BULLETIN
See Through Stigma Week
University of Chicago, locations vary (see website). Through January 13. Polaroid Project daily, 11am–2pm. Individual events Wednesday, 11am–2pm; Thursday–Friday, 6pm–8pm. Free. stsuchicago.strikingly.com
Active Minds and Axis UChicago, two student groups devoted to educating and dismantling stigma around mental illnesses and disabilities, bring a week of awareness events to the UofC campus. Programming includes faculty-led discussions on stigma and trigger warnings, a health and wellness resource fair, screening of the movie Touched with Fire, an artistic performance night, and an interactive Polaroid photo display. (Sara Cohen)
Bronzeville Animal Clinic Fifth Anniversary Celebration
Bronzeville Animal Clinic, 203 E. 31st St. Wednesday, January 11, 4pm–8pm. Free. Call to RSVP. (312) 949-1838. bronzevillevet.com
Get down with the best vets in town! Pets and owners alike are invited to partake in a celebration of Bronzeville Animal Clinic’s fifth year of operation, marked by a commemorative gathering and refreshments for all. (Sara Cohen)
Long Range Transportation Planning in Cook, DuPage and Will Counties
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, 233 S. Wacker Dr., Ste. 800. Friday, January 13, 9:30am–11:30am. $5–$15. Buy tickets online. (312) 603-1652. connectingcookcounty.org
As our communities continue to shift in needs and population, counties in the Chicagoland area have begun redesigning their long-term transportation plans to suit the needs of current and future residents. Check out this event to see what Cook, DuPage, and Will Counties have planned for the future, and how it may affect your community. (Bridget Newsham)
MLK Jr: Day of Reflection Movie Screenings
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Monday, January 16, 11am–5:30pm. Free. (773) 324-5520. hydeparkart.org
Three films, handpicked by teenagers in the Hyde Park Art Center’s programs, will be screened on the day memorializing the great champion of the Civil Rights Movement. The documentary 13th will play first, followed by Brother Outsider and Black Power Mix Tape, relating American civil rights issues with the aim of bringing ongoing racial injustices and resistance efforts to the forefront. (Sara Cohen)
Englewood Meeting on New HS, Lots
Hamilton Park Cultural Center, 513 W. 72nd St. Tuesday, January 17, 6pm–8pm. Free. (866) 845-1032. ragenglewood.org
At this bi-monthly village meeting, the Residents Association of Greater Englewood will discuss Englewood’s new high school; participation in the Large Lots Program, which sells vacant lots for $1; and look back on a year of RAGE successes. Call or email joinrage@gmail by January 12 to register as a speaker. (Neal Jochmann)
Farewell, Obama
Harper Theatre, 5238 S. Harper Ave. Thursday, January 19, 6pm–9pm. $10. Buy tickets online. (773) 966-5091. blackownedchicago.com
Farewell, Obama, presented by Black Owned Chicago, is a documentary project highlighting the stories of those who knew Obama before and during his presidency. Come celebrate our president one last time through stories, snacks, and discussion. (Bridget Newsham)
VISUAL ARTS
Riot Grrrls
Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave. Thursday, December 15, 2016 through Sunday, June 18, 2017. Tuesday, 10am–8pm; Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–5pm. $12 adults, $7 students; free Tuesdays. (312) 280-2660. mcachicago.org
As one would expect judging by the name “Riot Grrrls”, this exhibit is a refreshingly direct challenge to the sexism that has long permeated the art world. This stunning collection features a series of abstract works by eight prolific, pioneering female painters including Mary Heilmann and Charline von Heyl, as well as works from the generation of female artists that followed. (Bridget Newsham)
Spencer Rogers: Modern Abstractions
S. Rog Gallery, 739 S. Clark St., 2nd floor. Opening reception Friday, January 13, 6pm–9pm. Through March 10. Open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, 10am–5pm, and by appointment. Free. (312) 884-1457. sroggallery.com
It takes a painter’s imagination to curate an exhibition as dazzling as “Modern Abstractions,” comprised of mind-blowing macro photographs selected for interesting detail and exploded in vibrant, dripping acrylic paint. 125 copies will be made of each of these images, which will be on sale to all attendees. Snacks also provided. (Neal Jochmann)
Onward! Movements, Activists, Politics, and Politicians
Uri-Eichen Gallery, 2101 S. Halsted St. Opening reception Friday, January 13, 6pm–10pm.Through Friday, February 3 by appointment only. Free. (312) 852-7717. uri-eichen.com
Photographer Michael Gaylord James’s exhibit spans fifty-four years of politics, from the Berkeley Free Speech Movement to Black Lives Matter, from JFK in Mexico to Obama at Chicago State. He hopes to show that there’s reason for hope in the long march toward progress. (Joseph S. Pete)
MUSIC
Emily Lordi on Donny Hathaway Live with Tara Betts
Seminary Co-Op, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave. Friday, January 13, 6pm–7:30 pm. Free. All ages. (773) 752-4381. semcoop.com
UMass Amherst professor Emily Lordi will discuss her volume in the 33 1/3 book series, Donny Hathaway Live, the first nonfiction work written about the soul music prodigy Donny Hathaway. She’ll be in conversation with Weekly interviewee Tara Betts, a poet and lecturer at UIC. (Joseph S. Pete)
AMFM and The Dojo present: Blue Lion Reimagined
AMFM Gallery, 2151 W. 21st St. Saturday, January 14. Doors 7pm, show 8pm–11pm. $10. All ages. amfm-mag.com
AMFM Magazine’s newly opened gallery and arts incubator in Pilsen hosts Boogaloo Urbano pioneer Lester Ray, who plans to release “Blue Lion Reimagined” a year after his “Blue Lion” EP dropped. International DJs like Bleepolar, AfroQbano, and El Bles, to name a few, have all covered Ray’s tracks, and for those who need a little convincing: the cost includes the album and Puerto Rican pernil if you arrive a little early. (Joseph S. Pete)
Sauers Reunion Part 2 at Promontory
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Sunday, January 15, 10pm. 21+. $10 in advance, $15 at door. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com
The Chosen Few, the original devoted disciples of house, resume their multi-part celebration of famed venue, restaurant, and house party locale Sauers. This event, like the first one, is for those who “were there, or wish they were there, or want to learn what it was all about.” An honor roll of the Chosen Few DJs will spin throughout the evening. (Jake Bittle)
Steve Gunn at Thalia Hall
Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Monday, January 16. Doors 7:30pm, show 8:30pm. 17+. $18 in advance, $20 at door. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com
Steve Gunn, the Brooklynite guitarist from Kurt Vile’s backing band The Violators, and a solo singer-songwriter in his own right (he’s got a dozen-odd albums and counting), will come to Pilsen’s Thalia Hall in mid-January. He will be joined by Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth and Californian Meg Baird, a founder of the psychedelic band Espers. (Jake Bittle)
STAGE & SCREEN
Blues for an Alabama Sky
Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. January 12–February 12. Ticket prices $38-$68. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org
Pearl Cleage’s 1999 play explores the effects of the Great Depression on a set of characters living in the wake of New York’s Harlem Renaissance. The play is part of a larger celebration of the Harlem Renaissance around Hyde Park, including jazz concerts and as-yet-unspecified visual arts and poetry events. (Christian Belanger)
Abeer’s Day Off Cooking Show Premiere Screening
The Silver Room, 1506 E. 53rd St. Friday, January 13, 5:30pm–7:30pm. Free. (773) 947-0024. bit.ly/abeersdayoff
Abeer Najjar has always loved cooking and food, especially because of the way they connect her to her family and Palestinian heritage. Watch the first few episodes of her new cooking web series at the Silver Room this Friday, and get inspired to make a new dish of your own to cook away the January cold. (Emily Lipstein)
Color My World
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. Friday, January 13, 7pm. (773) 702-8596. filmstudiescenter.uchicago.edu
The first in a series of new and restored experimental films, “Color My World” features seven short works unified by vibrant use of color. Two 16mm prints from each coast (one loaned from Anthology Film Archives in NYC and the other from the Academy Film Archive in LA), sit in the midst of contemporary video works playing with hues and tints. (Spencer Choi-Schagrin)
Too Close to Home
eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Friday, January 13, 7pm. $10. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org
Second City veteran Lisa Beasley will be kicking off eta Creative Arts’s 2017 Magic Box Series with her hilarious Too Close to Home comedy show. And she’s bringing friends! Lisa and co. will be combining stand-up, storytelling, and improv into a routine which—warning—could cause an incurable case of the belly laughs. (Michael Wasney)
Ambiguity Forum
The Renaissance Society, 5811 S. Ellis Ave. Saturday, January 14, 3pm. (773)702-8670. renaissancesociety.org
In a selection of poems, essays, and other written works, artists and writers consider the idea of ambiguity. These texts, which will be performed aloud as part of The Ren’s exhibition Sadie Benning: Shared Eye, seek to answer the following: should ambiguity be embraced, challenged, or questioned? The answer isn’t always clear. (Cynthia Mao)
God, Do I Hear Wedding Bells and Phillis: The American Revolutionary
eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Sunday, January 15. Wedding Bells, 5pm; Phillis, 6pm. Free. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org
Returning for its second year, eta’s Magic Box series features two works on Sunday: Wedding Bells, a reading, seeks to raise awareness of domestic violence through a comical twist. Redd Opera’s Phillis recounts the early life of our legendary activist poet, Phillis Wheatley. (Lorraine Lu)