MadMade Print Fair

MadMade Print Fair
November 15, 2025 from 12-4:30PM
Access Living, Chicago: 115 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60654
Free to the public

Join us for MadMade, a one-day event uplifting the creative work of artists living with psychiatric disabilities and mental health challenges. This community-centered fair brings together artists, organizers, and visitors to celebrate art that resists stigma, builds connection, and honors lived experience.

MadMade is more than a marketplace — it’s a gathering built on inclusion, care, and cultural empowerment. Visitors are invited to explore and purchase artwork from printmakers, illustrators, designers, and zine makers working across screenprinting, linocut, risograph, etching, digital processes, and more.

This mad-positive, disability-affirming event centers the artists themselves rather than diagnoses or treatments. MadMade offers a counter-narrative to both clinical and romanticized depictions of mental illness, instead highlighting real people making real work — art that is beautiful, messy, joyful, angry, and thoughtful — work that sparks conversation and fosters community.

Participants: 47pennys, Alyse Ruriani, Ani Johnson, ANKLEGLUE, Anna Strzepek, chana goldbloom, Crossing Raindrops, Cuatro Huevos, Darya Foroohar, Degenerates Collective, Demah, Dylan Sturdy, Esme, Indiana Mokey, Mimisdreamies, Nicholas Waguespack, Nocturne Best, OOO Press, Open Lid Collective, Reclaym, Sami Shuman, Sky Zhang, Support Ho(s)e, Tamara Harris, The Center for Mad Culture, Todd Evans, Via Mortola, Zio/Poen

Panel Discussions

The fair will feature two panel discussions highlighting the intersections of mad identity, artmaking, and community. “Mad and Disability Culture Building” will take place from 12:15-1:00 PM, bringing together Reclaym, Degenerates Collective, Dandy of the Underworld, and OOO Press to discuss collective organizing, mutual support, and creative collaboration across mad and disabled communities. Later, from 3:15–4:00 PM, “Mad Artmaking” will feature Alyse Ruriani, Sky Zhang, 47pennys, and Darya Foroohar in conversation about artistic process, lived experience, and reclaiming madness as a site of creativity and cultural expression. Both panels will be moderated by Matt Bodett, the Director of the Center for Mad Culture, and are free and open to the public.

MadMade is organized by Dylan Sturdy in collaboration with Spudnik Press Cooperative, The Center for Mad Culture, and Access Living.

Dylan Sturdy is a proudly neurodivergent artist specializing in printmaking and wheel-thrown ceramics. With deep personal experience of mental illness and professional experience as a mental health counselor, she creates academically informed artwork that supports those struggling with mental illness, educates the public about psychiatric conditions, and works to destigmatize and reframe how society understands mental health. Dylan is uniquely qualified to lead this fair and unite its participants.

Access Living is a national leader in disability rights and advocacy. It combats stereotypes, protects civil rights, and drives social change, ensuring that people with disabilities can live independently and with dignity.

Spudnik Press is a community-based printmaking studio committed to accessibility, equity, anti-racism, and creative collaboration. It offers professional equipment, education, and an inclusive space welcoming artists from all backgrounds.

The Center for Mad Culture challenges traditional medical models of mental health, offering new ways to understand the human experience of madness. They host exhibitions, readings, workshops, and maintain a mad/disability research library, fostering cultural conversations around mental difference.