I know I am not that nice to be around when I’m on a magazine deadline. I pull all-nighters, I drink too much coffee and eat old Halloween candy, and I get testy about last minute surprises and running out of time. Ever since I started working at Chicago Gallery News in 2002 I have known that no matter what comes up, even a pandemic, every issue always gets done. This 2024 Arts Guide was produced largely on the go – at hockey practices, in urgent care waiting rooms, in the car, even at Chuck-e-Cheese – and it was done on time. Once the guide is finally off to the printer I say thank you to everyone who put up with me and try to step back, rest and recharge so that I’ll be glad to do it all over again in a few months. I truly am grateful for everyone’s patience during deadline time as I push through the long hours and rounds of edits in order to make sure that CGN continues to be a means of support and visibility for the many galleries, museums and artists within our community. Thank you! 

This 8th edition of the CGN Arts Guide is our largest to date, both in the page count and the number of galleries and art spaces listed. We count over 110 spaces, and 24 are new to CGN for 2024. 

We refreshed our district maps, incorporated the auction houses into our neighborhood sections, and doubled-down on our district colors and QR codes (someday those will surely date us like the FAX numbers we used to list back in 2002). 

Within the guide there are many galleries that have been in business for decades alongside several opening their doors for the first time. Each space listed–from Sheboygan, WI to Grand Rapids, MI to Logan Square and Hyde Park–makes a difference for artists as well as in the local community. They can make a difference for you and me too because each gallery or museum has the ability to translate a part of the world for each person who walks in the door. Hopefully there are many spaces and artists you will encounter in 2024 that will compel you to spend time engaging with art, whether around the corner or across state lines. I know art can be a way of recharging after a big deadline, or at any time. 

Thank you for making 2023 a great year for CGN and for our art community, and I hope you can enjoy the end of this season as we hope for peace and joy in the next. 

Happy new year! 

– Ginny Van Alyea

SUBSCRIBE TO THE GUIDE HERE

2024 Arts Guide cover artwork: Christina Ramberg, Untitled (torso with leaf), c. 1980, acrylic on masonite, 15 x 11 1/2 in. Courtesy of the Estate of Christina Ramberg and Corbett vs. Dempsey. corbettvsdempsey.com