Explore West Town on the first Friday of every month, when our neighborhood galleries and arts- based businesses stay open until 8PM.
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February 6th, 2026 First Friday
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February Featured Galleries
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West Town Chamber of Commerce
1819 W Chicago Ave
"Yoga and Art for Healing" is a solo exhibition showcasing the spontaneous drawings of Lee Sunshine, a self-taught artist and certified yoga teacher. This exhibit delves into the concept of art as a meditative practice. Each drawing is an intuitive expression, born from Lee's unique automatic drawing style, making every piece a singular, unrepeatable creation. Through a symphony of spirals, lines, and circles, Lee's drawings emerge as a pathway to quiet the mind, allowing the art to reveal itself organically.
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Enid
749 N Ashland Ave
Pieces from Kate Hefferan and other artists
The Fulton Street Collective
1821 W. Hubbard, suite 307, Chicago
"Swipe Left" explores the intersection of traditional romantic grief and the unique digital fatigue of modern-day dating. From the "ghosting" of the digital age to the timeless ache of a long-term parting, this exhibition seeks to map the landscape of heartbreak in 2026. Opening reception Friday, February 6, 6-10pm.
https://fultonstreetcollective.com/
Ghost Omikron Studio
3052 W Carroll AveChicago, IL 60612
Ghost Omikron Studio Open Studio + Everything Must Go Art Sale (West Town First Friday) Join us for an open studio night featuring local Chicago artists and rotating work on view. This event also marks a transition moment for the studio as artists cycle out and we prepare for our next phase—so guests can enjoy an “Everything Must Go” sale: all wall work will be 50% off and many studio items will be name your price (art supplies, materials, select studio items). Hours: 7:00–10:00 PM (open studio all night)
ARC Gallery
1463 W Chicago Ave
What does it mean to be a good future ancestor? How might today’s personal, cultural, social, and or environmental actions become legacies for those who come after us? This juried exhibition, curated by artist and ceramicist Donté K. Hayes, shows works that meditate on wisdom, intentionality, and the responsibility of shaping a world that extends beyond ourselves. Opening Reception, Friday, February 6th, 5:00-8:00pm; Exhibition dates: February 5-27, 2026
https://www.arcgallery.org/exhibitions-archive/ancestral-futures
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T. Mari Gallery
1023 N Western Ave
Unexpected Return/s is an intimate evening centered on the work of Naeemeh Naeemaei, whose paintings explore memory, presence, and the quiet act of returning, both to place and to self. Her work is carefully considered and deeply felt, revealing its power through restraint, pattern, and subtle shifts of light. This event invites viewers to slow down and experience the work in person, where texture, scale, and atmosphere can fully unfold. Rather than immediate narrative, Naeemeh’s paintings offer space for reflection, lingering, and personal interpretation. Join us for an evening of looking, conversation, and connection as we gather around this thoughtful body of work.
https://www.facebook.com/tmarigallery
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Arts of Life
2010 W. Carroll Ave
Multicentered and Reverberating GUEST CURATOR: Danny Floyd is an artist, researcher, curator, and educator based in Chicago. He holds a BFA in Photography from RISD, an MA in Visual & Critical Studies, and an MFA in Sculpture, both from SAIC. He is an Assistant Professor, Adjunct of Visual & Critical Studies, and the Undergraduate Division at SAIC. He also served as the Exhibitions Director for ACRE. Since 2013, he has been an active part of Chicago’s artist-run space community through two programs, Ballroom Projects and Adler & Floyd. He has held curatorial residencies with ACRE and Chicago Artists Coalition. He was also awarded the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation Curatorial Fellowship in 2017. He has attended studio residencies at ACRE; AS220 in Providence, RI; Earthbound Moon in Eugene, OR; The Residency Project in Pasadena, CA; and The Roger Brown House in New Buffalo, MI. He began his teaching career in 2010 at a self-proclaimed “postmodern art camp” in Western Massachusetts for children aged 11 to 16 whose freewheeling ethos of interdisciplinary experimentation still informs his teaching and art-making.
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The WTFF program facilitates connection amongst West Town's galleries and arts-based businesses and their represented artists, collectors, and patrons, as well as independent area artists.
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The West Town Chamber of Commerce launched the First Fridays program in October 2022 at the request of and with support from a contingency of its Member galleries.
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The goal of WTFF is to ensure the continued success of West Town area galleries, both emergent and established, as cornerstones of the West Town neighborhood—a nexus of organic growth and sustainable development in the arts and beyond.
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The program intends to amplify Member galleries' own programming efforts by creating a monthly guide to exhibitions and events and supplementary programming for patrons to utilize when visiting the neighborhood on the first Friday of each month.
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Is your business interested in participating? Here are the guidelines:
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Be located within (and be a Member of) the West Town Chamber of Commerce's service area: Division Street to Hubbard; Halsted Street to Kedzie Avenue. Not a Member yet? Apply today!
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Be showcasing art in some form. This includes traditional galleries, as well as retail, food & beverage, or service businesses that are exhibiting art.
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Be open from 6-8 p.m. the First Friday of each month. Extended hours of programming before or beyond that window are fine, but 6-8 p.m. is the minimum requirement.
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Provide your programming details in advance of the first Friday of the month via this google form.
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Interested in presenting an exhibition or event in our office gallery?
In addition to organizing the monthly initiative, the Chamber has also transformed its office space into a rotating gallery where arts-based Members that lack a traditional gallery space are invited to utilize the space for their own exhibitions and related programming.
Interested Members can fill out this Member Expression of Interest form. Not a Member yet? It's easy to apply!