Items on sale at the Buddy store inside the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

Museum shops and galleries have a great deal of goods you won’t find elsewhere. The Buddy store in the Chicago Cultural Center is top of the heap for art-loving localvores.

Veteran Art Movement is partnering with UIC and three art institutions to highlight work created by artists impacted by war. (WTTW News)

Veteran Art Movement is partnering with UIC and three art institutions to highlight work created by artists impacted by war. Veterans from across the country are gathering to experience that art and share stories from their time in the service.

Mark Kelly served as commissioner of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special events for more than five years. Now that he’s no longer in office, “I get to be another citizen enjoying the glories of our city that have been put together by so many people,” he said.

Frank King created the masterpiece “Gasoline Alley,” which captured the ineffable passage of life in an impermanent medium, its characters aging at the same rate as its readers, many of them based on King’s own family. His best work focused on the quiet, tender and poignant moments of life, especially those between parents and children. (Courtesy Chicago Cultural Center)

We check out a new show at the Chicago Cultural Center that makes the case that the comic strip was born and raised in Chicago. Our tour guides? Artist Chris Ware and cultural historian Tim Samuelson.

(Courtesy Harboe Architects)

The historic Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall is currently undergoing a vigorous restoration. We toured the site and caught up with the city’s cultural historian to learn more.

A team at work on restoring historic rooms in the Chicago Cultural Center to their original glory. (Courtesy of Harboe Architects)

The big reveal is still nearly a year away, but the city has shared teaser images of the work in progress on the Tiffany glass dome and decorative finishes in the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall.

(Courtesy of the Chicago History Museum)

A piece of Civil War history is being restored in one of Chicago’s most well-known public buildings. But what was it doing there in the first place? Geoffrey Baer has the answer.

Wall clock designed by George Stephens and made by the Hammond Clock Company, Chicago, 1938. (Chicago History Museum)

A look at Chicago’s historical influence on an enduring design style. Plus, overlooked graphic art made by African-American designers.

Nearly 30 years ago, artist Keith Haring enlisted the help of 500 Chicago students to paint a 488-foot long mural. Chicago Tonight caught up with a trio of those teens who grew up to be artists themselves. 

A new mural at the Chicago Cultural Center honors 20 women, past and present, who contributed to the cultural life of the city. “Chicago Tonight” was on site throughout the creation of the work, the largest to date by Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall.

Malcolm X College door painting by Eugene Eda Wade. (Photo by Lee Bey)

Two new shows at the Chicago Cultural Center open doors to a local arts movement from 50 years ago.

Works by George C. Clark: “Self Portrait,” left, and “Vilja.” (Courtesy of George C. Clark)

We meet George C. Clark, a one-time commercial artist in his studio – and at the Cultural Center – for a peek at portraiture, real and imaginary.

The 2015 documentary “Peace Officer,” from Scott Christopherson and Brad Barber, airs on the PBS series Independent Lens on May 9, with a free screening on Saturday at the Chicago Cultural Center. We speak with Christopherson about the impact his film has had to date.

Work by Josue Pellot featured in the "Present Standard" exhibition.

A major citywide exhibition of local Latino artists coincides with a biennial conference of international art scholars held for the first time in Chicago.

A new exhibition featuring dizzyingly complex kinetic creations opens Saturday at the Chicago Cultural Center. Meet Theo Jansen, the Dutch engineer-slash-artist whose been behind these "beach animals" since the early 1990s.

We visit the Chicago Cultural Center and the MCA to discover the steel sculptures of Chicago's internationally acclaimed sculptor Richard Hunt.