Chicago’s happiest art tradition is getting ready for another landmark year. The Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition opens on January 18, 2027, at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and runs through April 18, 2027 — the centerpiece of the museum’s 57th annual Black Creativity program, which celebrates the history of Black innovation while championing opportunities for today’s youth to explore STE(A)M.
The numbers behind the show are remarkable. It is the longest continually running exhibition of African American art in the United States, displayed annually at the museum since 1970. Visitors will find dynamic works by professional and emerging Black artists from around the country — paintings, drawings, fine art prints, sculpture, mixed media, ceramics and photography — selected by a panel of jurors that includes SAIC art historian Eddie Chambers, Little Black Pearl founder Monica Haslip, and Diaspora Rhythms executive director D. E. Simmons.
One of the exhibition’s most joyful features is its youth component: Black teen artists from the Chicagoland area, ages 14 to 17, exhibit alongside the adults, with Teen Category awards led by a $600 Best in Show prize, while the General Category’s Best in Show receives $4,000. Works were submitted in the fall and chosen by the jury, so every piece on the wall has earned its place. For Chicago families, students and art lovers, January 18 is a date to circle: more than five decades of creativity, all under one roof in Hyde Park.
Photo: Griffin Museum of Science and Industry
