BULLETIN
On Being with Krista Tippett: Ta-Nehisi Coates
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, 5850 S. Woodlawn Ave. Monday, October 16, 7pm–8:15pm. General admission $38, members $35, students and teachers $32. (312) 605-8444. bit.ly/OnBeingCoates
Krista Tippett brings her Peabody Award-winning podcast On Being to the UofC to interview acclaimed author and thinker Ta-Nehisi Coates. The two will discuss the ongoing role of race in the modern world as part of the show’s Civil Conversations Project. (Abigail Bazin)
Streetsblog Meetup
Baderbräu Brewery, 2515 S. Wabash Ave. Thursday, September 21, 6pm–8pm. bit.ly/StreetsblogBaderbrau
Local transportation news, analysis, and advocacy blog Streetsblog Chicago is hosting its monthly readers’ meetup on a different night this month (Thursday instead of Wednesday) so that it coincides with the launch of South Loop brewery Baderbräu’s bike night, which offers specials to patrons arriving “on two wheels,” as the event page puts it. Come, drink local craft beer, and talk about why the express train to O’Hare is such a dumb idea. (Sam Stecklow)
Harvest Fest
Perry Avenue Commons, 5749 S. Perry Ave. Saturday, September 23, 11am–3pm. Free. RSVP at
bit.ly/PerryCommonsHarvestFest
You don’t need to be in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to participate in a barn raising with your neighbors—join Emmanuel Pratt and the Sweet Water Foundation at Perry Avenue Commons, “a community hub and urban farm,” for Harvest Fest. The barn to be raised, the Thought Barn, is “a swing beam barn made from reclaimed materials,” and this event will kick off a series of events related to Pratt’s Radical [Re]Constructions installation at the Smart Museum. The Harvest Fest will also feature live music, art projects, tours, cooking, carpentry demonstrations, and, appropriately, hands-on harvesting. (Andrew Koski)
Work for Yourself @ 50+
Mather Lifeways, 33 E. 83rd St. Saturday, September 2, 9:30am–11:30am. Call (888) 339-5617 to register.
Concordia-Chicago and the Ridgeland Block Club Association will host the AARP workshop Work for Yourself @ 50+, which is “committed to helping older adults successfully run their own business” and is “designed to enable older adults to pursue self-employment by connecting them with trustworthy resources in their own communities.” Don’t miss out—according to Dr. Claudia Santin, dean of CUC’s College of Business, “People fifty-five to sixty-five are the only age group with rising rates of entrepreneurship, and twice as many successful entrepreneurs are over fifty than under twenty-five.” (Andrew Koski)
Peace First Chicago Challenge: Supporting Peaceful Communities Showcase
St Sabina’s McMahon Hall, 1210 W. 78th Pl. Saturday, September 23, 4pm–5:30pm. Free. Register at
bit.ly/PeaceFirstShowcase
This summer, the young people of the Peace First Chicago Challenge have been hard at work on projects to make Chicago safer and stronger, tackling issues from “gender violence, to the negative impact of gangs on friendships, to discrimination against immigrants.” This Saturday, ten teams will work with coaches to develop their plans and prepare presentations. During the showcase, members of the public will be able to meet these young peacemakers and talk about their projects, hear from former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and watch the closing ceremony, in which “each team will be awarded a project grant of up to $1,000 to continue to create change in their communities.” (Andrew Koski)
VISUAL ARTS
The Chicago Pancakes & Booze Art Show
Reggies, 2105 S. State Street. Friday, September 22-Sunday,September 24. 8pm-2am. $7-$12. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
The Chicago Pancakes & Booze Art Show, which claims to be “Chicago’s Premier Underground Art Show” and “an upbeat art show that appeals to the masses,” has a straightforward value proposition: there’s more than 100 artists displaying their work, a free pancake bar, and, of course, an actual bar with booze. Pancake-chomping aesthetes can check out live art demonstrations, and shake it to live DJ sets. (Joseph S. Pete)
Zine Share
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Avenue. 3012 S. Archer Ave. Sunday, September 24, 12:30pm-3pm. Free. (773) 324-5520. hydeparkart.org
You can swap zines, buy zines, talk about zines and even create zines at the Zine Share in Hyde Park. The gathering of zinesters will discuss why the resolutely old school form of self-publishing at a FedEx Kinko’s has remained such a critical art form in an online age. (Joseph S. Pete)
Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea
Shedd Aquarium, 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive. Opens Saturday, September 23. 9am-5pm weekdays, 9am-6pm weekends. Free for Illinois residents through September 30, otherwise $30-$40. (312) 939-2438. sheddaquarium.org
Behold giant sculptures of aquatic animals like sharks, seahorses, and penguins crafted entirely from plastic beach trash. Really makes you think before you litter. The larger-than-life sculptures that stand up to 6 feet tall and weigh up to 1,600 lbs. are scattered throughout the beloved aquarium on the Museum Campus. (Joseph S. Pete)
STAGE & SCREEN
Gang Girl
St. Sabina Church, 1210 W. 78th Pl. Friday, September 29, 6:30pm–8:30pm. (773) 483-4300. saintsabina.org
The Faith Community of St. Sabina and Women In Need of Discovering Own Worth (W.I.N.D.O.W) present the documentary Gang Girl: A Mother’s Journey to Save Her Daughter, by Valerie Goodloe. Goodloe, a photographer by profession, who said that she provided the typical middle-class lifestyle for her children, wrote and directed the film to shed light on the struggles girls encounter with gang involvement when she learned her own daughter had joined a gang. Following the movie will be a discussion with Goodloe on restoring mother/daughter relationships as well as reinforcing how gangs are not solely a problem among young men. Information will also be provided on how to participate in St. Sabina’s upcoming girls mentorship program. (Nicole Bond)
The Revival Open Mic
The Revival, 1160 E. 55th St. Saturday, September 23, 9:30pm, sign-up begins 9:15pm. $5. the-revival.com
Hosts Ben Noble and Adrienne Brandyburg invite all comedians, musicians, poets, and storytellers to take the stage and perform their original material, in front of a live audience. Vocalists can bring their own music tracks. (Nicole Bond)
Crowd Out Chicago
South Side community gatherings: Beverly Art Center, 2407 W. 111th St. Tuesday, September 19, 7pm–9pm. Kelly High School, 4136 S. California Ave. Wednesday, September 20, 6:30pm–8:30pm. Little Black Pearl Workshop, 1060 E. 47th St. Thursday, September 21, 5pm–7pm. Performance: AT&T Pavilion Cloud Gate (the Bean) and Chase Promenade in Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St. Sunday, October 1, 3pm. crowdoutchicago.org
Crowd Out Chicago is a composition performance for one thousand voices from all fifty wards of the city. This joint production by the Chicago Humanities Festival, Illinois Humanities, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang explores what it means to be part of a crowd. Does being in one make you feel isolation? Conflict? Or do you rise in unison with others? To be part of the one thousand amateur and professional performers across the city for this unique form of community-building, there are only two requirements. The first is to attend one of the preliminary community gatherings around the city to learn the piece. Each community gathering is led by a neighborhood singing group and is free. The second requirement is to register online to attend one of three remaining dress-rehearsals at various locations throughout the city. (Nicole Bond)
52nd SSCAC Art Auction Fundraiser
South Shore Cultural Center, 7050 South Shore Dr. Sunday, September 24, 5pm–9pm. (773) 373-1026. sscartcenter.org
Emmy-nominated actor, director, and producer Tim Reid will be the featured artist at this South Side Community Arts Center tradition. The auction will be selling the work of over sixty artists from eight states, various cities, and France; Antonio Davis will paint a piece live, to be the last piece auctioned. At a presumably less exorbitant price, Reid will also be selling and signing his new photo book, Anatomy of a Muse. (Julia Aizuss)
Five Guys Named Moe
Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. Through Sunday, October 8. (773) 753-4472. courttheatre.org
Five guys named, yes, Moe—Big, Four-Eyed, Eat, No, and Little—are the side characters comforting lonely, blues-singing Nomax in this musical tribute to saxophonist and songwriter Louis Jordan. Directed by Court Resident Artist Ron O.J. Parson as well as associate director (and frequent Court actor!) Felicia P. Fields, this is sure to be a soulful start to Court’s 2017-18 season. (Julia Aizuss)
Stations of the Elevated
Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave. Sunday, October 8, 1pm. Free. (773) 324-5520. southsideprojections.org
Those who got a taste of graffiti at HPAC’s graffiti jam last month, during the creation of the “Children of the Wall” interactive mural, will be just the right audience for this 1981 documentary about the graffitied landscape of 1970s New York. Graffiti is growing ever more recognized as an art form, but one of the questions that will be addressed in a post-screening discussion led by Chicago graffiti legend Gabriel “Flash” Carrasquillo Jr. is: “how much has society’s opinion of graffiti really changed?” (Julia Aizuss)
MUSIC
Fake Deep Release Party and Birthday Bash
Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Sunday, September 24, 6pm doors. $10 advance, $15 at the door. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
South Side born and raised rapper Loren, also known as Logan Cage, will be celebrating his birthday and the release of his album Fake Deep at Reggies, with Phindi, Domo and other special guests. (Adia Robinson)
Metz at Thalia Hall
Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St. Monday, September 25, 7:30pm doors, 8pm show. $16.50 advance, $20 at the door. 17+. (312) 526-3851. thaliahallchicago.com
Toronto-based three-piece band Metz performs at Thalia Hall just a few days after the release of their third album, Strange Peace. The album is described as a social commentary that “bludgeons and provokes, excites and unsettles” and was recorded in Chicago. (Adia Robinson)
Booker T Jones
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Sunday, October 1, 5pm doors, 6pm show. $48 tables, $38 per seat, $32 standing room. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com
Grammy Lifetime Achievement award-winner and inductee to both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Musicians Hall of Fame Booker T. Jones performs his boundary-pushing take on soul music at the Promontory—maybe with such boundary-dissolving hits as “Melting Pot.” (Adia Robinson)
Camp Lo
The Promontory, 5311 S. Lake Park Ave. Thursday, September 21, 7pm doors, 8pm show. 21+. $20 standing, $25 per seat, $30 VIP tables. (312) 801-2100. promontorychicago.com
Twenty years after their debut album, Camp Lo bring their latest work, Ragtime Hightimes, to this South Side performance. In this album, the hip-hop duo from the Bronx and their collaborator Ski Beatz are “pushing past boundaries while staying true to their creative vision.” Also performing will be the Los Angeles–based band Urban Renewal Project. (Adia Robinson)
The Skatalites
Reggies, 2105 S. State St. Thursday, September 21, 1pm. 17+. $15 advance, $18 day of show. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
Originally formed over fifty years ago, The Skatalites are considered one of the founding bands of the ska genre. As the band gained fame, they backed young artists from Toots and the Maytals to Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Even after ska developed into rocksteady and later reggae, the band reformed in the eighties to tour and bring their up-tempo ska beat worldwide. Featuring original alto sax Lester “Ska” Sterling and vocalist Doreen Shaffer, this legendary group should not to be missed. (Andrew Koski)