The city of Chicago is set to host an ambitious, year-long program in 2018 that will draw attention to its art and design legacy. This week, the Terra Foundation for American Art announced its plans for Art Design Chicago, which will run throughout 2018 with more than 25 exhibitions involving 40 organisations.

The event, which sets out to “explore the breadth of Chicago‘s role as a catalyst and incubator for innovations in art and design,” will also include hundreds of public programs and the creation of a four-part documentary.

The period between the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the turn of the 21st century will be a particular focus for the initiative, with plans to spotlight little-known narratives offering insight into Chicago’s influence on fine and decorative arts, graphic and commercial design, product development and film.

“This city has long had a pioneering spirit, championing the avant-garde, and shaping modern art and design,” said Elizabeth Glassman, President and CEO of the Terra Foundation.

Program highlights include an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago devoted to the influential artist group Hairy Who?, opening in September 2018; a focus on conceptual photographer Kenneth Josephson at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, opening in April; “Arte Diseño Xicágo: Mexican Inspiration from the World’s Columbian Exposition to the Civil Rights Era,” at the National Museum of Mexican Art starting in March; and an exhibition focused on African-American designers set for a September opening.

While most of Art Design Chicago’s programs will take place in and around Chicago, some exhibitions will go on to tour nationally or internationally, say organisers. Among them is a retrospective on painter Charles White that is co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art in New York and will travel to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Find out more at Chicago Art Fair.