The last installment of The Dorchester Projects’ Outdoor Home Movie Film Festival is this Thursday, August 11th at 9pm and will feature Live Musical Accompaniment… Sounds like a fantastic way to spend the last little chump change of summer. Organizers request you RSVP to dorchester.projects@gmail.com.

dance locally to vintage sounds culled from Dorchester Projects’ Dr. Wax Collection heavily leaning on music that ‘jus grew’ out of our community: this friday, june 24th, 7pm til 10pm.

bring your favorite summertime dish to share with friends

100% wax spun by dj ayana

from The Dr. Wax Collection

Chicagoans… Thaw out this Thursday (and every Third Thursday) with Simeon Viltz and DJ Ayana at the Groove Conspiracy. The revelry starts at 10pm. Dance, eat, drink, play pool, and catch a classic movie with subtitles (past features include The Best of Soul Train, Monkey Hustle, and The Last Dragon). Morseland is located at 1218 West Morse.

Wednesday nights this Summer, an Open mic for Open minds:
hosted by dimi d. & Fatimah
DJ talent & DJ Such N Such
Bring your poems, songs, videos, chants, interpretive dancing…etc.
JUST COME and bring your Positive Energy
FEATURED POETS= Kuumba Lynx

Thursday, February 18, 2010 @ 6:00 p.m.

Inspired by a modernist fascination with the “primitive,” the first half of the 20th century saw a developing aesthetic appreciation for objects from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, which formerly were dismissed as mere curiosities or classified as ethnographica. In this lecture, Christa Clarke of Newark Museum considers the influence of modernism in shaping Western perceptions of African art, as reflected in exhibition display as well as the formation of institutional and private collections in the United States. 

 The Art Institute of Chicago – Price Auditorium 111 South Michigan Ave                             Tickets FREE

art pictured: Fang; Gabon. Reliquary Figure (Nlo Bieri), Late 19th/early 20th century. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Wielgus.

In the mid-’70s, photographer Michael Abramson set his viewfinder on the South Side of Chicago, specifically the many clubs and lounges that served as Hothouses of street fashion (among them, the legendary High Chaparral and the Showcase Lounge). They reflected where blues, soul and disco collided:  a dream of grit and gold lamé.  The resulting photos have been compiled into the book A Light on the South Side.

The Numero Group presents:
A Light On The South Side
Release party, Discussion, and Social
Sunday, November 1st 2pm – 6pm
Chicago Cultural Center
Discussion with Michael Abramson and Rick Kogan in the Claudia Cassidy Theater
Reception in the G.A.R. Rotunda

Following the talk there will be a book signing and reception where Intelligentsia Coffee will be serving a special Numero-inspired creation, the 24-Carat Blend, and the Numero staff will be playing South Side classics in the G.A.R. Rotunda.

Portoluz, the music and culture organization borne out the ashes of Hothouse, presents a  community wide celebration and art-making event honoring those who’ve left us.

Help create a community ofrenda (see below), and make a calavera (or skull) to take home with you.

Music will be supplied by Jarochicanos, son jaracho youth group.

This event is family-friendly.

Saturday October 31st 3pm-5pm

at S.P.A.C.E. in Evanston

1245 Chicago Avenue

847-492-8860

admission is $5

Wednesday, August 19th from 7-8:30pm

Ronnie Kitchen and Martin Reeves – both released from prison on July 7th after being incarcerated for twenty-one years for crimes they did not commit – will share their personal stories with the community at Imagine Englewood If (1854 W Garfield Blvd). This is a special Café Society event co-sponsored by the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, The Public Square, and Imagine Englewood If.

Imagine Englewood “if” is a youth center whose mission is to strengthen and empower the greater Englewood community through teaching local youth healthy living, environmental awareness and positive communication skills.

According to Ronnie Kitchen, “We are a fist–and together, we can break down a corrupt and misguided criminal justice system through the abolition of the death penalty.”

Above photo by John Sundlof

Click here for their story, as reported by Chicago Public Radio, WBEZ.

Chicago is a hotbed for so many fields of creative art: among them printed arts.  From edgy magazines (Alarm, Stop Smiling, et al), to indie book publishers, comics, literary journals, and newspapers, there’s myriad ways to get high on ink!

Celebrate our collective literary history at the Printers’ Ball, organized by Poetry Magazine (an iconic magazine in its own right). 

Thanks to poetryfoundation.org for the info. 

Fifth Annual Printers’ Ball

Ludington Building
1104 South Wabash Avenue
5:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Admission to the Printers’ Ball is free and open to all ages.

Sneak previews of Printers’ Ball publications, preparations, and secret invitations are available at the official Printers’ Ball blog, Chicago Poetry Calendar: http://chicagopoetrycalendar.blogspot.com.

Special Attractions:

• Free ink on paper, including magazines, books, broadsides, and more
• Hidden treasures
• Printers’ Ball Library, hosted by the Alternative Press Center and the Chicago Underground Library, which invites you to spend quality time with quality print. Visit the library to browse all publications; learn more about your discoveries, what you might have missed, and where to find it; and connect directly with publishers and organizations through our one-stop mailing list and subscription kiosks.
• Busy Beaver ButtonOmatic
• Papermaking and book-binding demonstrations
• Letterpress, offset, and rubber stamp printing demonstrations
• Silkscreen demonstrations by Anchor Graphics
• Minibook-making lessons from Featherproof Books
• Ratso from Chic-A-Go-Go
• Live interviews by Chicago Subtext’s Amy Guth
• Elevated Diction, presented by Silver Tongue

 (“To Sir with Love, 1967)

According to the Chicago Park District, 170 current and classic movies will be shown in neighborhood parks throughout the city, through September.  I know many of us have missed the first program offerings, but here’s a list of recommendations for the final month of movies.  Lots to choose from…  Bring popcorn, a blanket, and may I suggest a basket of goodies? NOTE: Click the names of the parks below for their locations.

Highlights and Recommendations…

A 1967 British film in which Sidney Poitier stars as an idealist engineer-turned-teacher tries to turn around a rough inner city school.