Kwamé Gomez, Chicago, student-artist

“I like how experimental [the art scene] has gotten over the years. I’m not from Chicago originally, I’m from Ohio, so the art scene from Ohio, small town, Chicago is very different. For me, it’s just how much it’s grown but also how big it is from my perspective.

I thrifted this entire outfit today. I wanted to go with all pink and was like ‘Oh, I want to put some teal in it so they match my shoes that I painted.’ ”

Victoria Fuller, Chicago, artist

“I make art with found objects. But then I also do another branch of work that’s nature-based —or nature-themed — and it’s about the environment. It’s environmental art.”

Michael C. Thorpe, Brooklyn, artist

“I knew I wanted to experience a bunch of different feelings of making different bodies of work. I wanted to feel what it meant to be a sculptor, I wanted to feel what it meant to be a performance artist, I wanted to feel what it meant to make figurative work. And once I started doing those processes, I was like, ‘Wow, I got all I needed from that.’

I think I’ve noticed a trend where people like to get answers. They’re like, ‘what does this mean?’ … No. I’m like, ‘well, this is what it means to me today. Check back in a week, five years, it could be completely different.’ ”

Darling Shear, Chicago, dancer

“I’ve performed at EXPO in previous years. And I have a few friends who exhibited here as well, over the years. I look at it as camp, art camp.

I’ve been thankfully able to be surrounded by a really lovely community that’s bringing people together so that they can be their authentic selves and move forward in creating heaven on Earth.”

Monique Meloche, Chicago, gallery owner, and Lela Hersh, Chicago, art buyer

Hersh: “I hired Monique at the MCA in the ‘90s, and look at her now!

I’ve been in the arts since I started working at the Museum of Contemporary Art in 1983. And I was there 20 years, Monique came in in the ’90s. Then I went out on my own in 2003.”

Meloche: “I think there’s like a really wonderful collaborative spirit that’s here in Chicago that is not in other major cities. Not that there isn’t competition, but there’s much more willingness to collaborate. So many of the visiting curators and visiting collectors say the same thing; there’s just a vibe here that’s super welcoming.

And yet you have the caliber of art that’s within the fair, and within our city and our institutions, that’s world class.”

Ciera McKissick, Chicago, owner of cam.contemporary gallery, and Roland Santana, Chicago, artist

McKissick: “I’ve been working with Roland for a long time, since the beginning. A lot of the artists I’m showing in the booth right now I’ve been working with for five to 10 years, since bringing them along for like solo exhibitions. Being able to show them at a platform like Expo has just been really great, amazing.”

Santana: “What I love about Ciera is that she connects literally every single bubble of the art scene in Chicago. Music, fashion, writers, like you bring everyone together. You know, it’s not just fine art, it’s not just one certain type or style of work, but it really is a whole collective vibe and so many different types of people in the room.”

Assata Mason, Chicago, artist

“I am wearing a high low white gown from Akira. It has really pretty lattice beading at the top with mesh underneath, and it folds over to the back. It’s almost like an apron dress. It was inspired by fairies. Ethereal, very magical. Also, I wanted to kind of play off of one of my paintings that’s in the booth that I’m in, booth 350!

My gallery [Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York City] picked me up through Instagram. I don’t think [social media] has affected my work, just simply because I don’t do reels. I just post as a way to not only document, but so people can also see it. But I do acknowledge the fact that, without Instagram, I would not have gotten picked up as easily or as quickly.”

China Wehr, Chicago, artist

“So funnily enough, this is all thrifted. So what I’m wearing, I actually got this at the Village Discount here in Wicker Park, and which is fabulous. And I just found this really nice, navy blue bridal skirt that I actually trimmed because it was really long. And so I just cut it at the ankles, this polka dot dress. And then I found this really cute tank top as well that I layered over it.

To the young artists out there, if you have the chance to come out to EXPO, do! Or if you have a chance to really immerse yourself in a space with other artists, do it. You know, no matter what your anxieties are, it’s totally worth it.”

Mina Crow, Chicago, artist

“I got everything from the thrift store. My tie I made myself, but I also got it from the thrift.

I don’t post a lot on social media. But if I do, I do it anonymously. I think it’s really hard to tie your life into your art and what people perceive you as.”

Saumitra Chandratreya, Chicago, artist and instructor

“I teach in the fashion department at SAIC [School of the Art Institute of Chicago]. And currently, I’m working on self portraits that I use making cyanotypes.

[Chicago art] is all very powerful. It’s all really high caliber that has a lot of emphasis on good concepts. Chicago is also the birthplace of really good architecture, so I love seeing that kind of influence. I also love seeing how visual art, music, theater and all these things go together in the city in an amazing way.

The clutch is from this women’s collective in India; it’s called Kala Raksha. It translates to ‘protecting the art,’ and the person started it to empower women in this village in the desert region, to invest in India. And this clutch was made using recycled plastic bags.”