FAIR GUIDE

RETURN TO HOME

Curious encounters ahead.

See what we’ve got in store for you April 9 -12.

AN ART EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Experiences for you to discover and immerse yourself in.

THE OTHER ART FAIR PRESENTS: NOSTALGIA CORE

This spring, The Other Art Fair is hitting “rewind.” We’re bringing the nostalgia-core aesthetic to life with a curated selection of interactive, artist-led projects that celebrate the best of the past.

From the tactile hum of retro tech to the kitschy charm of childhood memories, get ready to do more than just “look” at art. Touch, play, and rediscover the analog hobbies and vintage designs that shaped us. It’s not just an art fair; it’s a trip down memory lane you can actually participate in.

Featured Projects

Echoes of Connection
by Daniel Eller

Nostalgia in Yellow
by Beckett Green

Charm Your Senses
by Amy Gilman

Various craft workshops and a Care Cubby Pop-Up
by The Artistic Alphabet Mafia

Interactive Mural by Kari Blak
with AMFM

Sign-Painting and Limited Edition Tote
by Hot Shot Signs

OPENING NIGHT – APRIL 9TH


LIVE DJ SET: 7-10PM

Roxyo Sounds is a Mexican-Chicagoan radio and podcast producer, host, and DJ at Vocalo 91.1FM (Chicago Public Media), with a focus on the vibrant alternative music scenes of Latin America. She spins the tracks you didn’t know you needed—until now. If they’re not on your playlist yet, they will be soon.

PROGRAMMING: Hot Shot Signs Painting & Raffle

For Opening Night only, Hot Shot Signs will present live sign painting as part of the Fair’s nostalgia-core program, with a limited-time opportunity to walk away with the newly-created artwork as well as a limited edition tote bag.

PREMIUM TICKETS

The Other Art Fair Chicago invites you to start your collection the moment you arrive. The Art Insider Collecting Experience ticket includes:

  • Entry to the fair’s highly-anticipated Opening Night
  • Two drink tokens good at the Fair Bar and Fat Miilk Coffee to toast the evening
  • $50 in artwork purchase credit, good for redemption during the fair.

FRIDAY LATE – APRIL 10TH

LIVE DJ SET: 7-10PM

Let Dain and Andrés, the duo behind Buen Viaje, kick off your weekend right with their deep, classic house, and tech-house vibes.

PREMIUM TICKET FT. HOT SHOT SIGNS

With our new General Admission + Drink + Tote ticket bundle, we’ve got your perfect package deal for maximum perks:

  • Discounted Admission
  • A drink token to treat yourself, good at the Fair bar or Fat Miilk
  • A limited edition tote bag designed by Ally Braden and Beatrice Rasmussen of Hot Shot Signs


Take home some nostalgic merch with a limited edition tote bag featuring the retro stylings of Hot Shot Signs’ in-house artists.

Echos of Connection by Dan Eller

In an age of digital overload and instantanous FaceTime, this installation offers a pause—an invitation to connect in a slower, more intentional way. These payphones channel nostalgia and intimacy, using analog-style interfaces to evoke memory, voice, and presence in a 2026 context.

Dan Eller is an emerging artist based in Chicago. Guided by the belief that art should be more than just observed from a distance, Eller creates works that invite touch, engagement, and exploration.

Discover four of Dan’s installations placed throughout the Fair.

Nostalgia in Yellow by Beckett Green

Take a walk down memory lane with Nostalgia in Yellow, a project reflecting on toys and playthings from the late 2000s to early 2010s. Tapping into kitsch and the color palette of childhood, this installation invites visitors to touch, handle, and play with art toys and playset diorama inspired by toylines of the recent past.

Charm Your Senses by Amy Gilman

Nothing evokes memory better than scent—and a larger-than-life sculpture helps, too. With Charm Your Senses, Amy Gilman invites visitors to travel back to childhood mornings spent over a bowl of cereal, with her wall-based scratch-and-sniff sculptures evocative of popular marshmallow cereal.

Kindergarten-Themed Crafts with Artistic Alphabet Mafia + Care Cubby Pop-Up

Remember the days of drawing with crayons, making pipe cleaner sculptures, putting together zines?  The Artistic Alphabet Mafia will be presenting a series of hands-on kindergarden-themed craft workshops of visitors of all ages—as well as a special pop-up location for the Care Cubby mutual aid project.

Care Cubby is an ABC-themed mutual aid supply network that aims to distribute A) art supplies B) books and C) care supplies (first aid supplies, narcan, covid tests, and masks) across the city of Chicago.

Color with Kari presented by AMFM

Join AMFM and artist and muralist Kari Blak for a participatory color-by-number mural session live at The Other Art Fair. The mural, which is inspired by nostalgic items drawn from Kari’s childhood and Petalhead brand, alongside nostalgic items such as AMFM’s signature cassette tape, will begin as a simple illustration in black and white and over the duration of the fair visitors will be invited to color in the mural with Kari.

ART REFRAMED

Explore unforgettable art installations and exhibitions throughout the Fair.

The Artisan Edit

Return for a second year, The Artisan Section will present artists showcasing decorative artwork made from Ceramic, Glass, Metal and Wood. 

Exhibitors Include: Dara Schuman, Flannery Thompson, Jayne King, Maggie Drouillard, Preeti Abraham, Samantha Nasser, Sophia Renata, and Timothy Hall.

Non-Profit Partner: The Simple Good

The Other Art Fair Chicago is proud to partner with local organization The Simple Good, whose mission is to empower youth to become positive activists through art and discussion, by offering mindfulness and social emotional learning (SEL)-based art programming and public art projects. Learn more about this valuable cause onsite in the Atrium.

DISCOVER MORE

New Futures Recipient

Art should never be elite.

The New Futures program is part of our continued mission to break down traditional barriers of the contemporary art world by giving prizing to talented, often underrepresented, emerging artists. Each recipient is given free exhibition space at The Other Art Fair along with access to networks and opportunities designed to jump-start their careers.

ANWAR MAHDI

Anwar Mahdi was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs by a Filipino mother and an Arab father. Their work explores queer utopias, using mythology to reimagine a reality where power dynamics are overturned and oppressive systems are dismantled through watercolor and color pencil “scrolls” on paper.

Weaving personal narratives into lush scenes, they transform trauma into vibrant landscapes celebrating resilience, defiance, and transformation. At the heart of it is the Roman goddess Venus, reimagined as a god of war and vengeance. Venus embodies the need to mourn their past self and reclaim a future of power and agency. Through imagery like penetration and mutilation, Anwar explores themes of sacrifice, turning acts of destruction into moments of divine empowerment.

Anwar attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and drawing.

FUEL UP & INDULGE

Swing by the outdoor patio where you’ll find delicious eats from some of Chicago’s hottest food vendors

Fat Miilk

“Vietnamese coffee that slaps”, masterfully brewed by the all-women squad over at Fat Miilk (@fatmiilk).

Stop by for a cup of bold cup of goodness and sweet treats.

La Cocinita Food Truck

Stop by La Cocinita Food Truck where they will be selling Latin American street food, including Venezuelan arepas, empanadas, plantains, and rice & beans, as well as tacos, chips & guac, and churros.

Yum Dum Food Truck

Yum Dum Food Truck is serving up Delicious Baos, Dumplings, Noodles, and Rice Balls.

Art Proficiency Fine Art Services

Art Proficiency will be on-site all Fair long, wrapping your newfound obsessions free of charge for safe transport. Need to ship? Art Proficiency can provide a custom quote for you.

Book Tickets