Art Design Chicago is a platform for collaboration aimed at highlighting Chicago's rich visual art and design histories and creative communities. Developed by the Terra Foundation for American Art in partnership with cultural practitioners throughout the city, the initiative seeks to build new understandings of the city through art and design and to strengthen vital connections between its cultural organizations, creatives, and communities.

Now in its second iteration, Art Design Chicago offers new opportunities to share the voices and stories, in all their multiplicity, that contribute to the city’s dynamic artistic identity and cultural history. Art Design Chicago will feature a series of exhibitions and events across the city in 2024 as well as projects and programs throughout the preceding years highlighting the diverse individuals, groups, and movements that have made and continue to make Chicago a distinctive hub for creative innovation.

Grant Opportunities

In anticipation of Art Design Chicago 2024, the Terra Foundation is currently inviting proposals for grants for exhibitions, convenings, public programs, and research & learning resources related to the initiative.

Grant opportunities

Art Design Chicago Now

In anticipation of Art Design Chicago 2024, this series of public programs and digital storytelling amplifies the voices of Chicago's diverse artists and designers, past and present, and explores the essential role they play in shaping the now, in the city and beyond.

Upcoming events

Past Initiatives

Art Design Chicago 2018

The 2018 iteration of Art Design Chicago brought together more than 95 cultural organizations to examine Chicago’s art and design legacy through exhibitions, public programs, special events, and tours as well as several new publications, resulting in the largest exploration of the topic to date. For more information about the results and impact of Art Design Chicago, read our report.

Visit the 2018 website