Bulletin
C$2 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. Thursday, May 5, 9am–11:30am. (312) 782-2698. RSVP at bit.ly/1X5lxFx. chipublib.bibliocommons.com
As the saying goes, the first step is admitting you have a problem. What, then, is to be done with the problem of a poverty “so deep that we, as a country, don’t think it exists?” Kathryn Edin, the author of $2.00 A Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, will grapple with this reality in a reading hosted by the Woods Fund of Chicago. (Christopher Good)
Disruption: The #BlackLivesMatter Imperative For Queer, Trans and Cis Bodies
Chicago Theological Seminary, 1407 E. 60th St. Thursday, May 5, 5pm–8pm. Free. (773) 896-2400. RSVP at bit.ly/1NiIHX5. ctschicago.edu
Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey from Boston University will deliver the Chicago Theological Seminary’s annual Gilberto Castañeda lecture, intended to foster theological discussion around LGBTQ issues. Lightsey has been heavily involved in the Black Lives Matter movement and is “currently the only out African American queer lesbian ordained as an elder in full connection in the United Methodist Church,” according to her Boston University faculty page. (Christian Belanger)
MLK Living Memorial: Marquette Park Walk
Inner-City Muslim Action Network, 2744 W. 63rd St. Saturday, May 7, 10:30am–12:30pm. Free. friendsofdowntown.org
Marquette Park is new to “Jane’s Walk,” a series of walking tours in city neighborhoods, but it’s not to walks of a more historical nature; in 1966, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Freedom Movement marched there amid vitriolic opposition. This event, celebrating Marquette’s vibrant African American, Muslim, and Jewish communities, will serve as a living monument to King until a physical monument is built this fall. (Neal Jochmann)
Funding Equity: Town Hall
Chavez Elementary Multicultural Academy Center, 4747 S. Marshfield Ave. Monday, May 9, 5:30pm–7:30pm. RSVP at bit.ly/1X50FhP
Come out this Monday to discuss Senate Bill 231, which would increase state funding of Chicago Public Schools, among other ways to improve equal access to quality education. The town hall is hosted by Illinois for Education Equity. State Senators Patricia Van Pelt and Andy Manar will be present. (Anne Li)
Mother’s Day Peace Celebration
Kennedy-King College Auditorium, 740 W. 63rd St. Saturday, May 7. Celebration noon–2pm; march at 2pm. Free. (773) 868-6667. earthheartfoundation.org
Who holds the keys to peace in our time? The answer, according to the EarthHeart Foundation, is mothers. Celebrate the importance of motherhood at this event, hosted by journalist Robin Robinson and featuring Kim Foxx, current Democratic candidate for State’s Attorney. A “Peace March” along 63rd Street will follow. (Hafsa Razi)
Visual Arts
“Picture Me” Student Exhibition
Mana Contemporary, 2233 S. Throop St. Open Thursday, May 5–Sunday, May 7, 11am–5pm; closing reception on Sunday, May 7, 2pm. Free. (312) 850-0555. manacontemporarychicago.com
Join a number of young Chicago artists for the fifteenth annual “Picture Me” exhibition, a selection of works created in the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s after-school teenage photography club. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then “Picture Me” is several paragraphs well worth reading. (Christopher Good)
Dialogues, re-Visioned
Cobalt Studio, 1950 W. 21st St. Opening reception Friday, May 6, 5pm–10pm; additional viewing Sunday, May 15, noon–5pm. Free. (773) 644-1163.
How do hospital gowns, quilts, and woven baskets speak to each other? Re-think the conversation with an emerging group of Chicago-based art therapists, who explore how the materials of everyday life can speak volumes about personal and shared experience. (Corinne Butta)
Art is What Resists, Even If It Is Not the Only Thing That Resists
Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St., Room 201. Friday, May 6, 4pm. Free. (773) 702-8596. arts.uchicago.edu
How, then, is this thing we call “art” resistance? Raymond Bellour, a world-class film critic and Critical Inquiry’s Distinguished Visiting Professor for Spring 2016, can’t promise any easy answers—but he will use the theorist Gilles Deleuze’s immortal words as a window into “the work of art,” “the struggles of men,” and “the act of resistance.” (Christopher Good)
Miguel Del Real: FREQUENCY
Pilsen Outpost, 1958 W. 21st St. Opening Friday, May 6, 6pm–9pm; exhibition runs Wednesday–Sunday, 10am–8pm; Monday–Tuesday by appointment. Through May 29. Free. (773) 492-2412. pilsenoutpost.com.
Get on Miguel Del Real’s frequency with his first solo show at Pilsen Outpost. The printmaker and muralist explores line and movement through calligraphy, Pre-Columbian patterning, and urban art. Be sure to stay for Del Real’s unveiling of a new zine and special edition t-shirt. (Corinne Butta)
Traveling Minds Opening Reception
Carlos & Dominguez Fine Arts Gallery, 1538 W. Cullerton St. Friday, May 6, 6pm–9pm. Free. (773) 580-8053. carlosanddominguez.weebly.com
Celebrate with the students of teaching artist Victoria Martinez—and their own students! This collaborative installation is the result of an artistic exchange between Pilsen-based high school and elementary students. That resulting artwork represents student perspectives on Pilsen architecture and identity. (Corinne Butta)
Music
Evil Sword
Archer Ballroom, 3012 S. Archer Ave. Thursday, May 5, 9pm. notdiychi.com.
Have you ever heard a funeral dirge with a recorder solo? From the slinky no wave basslines to the color guard drum bursts, Evil Sword’s hallucinogenic take on freak folk fills a niche that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Also performing: Toupee, Lovely Little Girls and Our Life Path. (Christopher Good)
Palm
WHPK, 5706 S. University Ave. Friday, May 6, 9pm—10:30pm. Free. (773) 702-8424. whpk.org/stream
Philly punk quartet Palm drops by WHPK FM this Friday to perform at the station’s weekly free Pure Hype show, open to the public. The band comes by fresh off a strong 2015, with two EPs under their belt that captured the flannel hearts of punk fans across the nation. (Bilal Othman)
Ragnarökkr Metal Apocalypse
Reggies Rock Club, 2105 S. State St. Friday-Saturday May 6-7, doors 5pm on Friday, 4pm on Saturday. $40 for single day pass, $80 for two day pass. 17+ for Rock Club, 21+ for Music Joint. (312) 949-0120. reggieslive.com
Metal appreciation in the United States is on a decline that only two nights of head banging can fix. Over seventeen bands and their die-hard fans, known as einherjar, will converge on Reggies at the bequest of THOR and ODIN to join in the “final battle” for the glory of the genre. (Emily Lipstein)
Silk and Soul
Punch House, 1227 W. 18th St. Wednesday, May 11, 9pm. Free. (312) 526-3851 punchhousechicago.com.
Put on your most purple suit, get in your little red Corvette, and party like it’s 1999 as Vietnam-native DJ KJH guides attendees through the hits of late legend Prince. KJH plans not just to play Prince’s iconic hits, but also songs from the Purple One’s much-vaunted songwriting career. Show up next Wednesday to honor the wide-spanning genius of a legend gone too soon. (Kezie Nwachukwu)
Stage & Screen
In My Father’s House
Studio Movie Grill, 210 W. 87th St., Thursday, May 5, 7pm. $6. (773) 322-1450. southsideprojections.org
“In my father’s house are many mansions,” goes the bible verse, but in this 2015 documentary, screened by South Side Projections in partnership with Black World Cinema, award-winning rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith returns to his childhood home on the South Side to reconnect with the father who abandoned him as a kid. (Camila Cuesta and Julia Aizuss)
Golub & Golub: Late Works are the Catastrophes
Kartemquin Films. Streaming online from Friday, May 6 – Thursday, May 12. Free. (773) 472-4366. kartemquin.com
Nasty, brutish, and only available for a short time? As Kartemquin continues to ring in its semi-centennial, two documentaries on the Monster Roster’s own Leon Golub will be made available for free streaming online. Even one decade after his death, Golub’s visceral depictions of graft and despots are as compelling as they are horrifying. (Christopher Good)
milkwhite + pool (no water)
Chicago Art Department West, 1932 S. Halsted #100. Friday, May 6–Sunday, May 8; 7–9pm. Contains nudity and adult language; recommended for mature audiences. (312) 725-4223. www.bit.ly/kinematix
Chicago’s Kinematics theatre collective will present two plays: Mark Ravenhill’s pool (no water), a vicious look at high art in low places, and the world premiere of Anthony Kochensparger’s milkwhite, a “one-act play about becoming invincible.” Both titles might be stylized in lowercase, but there’s nothing understated about the razor-sharp insights they share. (Christopher Good)
Seeds of Disunion: Imitation of Life
Black Cinema House, 7200 S. Kimbark Ave. Friday, May 6, 7pm–10pm. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org
Black Cinema House’s series picks up this month with a title familiar from last month’s installment: Imitation of Life, this time Douglas Sirk’s 1959 remake. Still following the story of an African-American daughter hoping to pass for white and abandon her roots, this adaptation attempted to modernize the characters for an audience watching amid the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. (Camila Cuesta and Julia Aizuss)
Spring Awakening Staged Reading
Augustana Lutheran Church, 5500 S. Woodlawn Ave. Friday, May 6, 8pm. $5 at the door. hydeparkcommunityplayers.org
This compelling hour-long production, performed by the Hyde Park Community Players, consists of songs from the 2006 musical, with text from the 1891 play embedded throughout. Got questions? Be sure to take advantage of post-show snacks and discussion with the Players themselves. (Neal Jochmann)
100 Hauntings: Storytelling Workshop
Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative, 1456 E 70th St. Saturday, May 7, 4:30pm—6:30pm. Free. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org
“What haunts Chicago?” To answer this question, join the artists of Free Street Theater, as they lead all-ages workshops on crafting and performing ghost stories at the intersection of personal experience and the history of the South Side. (Neal Jochmann)
Migration
eta Creative Arts Foundation, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave. Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 3pm between Friday, April 29–Sunday, June 19, 3pm. $35. (773) 752-3955. etacreativearts.org
The history of the great migration can be overwhelming—a confluence of important cultural strains, people, and institutions all loaded with historical import. Migration tries to capture the complicated interactions that brought thousands of African Americans to northern cities through music, dance, and dialogue. (Adam Thorp)
Lit
Cook County ICU at the Seminary Co-op
Seminary Co-op Bookstore, 5751 S. Woodlawn Ave. Wednesday, May 4, 6pm. Free, book $16.95. (773) 752-4381. semcoop.com
This Wednesday the Co-op will host a discussion with Dr. Cory Franklin, the former director of intensive care at Cook County Hospital. He’s just come out with a book about the “thirty years of unforgettable patients and odd cases” seen during his time at the hospital. Mark Siegler, professor of medicine at the UofC, will be joining him to discuss the book. (Jake Bittle)
K.B. Jensen Book Launch
57th Street Books, 1301 E. 57th St. Saturday, May 7, 2pm. (773) 684-1300. semcoop.com
K. B. Jensen, founder of Indie City Writers, releases her second book, A Storm of Stories. Framed as the stories told by two people stranded during a whiteout storm, the tales travel across the globe as the two wait out the weather in rural Wisconsin. (Sarah Claypoole)
Greater Grand Crossing Speaks
Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island Ave. Saturday, May 7, 11am–12:30pm. Free. (312) 857-5561. rebuild-foundation.org
The Rebuild Foundation will play oral histories recorded between seniors and local teens, followed by a panel featuring some of those interviewed. The intergenerational interviews were hosted by Chicago Cares and recorded by StoryCorps in Chicago. Afterward, join the weekly public tour of the Stony Island Arts Bank. (Sarah Claypoole)
Krystyna Dabrowska Reading
University of Chicago Classics Building, 1010 E. 59th St., room 110. Wednesday, May 11, 6pm–7:30pm. Free, book $20. (773) 752-4381. semcoop.com
Krystyna Dabrowska, renowned poet and recipient of the Wisława Szymborska Prize, joins fellow poet Karen Kovacik and translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones for a discussion of Polish female poetry and the art of poetry translation. The event will be moderated by UofC professor Bożena Shallcross and will offer refreshments and a book signing afterward. (Kezie Nwachukwu)