Calendar for 8/2/17

BULLETIN

Growing Home’s Midsummer Mixer

6207 S. Throop St. Friday, August 4, 6pm–8pm. $15. Buy tickets online. (773) 549-1336. growinghomeinc.org

Growing Home is hosting its first ever summer mixer complete with locally brewed beer from Back of the Yards brewery Whiner Beer Co., light refreshments, and music from DJ Kool Ant. A portion of the proceeds will support the building of a community garden in Englewood and Growing Home, a nonprofit that provides job training through urban farming. (Amy Qin)

#TheTakeBack

Ellis Park, 3700 S. Cottage Grove Ave. Saturday, August 5, noon–5pm. Free. RSVP online to enter children in scholarship raffle. thetakebackchi.org

Party in the park, stock up on free school supplies, and celebrate peace in the streets at this block party for the whole city. Join the push for gun prevention, and take back Chicago’s streets. (Anne Li)

The Boss Mom Life, Signed

Standout Style Boutique, 3353 S. Morgan St. Thursday, August 10, 4:30pm–6:30pm. (773) 565-4885. facebook.com/bossmomlife1

Pick up working tips, cupcakes, connections, and a signed copy of Boss Mom Life by Ariel White when you come to this gathering for multitasking moms. Build your network and your wardrobe at Standout Style. (Anne Li)

Breaking The Chains: Workshop for Teen Girls

CPL Brainerd Branch, 1350 W. 89th St. Saturday, August 12, 1:30pm–4pm. Free. RSVP online at bit.ly/BreakingTheChains

At this workshop for girls aged twelve to nineteen, teenage girls will learn about breaking “negative generational cycles.” The organizers promise to teach attendees about being leaders, thinking positive, and loving themselves. (Hafsa Razi)

BIBC Annual Conference: The Ballot and the Bullet

Chicago State University, 9501 S. King Dr. Saturday, August 12, 9am–Sunday, August 13, 9am. Free. RSVP online. (917) 818-0466. blackisbackcoalition.org

In a time of constant political turmoil, 1960s revolutionary political rhetoric seems to be increasingly relevant. Indeed, the Black is Back Coalition (BIBC) will hold its annual conference this August with the theme: “The Ballot and the Bullet: Elections, War & Peace in the Era of Donald Trump.” The conference, named with a twist on Malcolm X’s famous speech, will attempt to develop a general strategy and political platform for their continued growth through the electoral process. (Clyde Schwab)

VISUAL ARTS

Brown and Proud Press: Call for Submissions

Bridgeport Coffeehouse, 3101 S. Morgan St. Wednesday, August 2, 7pm–9pm. Free.  facebook.com/brownandproudpress

Brown and Proud Press invites writers and artists of color to be a part of their “On Struggling” zine series, a collection of personal stories about race, identity, mental health, and self-care. All experience levels are welcomed. (Hafsa Razi)

Arts Incubator Summer Teen Show

Arts Incubator, 301 E. Garfield Blvd. Wednesday, August 9, 6pm–8pm. Free. (773) 702-9724. facebook.com/APLeducation

Celebrate the end of summer and the work of youth from the Arts Incubator’s summer programs and internships, at this one-night exhibition; the night will close with a performance from the acting program. (Hafsa Razi)

Summer 2017 Exhibition at Yollocalli Arts Reach

Yollocalli Arts Reach, 2801 S. Ridgeway Ave. Friday, August 11th, 5:30pm–7pm. Free. facebook.com/yollocalli.arts.reach

Check out the work of youth from a variety of programs under the Yollocalli umbrella: Camera Flux, Your Story Your Way, and Young Run Chi, to name a few. Snacks will be provided, as will good times. (Rod Sawyer)

Visiting Artist Talk: Gabriel Martinez

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Wednesday, August 2, 6pm–7:30pm. Free. hydeparkart.org

Join the Hyde Park Art Center for a talk with artist-in-residence Gabriel Martinez, a writer, performer, and artist based in Houston, Texas. Martinez’s work explores history, spatial politics, and environmental issues in the city of Houston. Here in Chicago, he will explore his recent projects on DIY art spaces, music, comics, and atomic bomb research. (Rod Sawyer)

Hyde Park Handmade Bazaar

The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Sunday, August 13th, 12pm–3:30pm. bit.ly/HPHandmadeAugust

The Hyde Park Handmade Bazaar is a monthly showcase of artisans from Hyde Park, Kenwood, Woodlawn, Bronzeville, and other communities. Join the Promontory on their second-floor music venue for a selection of handmade crafts and foods. DJ Sean Alvarez will be spinning tracks, and the bar will be open. Admission is free—the handmade goods, of course, aren’t. (Rod Sawyer)

MUSIC

Jazz in the Courtyard

Hyde Park Shopping Center, 55th St. and Lake Park Ave. Friday, August 4 and Friday, September 1. Noon–2pm. Free. hpjazz.com

Nothing says summer in Hyde Park like the annual free live jazz concerts every first Friday at the Hyde Park Shopping Center. Grab lunch from any of the many restaurants nearby, then sit outside to enjoy the sounds of the Chris Foreman Quintet on August 4, and the Chicago State University Community Jazz Band conducted by Roxanne Stevenson on September 1. (Nicole Bond)

Cloud Nothings and Oozing Wound

Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Thursday, August 3, 10pm. $20, $25 day of show. 18+. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com

Ditch the long lines and massive crowds of Lollapalooza for something a little more intimate: Reggies Rock Club. Cloud Nothings will be sure to bring their signature catchy hooks, as well as what Pitchfork calls “Screams, massive guitar tone, and a muscular performance.” But that’s just the half of it: catch Chicago’s own genre-bending metal darling Oozing Wound, an amalgam of thrash, sludge, and hardcore. Oozing Wound’s sardonic lyrics, whose themes range from anti-consumerism to post-apocalyptic sci-fi, feel ever more prescient in the current political era. (Andrew Koski)

Red Bull Sound Select Presents: Chicago curated by Fake Shore Drive

Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Thursday, August 10. 8pm doors, 9pm show. $5 with RSVP, $15 without. 18+. thaliahallchicago.com

Smokepurpp, a part of Florida’s newly booming rap scene and XXXtentatcion’s associate, will join Chicago underground rappers Cdot Honcho and Valee at Thalia Hall. With his signature south Florida booming production and gurgled delivery, Smokepurpp has cemented himself as a SoundCloud giant. Cdot Honcho and Valee, while relatively new in the spotlight, have made waves with popular singles “02 Shit” and “Shell,” respectively. (Clyde Schwab)

Full 25th Anniversary Show

Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Friday, August 11, 8pm. $5, $8 day of show. 17+. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com

Full has been a “hyper melodic post punk power pop” Chicago staple since 1992—way before Googleability mattered in band name selection. (Don’t believe me? Try searching “Full” or “Full band” and see what it gives you). Regardless, they’re playing their twenty-fifth anniversary show at Reggies, and it’s sure to be a punk show for the ages for all those ageless punks out there. (Andrew Koski)

Punk Rock & Donuts

Richard J. Daley Library Branch, 3400 S. Halsted St. Saturday, August 26, 2pm–4pm. Free. All ages. (312) 747-8990. bit.ly/PunkDonuts

This punk and donuts—punkin’ donuts, if you will—show in Bridgeport features local punk bands UDÜSIC, DECLINE, and Ozzuario, all playing their hearts out in what is usually a library branch dedicated largely to children’s books. As branch manager Jeremy Kitchen told the Weekly when we featured the Punkin’ Donuts series in last year’s Best of the South Side issue, “Like all library programs, it is for all walks of life, and we have had toddlers to seniors show up.” Expect a crowd. (Sam Stecklow)

Kool Moe Dee

The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Thursday, August 31. 7pm doors, 8pm show. Tables $35 per seat, $20 general admission. 21+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com

Even the Promontory admits on their website that Kool Moe Dee “began to fade by the early ’90s,” but if you want to relive (or live for the first time) hip-hop’s original spats dating back to the eighties, Dee—who was one of the first rappers to win a Grammy, but is perhaps now more famous for his feud with LL Cool J—is at the Promontory next month. (Julia Aizuss)

STAGE & SCREEN

Children’s Theater

South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Dr. Internet registration opens Tuesday, August 8, 9am; standard registration opens Saturday, August 12, for class each Saturday from September 9–November 18, 10:30am–12pm. $50 residents, $100 non-residents. (773) 256-0149. bit.ly/SSChildrensTheater

It might feel like the height of summer, but fall is around the corner, and so are kids’ fall programs. Children ages eight to eleven will learn the skills required to create and participate a theatrical performance by the end of class, using imaginative play, storytelling exercises and creative movement. Openings are already limited—register your child promptly. (Nicole Bond)

Into the Woods

Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. Friday, August 4–Sunday, August 6, 7pm; Monday, August 7, 2pm. $13–$15. (773) 445-3838. beverlyartcenter.org

Directed by Tim Stompanato, for its summer production the BAC takes on James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s timeless, award-winning theater classic, where wishes come true but at a steep price. (Nicole Bond)

Movies in the Parks: The Wiz

South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Dr. Monday, August 7, 8:15pm. Free. (773) 256-0149. chicagoparkdistrict.com

Under the stars, behind the beautiful South Shore Cultural Center, in Movies in the Parks’s seventeenth season, come watch stars Diana Ross as Dorothy, Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow, and Lena Horne as Glenda the Good Witch move the classic Wizard of Oz tale from Kansas to Harlem. (Nicole Bond)

The Brain That Wouldn’t Die – LIVE!

Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. Wednesday, August 9, 7:30pm. $5. (773) 445-3838. beverlyartcenter.org

A tale about a doctor keeping his girlfriend’s head alive after a decapitating car crash is B-movie classic horror, but when the BACinema comedy team The NERD Mob takes to the stage to make fun alongside the movie, horror becomes hilarious. (Nicole Bond)

Floating Museum: Salty Dog Blues

Park 571 Riverwalk, 2754 S. Eleanor St. Saturday, August 12, 7pm. Free. southsideprojections.org

As the Floating Museum barge floats down the Chicago River, South Side Projections has rightly decided there’s no better way to contribute to its programming during its stop in Bridgeport than by screening “a movie about people on boats.” This 1982 film navigates (ha) the experiences of a group of people of color who served in the U.S. Merchant Marines from the thirties to the eighties. (Julia Aizuss)

Side by Side with the Chicago Philharmonic

South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 South Shore Dr. Sunday, August 13, 3:30pm–7pm. Free. (312) 957-0000. chicagophilharmonic.org

As part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Park events, the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra will join with student and community musicians from around the city, to invite audiences to listen in during a rehearsal as well as their free performance immediately following. Pairs well with lawn chairs and a picnic. (Nicole Bond)

Summer Jazz Night

Gary Comer Youth Center, 7200 S. Ingleside Ave. Wednesday, August 16, 6:30pm–8pm. Youth under the age of eighteen must be accompanied by an adult. Free. (773) 358-4100. garycomeryouthcenter.org

As part of the GCYC Uplift adult community programming, this night of jazz will feature live music from The DOT and “GIT down” —a musical experience described as “a warm hug that ends with a static shock.” Refreshments will also be served by GCYC’s culinary team. (Nicole Bond)

Southside With You

DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Pl.. Saturday, August 19, 7:30pm. Free. (773) 947-0600. dusablemuseum.org

If you missed it when it came out last year—or want to see it again—head to DuSable’s outdoor Sunken Garden to watch first-time director Richard Tanne recreate the love story of Barack and Michelle Obama, featuring Parker Sawyers as the rookie lawyer wooing the more experienced lawyer Michelle Robinson, played by Tika Sumpter, on a day-date around Chicago. I wonder how the story ends. (Nicole Bond) 

2nd Annual Full Moon Fire Cypher

Promontory Point, 5491 S. Shore Dr. Monday, August 7, 6pm–10pm. Free. (312) 869-9546. facebook.com/sacredkeepersorg

It’s going to actually be “lit”—Sacred Keepers Sustainability Lab and Art is Bonfire invite you to a bonfire cypher. A “fire-inspired community ritual,” the cypher brings together performance (spoken word, singing, rapping) and pyro. Bring friends, family, s’mores ingredients, ‘Something to share,” and “SOMETHING TO BURN!” (Hafsa Razi)