Visited over the weekend for Pigmented FINE Black Art Faire and the space was great. This space allowed the artist to spread out and viewers were able to admire the art up close and personal. There was so much space here it was a full house but we didn't feel like we were in a crowd. Lovely space can't wait to return. read more

Zhou B Art Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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On the Third Friday of each month, Zhou Art center hosts a free exhibition and open studio event where locals can explore the main galleries and the resident artist's studios. This is a great opportunity for Chicagoans from all over and tourists to come and support the artists. This was my first time visiting Zhou Art Center and it was ok. The staff was just walking around and not engaging with frowns on their faces. Some of the art work displayed throughout the center was pretty nice. It was nice to come out and see some creative pieces. This is a very beautiful art center. You can book an event space, host a party and wedding. A hidden gem right down the street from Bridgeport Art Center. You can have the best of both worlds and visit both art centers. read more

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This place is vast and beautiful with areas of exposed brick purchased for the purpose of bringing the community together around Asian American events and the broader community. It's really a great place with art and so many rooms with ambiance and class. I wish I lived here! All kidding aside there is so much potential to hold major events. Obama was here among many others. Huge parking lot. Gala events can be held here. read more

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The Zhou B Art Center is located in Bridgeport in the former Spiegel Catalog Administration Building. The First Floor is considered to be the Zhou Brothers Museum with a permanent collection of sculpture. Some sculptures spill outside into the public spaces and parking areas. I have been to the Zhou B a couple of times over the years for art and cultural events. My love and I recently attended a Saturday evening art gallery reception on the Third Floor featuring art (of course) plus a live DJ and bar service. While the event was lively and well-attended, the organizers acknowledged Covid-19 by having attendees select a timed entry for general admission and complete a wellness form before admittance. There are also a few artist studios displaying reasonably priced artworks on sale. read more

I've finally reached a point where I feel I can share my peace regarding the cancellation of my daughter and her now-husband's wedding, which was planned for over a year to take place at Zhou B Art Center. We later learned that the individual who wrote the last response to my initial review no longer represents the establishment. Much of what was claimed in that response about us was simply untrue. The person who responded accused us of being disrespectful and rude, but nothing of the sort ever occurred. At no point did anyone use any racist or homophobic language, nor was anyone disrespectful in any way. As loving Christians, we believe in accepting all people for who they are, regardless of their background or personal choices. The accusations made against us were hurtful and deeply shameful. I have never been racist, and I would never judge anyone based on their personal beliefs or identity. We are grateful to the owners of the gallery for ultimately taking responsibility and settling this matter without further hardship or inconvenience. While we were disappointed by the circumstances, we appreciate that the situation was resolved fairly. To the owners of Zhou B Art Center, I truly wish things had been handled differently. The gallery is beautiful, and we would have loved to have had our wedding there. Unfortunately, the actions of the management at the time made the experience an unbearable one. Best regards, read more

NIGHTMARE. Dangerous building, roaches, dirty, inconvenient. I rented a studio here as an artist and it was such a hassle. You are better off anywhere else but here. WORST MANAGEMENT. 1. DANGEROUS- A giant, heavy piece of a metal door fell on me, hurting my arm severely and management couldn't care less, ignoring my texts and emails until I confronted them in person. This could have fallen on my head. This could've been YOU or one of your guests/employees!! Someone BROKE INTO my studio the first month I moved in. 2. UNPROFESSIONAL. There would be literal WEDDINGS and us artists would have to walk through the receptions in our dirty art clothes. We would literally be walking through fancy receptions and through the back door, passing all the food being made. Often we'd be dusty from working all day, passing by the open food being served to guests. I would be so mad if that were my wedding. 2. SOO dirty. Bathrooms were filthy, tenants would be found shirtless in the all gender bathrooms showering and washing their hair in the sink. Tenants cooking food in their studios. There are zero regulations. 3. Countless roaches and bugs because this building is FILTHY. They will say it's old, but that's no excuse. It's filthy. 4. INCONVENIENT. No passenger elevator, you have to wait for someone from managemment which was rare and inconvenient. You will have to walk up the very small stairs almost every time. VERY HOT OR VERY COLD. No regulation with the air or heat in the studios. 5. Management couldn't be worse. They just get mad or defensive when you ask them for help, very, very bizzare. Asher/Dee claimed to be manager but literally never answered any concerning emails. 6. Water would drip from the ceilings onto my work in my studio and I brought it up twice and no one fixed anything. I would literally fill up cups of water from the drips. It's shocking that people want to have events here. It's such a dirty, unprofessional venue. I really, really urge you to THINK TWICE before renting here. If you are looking to rent as an artist, I recommend looking anywhere else but here, truly. read more

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This place has gone way downhil in the past couple years. No consideration is given to resident artists or their guests for that matter. Zhou B is no longer a "happening" place for openings, music, or food. Even the structure itself is falling apart, to mention its unsafe stairways and nonfunctional elevator! read more

Good Evening, My name is Deniece Thomas, mother of Tammy Thomas and I am writing this letter in order to bring public awareness and increased scrutiny to the crooked and unscrupulous business practices Zhou B Art Center located at 1029 W. 35th Street, Chicago, IL 60629. In addition to several other business operations at the establishment, this company supposedly provides rental space to individuals, business and organizations for professional and private events. However, instead of conducting business based on integrity and sound, ethical business practice, the management of the company appears to be engaged in a consistent pattern of fraud and deceit, swindling individuals and families out of the hefty deposits that they require customers to pay in order to use their facility. This letter is one of many efforts to expose these crooked, so-called "business people" whom are apparently taking advantage of poor and working-class people of Chicago and especially struggling African-American families who reside on the city's southside. I am a mother of two and reside in the Bronzeville community where I have lived all of my life. My daughter, Tammy, and her fiancé, entered into a contract with the Zhou B Art Center to rent their space for their wedding which was to be held on August 12, 2023 (from 3pm to 1am). The contract stipulated that the total cost of the rental would be $7,775 which would be for the use of the 1st and 2nd floors (the lower floor for the wedding and the upper floor for the reception). The contract was signed on June 6, 2022 and an initial deposit of $3,875 was given to the Zhou Art Center at that time. Nevertheless, the following year, on April 28, 2023, Tammy received an email entitled "Notice of Contract Termination" allegedly because of non-payment of the balance $3,875. However, upon closer examination of the contract, there was conflicting information about when final payment is due; and we believe that this was deliberate. Indeed, on page 2 of the contract, in a section entitled "The remaining balance of the Rental Fee" it reads: "Remaining balance is due by 90 days prior to your event date (April 12, 2023)". However, April 12th is actually 122 days prior to the event and NOT 90 days. So the contract stipulates a specific date that is not consistent with the time that an unwitting customer believes they he or she has been allotted to pay. This confusing and contradictory language opens the door for fraud and abuse. And on page 3, the term 90 days is mentioned twice more: 1) "If the cancellation is made 90 days or more from the Event date: the Venue will retain the original non-refundable and non-transferable deposit of 50% of the Venue Rental Fee with no additional balance due"; and 2) "If the cancellation is made 90 days or less from the Event date: a cancellation fee of 100% of the Renter's total remaining venue rental fee will be due." Since it has been mentioned 3 times in the same contract, the 90-day window appears to be a well-established benchmark for the Zhou B Art Center when engaging with their customers. However, to the contrary, the managers of the company instead chose to enforce the April 12th date as written in the contract --- which was clearly outside the 90-day window of when the balance of the funds would be due. Consequently, they used this misleading and fraudulent maneuver to justify keeping our $3,875 security deposit by claiming that we didn't pay the balance by the date written in the contract. THIS IS FRAUD. So I am utilizing every avenue and means available to me in order to expose this criminal enterprise, especially since we have found out that they have defrauded other struggling families of their hard-earned, meager resources as well using this very same tactic. Sincerely, Deniece Thomas read more

Update: came here on Sep 15 for their Women as Warrior exhibit. It is still as lovely as ever with their open studio policy. A real neighborhood gem. Came here for the first time on April 21, Third Friday's of every month. This place is much larger than it looks on the outside, and has multiple floors filled with exhibition rooms. I absolutely adored exploring the different artwork and many of the artists were extremely friendly and proud to speak of their work. There were complimentary drinks and appetizers for the event and the coolest part was the freight elevator ! There is an attendant inside the freight elevator and even a couch, so it's like a private booth at your favorite club ;) overall, would absolutely love to return. Kudos, Zhou B, for putting together an awesome event and continuously giving back to BPort read more

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Love the Zhou B Art Center! Fantastic artwork, fantastic community, fantastic events! The whole team is very welcoming and went out of their way to make our experience special. Not only is there great artwork by the Zhou Brothers themselves, they also allow other local artists to create and display artwork, teach classes to young children, and allow weddings and other special events to take place in their center. I came all of the way from out of state to Chicago mostly just to see the Zhou B Art Center, and it was truly impressive! read more

I attended an event here last night and I was happy with the set up. First off there is a parking lot, so that made parking very convenient. Once inside I liked the layout of the space. Plenty of room to move about and I liked the idea of multiple rooms to go back and forth between. It's the type of space where you can decorate it to go for whatever look your going for. The event I was attending was a magazine/car event so there were a couple of cars located within the space. Really good time and no complaints at all with this event space. read more

Zhou B Art Center - Inspirationally Crafted Event hosted by Uptown Magazine, Kia, and one of my favorite news anchors Cortney Hall - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Everything started really well with this venue when we first booked. We had a worker assigned to us and she was pretty responsive and answered all our questions. Then about 3 months before the wedding we stopped getting responses, and if we did get one it was delayed or from someone else. Then 3 weeks from the wedding we found out that our original worker assigned to us was no longer working for them and that we got a new person assigned to us. We also found out that things she told us that she took care of for us, she did not do. Such as reserving the space for our rehearsal and having someone there to let us in prior to the wedding so that the wedding party could get ready. When we told the new guy what the other worker promised us, he eventually agreed to the prior arrangements, but it was a battle to get that all settled. Then came the rehearsal. The new guy was supposed to be there to let us in, but he left prior and told someone else to let us in. They did not let us in at all. We had to let ourselves in through another door. At this point, we were panicking and decided to come up with plan b in case they failed us on the big day. Luckily everything went smoothly on the big day. The added stress with all of this was not worth it at all. If we had to do it all again we would have booked with a different venue. read more

I've only visited the Zhou Brothers' building once, as part of a gigantic Yelp event, so my impressions are inextricably intertwined between building and party. But, focusing just on the venue: it's on 35th Street in Bridgeport, a neighborhood I've never walked through previously. The area seems safe, even a bit more gentrified than I expected--I walked past several new loft condo buildings as I headed over from the Halsted bus stop. But the Ramova Grill and Johnny O's Hot Dog shack keeps this stretch from being bland. The building is huge, several floors of open space with a working freight elevator and concrete stairways. I'm guessing the building was a factory or warehouse in a former life. The space is so open and malleable, it lends itself to any number of uses: art performances, art studio, galleries, a great party or wedding venue, corporate retreat, what have you. The bathroom was much larger and had more style than I would have expected in a raw loft, so clearly there's some concern to making this place work for crowds. There seem to be a number of different artists working/selling/living? in the basement level, so this is not just a monument to the work of the two owners. A very pleasant looking cafe sits at the front of the building on the entrance floor. If I lived nearby, I'd be here daily. read more

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Words alone cannot express our gratitude for the staff at Zhou B. The planning of a wedding is stressful enough and the pandemic happening changed everything! The staff at Zhou B could not have been more wonderful! Paulette went above and beyond to see my daughter and son in laws vision come to light! From the food to the ambience to the service of the staff the evening was magical romantic and absolutely perfect. The wedding was moved outdoors to the garden center and it breathtaking would be too simple of a word to use to describe how everything turned out. 2020 has been a rough year but we are all able to breathe a bit easier with the way our wedding turned out! read more

I hosted my wedding reception dinner at this venue in the summer of 2022. Shortly after we signed a contract with them, a legal dispute broke out between them and my wedding planner; a planner whom they referred to me. Planning the reception became incredibly difficult. Then, on the day of the wedding, very little went as planned. Despite all of these things being agreed to ahead of time, none of them happened, correctly: Free parking was provided to our guests, but confusing signage was posted, so many of them parked in the wrong lot and almost got towed. Our DJ was asked to make announcements during the dinner and dancing hours, encouraging our guests to leave and move their cars. There was also no signage directing guests where to enter the facility, so many of them came in through a back "kitchen-like" door and never viewed our welcome floral display. A video that I made for my husband and guests never aired. This was particularly emotional and devastating. The air conditioning did not work. At minimum, the temperature of the building reached the mid-80s degrees. No one from the venue addressed the situation with a solution. It was close to unbearable. Elderly guests had to leave the reception early. After returning from our honeymoon, we became aware of another wedding reception held at this venue shortly after ours, in which the air conditioning still did not work. In short, working with this venue was the most horrible professional experience of my life. One of our vendors actually told us that it was "the worst wedding I've ever worked." The whole experience was heart-breaking and the lack of professional accountability and compassion in the aftermath has been shocking. The venue has taken absolutely zero accountability for all that went wrong and has offered us zero money back. read more

I visited on a 3rd Friday event & I will be back again. The first floor is amazing. So far its my favorite with the paintings and sculptures . From my understating the 2nd floor exhibits rotate so its always new. You absolutely have to visit the 3rd floor. There is an exhibit that is actually the home of an artist, hard to explain but unbelievable . Must see! read more

Wow! Its been a while since I've been and the wedding I was at this weekend reminded me how incredible this space really is. As an art driven venue, it should come as no suprise that its a big blank canvas but the functionality and the purpose driven design of the space really hit me over the head. While not part of the design process of this particular event, my head was spinning with possibilities. For a second, I even thought about getting married. That's how awesome it is. Ample parking, functioning old school freight elevators, loading docks for vendors, clean (read: not musty) environment of beautiful exposed brick, timbered ceilings, crisp drywall and beautiful sculpture were the icing on this multilayered, ultra flavored cake. Bathrooms are impeccable which is always an oversight or value engineered out of a gallery space but the Zhou brothers did it right and made the restrooms both adequate and spiffy. Facility staff is above and beyond professional, helpful and courteous. While I didn't deal directly with their event staff, I can only assume they are an equally awesome reflection of an all around masterpiece. Love this space! read more

Great space to transform into whatever your vision might be. Very fitting that it is also an art gallery because for an event that space is truly a blank slate with many capabilities. They have two huge floors of event space, parking isn't completely terrible (you can rent a 1000 car lot nearby if necessary), and not too far from the CTA red line station. If it helps, the smell of baked goods linger outside and i'm not exactly sure where this comes from but I like it! They provide the awesome space so you will need to provide anything else you'll need to make your dream space happen but they can provide a list of vendors for you to use. Definitely a place to check out for your next big event! read more

A kaleidoscope of visual arts... Three floors of most eclectic visual arts you would find in Chicago. Regardless of your taste you are sure find something you enjoy. A unique environment where you would meet a very diverse group of people. read more

Zhou B, pronounced like Joe B, is a really kewl venue for events. It is an art studio located in a rehabbed warehouse. It has a great loft feel with really kewl art all over the place. They have a cafe which duels as a bar/lounge. Zhou B is a great place to host a wedding if you had buku bucks. The only draws backs are that everything is a la carte as far as vendors for table, chair, food, etc.., And its street parking unless you rent the parking lot from the business next door They also have a "Hidden garden" for ceremonies a few block away. If you have the money to burn, give it a try. The banquet manager and sales lady were very helpful and accommodating. They were extremely friendly as well, just genuinely nice people. read more

Lovely center and they have amazing third Friday events where the artists open their studios. The price ranges from easy to obtain to extravagant. I mean that in saying that I purchased a $25 screen print and there were many other artists there that had work under $300. Then you had ranges anywhere between 2 to 5000 and up. read more

Another gallery/event space in Bridgeport. I came here for the Behealthful retreat- a one-day wellness and beauty summit. The first floor was packed with vendors showcasing their healthy wares, lectures, and even space for fitness classes (yoga, Pilates, HIIT). Getting here by cab was straightforward. On the way back I ended up taking the #35 bus and Red Line but could see that it would be difficult to get a taxi (not sure if Uber would be any easier). It looked like the parking is plentiful for those who are driving. Prior to this event I had only passed by the space and appreciated the sculpture outside. Between programs it was interesting to look around at the artwork- it appears there are permanent displays and rotating exhibits. I definitely felt the venue itself complemented my experience of the event, versus if it had been held in the caverns of McCormick Place. I found myself revitalized physically by the activities of the day as well as emotionally and spiritually nourished by the artwork and creative expressions around me. read more

Zhou B Art Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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I attended a fundrasier event there. Very interesting event space, upstairs and downstairs space with an old freight elevator, the kind you have to close the gate. The space is punctuated with large art work on the wall and you can use the space very creatively. Love supporting a small business formed by two brothers, who immigrated from China about 20 years ago, and have become leaders of the Bridgeport community. read more

A genuine pillar of the Chicago Arts community, Zhou B provides a wonderful venue for artists and events. Housed in an industrial building, it offers ample space for artists of various styles and formats. read more

Zhou B Art Center - No idea what's going on here - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Heartbreaking is the word I would use to describe the experiences we had working with Zhou B in planning my sister's wedding. My sister is a kind, hardworking, organized, individual of the highest character. She was reassured by Zhou B she would have the wedding of her dreams at their venue. My family and the groom's family do not expect perfection, just a follow through on promises made and a company to follow through with the services they agreed to provide. The day of the wedding the caterer and planner arrived early and were not allowed to access the venue at the time needed, therefore, everything was pushed back which added stress for all vendors involved. The temperature was unbearable and when I reached out to the event coordinator that worked for Zhou B that night she said she was trying to fix it, but then stopped responding to my texts and was no where to be found. Zero accountability by Zhou B here. The parking signage was confusing for guests as they were told to park in the wrong lot. The catering company of high reviews said that they would never work with this venue again. Once Zhou B received the checks, they disregarded my sister. The day before the wedding she was locked out (eventually let in) to drop off a video clip and told she couldn't come in initially bc she didn't have an appointment by the person who was working with her to plan the event. My family and I are not people to complain, and we waited for a response from Zhou B to make up for what had happened, but with no accountability by this company, we felt that it was our moral obligation to let other brides and grooms know NOT to use this venue. Our families still made the best of the night despite Zhou B dropping the ball completely. read more

First of all, thanks Yelp team for always exposing me to awesome locations for events. You really do a good job of finding impressive venues to host events. This space is totally amazing and I love the way it flows. It provides the ability to feel comfortable and not totally squeezed in with large crowds. The open space allowed for many different acts to perform in the venue. As a person that serves on a board, we are always looking for great places to host events and this place allows you to use a blank canvas and create your masterpiece. It's hip and chic but gives off that loft appeal. There's ample parking for guest without them worrying about their car. The second floor held enough room for a screen projector and dj to bump music and enough room for 20 or so dancers to get their groove on. I certainly can't wait to head back here for another event coming up in 2012. Thanks Yelp for showcasing another dimepiece of a locationi. read more

We came here for a friend's boyfriend's art opening. What we didn't expect was the scale of this location. I haven't seen such eccentric and beautiful, thought-provoking art space in a long time. We walked around for more than 3 hours and enjoyed every bit of it. The crowd was young, but not the young hip crowd that makes you want to throw up. They had music on each of the four floors and the artists had opened their studios for visiting. Most you could tell use it sparingly. Some you could tell moved in. One guy actually installs custom home theaters. Seemed out of place, but that stall was hoppin'. We ended up parking on the street but later discovered parking in the back. I believe this night they had valet. The bar in the front is quaint and although I didn't go, the drinks were rather pricey. Luckily many artists had bottles of wine. I imagine you could bring in your own hooch if you were so inclined. Definitely want to come back for another open house night. The artists were all so friendly. And one of these days when I can, I would really like to take a piece home. read more

I was at Zhou B Art Center for Yelp's annual holiday party. I had never been there before, so I didn't know what to expect. It's a great event space. The main level when you walk in is large and has a cafe in the front. There's also a large event space on the second floor. I think there's more event space in the basement, but I didn't go down there. The top two or three floors are gallery and studio space for the center's resident artists. Very cool! The neighborhood wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. It's pretty gentrified and looked like a pretty safe place to visit. There was also plenty of parking in the lot behind the center. I think Zhou B Art Center would make a great unique venue for a wedding or some other type of big party. I'm not sure what the capacity of this place is, but it's very spacious, airy and open. Very cool place! read more

Such a remarkable place to enjoy beautiful art from all types of artists with different mediums and techniques. Located in charming Bridgeport, which is a quaint neighborhood south of the city, conveniently located near 90/94 expressway off of 35th street. This art gallery is huge, with more than four stories of decadent art. Wheel chair accessible along with stairs which is great for directing traffic, because there's only one elevator. Not only can you come here to enjoy the art, but every third Friday of the month the gallery hosts an evening of meet and greet where guest can actually meet the artists and discuss their art. read more

Zhou B Art Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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The Zhou B Art Center is actually a great venue to host an event...you can be very creative within this unique space. They have two floors for events and was just at a wedding last month that was quite beautiful and out of the box. I'm excited about my new art studio space too...can't wait to start creating! read more

Zhou B Art Center - 2nd Floor Entrance (showcase event-design by AOI) - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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One of my best friends Matthew C. Stone had his wedding reception here. The installation gallery was made available exclusively to the bridal party for wedding pictures. It is unfortunate that the rest of the attendees did not get to see the installation pieces as most of them were stunning. The rented wedding space on the second floor was industrial by design, but the vendors my friend picked added decorative refinement. I started a short nap due to my inebriation, while there was still light in the sky. By the time I had awoken, the only brightness penetrating the wall to wall windows was that of the parking lot posts emitting the most beautiful light pollution I have ever witnessed. read more

Zhou B Art Center - Zhou B Art Center and Napping Station. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

The Zhou B Art Center is an excellent venue that lends itself to the artwork. With skyscraper ceilings, and white walls it seems like the best place for installation pieces. They have an enormous parking lot, and the pictures of events held here are absolutely stunning. The white walls and high ceilings lend themselves to uplighting and decorations. Unfortunately, however, a second look let me see the giant spiderwebs, boarded up windows, broken windows, and the desperate need for a paint job and better lighting. I was also a little disappointed to see that the Garden was at a separate location. The pictures of it are very intriguing. read more

The Yelp 12 Days of Christmas (Chicago Event) was here last week. Zhou is really nice for a corporate party or a reception. I enjoyed the up stair space the most. It looked very sleek (exposed brick, nice black flooring), technology appeared to be used more in this part, and it was a large space. Dancing, a bar, a photo booth, a lounge area, and table could all fit in the space. Just a little detail, I love the front door stain window! My only improvement for Zhou is it would have been nice to know the theme of the exhibits in each area/room. I was confused in the main floor the themes, if any. A little signage would be helpful. Overall, this was a nice space! read more

Looking for something new to do on a Friday night? Check out the Open House, it is so fun! We went over last weekend and had a great experience. The only down side was public transportation. It is impossible to get a Taxi at the end of the evening. We ended up on a bus and rather confused. Check out Han202 if you are headed over, fabulous BYOB prix fixe Chinese. read more

Recently held our wedding in this space and could not have asked for a better venue. The space is huge (17K square feet), open and very unique. Our family and friends at first had reservations about a wedding at an Arts center but were all pleasantly surprised and sung its praises. We did the ceremony and cocktail reception all in the same space. The opportunity to rent the cafe AND the large parking lot (with security) next to the space made the event more accessible and comfortable. The event coordinator was nothing but helpful and flexible for the vendors. We had 180 people and it never felt crowded. Getting married in front of a beautiful marble sculpture was truly awesome. Our guests voiced their appreciation for getting to partake in a traditional event in a non-traditional space. read more

We had our wedding ceremony at the Life Garden and Reception on the first floor in the Moongate room in the main center the second week of June 2013. There were several things promised to us and replaced with something sub-optimum or not delivered at all. In summary, the dealings with the venue was fine up until 5 weeks before the wedding. Out of the 8 vendors I worked with for our wedding I unfortunately have to say that this vendor caused the most stress and was the most difficult to work with 5 weeks leading up to the wedding including the day of the wedding. Pro's -Some guests accidently came through the cafe instead of the side entrance. The doors were locked, so they unlocked the doors and let guests enter through the cafe even though we did not rent the space. -There was not a convenient place for the bridal party to reside before making the grand entrance to the reception, so they opened the Spirit Space for us to use temporarily even though we did not rent the space. -One of the maintenance men (don't remember his name) and the day of event liason, Kenny, was very nice to work with. Issues 1) We were told just 5 weeks before the wedding that the Venue was going to charging us $400 to use the ceremony site for the wedding rehearsal. 2 hour minimum was required. At contract signing, Donna (event director), did not indicate there was any charge and indicated that all we had to do was give them a week's notice. When mentioning what I recalled to her, she indicated she was talking about letting us use the reception site. I may be totally off, but I would think that a wedding rehearsal would be done at the ceremony site. Her reasoning for needing to charge us was that she would have to pay someone to open the gates for us because the venue was not open to the public. When prompting her further her reason was..."She is running a business!". The delivery of the $400 charge was via email. I was very upset to say the least. We were stuck and had no choice. I had to entertain ideas of having the rehearsal done at a baseball field or someone's backyard, but luckily ended up doing it at the reception space. This experience with the Director, who was also our main contact at the venue, made all interactions leading up to the wedding more difficult. 2) A private room was not available for the bridal party to touch up prior to the ceremony When signing this venue, the event director told us that the Bridal party could use a room in the building next to the life garden (the old space of Cataleya) to get ready and touch up before the ceremony. Upon the wedding we asked how we can access this room, and the event director indicated that the only room available is the Foundation room which is the gallery attached to the garden. This building is the only air conditioned space at the site, has the only on-site bathroom, and is also open for guests to enter. Traditionally, guests are not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony. The was impossible given the option the venue suggested. Guests come in and out of the building to use the bathroom and shelter from the heat. The "powder room" they suggested is actually the bathroom in the Foundation gallery which is the size of a closet and as mentioned, is also a public bathroom. What made it worse, it my opinion, was the director's attitude. She made it seem like this has always been the case and that what they offered was more than sufficient. I mentioned that I remember the building next door would be available which then prompted her to say "well, Cataleya used to be there but has moved out since..." 3) The event director refused to give a day of contact to myself or my wedding coordinator. As you know, it is common practice to contact all vendors before a wedding and also to have a day of contact in case of any issues, and especially access to the venue etc. At this point, I had almost given up getting support/information from the venue. Luckily a friend of ours stepped in to be the day of coordinator and after multiple emails and calls, we obtained a contact number the night before the wedding. 4) Guest Bathroom at the Life Garden: The bathroom was out of soap and didn't have a waste basket. My MOH luckily noticed this before most of the guests came and asked the event liaison to remedy the issue. They did promptly, however, these are bare essentials you would expect properly prepared for you. 5) We were also promised 2 security guards as part of the $350 rental fee of the parking lot next door which typically went for $500. My guests said they never saw security guards at the parking lot. To be fair, my rating is an average between 2 criteria. Customer service: Up till 5 weeks before wedding, it was a 3, but given the 5 weeks leading up and the many things promised but not delivered as expected, I give it a 1. The space itself, a 3 due to the character read more

Well, I totally forgot to leave a review for Zhou B, where my wife and I got married back in July. We were looking for a unique and fun space for our wedding - something that was both affordable and classy and that's exactly what we got with Zhou B. The space is fantastic and can really be transformed with different kinds of art and how you dress up the space for your event. When you walk inside the space with no installation on the walls it can feel a bit cold and dark but that's mainly because of the old industrial feel of the warehouse building. However, this is exactly what gives the space character and allows you to change the mood and feeling when you put up an installation or house your event there. Just on its own, Zhou B is a great gallery to see art from local artists that have studios in the building, to the Zhou brother's great works to other famous artists. I believe the Zhou brothers own 9 buildings in the area and have a hidden gem on S. Morgan and 35th: a smaller gallery with more of their own work with a beautiful and serene attached garden space that you can also use for your even. Back to the main building on 35th. This is where my wife and I held our reception and it was really great. The main floor has two great spaces (Moongate and Spirit) that you can rent and also a huge second floor that can house around 300 people. Since we had about 130 guests we only needed to use the Spirit room which is what you see when you walk in the front door. Also, be aware that's there a nice little cafe in side the building that you can visit while you are viewing the current installation. Anyway, the Spirit space was fantastic for our reception and worked perfectly with our floor plan and the ambience we went for. Our lighting team really did wonders in the room and our planners helped make the space beautiful. The art installation that was on the walls was perfect for our event and every one of our guests raved about the space and the art. They all thought Zhou B was so unique. As previously mentioned, the garden/gallery space on S. Morgan is awesome. We decided to rent two spaces for our wedding so we could have our reception outside in the garden. The space was perfect for our guests and for our ceremony. Everything was set up perfect and our DJ was able to hook up sound so our music for the procession and recession and then for the short cocktail reception afterward was on point. The garden space really is something you can't miss. If you decide you are interested in hosting an event at one of the Zhou B spaces (weddings, fashion shows, party, charity event, etc) you will most likely work with Donna Bliss. She really is a fantastic person to work with - really organized and on top of things. She truly cares about your event and what you are looking to do and will always help you along the way. Donna really helped us feel comfortable and come to the conclusion that this was the right place for our wedding. In addition, her staff are also great and were responsive and helpful in our planning and on the wedding day. I also need to touch on one other thing. The pricing for renting one or two spaces is very reasonable. As with a lot of unique spaces in Chicago, just be aware that you will have to rent all of your equipment (tables, chairs, silverware, plates, etc). Zhou B does not own any of this stuff. They do have tables and chairs for the main space that they keep on site but you have to rent them from Tablescapes for about $4 a guest (another company we worked with that is pretty good). Having this experience at Zhou B allows us to have lasting memories and know that we have a place in the city to come back to for a variety of reasons. read more

I had signed a contract with Donna on 3/25/14 for use if the Zhou B Art Center's 2nd floor for a charity event in 2014. Due to changes in our organization I had to push the date to 2/27/15 and they were kind enough to let me do so. It was failure on my end to properly research the venue and costs associated with it, but not being a professional event planner, I did not know the questions to ask nor the exuberant costs I would be required to pay in order to host an event at this venue. I was incorrect in assuming that Donna was trustworthy and kind enough to share all of this info with me up front, knowing that this is a charity event and that I was volunteering 100% of my money and my time to put this event together. As I was preparing for our event in February I continued to be surprised with things that were not provided by Zhou B and that I was now required to pay for myself. Things like the audio equipment, coat racks, and use of the projectors (that were already set up). Had I known that I would be spending $1000 for audio equipment, $500 for coat racks, and over $500 for use of the projectors in addition to the food, service, linens, decorations, lighting, etc... I never would have signed the contract. With 100% of the proceeds from our event benefiting the American Heart Association, every penny counted. I made a phone call to Donna asking if she knew any companies that would provide us coat racks at a better price than $500 because I was very concerned about all the costs adding up for this event. Her response was "I can't call in a favor like that to my contacts." We did not come close to our fund raising goal for AHA and it was not at all a result of lack of effort. One of the reasons we did not hit our goal is the cost of this venue and the lack of their support. In addition, Kenmare Catering who partnered with the Zhou B Art Center in May 2014 to handle all of their events failed miserably to provide the services I paid for. See my review of Kenmare Catering. UPDATE - The co-owner of Kenmare Catering, Reid Tillinghast took the time to research the events that took place that evening with his team and refunded me for a portion of my cost for his catering and event services. read more

We have been attempting to contact the coordinator to set up an anniversary event. We went and viewed the place and never got any contact info to book an event. So we called and left a voicemail and sent an email. However, no one returns our call. When we finally called back, the coordinator claims to not receive either. I forwarded to her email personally while on the phone and although it went through from my end, the coordinator claims to not receive it. It is unusual that the person trying to host an event has to track down the event coordinators to even set a date. Very poor communication even before the real planning starts. read more

It is a great building, but I must have gone on the wrong day. On a Saturday, they are supposed to be open until 5 pm. At 3 pm, I went in and found all the lights dim and none of the resident galleries open. It was a long and wasted trip. I will try again during an opening, but I don't expect much. read more