Day of the Dead Pop Up

November 2nd, 1-5pm

Please join us for a very special pop up with Ruthless Fabrication; Creator Kristi Lewis makes hand fabricated adornments inspired by nature, alchemy and medieval weaponry incorporating crystal, stones and found bones.  

Honor your loved ones who have passed on with altar offerings and home decor created by Karina of Gypsy Alley including marigold bouquets and Catrina Cloches

Kat Rubio will be offering fortune telling using Loteria Cards & Crystal Ball to convein with your ancestors.

This event is upstairs in our parlor, so be sure to check out the Matthew Ryan Sharp art show and Halloween installation as well. 

Step into a world of enchantment and style with Michael Herkes, The Glam Witch, for a spellbinding evening of glamour and magic. Join us for the exclusive launch of Glamstrology, the ultimate guide to discovering your signature style by blending the mystical arts of astrology and glamour magic. Michael will take you on a journey through the stars, sharing insights from Glamstrology that will help you unlock the cosmic secrets of your personal style. Bewitchments include book reading and signing, magical styling demonstrations, Q&A session, and…glamour galore! Whether you’re a seasoned witch or a style-savvy seeker, this event is your chance to experience the magic of Glamstrology firsthand where the worlds of fashion, magic, and astrology collide in the most glamorous way possible!

• 1:30pm = Book Talk & Signing

• Walk up tarot readings afterwards

Mark your calenders! Saturday, October 5th from 6-10pm, Sideshow Gallery will be kicking off the Halloween season with an exciting solo exhibition of Matthew Ryan Sharp!

The gallery will be transformed into an eerie autumn landscape that features Matthew’s iconic upcycled jack-o-lanterns made from antique gas tanks. The gallery’s walls will be adorned with his uniquely textured paintings of witches and other Halloween themes.

Sideshow Gallery will be participating at the Dreams in the Witch House event at Illuminated Brew Works on the Autumn Equinox (September 21st) from 2-6pm. We will have an array of ritual items amongst other autumn themed goodies for purchase. We will be one of 12 vendors, including the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft & Magick. This will be an experience you don’t want to miss out on! This enchanting event will be located at the Illuminated Brew Works brewery on 6186 N Northwest Hwy in Chicago.

Please join us in celebrating the 20 year Anniversary of Revolution Tattoo our family next door. Our co owner Cheri also co owns Revolution with her husband Omar and Sideshow wouldn't be here without them,  Cheri & Anne curated many art shows and events in the Revolution space since it was created.  We have so much to be proud of with these 2 amazing shops and being a part of this neighborhood and art community for the past 20 years.

August 24th, 2024 at 4-8pm

RevTat/Sideshow 2219-2221 N. Western Ave

Festivities include:

• Reunion Art Show in the Sideshow Gallery Parlour with 13 artists 4-8pm

• 20 year retrospective and archive installation

• Souvenir Tattoos at Revolution Tattoo 12-7pm

• Anniversary party in the Sideshow courtyard with Vinyl Dj's, food and beverages sponsored by Revolution Brewing and Malort. 4-8pm

• There will be commemorative prints and T shirts available

• We can't celebrate 20 years without some METAL so there is an after party at Logan Arcade 2410 W. Fullerton with 3 bands Siesta, Sabila and Druuna 

• Food Truck Gilty Pig will be out front serving bar snacks 8-Midnight

Rock Out and Join us!

SOLD OUT

Sideshow Gallery Presents: In Conversation with Juju Bae.

Join us for a book talk, Q&A and book signing in celebration of "The Book of Juju", Juju Bae's first book!

In her debut book, podcaster, priestess, and all-around badass witch Juju Bae teaches you how to connect with your ancestors, as well as how to create a spiritual practice that respectfully incorporates their wisdom while remaining uniquely yours. It’s also the story of the necessity and vitality of Black spirituality, from the Yoruba pantheon of Ifa to the freedom-fighting origins of Black American Hoodoo. You will learn:

• History: An overview of Africana Spirituality in the United States and beyond, including information on ATRs (African Traditional Religions) like Ifa and ADRs (African Diasporan/Derived Religions) such as Hoodoo.

• Altar-building: How to create and incorporate a place to venerate and commune with your ancestors, including a guide to offerings and prayers.

• Ritual: Practices you can use to cleanse yourself and your space and attract prosperity and protection, while safely opening the channels of communication with your ancestral spirits.

• Dos and Don’ts: Tips from a spiritual practitioner on how to speak to spirits, craft the right questions for personal divination, and recognize and interpret Spirit’s advice and wisdom.

By reading this book, you are taking steps to uncover your spiritual self and gain the tools to access the wisdom of your past, to better navigate your present and future.

Juju Bae, also known as Osunfunmilola, is an Osun Priest and prominent figure renowned for her roles as a media personality, ancestral healer, and author. Through her acclaimed iHeartRadio nominated, Best Spirituality Podcast “A Little Juju Podcast,” she serves as an educator and interviewer, exploring Black history and spirituality alongside expert guests. Her work creates an invaluable archive of Black thought and empowers millions to reconnect with their ancestral traditions. Beyond her podcast, Juju Bae is a captivating speaker, frequently participating in panels and hosting live events nationwide. She contributed significantly to cultural discourse through collaborations like the “I Support Black Women” campaign in 2021 with Virgil Abloh/Off-White. She currently stars in the GLAAD Award-nominated Hulu’s docuseries “Living for the Dead,” as the resident healer solidifying her reputation as a luminary bridging history, spirituality, and oration. In Summer 2024, Juju Bae will release her first book, “The Book of Juju,” which focuses on ancestral veneration as a tool for healing and liberation. Juju Bae holds a BA in Psychology from Spelman College.

Conversation moderated by Jetzi Calvin

For June’s edition of Bell Book & Candle we will be discussing Jennifer Higgie’s THE OTHER SIDE: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World. In The Other Side, Higgie explores the lives and work of a group of extraordinary women who are infatuated with the spirit realms, from the twelfth-century mystic and artist Hildegard of Bingen to nineteenth-century English spiritualist Georgianna Houghton and so many other amazing women in between.

Join us in circle on Thursday June 27th from 7-8:30 to discuss life and our take on the book! All bodies are welcome. Copies of the book are for sale in the shop.

Join us for the closing art reception of the solo show Actuación Femenina by artist Isamar Medina aka Kawaii Suga on Saturday, April 13th from 7-9pm! Tarot and oracle readings will be available by Osythia.

Isamar is a Chicago based creator who brings their complications around femininity to ‘drawing sad girls in a sexy limbo’.

“Actuación Femenina” is Spanish for feminine performance. Something I've lived with all my life.
I've struggled internally for a long time with femininity. With feeling like a woman. It's always funny because people love my art for that reason, but I myself never felt "worthy" of being a woman. I always identified with evil, flamboyant cartoon/anime characters. The ones that brought out the drama. I felt strange wearing jewelry. Wearing nice clothes. Doing acts of self care like getting my nails done. It felt wrong. I know femininity is more than that; but I couldn't even find myself fitting in that space mentally. I didn't have a gender identity issue, but I didn't feel like I deserved to be "beautiful" as a woman should be. I didn't feel like I deserved the privilege of being a woman. However, I still knew how to perform. I knew what to say. How to apply make up. How to walk in public. I knew the amount of sweet to add to myself; & how to react in a way that was "acceptable" of a lady. Now that I've grown, I don't feel the need to perform. I just am. I'm allowing myself to be soft. To indulge in what brings me joy. To put myself first, and it feels so good.

We are so excited to announce our February art show will feature the art of Isamar Medina aka Kawaii Suga titled Actuación Femenina. 💕 Isamar is a Chicago based creator who brings their complications around femininity to ‘drawing sad girls in a sexy limbo’.
Opening reception is February 17th, 2024 from 7-10pm.
💕 Snacks and refreshments
💕 Tarot & Oracle readings by Osythia

Isamar Medina is a Mexican-American South Side native. Her art explores the hypocritical social taboos women face, subverting ideas of femininity and control.
Growing up she was inspired by underground comics and manga, a staple in her style.
She specializes in painting and drawing, with a passion for telling visual stories through her work. Her art has been exhibited in several galleries across Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Colorado.

Beyond exhibitions, she has also painted murals and collaborated with local brands. She hopes to expand her artistic reach to new mediums in the future, as well as helping new artists find their voice.

Her art is held in private collections all around the world. “I believe whatever the viewer gets from my artwork, is a reflection of themselves”

About the show: " "Actuación Femenina" is Spanish for feminine performance. Something I've lived with all my life. I've struggled internally for a long time with femininity. With feeling like a woman. It's always funny because people love my art for that reason, but I myself never felt "worthy" of being a woman. I always identified with evil, flamboyant cartoon/anime characters. The ones that brought out the drama. I felt strange wearing jewelry. Wearing nice clothes. Doing acts of self care like getting my nails done. It felt wrong. I didn't have a gender identity issue, but I didn't feel like I deserved to be "beautiful" as a woman should be. However, I still knew how to perform. I knew what to say. How to apply make up. How to walk in public. I knew the amount of sweet to add to myself; & how to react in a way that was "acceptable" of a lady. Now that I've grown, I don't feel the need to perform.
I just am.
I'm allowing myself to be soft. To indulge in what brings me joy. To put myself first, and it feels so good. "

Please join us on Saturday, January 13th, 7 to 10 for an Astrology themed group art show with over 30 artists. Let's ring in the New Year by celebrating the signs of the Zodiac, Planets, Moons and our favorite Celestial bodies!

There will be tarot readings by Osythia Oracle.

Sponsored by Revolution Brewing 

East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer, and servant, has lived peacefully for more than four decades in her beloved seaside village of Cleftwater. Having lost her voice as a child, Martha has not spoken a word in years.

One autumn morning, a sinister newcomer appears in town. The witchfinder, Silas Makepeace, has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and now has Cleftwater in his sights. His arrival strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being captured and detained, and Martha finds herself a silent witness to the hunt.

Powerless to protest, Martha is enlisted to search the accused women for “devil’s marks.” She is caught between suspicion and betrayal; between shielding herself or condemning the women of the village. In desperation, she revives a wax witching doll that belonged to her mother, in the hope that it will bring protection. But the doll’s true powers are unknowable, Martha harbors a terrible secret, and the gallows are looming…

Set over the course of just a few weeks that will forever change history, The Witching Tide delivers powerful and psychologically astute insights about the exigencies of friendship and the nature of loyalty, and heralds the arrival of a striking new voice in fiction.

Join us for our 10 year anniversary extravanganza on October 28th from 6-10pm! This is an event you do not want to miss! Festivities include: 

• A Circus Sideshow Performance by "Welcome To Fun" 7-8pm

• Sword Swallowing, Magic Tricks and Illusions! 

• Magic Shows every 30 minutes in our upstairs parlour.  Tickets $10, first come first serve. 

Join us throughout the evening in our magical garden starting at 6pm. Come spin The Wheel Of Destiny, enter the fortune telling tent for Tarot & Crystal Ball Readings with Kat Rubio, partake in some refreshment and of course rock out!  Special appearance by food truck: The Guilty Pig. Please come in costume! You know we are really going to bring it this year!  We can't believe it has been 10 years…We look forward to celebrating with you! 

Sideshow Gallery is so proud and grateful to be celebrating 10 years in business.  Our shop and community has evolved in such a beautiful organic way while we stayed true to its roots and intention.  It has been an honor to bring people together through art and magic.  We believe that staying connected is extremely important and we hope we have provided a space for you to gather, learn, get inspired or meet someone new anytime you enter these doors.  Our shop is a place where people can be vulnerable without being judged.  It will always be our pleasure to shine a light on the magic you have within you.  Thank you for 10 amazing years! Magic is real!

Love Cheri & Anne

Join us in the Sideshow Courtyard for a Halloween Market on October 14th from 1-6pm!

Check out our vendors!

• Witchhaus Alchemy: Candles

• MoonSpells:  Art & Jewelry

• Purrfect Pineapples: Lingerie & Vintage

• Truly Ghouly: Leather Masks

• Herban Offerings: Plants & Flower Crowns

• Third Coast Tarot

• Jackalope Coffee

• Michaels Mugs Ceramics

• Alexandra Winthrop: Art

Shake off the bad luck with Sideshow Gallery this October, Friday the 13th from 12 to 7pm!

Sideshow will have all of your good luck spell needs at our special Spell Bar. We will be on hand to personally help you create your own spell with our unique array of ingredients and ritual advice. 

Sweet Moon Macaron will be in store serving up their special, lucky sweet treats!  

Tarot Card Readings with Huge Witch 12 to 7pm. 

This is all in conjunction with a special Friday the 13th flash event at Revolution Tattoo. What could be luckier than that!?

Join us October 11th from 7-8pm to discuss Something Wiccan This Way Comes by Michalea Moore. This event is free to attend, books will be for sale and she will sign them!
A Tarot-reading witch and a high-tech billionaire combine their talents to solve crimes, clear their names, and find true love. Something Wiccan This Way Comes from Eloquent Peasant Books combines romance and magick with a witchy flavor and a hint of Tarot wrapped in a mystery. Think J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas meets Practical Magic.

Something Wiccan is the first book in an eight-book series, The Wheel of the Year Mysteries. Many witches celebrate the eight Sabbats, known as the Wheel of the Year. Each book is centered around a Sabbat.

Something Wiccan takes place in the near future in a world riddled by pandemics. Maren Lilienthal, a rebellious heiress and witch, is cheated out of her fortune and forced to return to her wealthy family and hometown. A town where old secrets, ghosts, lovers, and enemies never die. Maren believes the safest place for her might be the broom closet. Cyrus Harper, a sexy billionaire who made his fortune with virus-scanning technology, charms her into coming out. Not everyone falls under the spell of the town’s newest couple or wishes them well. When Cyrus and Maren are framed for a ritual murder on Imbolc, the Wheel of Fortune Tarot reading holds the answer to what happened. Will white magick, Tarot, and technology save them or make things worse? Something Wiccan is definitely not your grandmother’s cauldron.

Something Wiccan was inspired by a managers’ meeting from hell. Our division VP called someone’s presentation “a mishmash of voodoo ideas” and the presenter “a crazy witch.” Despite a salvo of gasps and disapproving snorts, he persisted, calling her ideas a miscarriage; the woman had returned from leave following a stillbirth.

A coworker whispered, “I wish she was a witch; she could stick some voodoo pins into him and finish him off.” I replied, “Then we’d have the Salem witch trials in our very own conference room.” She said, “You should write a novel about that.” Thus, the seed was planted. It germinated a decade later and flowered into an idea for a series of novels with a modern witch as the protagonist.

While Something Wiccan germinated, I wrote two “training wheels” novels about Ancient Egypt, which may still see the light of day. But, writing a series is a different beast than writing a stand-alone novel. Confession time: I am not a plotter. Even during my career as a technical writer, I eschewed outlines. I have a sneaky feeling that if I outlined, I’d never write the novel, having gotten the idea out of my system. Nor am I a full-fledged pantser because I know where every novel will end. For me, the joy is in the journey.

Still, a series requires a bit more discipline. I created a character Bible with a cast of characters, their homes, their clothes, their life events, the music they listen to, and so forth. In a series, I also realized that you must plant clues in one book that might not come to fruition until several books later. I have eight journals (one for each novel). I record ideas and scenes for future books, paste photos that inspire me, create Tarot readings, and add articles that are part of my research.

My motto is “Aim low, achieve high.” I try to write every day. I’m mostly successful; I don’t beat myself up if I miss a day. I don’t aim for a specific word count. Some days it’s a paragraph, and sometimes an entire scene. My Egyptian novels took 10 and 2 years to write, respectively. Something Wiccan took a year; the second book, Season of the Witch coming out in May, took 9 months. My critique group jokes that I should get Book 8 out in a week. I begin each writing session by listening to what I wrote the previous day to get back into the flow; I use Word’s ReviewRead Aloud feature.

I’ve always been a reader and a writer. There’s a well-concealed photo of me on the potty chair “reading” a picture book. I taped stories written in crayon to the bricks of my grandmother’s front porch. In 3 rd grade, I published my first novel using an old typewriter.

Back in the days when carbon paper was the only way to make copies, I produced three copies of a story about my grandfather teaching my cat, duck, and chicken to eat together. I received 25 cents from my grandmother, mother, and a neighbor. Magic, right?

As a child, I was the Queen of our Public Library, which looked like a castle; the children’s reading room was a tower. My favorite books were The Girls’ Book of Famous Queens and Cleopatra of Egypt. I checked out those books so often the librarian said I was depriving the other children and limited my check-out privileges.

You don’t get interested in Egypt without stumbling into its magical system. Egyptian magic led me to the world’s first and arguably greatest witch/magician, the goddess Isis. Once you find Isis, you’re on the doorstep of a great love story. Isis is the protagonist in my first Egyptian novel, Queen of Heka. I washooked on powerful, magical women who love powerfully. . . when they find a worthy man. I wanted to

write about them. Magic is the icing on the cake.

Find out more about me and my books at https://www.michalea.com/. Something Wiccan and the next

book, Season of the Witch, are available at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXMY157X.

Join us Thursday, October 5th from 7-8:30pm to discuss Pam Grossman’s Waking the Witch. Our Bell, Book, & Candle community book club is free to attend!

When you think of a witch, what do you picture? Pointy black hat, maybe a broomstick. But witches in various guises have been with us for millennia. In Waking the Witch, Pam Grossman explores the cultural and historical impact of the world’s most magical icon. From the idea of the femme fatale in league with the devil in early modern Europe and Salem, to the bewitching pop culture archetypes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Harry Potter; from the spooky ladies in fairy tales and horror films to the rise of feminist covens and contemporary witchcraft, witches reflect the power and potential of women.

In this fascinating read that is part cultural analysis, part memoir, Pam opens up about her own journey on the path to witchcraft, and how her personal embrace of the witch helped her find strength, self-empowerment, and a deeper purpose.

A comprehensive meditation on one of the most mysterious and captivating figures of all time, Waking the Witch celebrates witches past, present, and future, and reveals the critical role they have played—and will continue to play—in shaping the world as we know it.

Join us for our opening reception of Sophia Rapata’s solo show at Sideshow Gallery on September 29th, 6-10pm!

Sophia Rapata has been working as a full-time artist since 2014. She graduated from the American Academy of Art in Chicago in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Illustration & now resides in Northwest Indiana.

She paints using watercolor, ink, coffee, wine or even beer if she’s doodling at a local open mic.

Most of her characters magically dance along the edge of melancholy & whimsical.
Cats, witches, suns, moons, nature & all things Halloweeny are her specialty.
She’s traveled to Salem, MA, Los Angeles & New York for art events & sells her original paintings & prints worldwide online.
At first glance her art may seem a bit dark, but she believes it’s merely a reflection of the struggles we all go through in life. It’s a form of therapy for her & those who relate aging human exterior with the heart of a child. There’s always hope in the eyes, their watery vulnerable eyes.

This show will feature Sophia’s newer works inspired by moon & candlelit meditations.

Many were created out in the woods with river water, twigs & watercolor.

Waiting in the Woods is a diary of emotions & the comfort one finds in Mother Nature.

In celebration of the Autumn Equinox, Sideshow Gallery will be hosting a Harvest Witch Farmer’s Market on September 23rd from 1-6pm.

Our vendors include:
- Vargo Brothers Ferments
- Gypsy Alley
- Abbey Davis Ceramics
- Plant Mami
- Covet and Devour
- Crybaby Sweets
- Jim Franks Bread
- Que Mala Bruja
- Third Coast Tarot

At 6pm, Lunar Ash will be providing an acoustic set! Free to attend, open to all!

The Gothique Market…for goth ghouls and goblins! This event is open to the public Saturday, September 2nd from 5-9pm

Our market will feature 10 fantastic vendors & the goth queen herself, Scary Lady Sarah playing all of the darkest dance tunes. Come decked out in your finest goth attire to be entered in the best dressed contest! 

Join us for our next Bell Book & Candle book club on Thurs August 3rd. We will be discussing Monica Furlong’s WISE CHILD, a book that comes highly recommended by Pam Grossman.
Registration is not required. If you have some old witchy books you are not reading, bring them along for our community book exchange!

The coven’s back together to help adorn your body and get in tune with yourself. Get bedazzling tooth gems by Skin and Stones, unique high quality permanent bonded jewelry by White Wolf Syndicate, and have a refreshing look at a situation through tarot readings with The Demon Cleaner! The event is 1-6pm on July 27th.

Please join us for The Green Witch Market July 8th from 1 to 6pm in the Sideshow Gallery Garden We have all of your needs! A magical Farmer’s Market like no other! It is a literal feast for your mind, body and soul! 

Celebrate this beautiful summer with this glorious line-up of local growers and makers: 

• Produce and eggs- Chili Trout Farm

• Pickled Veggies- Vargo Brothers Ferments

• Wild Witch Preserves

• Tea- The Feral Herbalist 

• Cry Baby Sweets

• Plants-Herban Offerings

• Candles by Solis Illuminatum

• Handmade Brooms by Kita

• Gypsy Alley’s floral creations

• Plants N Stones

• Magickal balms and oils by Black Magick Shoppe

Tarot Readings by Third Coast! Sample some Chinola liqueur snow cones while you shop. Nothing could be better than that! 

We’re cleaning out our basement of horrors and our coven is bringing a variety of their castoffs. From antiques, to totally bizarre junk, to clothes…we’ve got something for you! The rummage sale will be located in our yard — follow the signs! The shop will be open 12-7pm.

*Weather permitting