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.

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

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.

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: