CHICAGO, October 7, 2026 – Wooden crates came unsealed at 6:00 AM along LaSalle Street, unleashing a rush of raw canvas, hand-molded glass, and heavy sculpture onto the floor of THE MART.
By mid-afternoon, the hallways of Chicago’s design monolith buzzed with collectors, gallery directors, and other visitors witnessing the opening of the first-ever Chicago Art Fair. The event will run from October 7 until October 10, 2026, marking a bold new addition to the Midwest cultural calendar by featuring an exclusive selection of national and international galleries at the most prominent architectural gem of Chicago River North.
But then, it’s not easy for any art fair, which tries to establish itself independently on such a saturated market.
In this case, what becomes obvious when one moves around the fairground is a rather modest but high-quality selection that features both established Midwest institutions as well as leading galleries like New York’s Nancy Hoffman Gallery.
These artists can be found throughout today’s creative industry. For example, at booth #1074, the Richard Norton Gallery from Chicago showcases mid-century Swedish abstracts along with traditional American oil painting artists such as Sven Johannson and Macena Barton.
Right next to them is the international gallery Carousel Fine Art, which has a spacious 1,000-square-foot booth dedicated to artists from seven countries. In their exhibition, there are such masterpieces as intricate portraits created from hand-cut glass, fused at 800°C by Isabelle Scheltjens and Abstract Expressionist canvases featuring mathematical notation by Taher Jaoui.
The public preview hours were available from 5:00 PM until 8:00 PM on Wednesday, following the VIP walkthrough. The regular hours run from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Thursday and Friday, ending on Saturday at 6:00 PM, with tickets costing between $19.91 to $78.91 for multi-day access pass holders.
Whether or not the fair will become a permanent fixture on fall gallery schedules is yet to be seen—after all, the art market economy is known to be quite fickle. However, as the gallerists discuss business and the first sales stickers appear next to the art pieces on opening night, Chicago’s latest cultural venture has certainly taken flight.
