Walking through the River North area in downtown Chicago, a small red banner with white lettering might get lost in the midst of the skyline. Hanging from the side of one of the buildings in the area, it reads “NIU,” and is the only outdoor sign telling passersby the university has an art gallery in the Windy City.

The gallery, located at 215 W. Superior St., is on the third floor. In the backdrop of the red NIU banner is the John Hancock Center.

“It’s fair to say that the art students know about the gallery more than the other students,” said Heather Weber, interim director of the NIU Chicago Gallery, who earned a master’s degree in art history from NIU in 2002.

The University of Illinois also has an art gallery in the area, but Jo Burke, assistant director of the art museum, said NIU was the first one there.

“It is sort of a two-way thing; as ways of reaching us, people reach us through the Chicago Gallery,” Burke said. “The gallery is an extension of the university in Chicago, and it is a major art market. Other universities have followed and done the same thing.”

The current exhibit, “In(visible) Body,” features exhibits designed to look at the human body underneath the skin. In(visible) Body runs through Saturday.

Upon entering the art gallery, a chirping sound can be heard coming from the white box suspended from the ceiling. The box hangs just high enough to duck underneath. Looking up, a screen shows rotating, fuzzy black and white X-ray images. The box reproduces what an MRI scan would show.

Two clear boxes, stationed in the middle of the room but at opposite ends, are connected by a long cord. The cord connects the top and bottom portions of a doctor’s stethoscope. It is another interactive piece of art that requires two participants, and allows the user to listen to the other’s heartbeat through the wire.

The next show, “Research,” co-sponsored with the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, features conceptual, installation and performance art. Research will begin April 1 and run through May 21.

Setting up the next show is a time-consuming process and one in which the gallery actually shuts down to complete, Weber said. Before a new show can be installed, the previous show has to be taken down, and the artists themselves sometimes show up to help set up their work.

“I like to have definitely a week for new installation,” Weber said. “Sometimes people wander in while we are installing. We don’t turn them away.”

Attendance at the Chicago Gallery varies from day to day, with opening day for a new show being a large draw for the gallery. NIU students, faculty, alumni, Chicago residents and parents with children thinking of coming to NIU make up a large part of Gallery attendees, Weber said.

Almost all of the art in the Chicago Gallery is for sale.

“We are a non-profit gallery in a for-profit district,” Burke said. “It gives the artists freedom to do work they could not do in a commercial gallery. We give them freedom.”

In addition to the Chicago Gallery, NIU has two galleries located on campus. The Jack Olson Gallery is in room 200 of the NIU School of Art Visual Arts Building.

The gallery shows exhibits from visiting artists, faculty and students during the school year. Gallery 214, located in room 214 of the School of Art Building, is available for graduate students in the art school.

The NIU Art Gallery in Chicago is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, or by appointment. For more information, contact the gallery at 312-642-6010.