You are cordially invited to the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art’s Members Appreciation Party on December 6, 2025!
Join us for a warm and joyful evening filled with conversation, laughter, and inspiration — a wonderful opportunity to meet new people, reconnect with old friends, and celebrate the vibrant community that makes UIMAso special. This evening, we want to celebrate you and express our heartfelt gratitude for your continued support.

Free admission, RSVP in advance

Porcelain War

Under the thunder of fighter jets, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey refuse to flee. In the face of devastation, they transform shattered landscapes into art — proving that while fear is easy to create, the human spirit is not so easily broken.
A breathtaking story of courage, creativity, and love for Ukraine.

UIMA is one of the  co-presenting partners along with Razom, Polsky Foundation, Chicago Grand Gallery, and Kartemquin Films, for this film event  which will be screened on Monday, December 8, 7pm at the Chopin Theatre (1523 W. Division St) for the POV film Porcelain War.

Tickets and RSVP page link for the Porcelain War here.

Scenes of the Neighborhood
An Art Walk Through Ukrainian Village
Tuesday, December 9, 12:20-1:30 

Visitors will participate in a curator-led art walk in the unique and historic Chicago neighborhood of Ukrainian Village. Taking inspiration from the sights around them, participants are invited to photograph, draw, or write about their surroundings. Note, participants will need their own camera, phone, sketchbook, etc. Based on their experiences in the exhibition, viewers are encouraged to think about the mundane and banal, what catches their attention that they might have overlooked before. Subjects can range from buildings, to infrastructure, to plants, and anything else seen on the street. At the end of the walk, participants will be invited to speak about their experience and share their photographs or drawings with other participants and the curators. What did they notice? What caught their attention? How did they bring the unseen to light? After the discussion, visitors are invited to re-explore the exhibition with fresh eyes.

Agenda:
Exhibition viewing: 12:15 - 12:30 pm
Explanation of the program: 12:30 - 1:00 pm
Curator-led art walk around the neighborhood: 1:00 pm - 1:20 pm
Discussion and collection of works created on the walk, End 1:30
UIMA Art Walk Sign-up

Goal/Outcome:
After discussion and reception of the works created on the neighborhood walk, the curators of the exhibition will compile the photographs, writings, and drawings into a mini exhibition to be shared online or social media.

Sights, Seen, and Never Seen explores the imagery found in the urban environment and the representation of urban life that are often ignored or hidden. Among the rush hours and countless telephone poles, we aim to magnify the mundane, to look at the bigger picture, not for what it is, but for what makes it. Bringing to the forefront things forgotten, we pull together the edges of the urban landscape into curious treasures that deserve a closer look beyond the periphery. Motivated by the endurance of Ukrainian artists during times of upheaval, these artists have remained deeply rooted in the material and the everyday, transforming the debris of history into objects of memory and resilience—reminding us that even in moments of erasure, creation persists. Artists featured within this exhibition come from a variety of disciplines and cultures, but a commonality can be found in any community's reliance on the simplicity of daily life. Sights, Scenes, and Never Seen pushes the mundane forward, taking another look at sites often passed by.

Curated by Students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Curatorial Practicum Class.

The course is led by UIMA’s Curator, Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Art History, Theory & Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

After Line, Before Form Exhibition Tour at UIMA
Tuesday, December 9, 1:40 - 2:40 pm 

After Line, Before Form explores the moment when a point becomes a line, and a line transforms into a shape, tracing the liminal spaces between them and the threshold where line gives rise to form—where movement and perception bring form into being. Featuring works by artists from Ukraine, the Ukrainian diaspora, and other international contexts, the exhibition considers geometry as both a physical structure and an imaginative order. Across painting, print, and sculpture, the exhibition reflects on how line and form engage one another to create depth, rhythm and meaning—revealing abstraction as an intuitive dialogue between imagination and reality. Each artist interprets line and form in distinct ways, inviting viewers to encounter the varied possibilities of the liminal space and the shifting boundaries that separate—and connect—line and shape.

After Line, Before Form is curated by Students from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Curatorial Practicum Class.

The course is led by UIMA’s Curator, Adrienne Kochman, PhD, Lecturer in the Department of Art History, Theory & Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Join us at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for a special Caricature Workshop with Ellen Lustig on January 10th. Supplies are provided, but feel free to bring your favorite sketch tools!

More details to come…

Ellen Lustig began drawing caricatures professionally at age 16. She draws both traditional and live digital caricatures as an entertainer at events and trade shows nationwide. Engaging, personable, and witty, she is quick to strike up a rapport with her subjects and puts them at ease. The results allow for a fun-filled, often hilarious experience for all.

Lustig studied art formally at several art schools and universities across the country and has exhibited her paintings and sculptures in top national galleries and group museum shows. Her solo exhibition, Ellen Lustig: Transformations, is on exhibit at UIMA.

Ellen Lustig: Transformations
Artist Talk

Join us at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for an Artist Talk by exhibiting artist Ellen Lustig

The exhibition showcases Lustig's multifaceted creative force spanning from childhood to the present day. The showcase includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and more. Highlights include her Surreal Tree Paintings, oil works revealing anthropomorphic qualities in nature; Abstract Illusion Paintings, spontaneous landscapes evoking music and motion; and Zofscape, a multimedia installation combining LED light sculptures, animated video, and original music composition.

Jam Session with Ellen Lustig

In addition to being a multi-talented visual artist, Ellen Lustig is a Blues Keyboard Player. Join us at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for a special afternoon of music. Musicians are invited to take part in the Jam Session.

More details to come…