Such a cool place and such a cool concept! I've gone to events a few times and the staff has been…read morenothing but sweet and accommodating. We need more places like this in Chicago! The atmosphere and art on the walls is also gorgeous.

I take classes here and love it. Love the environment and the teachers are Great. Would recommend…read moreto anyone

Celebrating her 7th birthday my grandaughter was able to tap into her creative side and make two…read moremasterpieces with great pride! The encouragement and gentle leadership from Robin allowed us to share an experience that will surely be a core memory forever. I highly recommend Painted Penquin!!

Good place where you can take a stress off, enjoy the art that you make and feel comfortable. The…read morePainted Penguin at Water Tower Place it's for kids and grown-up have enough assortment of sculptures, nice paint material and friendly employees. I was excited to spend there are almost whole day and I made my beautiful sculpture:)

The best experience ever! Mar was so thorough in teaching us to throw and helping us create…read morebeautiful items given that we were both novices :) highly recommend!

My friend and I were really excited to attend our first ever pottery class. Upon entering we were…read moregreeted by the teachers and they explained the whole process to us. The studio is a bit small but and enough space for you to roam about and do your thing. The first step was to handle the clay then they thought us how to handle the wheel and then we got to choose if we wanted a vase, a cup or a bowl. We were in a small group of 6 due to which the teachers could explain and help us well. We ended up upgrading our class to include paint as well as we got to know that without the paint we won't be able to use the things we made of it involves water. My friend made a cute cup and I made a not so cute vase. I would definitely say that but the end of the class, we were rushing a bit and would have appreciated some help and tips from the teachers but we didn't get any. We had to constantly ask about things and where the brushes were and where the paints were. Since it was our first ever class, we would have appreciated a bit more help from the teachers in managing our time and helpful tips on how to glaze correctly instead of having to ask everything ourselves when we are already rushing. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and can't wait to pick up our pieces soon!

We recently attended a cooking class at Sur La Table, and only two couples were enrolled, which…read moremade for a much more personal experience. The facility was clean, and our instructor, Tim, was great--knowledgeable and full of pro tips. Unfortunately, the experience after the class was disappointing. After paying $109 per person, we were surprised to find that we had to stand while eating the meal we had just prepared. We also were not allowed to take any leftovers home. We've attended several cooking classes in Chicago as well as other cities, and every one of them provided seating so guests could comfortably enjoy their meal, as well as take-home containers for leftovers. Not allowing guests to take food home seems unnecessarily wasteful. It's difficult not to wonder whether the leftovers simply end up being discarded or eaten by staff. For the price of the class, providing chairs and take-home containers seems like a reasonable expectation. While Tim and the quality of the instruction were excellent, these two policies significantly detracted from the overall experience. Unfortunately, because of these inconveniences, we won't be attending another Sur La Table cooking class.

Please do yourself a favor and go book a cooking class right now! You'll have a lovely few hours…read moreand enjoy delicous food, all while learning something new! I took a few business clients for a night of pasta making and on top of all the new pasta knowledge we gained, we truly had such a fun time. They are byob, which is very convenient, and ther is more than enough food to enjoy it at the end of the class. Shoutout to Eric who was such an engaging, fun, and knowledgeable instructor! The store was also very beautiful and has all of your kitchen needs!

Terrace Tuesday was amazing even though the music was inside today. The weather was perfect. Plenty…read moreof tables and great company. We will be back!

If the Art Institute is where we went to stand in front of paintings I'd already studied for years,…read morethe MCA was where we went to be surprised. Set on the Near North Side near Water Tower Place, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago picks up almost precisely where the Art Institute's historical collection ends, devoting itself entirely to art made since 1945. https://lisaefreedman.com/the-museum-of-contemporary-art-chicago/?

Richard Gray is a small but mighty art gallery that represents and exhibits art from locally famous…read moreartists like Theaster Gates to internationally known artists like David Hockney. In fact, if you are reading this in the summer of 2026, you owe it to yourself to hop on over to the Gallery before August 22 to see David Hockney's final exhibition. Its stunning work and a reminder of the end of an era. Any art lover in Chicago owes it to themselves to get on the Gallery e-mail list and look out for exhibitions.

Richard Gray does not have a huge exhibition space, but what this gallery specializes in is first…read moreand secondary works by internationally known artists: Abakanowicz, Giacometti, Hockney, Katz, de Kooning and a full roster of blue chip art world names. Richard Gray Gallery functions as both a gallery representing specific artists but also acts as intermediary for a wide variety of private sales. Want a blue period Picasso? Richard Gray may know of one for sale somewhere in the world. Looking for a rare Magritte? Yes, Richard Gray is your gallery. This is the gallery for very discriminating tastes in fine art; a second location opened in New York.

I have purchased several oil paintings from Hildt Galleries throughout the past ten years. The…read moreowner, Jeremy Hildt is a true professional. When I'm in Chicago, I always make time to visit the gallery to see the latest paintings that Jeremy is offering for sale. The paintings are always of the highest quality. I would highly recommend Hildt Galleries to anyone seeking fine impressionist paintings, as well as antique oil paintings. Hildt Galleries is a Chicago institution.

I don't know about the art, but the owner is lovely…read more Last weekend (when it was 100 degrees outside-- actually), my boyfriend and I stopped by Grahamwich for some lunch. We had our dog with us, who was seriously drooping from both the extreme heat, and the epic walk we had just taken her on-- a few miles is a long way on 3" legs! While my boyfriend battled the super-long line at Grahamwich, I sat outside with the puppy. The owner of Hildt came outside and invited us in to beat the heat. He let my dog lay on his oriental rug, sniff paintings, and run around his shop-- he was definitely less concerned about the situation than I was! Although I'm not currently in the market for fine art, when/if I am, I'll go to Hildt!

Artistic, talented, defined. What more can I say about Fidel and his gallery?! Bravo!read more

The venue for the invitation only 4th Annual Children's Coat Drive and a Holiday Party with…read moreunmotivated entertainers and participants. Acrylic Paintings didn't motivate party momentum. A cliquish anti-social event disguised as a party. THE IT SPACE -- the back room. SEATING -- plenty but there is no one wall that you can endlessly stare. SPACE -- plenty, but the party attendees behaved like its a dive bar so they congregated at the bar area with NO drinks. FOOD -- embarrassing to take photos. Caterer is missing after 1.5 hours after so-called party started. DESSERT -- too sweet, significantly ordinary from www.asweetsgirl.com. You can easily bake it at home.

Whenever I walk part the River East Art Center , I can't help but gaze at the beautiful artwork in…read morethe windows, especially at Juliet Sender Artist ~ Gallery. They have amazing original works of art that are of great value. The best part, however, is the amazing opportunity to meet the artists themselves. This was a wonderful place to visit, they have amazing artwork. The employees are friendly and the space is Beautiful!. I would highly recommend this!

We had an amazing instructor Kate. She was very patient, easy going and overall super fun…read more Bartender was awesome too. Such a fun guy. It was my mom's first time going for her birthday and she had so much fun! Thank you all for making it special. Can't wait to come back.

Came here to do a paint and sip with a couple friends. The staff are all very friendly and the…read morespace is nice. It was around $35 per person for the paint supplies, and you can buy your own drinks on top of it. A lot of the wine options were only available in bottles, not individual glasses, so I got the spicy margarita. It turned out to be pretty good though. For the paintings, we did a sunset beach theme. The class was super fun, the instructor was funny, and it was a nice experience. I hope to go again for sure!