The 2026 CPS All-City Visual Arts Exhibition provides a unique opportunity to showcase student achievement in visual and media arts and exhibit their work in highly-visible, public exhibition spaces in Chicago. The high school exhibition showcases 2D, 3D, and digital artwork by students in grades 9–12 and the elementary exhibition features work by students from pre-K through 8th grade.

Feel free to join the exhibition opening anytime between 4:00pm-7:00pm. The suggested attire is festive! If you have general questions or concerns, please email: allcityarts@cps.edu.

Celebrate the talented emerging designers from Bradley University at the opening reception of Soft Launch. 24 seniors will have work included in this senior graphic design portfolio exhibition.

Learn more about Bradley University’s Department of Art and Design.

This is a Design Network member-only experience.

Join Nick Puglisi and other Design Network members on May 8 for a tour of Ben Blount’s MAKE Studio. Blount is a Detroit born artist, designer, and letterpress printer that loves books, type, and putting ink on paper. His work often explores questions of race and identity and the stories we tell ourselves about living in America. Blount is a believer in the power of the printed word and shares his passion for print and design speaking to students and educators around the country and as a board member of Artists Book House and Fine Press Book Association. Blount prints out of MAKE, his storefront studio in Evanston’s West Village neighborhood.

Already a member? Confirm your attendance here.

Interested in becoming a member? Learn more about the Design Network options here.

Join Mutuall Design on May 21 as they turn the museum into a community third space in celebration of peace, love, and the free spirit of fútbol. This free, fun event will provide opportunities for engaging in fútbol-themed activities, including a jersey screen-printing station, Fifa tournament, fútbol activism slideshow, soccer trivia, creative crafts, and more.

The event is focused on young adults (20-30’s) with a love of the game - but all are welcome!

Mutuall Design is a Gen Z founded community design studio that facilitates community building through design. They co-design experiences, programs, and systems for/with local communities to support mutual flourishing for all. To do this, they take an intersectional approach of community, equity, and sustainability.

This is a Design Network member-only experience.

Join Nick Puglisi and other Design Network members on May 22 for a tour of SML Studio. SML Studio specializes in crafting wood and glass to create one of a kind fine lamps and furniture. The studio emphasizes traditional joinery techniques, the utilization of hand tools, and modernized Tiffany style stained glass construction methods. The studio's glass work is currently specific to lamp making, creating some of the world's most unique lamp designs while exhibiting a standard of high craft. The artwork is heavily influenced by fascination with the Chicago urban forest and how architecture and daily city life affects our perspective of their presence. Urban street trees have a key role in a city's overall health and infrastructure. Their characteristics interacting with human-made structural scenery create urban aesthetic qualities that can be similar to an arboretum experience, with the right perspective.

Already a member? Confirm your attendance here.

Interested in becoming a member? Learn more about the Design Network options here.

Artists in Public Schools is a non-profit organization, founded in 2017 with the mission of celebrating the communities and essential narratives central to Chicago Public Schools through artist residencies.

Join Artists in Public Schools from 5:30 - 7:30pm for the closing reception of Class of 2026. This exhibition highlights a selection of artworks from the 2025-2026 school year, reflecting the artistic experimentation, profound connection, and collective imagination that emerges when artists and schools come together.

Go behind the scenes of one of the most anticipated civic projects in the country with an inside look at the design and construction of Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center. Led by Moody Nolan architect Renauld Mitchell, this guided experience explores the architectural vision, design strategy, and build process behind the space.

Participants will gain insight into how the project moved from concept to construction, including key decisions around structure, materiality, and the role of the building within the broader campus. The tour offers a rare opportunity to experience the architecture up close while learning how design and construction teams collaborate to bring complex civic spaces to life.

Registration: $250

Registration is required to participate. Shuttle service from THE MART to the tour location will be provided.

In partnership with NeoCon, attendees are invited to experience INSIDE DESIGN, a premium access experience that takes attendees beyond the showroom floor and into the spaces, processes, and collaborations shaping contemporary design culture. Registration for all INSIDE DESIGN experiences opens April 1.

Sponsored by: 

Explore how mission-driven spaces support artists and makers inside the creative environment of Good Chaos.

The program opens with a moderated panel featuring leadership and participating artisans, examining the relationships between institutions and artists, the conditions that enable making, and the role of craft in shaping contemporary design culture.

The experience concludes with phased, small-group tours through the space, offering a closer view into the artisans’ work and process. Light bites and pastries will be served.

Registration: $150

Registration is required for participation.

In partnership with NeoCon, attendees are invited to experience INSIDE DESIGN, a premium access experience that takes attendees beyond the showroom floor and into the spaces, processes, and collaborations shaping contemporary design culture. Registration for all INSIDE DESIGN experiences opens April 1.

Sponsored by: 

Go behind the curtain at one of Chicago’s most celebrated cultural institutions. This intimate experience offers rare access to the creative disciplines that bring stories to life on stage—from set construction and costume design to lighting and spatial storytelling.

The program begins with a moderated panel featuring members of the design and production team, followed by a guided backstage tour. Light bites and beverages will be served. Participants will also receive a discount code to purchase tickets to a weekend performance.

Registration: $150

Registration is required for participation.

In partnership with NeoCon, attendees are invited to experience INSIDE DESIGN, a premium access experience that takes attendees beyond the showroom floor and into the spaces, processes, and collaborations shaping contemporary design culture. Registration for all INSIDE DESIGN experiences opens April 1.

Sponsored by: 

Explore how land, cultivation, and material experimentation inform contemporary design practice. Led by Urban Growers Collective CEO Erika Allen, this immersive workshop introduces participants to plant-based pigments and pattern-making using materials sourced directly from the farm.

Through a guided site tour, conversation, and hands-on demonstration, attendees will learn how plants traditionally grown for food can also become expressive design materials. The session highlights how natural pigments connect agriculture, sustainability, and material innovation—offering designers new ways to think about sourcing, process, and the life cycle of materials used in the built environment.

This experience invites architects, interior designers, and creatives to consider how design can begin with the land itself.

Registration: $150

Registration is required for participation.

In partnership with NeoCon, attendees are invited to experience INSIDE DESIGN, a premium access experience that takes attendees beyond the showroom floor and into the spaces, processes, and collaborations shaping contemporary design culture. Registration for all INSIDE DESIGN experiences opens April 1.

Sponsored by: 

DMoC is excited to partner with NeoCon Talks to present Grassroots & Grants: Designing a Better Chicago. This event will take place on the NeoCon Talks Stage, located on the 7th floor of theMart.

Join Tanner Woodford, the Founder of DMoC, and a selection of 2026 Designing a Better Chicago grantees for an engaging series of lightning talks that spotlight innovative, community-driven design initiatives taking root across the city. Bringing together a diverse group of practitioners using design as a powerful tool for social impact, these talks will address Chicago’s most pressing challenges. Each speaker will highlight findings from their work that use design principles to creatively tackle social problems—from food insecurity to expanding access to educational opportunities.

The 2026 Grantees will be announced May 18, 2026.

Entry requires a free registration to NeoCon.

Designing a Better Chicago celebrates local designers making a difference in communities across Chicago. Join the Design Museum of Chicago, NeoCon, and the Driehaus Foundation at an unforgettable awards ceremony that brings together local and national designers to toast another year of visionary design.

Mix and mingle with fellow innovators and thought-leaders, get an exclusive look at the incredible art in SECRIST | BEACH's transformative gallery space, and join in the revelry as we announce the recipients of the NeoCon Design Impact Award and Driehaus Built Environment Award.