Jackson Junge Gallery is proud to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their annual Ten by ten exhibition, marking a significant milestone for a show that has grown into a lasting tradition within Chicago’s arts community. Over the past five years, Ten by ten has provided an accessible platform for artists at every stage of their careers, creating opportunities for hundreds of creatives to share their work, connect with audiences, and become part of a collective artistic experience. Reaching this five-year milestone speaks to the importance of creating space for artists to be seen and for a city’s creative community to come together. This year’s exhibition will be the largest yet, featuring over 300 participating artists and approximately 400+ artworks filling the gallery walls. Bringing together artists from across Chicagoland and beyond, Ten by ten offers a unique snapshot of artistic ideas, perspectives, and experimentation shaping the creative landscape today. The exhibition opens with an artist reception at Jackson Junge Gallery on Friday, November 6, 2026, from 6 PM to 10 PM. Admission is free and open to the public.

Ten by ten is an open-submission exhibition in which each participating artist contributes a 10” x 10” work, creating a large-scale installation, spanning a range of styles, subjects, and mediums. By welcoming artists at every stage of their careers, including owner, Laura Lee Junge, the exhibition offers an accessible alternative to more selective exhibition models and allows a broad range of creative perspectives to share the same space. The result is an evolving, collective portrait of artistic practice from around the world.

Sara Britton’s painting All my love, explores the heart-hand gesture, a cultural symbol popularized by millennials and widely embraced as an expression of love, appreciation, and connection in contemporary visual culture. Through vibrant colors, layered patterns, and expressive textures, Britton reinterprets this recognizable generational symbol, examining how gestures shaped by social media and popular culture communicate identity and shared values.

Appropriation plays a significant role in the art world, allowing artists to reinterpret existing imagery, giving familiar cultural references new meaning and relevance in contemporary contexts. In Curtis Kimberlin’s Abolish ICE digital painting, the iconic film Hocus pocus is referenced and reimagined as a powerful political statement calling for the abolition of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). By transforming a recognizable pop culture reference into protest art, the artist uses humor and nostalgia to challenge immigration enforcement and spark conversations about social justice. In Kandus Johnson’s piece Hey diddle she draws inspiration from the classic nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle, bringing the whimsical image of a cow jumping over the moon to life through playful shapes, layered textures, and vibrant colors. By combining childhood nostalgia with a contemporary mixed-media approach, the artwork celebrates imagination, storytelling, and the timeless charm of familiar nursery rhymes.

Whether the art is portraying the city of Chicago, the arctic, animals in abandoned spaces, abstract images or imaginary worlds, this collection is as diverse as the artists that are exhibiting. Viewed together, the hundreds of individual works form a sweeping installation that reflects a year of creativity, experimentation, and artistic growth. With more participating artists and even more artwork filling the gallery walls for its fifth year, Ten by ten offers visitors an opportunity to experience a remarkable range of talent within the Chicago arts community in one place. More than an exhibition, it is a celebration of the artists who continue to push their practices forward, the community that supports them, and the shared creative spirit that has made Ten by ten a lasting tradition at Jackson Junge Gallery.

Ten by ten will be on display November 2nd, 2026, through January 10th, 2027, at Jackson Junge Gallery. Join us in celebrating the wide range of work that Chicago’s artists have to offer! Ten by ten is curated by Gallery Owner Chris Jackson, Gallery Director Kaitlyn Miller, Gallery Assistants Madeline Kirmse, Sadie Walden and Allison Freeman.