With the theme Chicago Artists Month 2.0, this year’s annual celebration of the city’s vibrant visual arts scene will align with the concepts of interactivity and connectivity associated with Web 2.0 and highlight the many ways artists interact with their audiences, interface with other artists, and use technology in order to create and distribute their work locally, globally and virtually. Featured artists range widely in age, background, neighborhood, media and level of recognition.

Exhibitions of works by emerging and established artists, openings, demonstrations, tours, open studios and neighborhood art walks at museums, galleries, parks, neighborhood art centers, artists’ studios and other locations will bring the theme to life. Visit Chicago Artists Month for the complete schedule of events and to learn about participating artists.

Discover the entire manufacturing process of creating a toy at Toymaker 3000: An Adventure in Automation. With eight interactive stations, 12 moving robots, and a 2000-square foot automated assembly line, this exhibit demonstrates how to make 300 toys per hour using Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) to streamline production from gathering the parts to assembling and even packaging the toys. Kids can watch their own gravitron toy top be constructed – complete with personalized name and custom color – and program robots to perform certain tasks or even dance.

Fast Forward..Inventing the Future – an “immersive multimedia exploration of how our future lives are being shaped today” – shows how some visionaries are working toward tomorrow. At this exhibit, you can learn about cuisine made by ink-jet printers, instant-messaged hugs you can feel, high-rise farming, and other amazing ideas from these inventors and test-drive some of their innovations yourself.