BULLETIN
Can Tech Innovators Fix Criminal Justice?
1871, 222 W. Merchandise Mart Plaza, Suite 1212. Wednesday, November 30, 6pm–7:30pm. Free. (312) 239-0310. bit.ly/techjusticereform
There are countless (and often needless) barriers that former offenders must pass through to re-acclimate to society. Some of those barriers, such as a company or a school’s unwillingness to hire or admit individuals with a criminal record, are controlled by the private sector rather than federal regulations. Join Lincoln Network and Illinois Policy Institute to discuss the role of the tech industry in this and other aspects of criminal justice reform. (Jonathan Hogeback)
North Kenwood-Oakland Meeting on Sullivan Station Development
Kennicott Park Field House, 4434 S. Lake Park Ave. Thursday, December 1, 6:30pm. Free. bit.ly/sullivanstation
The North Kenwood Oakland Conservation Community Council will host a public meeting regarding Sullivan Station, a mixed-income housing development. The $44 million project was completed in 2014, but the conversation on mixed-income housing, and its role in changing neighborhoods, continues. (Hafsa Razi)
Felt The Fear But Found My Freedom: Women in Tech and Entrepreneurship
BLUE1647 Tech Innovation Center, 1647 S. Blue Island Ave. Friday, December 2, 6pm–8:30pm. Free. Register online. join1919.com
From the workplace to education (and even in relationships), fear and insecurities can often get the best of us. Learn how to “‘Live Life Full Out’ #rightNow (in spite of fear)” from a panel of women who self-describe as everything from “Encourager of Hope” and “Changemaker” to entrepreneurs and data scientists. Sponsored by 1919 and hosted by BLUE1647, this evening of networking and support is sure to empower all who attend. (Emily Lipstein)
Bronzeville SOUP
Bronzeville Incubator, 300 E. 51st St. Saturday, December 3, 4pm–7pm. $5 donation for soup, salad, bread, and a vote. Register online. (773) 285-5002. thebronzevilleincubator.com
At Bronzeville SOUP—an idea transplanted from Detroit—attendees donate five dollars at the door for a meal (bread, salad, and, shockingly, soup), and local entrepreneurs working on community projects present a set of pitches. After the pitches are finished, diners vote for their favorite: the winner gets the pot of cash at the door. (Christian Belanger)
The Revolution Has Come with Robyn C. Spencer
Seminary Co-op, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave. Sunday, December 4, 3pm–4:30pm. Free. (773) 752-4381. semcoop.com
In her new book, The Revolution Has Come, CUNY professor Robyn C. Spencer examines the “organizational evolution” and gender politics of the Black Panther Party’s earliest forms in sixties Oakland. (Christian Belanger)
Introducing Progress & Poverty
Overflow Coffee Bar, 1550 S. State St. Thursday, December 1, 6:15pm–8:15pm. Free. Register online. (312) 450-2906. hgchicago.org
If you were born in the 1890’s, you probably wouldn’t need an introduction to Henry George’s most famous work, Progress & Poverty. Born a little later, you’re probably aware of its effects—George’s discussions of boom and bust economic cycles and private and public property are just a couple of hot topics. Chuck Matlitz of the Henry George School will discuss how we could implement some of George’s ideas in the twenty-first century. (Jonathan Hogeback)
VISUAL ARTS
Bit X Bit
Digital Art Demo Space, 2515 S. Archer Ave. Saturday, December 3, 7pm – midnight. $5. (312) 451-2962. dadschicago.com
Not your D.A.D.S kind of party: Digital Art Demo Space opens its doors for a night of sound performances by venoSci, Solarbear, Chaos Network, and more. There will also be a workshop led by venoSci on using alternative handheld systems to make visuals for performances. (Corinne Butta)
Make Your Art Happen
High Concept Labs, 2233 S. Throop St. Applications accepted through Sunday, December 4. Artist Season March 1 through June 30. $15 application fee. highconceptlabs/apply
High Concept Labs opens a call for their next Sponsored Artists: apply before December 4 to receive custom support for your practice. Rehearse, perform, write, document, and teach as one of ten artists this spring. (Corinne Butta)
Firehouse Holiday Bazaar
Firehouse Art Studio, 1123 W. Roosevelt Rd. Saturday, December 2, 11am–6pm. Free to shop, $55 ticket to make your own glass ornament. Buy tickets online. (773) 907-0841. artreachchicago.org
ArtReach’s first Firehouse Holiday Bazaar features some gift-worthy blown glass ornaments, beads, cards, scarves, and necklaces, all created by local artists like students from Afterschool Matters and Project Fire. Buy the perfect present, or make your own! (Hafsa Razi)
Grabolandia
National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St. Sunday, December 3, noon–5pm. Free. (312) 738-1503. institutograficodechicago.org
The Instituto Gráfico de Chicago presents a “print festival,” where visitors will get to meet the institute’s artists, learn about the process and tradition of print-makingprintmaking, and put some printing blocks to paper, to create their own work of art. (Hafsa Razi)
A Voice for Victims
URI-EICHEN Gallery, 2101 S. Halsted St. Opening reception Friday, December 9, 6pm–10pm. Through January 6, hours by appointment. Free. (312) 852-7717. uri-eichen.com
Drawings by Kathy Weaver and photography by Dr. Zaher Sahloul feature in Uri-Eichen Gallery’s fifth annual Human Rights Show. Weaver’s series, entitled “War Devours Us,” and Sahloul’s photographs from his experiences in underground hospitals in Aleppo focus on destruction and enduring humanity in the Syrian crisis. (Hafsa Razi)
MUSIC
An Angelic Toy Drive Affair
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Saturday, December 3, 2pm–8pm. $5 with a new, unwrapped toy, $10 without toy. 21+. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com
Enjoy local music and spread some holiday cheer at the Angelic Toy Drive Affair this Saturday. Hosts Angela Pena and Curtis McClain will bring you music from Chicago DJs—including Track Master Scott and Steve Poindexter—in exchange for a donated toy. Dance easy, knowing you’re making a difference for a child in need this holiday season. (Emily Lipstein)
Roy Woods
Reggies Rock Club, 2105 S. State St. Sunday, December 4, 6:30pm. $12 online, $15 day of show. All ages. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
One of the latest benefactors of Drake’s now-fabled co-signs, Roy Woods makes—you guessed it—moody, downcast R&B with chilly synthesizer tones that’s perfect for sad sex or long dark hoodie walks…and you bet he’s from Toronto. Check him out this Sunday at Reggies. (Austin Brown)
Punch Drunk Soul Club at Punch House
Punch House, 1227 W. 18th St. Monday, December 5, 9pm. (312) 526-3851. punchhousechicago.com
Local DJs Bill Ocean (no, not Billy Ocean of “Caribbean Queen”) and Shawn Rios, who preside over The Minimal Beat, a daily music journal, will serve as song selectors at the Punch House as part of an ongoing series of nightly guest DJs. Genres on deck include soul, funk, garage, and “kitchen sink.” (Jake Bittle)
STAGE & SCREEN
Butterfly Rising & new work by Amir George
SMG Chatham 14, 210 W. 87th St. Thursday, December 1, 7pm. $6. blackworldcinema.net
Black World Cinema’s monthly screening of work within the African diaspora comes closer to home, with two new short films by Chicago-based filmmaker Amir George and a 2010 film showcasing the varied talents of actress Tanya Wright: she wrote, produced, directed, novelized, and starred in the movie, about a “strange butterfly man” who changes two women’s lives. (Julia Aizuss)
Nothing Is Too Small for a Revolution: Anarchist Films by Nick Macdonald
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. Friday, December 2, 7:30pm. Free. southsideprojections.org
South Side Projections will showcase five films by Nick Macdonald, an experimental anarchist filmmaker whose movies often take the form of “essays” that grapple with questions of political action, national leadership, and, most famously, the morality of the Vietnam War. Macdonald will be on hand to present and discuss his own 16mm prints with Jonathan Rosenbaum. (Jake Bittle)
Animated Kwanzaa Films at South Side Projections
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. Saturday, December 3, 2pm. Free. southsideprojections.org
Visionary filmmaker Carol Munday Lawrence’s first foray into animation was a series of seven short films, released in the 1970s, on the seven principles of Kwanzaa. South Side Projections will be celebrating Kwanzaa by showing all seven films, each of which takes place in a different part of the African diaspora, in one day. (Jake Bittle)
African American Film Pioneers: Eleven P.M.
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. Saturday, December 3, 7pm. Free. filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu
This UofC Film Studies Center series comes to a close with this 1928 film about a street violinist, only recently rediscovered but accompanied by quite a bit of hype—“wholly unique,” “cinematically innovative,” “surreal,” “bizarre,” and “not to be missed.” Well, don’t miss it, then, or Jacqueline Stewart’s introduction beforehand. (Julia Aizuss)
The Lady’s Not for Burning
University Church, 5655 S. University Ave. Friday, December 2–Sunday, December 4, and Friday, December 9–Sunday, December 11. Tickets $12.75, $15 at the door. hydeparkcommunityplayers.org
Hyde Park Community Players will celebrate the holidays in characteristically idiosyncratic fashion by staging a play about a witch trial in a fifteenth-century English town. Critics have praised the playwright’s “insistence on the wonder of human life” and called the play a “poetic fantasy.” (Jake Bittle)
RE/NIGHT/LIVE/MARE: Parts 1&2
ACRE TV. Part 1: Tuesday, November 29–Monday, December 5; Part 2: Tuesday, December 6–Monday, December 12. acretv.org
ACRE TV’s latest project might now be a little too timely: this diverse four-part multitude of twice-airing video art first and foremost “re-considers your nightmares.” This week, you can catch the daydreams, fantasies, and horrors reworked in the end of Part 1 (RE) and the second airing of Part 2 (NIGHT). (Julia Aizuss)
Electra
Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Through Sunday, December 11. $58, discounts available for seniors, faculty, and students. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org
What can you expect from family drama? In the case of the third and final chapter of Court’s Greek Cycle, a story in which “even justice can bring destruction.” In Sophocles’ play, Nicholas Rudall’s translation, and under Seret Scott’s direction, Electra and her brother Orestes scheme to avenge their father Agamemnon’s murder. (Daniel Mays)
In De’ Beginnin’
eta Creative Arts, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Through Saturday, December 24. $40, discounts for students and seniors. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org
Oscar Brown Jr.’s funky musical, based on the Book of Genesis, is eta Creative Arts’ holiday entertainment offering for families. Brown was a multitalented artist, civil rights activist, and humanitarian; his daughter Maggie Brown will take on musical direction for this production, which eta calls a “tribute” to one of “Chicago’s greatest artists.” (Joseph S. Pete)