Nordstrom Pop-Up: Michigan Avenue

February 21–22 | 12–6 PM
55 E. Grand Ave, Chicago

There’s something electric about showing work on Michigan Avenue. On February 21–22, I’ll be hosting a special pop-up at Nordstrom on Michigan Ave — bringing new originals, fresh prints, stickers, and a few surprises into one of Chicago’s most iconic retail spaces.

I’ll be there both days from 12–6 PM, which means you can meet me, ask questions, see the texture up close, and feel the scale of the work in person. The brushwork. The layering. The movement that doesn’t fully translate on a screen.

Featured in this pop-up is my newest work, No Regrets — a piece rooted in motion and release. Deep blues. Midnight tones. A visual reminder that forward is the only direction.

I’m bringing:

• Brand new original paintings

• Limited edition prints

• Stickers and smaller collectible pieces

• A few unexpected drops

If you’ve been waiting for a moment to collect, this is a good one. Quantities will be limited. Come by. Stay a while. Bring a friend.

Let’s make this weekend feel like momentum.

With love,
Martha A. Wade

Gallery Café, Wicker Park: Art Meant to Be Lived With

There’s something I love about art living where life actually happens.

Right now, my work is on view at Gallery Cafe in Wicker Park—a space where conversations unfold, coffee cools slowly, and time stretches just enough to really see.

This installation brings together a selection of mixed-media works on wood—pieces layered with paint, collage, movement, and memory. Birchwood frames the stories. Blues and golds ripple across surfaces. Faces emerge, dissolve, return. The work holds both intimacy and motion, meant to be encountered again and again, not rushed.

I’m drawn to cafés as exhibition spaces because they invite a different kind of viewing. You might notice a detail while waiting for your drink. Catch a familiar feeling out of the corner of your eye. Sit with a piece long enough for it to start talking back. The art becomes part of your day—quiet, present, generous.

This show is about proximity.
Art at eye level.
Art near your hands.
Art sharing space with real life.

If you’re in Wicker Park, I hope you stop by. Sit. Sip. Look up. Let the work meet you where you are.

The exhibition will remain on view through March 2026, so there’s plenty of time to return—because the best relationships with art are built slowly.

—
Martha A. Wade

Jayden Graduated from LSU!

This is the biggest proud-mama moment of all: My daughter Jayden has officially graduated from LSU. 🎓 Watching her step into his next chapter reminds me that everything we build—family, art, community, love—ripples forward. I couldn’t be prouder of the woman she’s becoming.

The family in our custom made Jayden t-shirts!

In December, I watched my daughter Jayden cross a threshold that felt both monumental and tender.

She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology—a field rooted in movement, strength, healing, and understanding the body as both system and story.

Jayden has always moved through the world with intention. Thoughtful. Grounded. Curious about how things work and how balance is built. She knew at 9 years old “Oh it’s 9:30, I need to get to bed. I don’t want to be tired in the morning!” Studying kinesiology feels like an extension of who she already is—someone attentive to care, discipline, and long-term wellbeing.

To mark the moment, I did what artists do. I made something.

I designed custom shirts alongside her cousin Nehemiah for the graduation—each one featuring Jayden as she is now on the front, and a photo of her as a baby on the back. A full-circle gesture. We all wore them together that day, wrapped in memory, pride, and love. It felt less like merch and more like a living archive.

We love you Jayden!