Chicago’s robust community of small arts organizations offers audiences a diverse and affordable array of alternatives to holiday fare. Winter arts programming this December ranges from aerial dance and unique theatrical adaptations to music concerts, live literature, visual art exhibitions and more. Most event tickets are priced at $25 or less, with many organizations offering free or donation-based pricing.
“Small arts organizations are producing exciting new work across Chicago. Groups offer experiences that are funny, dramatic, inquisitive, and experimental—something for every interest and taste. Ticket prices are affordable and some offerings are free, so that curious folks can try something fresh while supporting their local artists and venues,” says Ellen Placey Wadey, Program Director of Chicago Arts & Collections for the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. “The diverse range of programming this December into the New Year showcases the unique artistry and innovation happening in communities across the city.”
All programming below is presented by grantees of the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, which provides more than $1.7 million in multi-year general operating grants to 170+ small arts organizations in the Chicago region each year. The Foundation is proud to support these innovative organizations that play such a critical role in the communities and culture of Chicago.
images (l-r): A performance from Elastic Arts Foundation’s Improvised Music Series. An Aerial Dance Chicago performance. Insula by artist María Burundarena, courtesy of the artist. PrideArts’ production of Throbbin Wood, photo by Logan and Candice Conner, Oomphotography
Alternative arts programming in December 2024 from Chicago’s small arts organizations
Performing arts (dance, theater, music)
Aerial Dance Chicago
The Far Reaches
Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, Dec. 8 at 5 p.m.
At Aerial Dance Chicago, 4028 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago
Tickets: $25-$50
Characterized by extraordinary physicality and originality, Aerial Dance Chicago’s performers move between the floor and the ceiling and everywhere in between. The Far Reaches presents a re-creation of works from the past 25 years of its historical repertoire.
Adverses
Now playing through Sunday, Dec. 15
At Aguijón Theater, 2707 N. Laramie Avenue, Chicago
Tickets: $12-$35
Chicago's oldest professional Latino theater company presents a contemporary take on the Electra myth. Adverses is both a laugh-out-loud "teatronovela" and a poignant exploration of the corrosive nature of the pursuit of power and the often-complicated relationship between mothers and daughters. Presented in Spanish with English supertitles; part of the 7th Destinos Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.
Asian Improv aRts Midwest
Reduction 10th Anniversary on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m.
Taiko Legacy 21 on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.
Both at Edlis Neeson Theater, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Avenue
Tickets: $20
Asian Improv aRts Midwest celebrates a decade of its Reduction series, a convergence of traditional Japanese instrumentation and contemporary music. Taiko Legacy is the 21st edition of an annual concert by Chicago’s renowned taiko group, Tsukasa Taiko, rooted in the traditions of ozashiki (geisha chamber music), ohayashi (classical/folk/theater music), and matsuri taiko (festival taiko music).
Elastic Arts Foundation
Improvised Music Series
Sharon Udoh & Cristal Sabbagh, and the Matthew Davis Quintet
Thursday, Dec. 12 at 8:30 p.m.
Caroline Jesalva & Katinka Kleijn, and Vincent Davis & Erez Dessel
Thursday, Dec. 19 at 8:30 p.m.
At Elastic Arts Foundation, 3429 W. Diversey, Chicago
Tickets: $15
Having presented over 900 concerts by local and internationally known musicians, improvisers, and sound artists, Elastic Arts Foundation’s Improvised Music Series concludes 2024 with performances that demonstrate the strength of the improvised music scene across generations.
The Neo-Futurists
The Infinite Wrench
Ongoing every Friday and Saturday at 10:30 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.
At The Neo-Futurist Theater, 5153 N. Ashland Avenue, Chicago
Tickets: $20 or pay-what-you-can
The Infinite Wrench presents 30 original plays in 60 minutes, written and performed by The Neo-Futurist Ensemble, with new plays every week. Each play offers something different, be it funny, profound, topical, irreverent, terrifying, or a song; all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers.
PrideArts
Throbbin Wood (U.S. Premiere)
Now playing through Sunday, Dec. 15
At Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets: $35
PrideArts offers one of Tom Whalley's very adult and very silly British adult holiday pantos. Throbbin Wood, Whalley's bawdy send-up of the Robin Hood legends, includes songs, dances and audience participation along with a nonstop barrage of clever and shameless puns. The show is meant for adult audiences only.
Trap Door Theatre
Fraudulent LLC (U.S. Premiere)
Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday, Dec. 21
Trap Door Theatre,1655 W. Cortland Street, Chicago
Tickets: $20
In Fraudulent LLC, no amount of governmental regulatory red tape will stop the “Doctor” from getting his clients what they need. In this fast-paced business world, when you have a bottom line to meet, what’s the cost of a couple of lies? Part of Trap Door Theatre’s Trap Open series, which develops and gives voice to the next generation of groundbreaking theatre artists.
Literature & storytelling
2nd Story
This Way Up
Sunday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m.
At Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph Street Chicago
Tickets: $7-$35
2nd Story offers real stories by real people for real change. At This Way Up, storytellers Lynnette Li, Abra Millman, and Claudette Roper & Dion share their tales of navigating chaotic moments, neither dismissing the difficulties nor ignoring the gems hidden in the debris—gems like kindness, fortitude, and grateful acceptance of a loved one’s limitations.
Visual art
6018North
Myth of the Organic City
Open now through February 23, 2025
At 6018North, 6018 N. Kenmore Avenue, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
Myth of the Organic City presents a historical and contemporary overview of Chicago’s design and land use, from its indigenous roots through 20th century infrastructure projects to present-day developments. The exhibition includes maps, landscape designs, installations, wall drawings, sculptures, and multimedia works. Myth of the Organic City reimagines our complicated relationship with the City and nature.
Center for Native Futures
Gagizhibaajiwan
Open now through Dec. 14
At the Center for Native Futures, 56 W. Adams Street, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
Presented by the Center for Native Futures, the only all-Native artist-led arts nonprofit in Chicago, Gagizhibaajiwan considers depth, duality, and paradox in Anishinaabe art. The exhibition features the work of interdisciplinary artist Marcella Ernest, sculptor Michael Belmore, weaver Renee Dillard and painter Zoey Wood-Salomon.
The Upsetters
Open now through Jan. 18, 2025
At the Center for Native Futures, 56 W. Adams Street, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
The Upsetters is a painting exhibition that asks audiences to rethink what they may (or may not) know about Native American art. Featuring the work of Amber Gunn Gauthier, April Holder, Avis Charley, David Martin and Ryan Singer.
Chicago Art Department
21st Century Wanderer
Open now through Dec. 27
At Chicago Art Department, 1926 South Halsted Street, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
21st Century Wanderer features 16 media artists who are based in France, Germany, China, and the United States. The diverse selection of media works explores how walking inspires and informs arts and technology in contemporary life. The show encourages viewers to reimagine urban spaces and the impact of technology on our experiences, with interactive artworks including custom-made games, detection devices, video installations, experimental video games, web-based works, kinetic sculptures and more.
Chicago Artists Coalition
Insula
Open now through Dec. 19
At Chicago Artists Coalition, 2130 W. Fulton Street, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
In Insula (Latin for “island”), artist María Burundarena invites the viewer into a world of discovery, seduction, and intrigue, transforming overlooked and abandoned Chicago landscapes into immersive, sensory experiences. Influenced by her ongoing exploration of surfaces and perception, Burundarena reimagines spaces like Northerly Island—where urban debris forms an unlikely oasis—as sites of hidden beauty and tranquility.
Filter Photo
Con(tra) El Archivo
Open now through Dec. 20
At Filter Photo, 1821 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
What role does photography play in archives, and how can it be used as a tool for (re)gaining historical agency? Con(tra) el Archivo cracks open these questions through the work of Arlene Mejorado, Irene Antonia Diane Reece and William Camargo, artists and photographers from the Latine diaspora who continuously face the voids within the archive through their work and work with them as source material—stretching, melding, and fusing personal with canonized histories.
Roots & Culture
Breeches for Headgear: Lauren Carter & Vesna Jovanovic
Open now through Dec. 21
At Roots & Culture Contemporary Art Center, 1034 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago
Free admission; donations welcome
The topsy-turvy idea of wearing one’s own pants as a hat—breeches for headgear—suggests a rejection of propriety and a spirit of play. In Lauren Carter’s sculptures and Vesna Jovanovic’s paintings, the world is turned upside down and bodies are turned inside out. Familiar objects and images are transformed into irreverent and grotesque forms. Both artists use carnivalesque humor to evoke transmutation, celebration, and the spirit of collective laughter.
Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s-80s and Beyond
Open now through Dec. 22
At the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2320 W Chicago Avenue, Chicago
Tickets: Donation based
During the 1970s, craft emerged as a powerful tool for artists advocating change within the art world and society. Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s-80s and Beyond spotlights artists historically marginalized within mainstream art narratives. The exhibition features over 40 artists and focuses on fiber and ceramics, including jewelry, wood, and glass works.
About the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation supports land conservation, artistic vitality, and regional collections for the people of the Chicago region and the Lowcountry of South Carolina. The Foundation seeks to sustain and build resilient, vital, engaged, and equitable communities in these two regions by supporting conservation, arts, and collecting organizations that broaden narratives. For more information, visit gddf.org.