Current Exhibitions

Art in Wilder Park 2025

McCormick House

Create & Learn - Sign up for a Camp or Class Today

In this hands-on, sensory workshop with soil scientist /ecologist Nance Klehm of Social Ecologies, participants will be invited to touch, smell, examine and learn to ‘read’ many different soils, sands, and clays gathered from many places in the Midwest. This collective reading will dig into themes from the exhibition and offer newfound appreciation and insight into the soil beneath our feet. Activity is appropriate to ages 10 and up. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

This program is included with museum admission. Members are free.   

Image Credit: Claire Pentecost. *Our Bodies Our Soils Shelves*

Soil Reading with Ecologist Nance Klehm

Want to play with your food? Inspired by works on view at the museum, we’ll use images of food to create whimsical landscapes. From 1:00 - 1:30 pm, exhibiting artists Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman will give a short introduction to their process and share works by artists who have used art and food to express myriad views of the world, followed by drop-in hands-on collage-making from 1:30 - 4:00 pm. This collage-
making activity will help visitors explore the relationships between food, our environments, and ourselves.

The activity is included with museum admission. Members are free.   

Image credit: Barbara Ciurej + Lindsay Lochman. *Fruit Loops Landscape from Processed Views: Surveying the Industrial Landscape*, Pigment print, 45 x 54 inches 2016

Create with Us: Landscape Collages

The McCormick House is a single-family home designed in 1952 by Mies van der Rohe, one of the great architects of the 20th Century. It is one of only three free-standing residences designed and built by Mies in the United States--and one of only two open to the public.   

Join us to learn more about the unique history and design of Mies van der Rohe's 1952 McCormick House. Tours are led by museum docents and are approximately 1-hour in length.  Capacity is limited and spots sell out quickly, so advance tickets are recommended.  Your ticket for the tour includes admission to the rest of the museum. Please check-in at the Front Desk of the museum upon your arrival.  You may view the museum exhibitions either before or after the tour.

Image of McCormick House interior by Liz Chilsen, photographer.

McCormick House Tour

$25 for Non Members / $15 for Members.    
Tickets are required and can be purchased [here](https://shop.elmhurstartmuseum.org/collections/online-shop/products/poetry-workshop-what-sustains-us).

5:30 - 6:00 pm: Museum opens to participants for exhibition viewing   
6:00 - 8:00 pm: Poetry workshop   

In celebration of National Poetry Month and inspired by the spring exhibition, we invite community members to join us for an evening of enjoying and creating poetry that explores the intersection of who we are and the food that sustains us. Participants will listen to poems exploring relationships between food, culture, and identity. Next, Elmhurst University professor Dr. Ann Frank Wake will guide participants as they write their poems about a food that is meaningful to them. No writing experience is required.

Image: Barbara Ciurej + Lindsay Lochman, *Monoculture Plains* from *Processed Views: Surveying the Industrial Landscape*, Pigment print, 45 x 54 inches. 2016

Poetry Workshop: What Sustains Us

Create a mosaic inspired by the artistry of indigenous communities from the Midwest. Using seeds and other natural materials, explore the complexity and beauty of traditional patterns.   

Activity is included with museum admission. Members are free.   

Image Credit: Lydia Cheshewalla, *What Kind of Love Aren’t You Looking For?* (detail) Ephemeral collaboration with time, place, and more-than-human kin. Dimensions variable. 2024.

Create With Us: Mosaic Masterpieces


__Be part of this annual tradition in Elmhurst:__

Join us for the 28th annual Art in Wilder Park. As featured in 2024 [on the cover of Elmhurst Living](https://res.cloudinary.com/elmhurst-art-museum/image/upload/v1713439760/Art%20in%20Wilder%20Park/Elmhurst_Living_Magazine_-_AIWP_r1ypyp.pdf), this highly anticipated event kicks off the Spring festival season in the western suburbs each year. The free two-day event draws thousands of visitors with over 130 booths of artists selling one-of-a-kind jewelry, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, fiber arts, and delicious treats from local food vendors. 

Featuring booths by over 80 Midwest artists, 10 nonprofits, 10 food vendors, 10 Kids Court participants, and 20 other local business partners, Art in Wilder Park unites creativity and community. The two-day event is voted one of the Best in the West, featured in numerous press outlets, and attracted nearly half of its visitors from all over the Midwest. [See a 2023 event map and list of exhibitors.](https://res.cloudinary.com/elmhurst-art-museum/image/upload/v1714519513/Art%20in%20Wilder%20Park/AIWP_2024_MAP_yuwh1x.pdf)

[Artist Apply Here!](https://shop.elmhurstartmuseum.org/collections/online-shop/products/art-in-wilder-park-2025-artist-application-booth-jury-fee)   

Would you like to volunteer? Sign up [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYUm8lLJPqN8IG4itXFsPDgFtB3nU8d1wYVig_PU-mT7RCew/viewform).


Art in Wilder Park Elmhurst Art Museum outdoor arts festival in Chicago's western suburbs art event craft fair near me spring festival 2024 events family friendly things to do art events near me art events Arts festival Crafts kids family activities


__Be part of this annual tradition in Elmhurst:__

Join us for the 28th annual Art in Wilder Park. As featured in 2024 [on the cover of Elmhurst Living](https://res.cloudinary.com/elmhurst-art-museum/image/upload/v1713439760/Art%20in%20Wilder%20Park/Elmhurst_Living_Magazine_-_AIWP_r1ypyp.pdf), this highly anticipated event kicks off the Spring festival season in the western suburbs each year. The free two-day event draws thousands of visitors with over 130 booths of artists selling one-of-a-kind jewelry, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, fiber arts, and delicious treats from local food vendors. 

Featuring booths by over 80 Midwest artists, 10 nonprofits, 10 food vendors, 10 Kids Court participants, and 20 other local business partners, Art in Wilder Park unites creativity and community. The two-day event is voted one of the Best in the West, featured in numerous press outlets, and attracted nearly half of its visitors from all over the Midwest. [See a 2023 event map and list of exhibitors.](https://res.cloudinary.com/elmhurst-art-museum/image/upload/v1714519513/Art%20in%20Wilder%20Park/AIWP_2024_MAP_yuwh1x.pdf)

[Sponsor the community festival or sell your work at Art In Wilder Park https://shop.elmhurstartmuseum.org/collections/online-shop/aiwp-2025)

[Artist Apply Here!](https://shop.elmhurstartmuseum.org/collections/online-shop/products/art-in-wilder-park-2025-artist-application-booth-jury-fee)   

Would you like to volunteer?  Sign up [here](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYUm8lLJPqN8IG4itXFsPDgFtB3nU8d1wYVig_PU-mT7RCew/viewform).

Art in Wilder Park Elmhurst Art Museum outdoor arts festival in Chicago's western suburbs art event craft fair near me spring festival 2025 events family friendly things to do art events near me art events Arts festival Crafts kids family activities

Current Exhibitions

Art in Wilder Park 2025

McCormick House

Create & Learn - Sign up for a Camp or Class Today

Elmhurst Art Museum: Where art is for everyone

Events

Upcoming Events

Soil Reading with Ecologist Nance Klehm

Create with Us: Landscape Collages

McCormick House Tour

Poetry Workshop: What Sustains Us

McCormick House Tour

Create With Us: Mosaic Masterpieces

Art in Wilder Park 2025

Art in Wilder Park 2025

Mon - Tues	closed
Wed - Thurs	12 – 5
Fri - Sun	11 – 5