Wicker Park Bucktown
First Fridays

First Fridays is a FREE, self-guided monthly art walk throughout Wicker Park and Bucktown. You will find exhibition openings, local artist pop-ups, artist talks, and more each month as you explore the map below.

 

When: Every First Friday of the month

The next is September 4th from 6 - 8 PM

 

Where: Check out the map below!

What's Going on at First Fridays?

Check out our lineup of local events and exhibition openings for First Friday on September 4th!

Flat Iron Arts Building

1579 N Milwaukee Ave

 

First Fridays at the Flat Iron!
6 - 9 PM

 

In the large atrium, in its final appearance together in one place: T2D2 Toys Analog Arcade! If you missed this at Wicker Park Fest you gotta check it out!


The guest exhibitors for August 7th are:
Local woodworker Sean Waldron
Local painter Fermin Barbosa
Legendary Chicago photographer Allan Koss
And local print artist Julia Schrecengost!

 

Open studios include:
#204: Photographer and vintage curator Leigha Wondergem
#344: The Phil Circle Music First Friday Open Mic Jam Session
#304: The Miniatures of Bree Flammini and Andrew Jarvis' sculpture "There is an Insurgent Reality Forming on The Third Floor of The Flat Iron Arts Building"

Little Broken Things

2031 N Milwaukee Ave

 

Dissent

by toolboxEarth

 

Little Broken Things will be hosting new exhibiting artist, toolboxEarth, at their salon during August First Fridays!

 

Check out the original handwoven wall hangings created using all repurposed/recycled materials!

 

break It down

build It up

Jackson Junge Gallery

1389 N Milwaukee Ave

Flatline Gallery

1925 N Milwaukee Ave

Tom Robinson Studio

2416 W North Ave

 

Check out Tom's wide array of works, including paintings, woodcuts, furniture, and more!

This month, featuring little Sculptures!

Pictured: 'Faun' 5" tall

Sheep Cult Comics

1632 N Milwaukee Ave

MarioInk

1441 N Ashland Ave

 

First Friday Tattoo Special! $50/$100 flat rate, Black & Grey design! Tonight only!

Fine art, hand painted clothing, custom vinyl figures, jewelry.

 

First person in after 6 PM will get a free tattoo!

Last Place on Earth

1526 N Ashland Ave

 

Creative clubhouse Last Place on Earth features their newest exhibition: “Outerbody”

 

On display until September 19th.

CSI Project Space

1912 N Damen Ave

 

Whispers from the Unfamiliar
Exhibit Dates:
August 7 – September 4, 2026

Opening Reception:
August 7th, 6 - 9 PM

Whispers from the Unfamiliar exhibit explores relationships with the unknown . . . the quiet, unfiltered thoughts that flutter internally before taking shape in the real world. Intuition perceives our surroundings and understanding of self long before our conscious mind constructs words to rationalize them. The unfamiliar whispers in silent moments, revealing hidden emotions, forgotten histories, and subtle echoes of understanding. It weaves narratives while we sleep and wakes us with instant clarity and purpose. By embracing this unconscious conversation, we uncover insight into our identities and the world we inhabit.

Curator, Stephanie Sailer 

SoNa Chicago Contemporary Art

1527 N Ashland Ave

 

The gallery will be open on Friday, Aug 7 from 5-8 pm, and Sat., Aug 8 from 12-4 pm.  This will be the last weekend to see Studio Sessions. The show runs through August 8.
 
We are please to present this special exhibition in collaboration with ENGAGE Projects. The exhibition offers visitors a deeper understanding of artistic process, material
experimentation, and the evolving nature of a practice. 

Participating Artists:

Nick Albertson
bARBER
Matthew Girson
Noel Mercado
Margaret Welsh

Hotel Chocolat

1617 N Damen Ave

 

Hotel Chocolat presents their new artist residency program, in partnership with Art City, where they will be featuring the works of a new, local artist every weekend in August.
 
For this week, stop by their Damen location to explore the works of
Joe Sikora!

A Pied

1933 N Damen Ave

 

A Pied has invited 4 artists to exhibit works on their shop walls, so be sure to check it out!

Featuring works from:
Laurie Kennard
Jill Zylkie
Babara K Herring
Robin Strand

Public Works Gallery

2141 W North Ave

Heaven Gallery

1550 N Milwaukee Ave, #2

 

The Knot's United performance will begin at 8 PM opening night, July 31st.

Knots brings together artists who use tying, looping, weaving, binding, and repetition as both material process and metaphor. Across sculpture, fiber, found objects, mathematical systems, bodily forms, and participatory performance, the exhibition explores the knot as a structure of connection and tension—something that holds, protects, restricts, remembers, and transforms.
 
Long used as tools of survival, craft, and labor, knots carry rich symbolic meanings. They can signify the power of unity while also suggesting pressure, obligation, and entanglement. Requiring both control and release, knots embody tension, resiliency, and the potential to unravel. For some artists, knots emerge through systems of geometry and organic forms; for others, they speak to the joy of family, heritage and community, the challenge of migration and the anxiety that simmers beneath it all. Together, the works reveal how individual strands become larger networks of relationships, histories, and shared experience.
 
By foregrounding the knot as both form and metaphor, the exhibition invites viewers to consider the forces that bind us, the structures that sustain us, and what must be loosened, repaired, or reimagined.

And so many more!