elementary).

• Art Making
• Families

Family Day: Community Ties

Sat. December 13 • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

In collaboration with Obama Presidential Center, families will explore the theme “community” through mixed-media collages that reflect their own personal and collective stories.

• Art Making
• Families

Family Day: In with the Old

Sat. January 10 • 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Families will reclaim, repurpose, and reimagine seemingly unusable objects from home, transforming them into unique works of art or restoring their functionality.

• Talk
• Conversation Pieces

Conversation Piece: Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi

Fri. January 16 • 1:00 PM - 1:30 PM

Join Pouneh Shabani-Jaddidi for a conversation about Mohammad Hossein Mosavvar-ol-Molki’s print “The Allied Powers Routing the Axis Powers."

• Art Making
• Families

Family Day: Rooted in Clay

Sat. February 14 • 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

In collaboration with Hyde Park Art Center and with guidance from artist Malika Jackson, families will create 3-D art objects using air-dry clay.

• Performance
• UChicago Students

Poetry Open Mic Night @ The Smart

Thu. February 26 • 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Join us for an open mic night of poetry readings and performances. Co-organized with the UChicago core sequence “Poetry and the Human.”