🍀🎨 Art, History & a Little Irish: Second Fridays @the Fine Arts Building 🎶🏛️
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🍀🎨 Art, History & a Little Irish: Second Fridays @the Fine Arts Building 🎶🏛️
Second Fridays at the Fine Arts Building + St. Patrick’s Celebration!
We haven’t done this in a while — so let’s go back! Join us for Second Fridays / Artist Open House at the legendary Fine Arts Building, one of Chicago’s most beloved creative landmarks.
Doors open at 5:00 PM, but we’ll meet at 6:00 PM to catch a little bit of everything across all 10 floors.
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📅 Event Details
🗓 Friday, March 13, 2026
⏰ 6:00–9:00 PM
📍 Fine Arts Building 410 S. Michigan Ave · Chicago
🎟️ FREE event, but registration is requested
👉 Register & select Friday 3/13/26:
https://airtable.com/appxkU5EFRtKzulPx/shrVTZReAWPiB0NqW
OR
https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/events/second-fridays/
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🎨 Second Fridays: Open Studios (5:00–9:00 PM)
From 5:00–9:00 PM, enjoy a free open studios night with participating tenants throughout the building, which may include:
• 2nd Floor Art Gallery (featuring artist Don Yang)
• Performers Music
• Ann Pickett Studio & Gallery
• Portrait artist Lou Ann Burkhardt
• Chicago Human Rhythm Project
• Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
• Exile in Bookville
• Jazz Institute of Chicago
• Illustrator & editorial cartoonist Richard Laurent
• Liederstube
• Monsieur Pamplemousse custom jewelry by Alex Agudo
• Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
• Chicago Opera Theater
• Patrice Olsen Fine Art
• Ossia Musical Forum
• Oak Street Design
• Press Here Studio
Explore all 10 floors of working studios, galleries, and performance spaces in this 127-year-old landmark.
Since 1898, the Fine Arts Building has been a haven for artists of all kinds — home to pioneers like Harriet Monroe (Poetry magazine), Frank Lloyd Wright, Lorado Taft, William W. Denslow (Wizard of Oz), and the Chicago Little Theatre. Today, it continues to buzz with painters, musicians, dancers, puppeteers, photographers, writers, and more.
🕰️ History + Architecture Highlights
• Self-guided walking tour of 40+ historic studios
• Windows Into History exhibits (5th floor)
• Photo exhibit highlighting the Studebaker Theater’s legacy
• Original architectural details throughout the building
Chicago’s Artist Haven Since 1898, the Fine Arts Building is home to painters, musicians, sculptors, yoga studios, puppeteers, therapists, coaches, designers, and craftspeople — all under one historic roof. It also houses two performance venues: Studebaker Theater and Carriage Hall.
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🎭 Studebaker Theater
The Studebaker Theater is a stunning showcase for the performing arts. From its origins as a vaudeville house to its years as a cinema complex — and through multiple reconstructions and restorations — it has long been home to some of Chicago’s premier productions.
🔗 https://www.fineartsbuilding.com
🔗 https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/studebaker/
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🏛️ What You’ll See
• Open artist studios on all 10 floors
• Original manually operated elevators
• Late-19th-century Art Nouveau murals
• Windows Into History exhibits (5th floor)
• Self-guided walking tour of 40+ historic studios
• Photo exhibit highlighting the Studebaker Theater
Participating tenants may include galleries, musicians, illustrators, bookshops, puppet theater, youth orchestras, jewelry designers, opera & jazz organizations, and more.
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🎭 Studebaker Theater
The building is also home to the Studebaker Theater, one of Chicago’s oldest and most significant performance venues — from vaudeville roots to cinema to today’s restored live theater space.
🔗 https://www.fineartsbuilding.com/studebaker/
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🚇 Getting There
Public Transit: CTA friendly — use Google Maps or CTA Trip Planner
https://www.transitchicago.com/planatrip/
Driving: Downtown parking can be tricky
🚗 Use SpotHero or ParkWhiz (many garages nearby)
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⚠️ NO-SHOW POLICY (PLEASE READ)
• 3 no-shows without updating RSVP = 3-month event freeze
• RSVP cut-off = event start time
• If late, message the host directly
• Failure to check in counts as a no-show
✨ Celebrate St. Patrick’s season surrounded by art, history, music, and Chicago creativity — this is one of those magical, roam-at-your-own-pace nights you won’t want to miss!