Please join us on Friday, July 24th
- Showcase Opening & Book Signing -
The Exhibition
From July 24th to November 15th, 2026, Edgar Miller Legacy (EML), in partnership with Art on Sedgwick (AoS), is proud to present the Handmade Histories exhibition and learning experience. The exhibition celebrates and explores the content of the very first graphic novel about the life of the twentieth century artist-designer, Edgar Miller, published by EML in 2026. Original works by Hannah Dykstra, the novel’s artist and illustrator, will be on display, as well as works by other local Chicago artists, including Jean Birkenstein Washington, Larry Zgoda, Bob Horn, Sharon Bladholm, Claudia Cleveland, Larry Kolden, John Bakker, and Edgar Miller himself. Through three distinct rotating showcases, Handmade Histories explores how Old Town became a crossroads of a rapidly changing urban environment defined by its artistic nature, modernist aesthetic, traditional craft, and generational legacy.
In 1927, artist-designer Edgar Miller began transforming the architectural fabric of what would become Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood by the midcentury. Working with a cohort of talented, like-minded creatives, Miller turned everyday domestic and public spaces into handcrafted masterworks—carving wood, casting plaster, and constructing stained glass windows to embody the philosophy of Gesamtkunstwerk, or “a total work of art.” Through the 1930s, Miller created living spaces—today known as the Handmade Homes—that cultivated a burgeoning artist colony movement on the city’s Near North Side, which lasted for decades. Now, a century later, the new graphic novel A Total Work of Art: The Story of Edgar Miller brings this vibrant era to life over 160 pages of dazzling illustrations and thought-provoking text. This exhibition bridges the past with the present, charting a hundred years of neighborhood evolution, artistic progress, and the enduring power of the handmade tradition.
Showcase I: Community + Garden | July 24th - August 30th
Showcase II: Art + Activism | September 5th - October 8th
Showcase III: Memory + Legacy | October 15th - November 15th
Publications, original artwork, and Edgar Miller Legacy Shop merchandise will be on sale at the gallery during the exhibition run. See open gallery hours or sign up for a viewing below (coming soon).
Exhibition Opening Event Details
Friday, July 24th
5:30 - 8:00pm
Art on Sedgwick Gallery
1404 North Sedgwick Street
Chicago, IL
Light appetizers and beverages will be provided.
The gallery is located just two blocks south of the Sedgwick Brown Line stop.
Please note that there are various neighborhood parking restrictions in the area.
Register for the Exhibition Opening Below