Unfortunately, it seems as if the Podmajersky's have really priced out all of the working artists in Pilsen. About 10 years ago almost all of the buildings between 18th street and Cermak along Halsted were filled with high quality fine artists. From photographers to large scale installation artists. I personally knew the tenant who rented the building smack dab on the corner of Halsted and 18th and he had a wonderful working installation piece that was an arch with thousands of bottle caps riveted into the 20 foot sculpture....he was priced out of the space. Moved to LA where the rent is just as high but the exposure and acceptance of artists is much more viable. Chicago is a shitty place for most visual artists who have not yet made a name for themselves. Most midwesterners have more interest in the Cubs than the arts. Even if the Cubs continue to lose they still have people paying for tickets. Not so with art. The minute the economy got bad and the real estate market started sliding the artists who used to be part of this vibrant community were shafted by slumlord tactics of high rents and an 'imagined' River North Gallery atmosphere. When it was evident the 'district' was not going to bloom in the gentrified way they wanted, the owners just alienated the artists enough by raising the rents and leaving the buildings in dilapidated conditions so they would leave. AND, guess what? Surprise, they did. They mecca'd to NYC and LA. I wasn't surprised. The artistic environment in Chicago is quite small and limited and does very little to encourage artists to reach their creative peak and then, even if they do, most of the community is ready to tear them down for fear of never clawing their way to the figurative 'top'. It is no surprise that most of the reviews of the Chicago Arts District are negative. If you could have actually seen the district when it was a supportive, creative, vibrant microcosm of art you probably would have a different opinion. But, all we can do now is continue to support the people who have stuck it out in Pilsen, literally against all odds. There are some really great stores, Deliciously Vintage, Agga B....to name a couple. The Chicago Art department is an artists collective that has gallery space there and they produce some stunning works for working peoples' prices. Attend the 2nd Friday's event they host once a month. Stop in at the 'tourist center' on the south corner of 18th and Halsted and grab a brochure of galleries open during the event. You will be amazed and surprised that there is life beyond River North. The galleries are warm and friendly, not pretentious. Most of the owners and artists are present and love to talk about their work. The last 2nd friday's event was even sponsored by the Italian Expo...and they had the best risotto I have ever had. It is important to support this community instead of just schlepping down Halsted and complaining that you don't like the art. Now more than ever, Pilsen artists need to be supported in Chicago. Otherwise they will just move on to where they are appreciated and then you can have something else to bitch about. read more

If you are coming from out of town, don't get mislead by the name if this neighborhood, and think it's some thriving artists' community. It's not. Once a year, there is an open house of the artists-who-live-and-work-here galleries/workshops and lofts, which is fun and voyeuristic. The other 363 days of the year, it's a depressing ghost town. It sucks. Hardly a "community" in any sense of the word. No street life or activity. No storefront businesses. No public transit save a long wait for the Halsted bus. You can count on one hand the places remotely worth visiting: The Sylark, Kristoffer's Cafe and Bakery, Simone's., and of course the galleries on Halsted, when you can find one open. If you are looking for vibrant, stimulating, diverse, areas with street traffic, human activities, art, food, theater, cafes, live music and good pubs, head to Wicker Park or the Morse/Glenwood area of Rogers Park. I don't understand where this area of East Pilsen deserves the seemingly centralized and offciial moniker "Chicago Arts District." There may be some artists living and working there, but otherwise the title is quite the misnomer. read more

Agree with Jack P. Pilsen is a joke. I went to the Pilsen Art Walk a couple weeks ago, with high expectations. After all, this area has been gentrifying since about 1993, hasn't it? It should be really cool by now! Nope. Even less going on, and LOTS of empty storefronts. Too bad, 'cos there are some great buildings here . . . there's just nothing else. But they accept credit cards for bad art . . . hmmm. Pass. read more

Second Fridays might be my favorite free event in Chicago. There are some other free events that happen only once or so a year, but this is every month and so its a free friday every month. It's definitely better in the summer, but my favorite part about the art district is that there are regular performances here. Performance art can sometimes be difficult to find, especially to find for free. It's not something that sticks around for a long time, too, so to be able to go somewhere when I know I can see a little bit of crazy and confusing every month is awesome. In the summer, lots of people are out and there's usually more free booze than usual (you can find free booze most galleries, but there are suggested donations almost everywhere, too--they pour them STRONG though). There are a lot of galleries that I just kind of run through--you don't see something every time, but when you do, it's really cool, and the artist is usually somewhere close by and more than happy to answer questions. It's not too easy to hang out with the other patrons here (for some reason that spontaneous interaction never happens) but speaking with artists, or if you bring friends and you all see something you think is awesome or something you think is the weirdest thing you've ever seen, it can be a really great bonding experience. It's tough in the winter, but I've become friends with some of the artists there and there's an open conversation with people always willing to talk about their art. I like that--art at museums can feel unaccessible or stagnant, it's really alive here and I love being a part of it. read more

Tons of empty storefronts, and not the type of place to hang out. This area was supposed to be re-gentrified, and become a trendy cool place for people to hang out. Well, there are some cool art galleries that I would only visit if there was an art walk(maybe not though). But this is not a good place to hang out. I will definitely pass on any happenings going on in this area. read more

The Arts District 2nd Friday's has been on my radar for a while now and we finally were able to give it a try in December. Such a fun, different night out in Pilsen! All of the galleries have exhibits on display while many offer drinks and live music. I was really impressed by much of the local art and the people watching was pretty fun. Totally worth a try! read more

Very disappointed. I called today (6/25/2018) to get general info and the lady who answered was very rude. She said:I'm sorry I cant take your call but have a nice day". Very sad. I hope she was only having a really bad day and it's really the way they do business. read more

You'll notice most of these reviews are from 2010. Also, you should know that gentrification happens s...l...o...w...ly at first, then speeds up. FOR EXAMPLE: I lived in Wicker Park three years ago. It was fun, funky, cool, all that jazz. But that has really ratcheted up in the last three years. But realize that the whole process of gentrification started about ten years earlier for Wicker Park. That place used to be sca. ry. Like, one of the worst neighborhoods in the whole US scary. Pilsen is Wicker Park's little sister. I've been in Chicago long enough to know... I would never have lived in Pilsen five years ago. I barely gave it a second glance three years ago. I live there now. It's funky. It's groovy. It's got this cool Hispanic vibe, but it's not going to be Wicker Park for a while (and if you ask me, that's a good thing. Because we already have one Wicker Park...what we need is a cool, younger, Hispanic sister neighborhood too). Oh, and all this about no where to hang out, eat, and nothing to do? Bogus. read more