When the temperatures drop in Chicago, the place to be is inside one of the city’s many varied museums, which are teeming with new shows this fall. Across town, there are exhibits boasting the works of groundbreaking women artists like Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, Japanese avant-garde superstar Yayoi Kusama and 19th-century renowned sculptor Emma Stebbins.
Plus, a show at the Museum of Contemporary Photography pulls together work from prominent American photographers to ponder the question of what Emmett Till’s life may have looked like, had the Chicago teenager not been murdered in 1950s Mississippi. It arrives 85 years after his birth.
There are also displays featuring rare presidential clothing at the Chicago History Museum, a retrospective from hometown artist Rashid Johnson at the Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago and veteran-made art in suburban Elmhurst.
Here are 12 exhibitions not to miss across the Chicago area this fall:
Linework: Chicago Comics and Community
Where: Cleve Carney Museum of Art, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
When: Through Nov. 21
The Chicago-based cartoonist Ivan Brunetti created the publication “Linework” to bring together both emerging and established cartoonists. Brunetti, whose work has frequently appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, created a sort of gathering point for the city’s contemporary comics scene. Now, this exhibit revisits the publication and the artists’ community that it brought together. Among those featured is Chicago-based cartoonist Nick Drnaso, known for his graphic novel “Sabrina.” Other comic artists featured in the show include David Alvarado, Anya Davidson and Betty Heredia.
If Emmett Till Lived: Freedom on American Ground
Where: Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan Ave.
When: Through Dec. 19
Emmett Till was born 85 years ago, and this new photography exhibit asks the question: What if he had lived? What if Till had not been murdered in 1955 in Mississippi when visiting relatives from Chicago? The exhibit invites viewers to meditate on that question and the years stolen from Till by presenting a series of photographs that represent the life he might have had, from stills of neighborhood streets and playgrounds to Civil Rights-era photographs and shots of Michael Jordan and Barack Obama. The exhibit, curated by historian and scholar Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, in collaboration with the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., draws upon the museum’s permanent collection and features work by the likes of preeminent American photographers Dorothea Lange, Gordon Parks and Dawoud Bey.
Inner Worlds: Visions from the Hirshhorn Collection
Where: Wrightwood 659, 659 W. Wrightwood Ave.
When: Through Dec. 19
Following her death in August in Tokyo, Chicagoans will have the chance to see works by Yayoi Kusama — including two of her immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms. The show at Wrightwood 659 includes nine works from the permanent collection of Washington, D.C.’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The exhibit presents Kusama alongside two of her art peers, Mary Bauermeister and Niki de Saint-Phalle. Each of the women was a trailblazer, building careers at a time when the art world was still overwhelmingly male-dominated, according to the show’s curator Betsy Johnson. In their own ways, Johnson said, the women shared a visual world that immersed the viewer in their art.
Mary Cassatt: After Impressionism
Where: The Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave.
When: Through Jan. 3, 2027
The sprawling new ode to Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt is The Art Institute of Chicago’s first deep dive into her work in more than 25 years. It features about 70 of Cassatt’s paintings, pastels and prints. The show includes “The Child’s Bath,” a standout part of the museum’s permanent collection since it was acquired in 1910. The show also highlights Cassatt’s ties to Chicago, including a now-lost mural commissioned for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Plus, it delves into the inspiration she drew from Japanese printmakers and her deep exploration of her signature subject matter: women and children in everyday moments.
Also at The Art Institute of Chicago: The museum is showcasing several female artists this fall, including a comprehensive look at the work of American photographer Lee Miller, in “Fearless,” on view until Dec. 7. And “Beatriz González: In Series and Full Color” runs Nov. 15- March 1, 2027, featuring the colorful works of the esteemed Colombian artist who died in January.
Resisting The Long War: A Revolution of Values
Where: Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 S. Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst
When: Through Jan. 3, 2027
This group show in suburban Elmhurst features all works created by veterans, who, according to the museum, “have turned away from militarism and toward solidarity.” The show features ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, photography and poetry, created by veteran artists examining their own military experiences and critiquing ongoing United States militarism. The display includes archival works from Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against the War. The exhibit is part of the broader 2026 Veteran Art Triennial, which will also include shows at the Chicago Cultural Center, Hyde Park Art Center and Walls Turned Sideways.
Karla Wong: Journeys of Being
Where: Intuit Art Museum, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave.
When: Through Jan. 10, 2027
Artist Karla Wong has called her work “a love letter to her Mexican culture,” which draws upon her own lived experiences and her identity as a trans woman. Born in Veracruz, Mexico, Wong has lived in Chicago for the past decade. Her work blends both her native Mexico and her adopted home of Chicago. In vibrant, colorful paintings, she features both traditional Oaxacan landscapes and clothing, as well as subtle nods to Chicago landmarks, like the Willis Tower. According to Intuit, Wong’s work evokes “Victorian and Surrealist styles” through “vivid, dreamlike compositions.”
teamLab: Everything Exists in Infinite Continuity
Where: Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave.
When: Through Feb. 21, 2027
The Tokyo-based art collective teamLab makes its Midwest debut this fall in Hyde Park. The artworks explore the relationship between the self and the world through immersive, large-scale digital pieces. Since it was founded in 2001 by Toshiyuki Inoko, the group has grown to include hundreds of artists, scientists, computer programmers and mathematicians around the world. The show at the Smart Museum traces the group’s origins and development over 25 years, featuring some of their most iconic artworks, as well as pieces made specifically for this exhibit.
In 1873, Emma Stebbins became the first woman commissioned by the city of New York to create a public sculpture. This fall, the Driehaus Museum is hosting “Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History,” the first museum exhibit dedicated to Stebbins’ work.
American Scenery, Bethesda Fountain, Central Park ca. 1870s Stereograph. The Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY
Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History
Where: Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St.
When: Oct. 9-April 18, 2027
Emma Stebbins was widely celebrated as a leading sculptor during her lifetime in the 19th century. In 1873, she became the first woman commissioned by the city of New York to create a public sculpture, the result of which is the iconic Bethesda Fountain, which has a permanent home in Central Park (although it is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation). However, Stebbins’ place in art history has largely been forgotten in more recent years. Now, the first museum exhibition dedicated to Stebbins is coming to the Driehaus, as part of a touring show organized by the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, New York. The show combines several of Stebbins’ neoclassical works, along with paintings and archival materials that contextualize her work. There is also a bust of Stebbins’ romantic partner, the renowned Shakespearean actress Charlotte Cushman.
Threads of a Nation: Preserving Presidential Clothing
Where: Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St.
When: Oct. 24-July 18, 2027
From the black velvet suit that George Washington purportedly wore at his second inauguration to the stained opera cape that Mary Todd Lincoln was believed to be wearing the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, the Chicago History Museum is bringing out some of the most delicate presidential pieces in its vast textile collection. Many of the pieces were purchased by the museum from Chicago businessman Charles F. Gunther in 1920. Given the garments’ age and makeup, it’s rare to see the pieces on view and, according to costume and textiles collection manager Jessica Pushor, it will likely be years, if not decades, before some of the items are displayed again.
Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
Where: Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
When: Nov. 7-April 25, 2027
More than 20 years since Rashid Johnson’s first solo show at MCA, the world-renowned Chicago-born artist returns this fall with a body of work that draws upon art history, philosophy and Black pop culture. The show features 70 works from across Johnson’s career, including black-and-white photographs that were inspired by the work of W.E.B. Du Bois and pieces from his “Anxious Men” and “Broken Men” series. Plus, works known as “Cosmic Slops” made from black soap and wax. Now based in New York, Johnson’s work has powered exhibitions around the world, in Paris, Denmark and Russia, plus major American museums like the Whitney and Guggenheim.
The Odyssey Reimagined
Where: National Hellenic Museum, 333 S. Halsted St.
When: Through January 2028
As Christopher Nolan’s epic blockbuster commanded attention this summer, Chicago’s homegrown Greek history museum is diving deep into Homer’s enduring work with “The Odyssey Reimagined.” The exhibit features works from 16 contemporary artists who have reinterpreted the text’s themes across mediums like painting, sculpture, photography and textiles. The show is part of the museum’s broader “A Year with the Odyssey” program featuring film screenings, literary discussions and a community reading.
Lydia Cheshewalla: Our Stories, Like Roots in Soil
Where: National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada St.
When: Ongoing
The museum’s ongoing exhibit,“History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing,” recently added new objects with personal stories from members of the Osage Nation, including dance regalia, a 200-year-old beaver hat and a tie slide belonging to former Chief George Tallchief. The museum has also unveiled a newly commissioned installation by the Osage artist Lydia Cheshewalla, who used found materials gathered with the help of former public housing residents across the Jane Addams Homes site. The piece pulls together materials like used sparklers, pieces of tile and plants. Following its installation at the museum, Cheshewalla will return all natural materials to the place they were gathered, saying that the practice situates her work within the larger tradition of Indigenous land stewardship.
Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ.