South Side Irish Pubs Photo Exhibit at Beverly Arts Center

St. Patrick’s Day has passed, but the South Side Irish spirit is holding steady through April at the Beverly Arts Center, where photojournalist Kelly White’s new exhibit captures the soul of the neighborhood pub in a way that goes well beyond green beer and shamrocks.

“Cheers to the South Side: An Irish Pub Exhibit” opened last weekend and runs through April at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. Admission is free. White, a Beverly native and Southwest Regional Publishing reporter based in Palos Heights, uses architectural photography to argue that these bars are something more than places to drink. They are community anchors.

White timed the opening deliberately. “Chicago is just such a heavy Irish pride community, especially around St. Patrick’s Day with the parade and everything,” she said. “So I felt like, especially with the Beverly Arts Center also being on Western, and then all the bars on Western, it’d be a good way to kind of incorporate the opening to St. Patrick’s Day weekend.”

The geographic connection matters here. Western Avenue runs through the heart of Beverly and Mount Greenwood, passing a stretch of Irish pubs that have served as neighborhood institutions for decades. White’s photos document their exteriors with an eye for color, light, and the architectural character that makes each one distinct. She originally considered centering the project on interior shots and the camaraderie among patrons, but the exterior work proved stronger. Shooting during the winter holiday season added its own complications. Unpredictable weather tested her, but she leaned into the challenge. “I played a lot with, you know, the color and the dynamics, and I just had fun with it,” she said.

One featured subject is Cork and Kerry, 10614 S. Western Ave., a bar that owner Bill Guide has operated with business partner Mike Fitzpatrick for more than two decades. Guide’s priorities have stayed consistent throughout that time. “It was just important to me that it remained very neighborhood centric,” he said. “It was the hub of the area. I wanted it to remain so. You know, just have the neighborhood vibe and neighborhood feel and a place where people can call home and strangers can meet.”

That philosophy lines up almost exactly with what White is trying to communicate through her lens. “I was trying to incorporate a little bit of that sense of familiarity that doesn’t go away on the South Side,” she said.

White’s connection to this community runs deep. She attended Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School and went on to graduate from St. Xavier University, where she now teaches journalism classes. Her day job covers the southwest suburbs, but this project pulled her back toward something more personal. Returning to documentary work in her own neighborhood reminded her how much that kind of work matters to her. “You forget how much you miss it, I guess,” she said. “When you have something that you really just enjoy doing, you kind of put it on the back burner to focus on other aspects and other areas in your life. Then, to bring it to light again, it’s nice.”

There is something worth sitting with in that sentiment. So much Chicago neighborhood photography documents places in decline or frames them through a nostalgic lens that subtly implies loss. White’s work pushes back against that. These pubs are open, active, and full of people who chose to stay rooted on the South Side. The photographs celebrate that continuity rather than mourning it.

For anyone who grew up attending South Side Irish parades, spending weekend afternoons in a booth at a Western Avenue bar, or simply knows that Beverly operates by its own rhythms, this exhibit will feel like recognition. For everyone else, it functions as a genuine introduction to a corner of Chicago that gets less attention than it deserves.

“Cheers to the South Side: An Irish Pub Exhibit” is free and open to the public at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., through April. Check the Beverly Arts Center’s website for current gallery hours before visiting.