Getting Warmer features a collection of works by Chicago-based artist Abby May Smith, tied together by their bold expressions of color. Lush violets, blues, and pinks blend with stylized subjects to create illustrative pieces that seem to fall halfway between our world and another. Inspired by the mundane and the magical alike, Abby aims to evoke feelings of serenity and enchantment through her work, allowing viewers a peek inside her rose-colored worldview.

Abby is a Chicago-based artist with a focus on painting and illustration. Originally from the Kansas City area, Abby moved to Chicago in 2019 to study at Columbia College Chicago, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Illustration in 2023. Her initial studies in digital art and animation inform her current artistic style, which revolves around colorful, stylized acrylic paintings. Abby’s work has been included in exhibitions hosted by the International Museum of Surgical Science, the Pritzker Military Museum, and In These Times. In June 2026, she won Art Battle Chicago, a live speed-painting competition, and will advance to the city finals at the end of the year.