Superheroes, Japanese masterworks and giant sculptures on display this summer at Chicago, suburban museums

If there’s one event that’s sure to set spidey-senses tingling this summer, it’s “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing,” the immersive exhibition celebrating the comic superhero opening later this month at Chicago’s Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.

But that’s not museum-lovers’ only option. In the suburbs, The Cleve Carney Museum of Art at the College of DuPage scored another coup with “Hokusai & Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, Artworks From the Chiossone Collection,” consisting of Japanese masterworks never before seen in the United States.

In Lisle, the Morton Arboretum once again showcases larger-than-life nature-inspired artworks as part of its new exhibition, “Vivid Creatures: Colorful Sculptures as Tall as Trees.”

Listed here are a few more suburban and Chicago museum exhibitions opening and/or ongoing this summer.

Suburban museums

• “Crossings,” runs now through Aug. 31 at the Elmhurst Art Museum, 150 Cottage Hill Ave., Elmhurst. This solo exhibition showcases outdoor vehicle sculptures and several large paintings by Chicago-based artist Bernard Williams, whose works “offer new perspectives on the engineering innovations of the past and how they impact contemporary culture.” Additionally, the works pay tribute to Black achievement in transportation and agriculture throughout American history. (630) 834-0202 or elmhurstartmuseum.org.

• “Vivid Creatures: Colorful Sculptures as Tall as Trees” opened May 17 at the Morton Arboretum, 4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle. The exhibition showcases larger-than-life sculptures by artists Heather BeGaetz and Fez BeGaetz of animals essential to Illinois’ ecosystem: the white-tailed deer, dragonfly, sandhill crane, fox squirrel and brittle button snail. (630) 968-0074 or mortonarb.org.

• “Butterflies and Blooms” runs May 26 through Sept. 1 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake-Cook Road, Glencoe. Butterflies native to South America, Asia, Africa and North America — including Illinois — make up the 2,800-square-foot exhibit that traces the life cycle of butterflies and moths. (847) 835-6801 or chicagobotanic.org.

• “Hokusai & Ukiyo-e: The Floating World, Artworks From the Chiossone Collection” runs May 31 through Sept. 21 at the Cleve Carney Museum of Art at the College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn. Presented in cooperation with the Edoardo Chiossone Museum of Oriental Art of Genoa, Italy, the exhibition features works not previously seen in the U.S. by Japanese masters of Ukiyo-e art. Popular during the 17th and 18th centuries, it consists of woodblock prints and paintings depicting “pleasures of the floating world.” The collection includes masterworks by acclaimed artists Hokusai and Hiroshige along with interactive exhibits about Japanese Edo culture, an anime area and a Japanese garden. (630) 942-4000 or theccma.org.

• “Resilience: A Sensei Sense of Legacy,” an examination of the impact of FDR’s 1942 Executive Order interning Japanese Americans, continues through June 1 at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie. Also, closing June 1 is “Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet’s South Beach 1977-1980,” an exhibition celebrating the late 1970s photographer who captured images of Jewish life in South Beach, Florida. (847) 967-4800 or ilholocaustmuseum.org.

• “Acre By Acre: Our Farming Heritage” runs through Aug. 10 at the Elmhurst History Museum, 20 E. Park Ave., Elmhurst. An examination of DuPage County’s farming history, the exhibit traces the evolution from subsistence to commercial farming that makes up Illinois’ agricultural legacy. Free. (630) 833-1457 or elmhursthistory.org.

Chicago museums

• “Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom” runs now through Aug. 31 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago. This exhibition marks the fourth time the MCA has showcased Pfeiffer, who “recontextualizes global icons” including pop stars, actors and athletes to examine celebrity, spectacle and mass culture. The exhibit includes the artist’s early photo and video works and his recent experiments in sculpture and installation art. (312) 397-4010 or mcachicago.org.

• “Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature” runs now through Aug. 17 at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago. The museum celebrates the Scottish artist whose work is seminal to the development of contemporary botanical art with an exhibition including more than 100 works, including sculptures and manuscripts that reveal the artist's take on 20th-century modernism. driehausmusuem.org.

• “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing — The Exhibition” runs now through Feb. 8, 2026, at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, 5700 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive, Chicago. An immersive exhibition chronicling the history of Spider-Man beginning with his first comic book experience in 1962, it includes original artwork by the creators, rare comic books, a look at how the character leaped from the page to film, TV and video games. The exhibition includes film props and costumes, interactive installations and more. msichicago.org.

• “Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography in Dialogue With the MoCP Collection” runs May 30 through Aug. 16 at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago. Pulled from the MoCP permanent collection, the exhibition features 80 works by 29 artists, including Endia Beal, Dawoud Bey, Nona Faustine, LaToya Ruby Fraiser, Jim Goldberg and others. Alongside the photographs are quotes from the artist and the subjects whose observations offer a broader account of the moment depicted. (312) 663-5554 or mocp.org.

• “Puntadas del Alma, Told Through Quilts” runs through Oct. 12 at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St., Chicago. A showcase of elaborately embroidered and beaded works by female quiltmakers, the exhibition redefines those works as artistic creations that are “powerful expressions of memory, resilience and shared humanity.” nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.