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A surprising new play about how families fall apart—and find each other again—amidst turbulent global and social change. In 2003, newly-wed Layal and her family prepare to immigrate from Baghdad, Iraq, to a Chicago suburb. Seventeen years later, Layal’s life looks unimaginably different from what she had envisioned two decades prior, as she and her […]
A surprising new play about how families fall apart—and find each other again—amidst turbulent global and social change. In 2003, newly-wed Layal and her family prepare to immigrate from Baghdad, Iraq, to a Chicago suburb. Seventeen years later, Layal’s life looks unimaginably different from what she had envisioned two decades prior, as she and her […]
LabE is a series of monthly cohort meetings addressing particular needs of disabled dance artists. The LabE gathering on April 2nd is designed to be a safe, disability-centric space where artists can come together to share a work-in-progress, try out new ideas, workshop concepts, and experiment with new scores. Hosted by Maggie Bridger, this inclusive […]
A surprising new play about how families fall apart—and find each other again—amidst turbulent global and social change. In 2003, newly-wed Layal and her family prepare to immigrate from Baghdad, Iraq, to a Chicago suburb. Seventeen years later, Layal’s life looks unimaginably different from what she had envisioned two decades prior, as she and her […]
Join us in person for a lecture by distinguished alum Athena LaTocha followed by an audience Q&A. Location: The Art Institute of Chicago, Fullerton Hall, 111 S. Michigan Ave. Athena LaTocha (BFA 1992) is an artist whose massive works on paper explore the relationship between human-made and natural worlds. The artist incorporates materials such as […]
Shamel Pitts and the Brooklyn-based arts collective TRIBE debut an electrifying new live performance in their ongoing Red Series exploring Black multiplicity and human connection. The new work, titled Touch of RED, is a duet for two Black men set inside a contemporary boxing ring—a space that might traditionally suggest an aggressive competition between male […]
Designed and led by Chicago artists, Family Day is a monthly program at the MCA for all families and youth. Enjoy FREE admission while taking part in workshops, open studio sessions, gallery tours, and performances. Artist-Led Performance Raíces to Roots 1–2 pm 4th-floor lobby Join Raíces to Roots for a performance that celebrates and examines […]
Join us for a talk between On Stage: Frictions artist Shamel Pitts and Jafari S. Allen, author of There’s a Disco Ball Between Us: A Theory of Black Gay Life (2021), for a wide-ranging conversation on Pitts’ practice and current project with the MCA, Touch of RED. This event will be held off-site at Wirtz […]
Join the College of Architecture’s Master of Landscape + Urbanism Program on April 12, 2023 at 5pm for the annual Alfred Caldwell Lecture and explore the intersectionality of public space, art, and social justice. Devon Henry, Franklin Cosey-Gay, and Makeba Kedem DuBose will discuss how memory and representation have expanded the narrative about the built […]
Susanna Hoffs is a legend in the music industry. As the co-founder of the Bangles, she produced three platinum-selling albums and is the voice behind indelible pop hit after pop hit. Now, this famed songwriter has ventured into a new kind of writing with her debut novel, This Bird Has Flown, a story of music, […]
Join us for a panel on art writing with Camille Bacon, Amarie Cemone Gipson, Daria Simone Harper, and Jessica Lynne during the weekend of EXPO CHICAGO. Taking up the question of “poetics in practice,” the panel will consider the function and responsibility of art writing in the contemporary moment, the lineages we draw from and […]
We are delighted to be hosting Maggie Bridger on April 15 as part of her Crafting Care series. In anticipation of her performance “Scale”, Maggie is holding open crafting sessions centered around collectively creating objects of care—including masks, blankets, and cushions. The culmination of our care work, made visible in the items we craft together, […]
The MCA Advisory Partner organization Bodies of Work invites you to Access Praxis, a collaborative and participatory event in The Commons. Combining theory and practice, “praxis” is ideas in action. […]
The Chicago Poetry Center presents BLUE HOUR, a free, public monthly in-person reading series and generative writing workshop. Blue Hour is in-person for this season! Each event takes place at […]
Join us for a reading and conversation with Renee Gladman, Eileen Myles, and Simone White as they celebrate their new book releases. In Renee Gladman’s Plans for Sentences, Eileen Myles’s […]
Rainn Wilson–beloved comedic actor, producer, writer–brings his unique perspective and humor to the traumas of our modern world. Wilson is calling for a Soul Boom, a spiritual revolution that could […]
Join us for a reading and celebration of the diverse voices, rich experiences, and powerful words of poets from around the country, and the world. Poets working in the online […]
Kohl Children’s Museum was specifically designed to be inclusive of all children and adults regardless of ability. The Museum’s 17 exhibits and 2 acres of outdoor explorations are designed for play with a purpose and encourage linguistic, cognitive, motor, and social skills for children ages birth through 8. The Museum works collaboratively with community organizations […]
The exhilarating work of Chicago’s next generation of filmmakers is showcased in this eclectic collection that celebrates the vast array of creative expressions emerging from our city. These films will […]
The exhilarating work of Chicago’s next generation of filmmakers is showcased in this eclectic collection that celebrates the vast array of creative expressions emerging from our city. Note: Films in […]
Comedian Lane Moore wrote the book on How To Be Alone but building real, healthy friendships as an adult is ten times more difficult! In her new book You Will […]
Join us for a reading celebrating new book releases by Poetry Foundation staff and friends: Adrian Matejka, Maggie Queeney, Charif Shanahan, and Patricia Smith. Get to know some of the […]
Monique and her daughter Sam are on the run. From what, they will not say. Showing up on their family’s doorstep in Brooklyn, the surprise visit raises more questions than […]
A family verges on bankruptcy while their country stands on the brink of revolution. Endings and beginnings. Bittersweet departures. The comedy of life. When Madame Ranevskaya returns to her heavily-mortgaged estate on the eve of its auction, the aristocratic widow finds that the fate of much more than her beloved orchard hangs in the balance. […]
Congresswoman Katie Porter is known for challenging those in power and using her iconic whiteboard to demand answers on behalf of the American people. However, few know of her journey from Iowa farm girl to a single mom who had never run for office defying expectations by winning her seat in a historically conservative district […]
In April 1952 Ralph Ellison published Invisible Man, his first and only finished novel and a work that is regarded today as one of the most important American literary works of the twentieth century and a stark account of America’s racial divisions. Alongside Ellison’s notable written works survives an archive of photographs he took throughout […]
As Minnesota’s Attorney General, Keith Ellison prosecuted the police officers in the murder trial of George Floyd and grappled with how to deliver justice to the Floyd family while putting an end to police brutality once and for all. Now, in the face of new stories of police abuse filling the news once again, Ellison […]
Democrat Beto O’Rourke rose to national prominence with competitive campaigning in Republican Texas. Now, the former El Paso Congressman is turning his energy toward voting rights, an essential part of a productive democracy. In his new book, We’ve Got to Try: How the Fight for Voting Rights Makes Everything Else Possible, O’Rourke connects voting rights […]
With the nominations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, and the subsequent reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court has taken a dramatic turn to the right. Gain insight into how we got here and the changing judicial landscape with a panel of experts: CNN senior legal analyst Joan Biskupic, whose […]
A family verges on bankruptcy while their country stands on the brink of revolution. Endings and beginnings. Bittersweet departures. The comedy of life. When Madame Ranevskaya returns to her heavily-mortgaged estate on the eve of its auction, the aristocratic widow finds that the fate of much more than her beloved orchard hangs in the balance. […]
One of the greatest tensions in American society exists between preserving freedom of speech and respecting the sensitivities of marginalized communities, and it has been manifesting increasingly in academics, business, and the arts. Ayad Akhtar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, novelist, and President of PEN America, joins Interfaith America Founder and President Eboo Patel in conversation […]
Jane Austen is famously a writer of comedy, but many readers turn to her work in times of difficulty and sorrow, not merely to escape, but because Austen, with her wonderful capacity for surprise, seems to make room for these darker times. So author Rachel Cohen found during the period of ordinary joys and sorrows […]
Writer and comedian Scott Aukerman’s weekly podcast, Comedy Bang! Bang!, is filled with zany characters, celebrity interviews, and chaotic improv. It's now available as a book, Comedy Bang! Bang! The Podcast: The Book, and features brand-new anecdotes and opinions from characters of the iconic show. Join Aukerman and Mark Bazer, host of The Interview Show, […]
Miranda July has gained a cult following over the span of her award-winning career as a filmmaker (Me and You and Everyone We Know and Kajillionaire), writer (No One Belongs Here More Than You), and artist (her latest project, Services, is both a sculpture and a book). Chill with July and acclaimed musician, actor, and […]
Will Rawls presents a new interdisciplinary work, , that addresses the relationship between blackness and image-making through a live performance accompanied by a video installation on the museum’s first floor. Encompassing dance, photography, and sound, experiments with stop-motion, a filmmaking technique in which subjects incrementally shift positions between photographs to produce the illusion of movement. […]
A family verges on bankruptcy while their country stands on the brink of revolution. Endings and beginnings. Bittersweet departures. The comedy of life. When Madame Ranevskaya returns to her heavily-mortgaged estate on the eve of its auction, the aristocratic widow finds that the fate of much more than her beloved orchard hangs in the balance. […]
When most people think of the history of modern conservatism, they think of Ronald Reagan. This leaves out the current ideals of conservatism, the recent presidency of Donald Trump, and the ambiguous future of the Republican party. Co-founder of The Washington Free Beacon, Matthew Continetti (The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism), American Journalist […]
As the former Cook County public defender, Allen Goodman has dedicated his life to defending his clients against routine police abuse, prosecutorial misconduct, and unjust sentencing. We are excited to welcome him to the Chicago Humanities stage for a conversation with Rudi Batzell, assistant professor of history at Lake Forest College, on Goodman’s memoir Everyone […]
A family verges on bankruptcy while their country stands on the brink of revolution. Endings and beginnings. Bittersweet departures. The comedy of life. When Madame Ranevskaya returns to her heavily-mortgaged estate on the eve of its auction, the aristocratic widow finds that the fate of much more than her beloved orchard hangs in the balance. […]
In the second half of the 20th century, Chicago has grown into a Latino metropolis, boasting flourishing neighborhoods such as Pilsen and Little Village. Despite Mexican Chicagoans facing intersecting forces of wealth-driven gentrification and anti-immigrant policies, Chicago has become a city of refuge, mutual aid, and economic power. Join Professor of History at Georgetown University […]
Tony Award-winning playwright of the theatrical phenomenon The Vagina Monologues, V (formerly Eve Ensler) sits down for an unflinching conversation about her newest, deeply personal work, Reckoning. On her travels from Berlin to Oklahoma to the Congo, V has spent her life spearheading global movements to end homelessness, the climate disaster, and especially violence against […]
The preeminent African American pop artist of his generation, Chicago-born Hebru Brantley straddles the worlds of fine art, street art, and hip-hop, while he’s name-dropped in rap songs and collected by the likes of Jay-Z and LeBron James. Join Chicago Humanities for an upbeat, life-affirming chat about the work of this painter, sculptor, and designer […]
Poetry @ The Green returns for the summer season this May! The Chicago Poetry Center and The Green at 320 S. Canal are proud to reintroduce this free, weekly reading and open mic series co-curated by CPC’s Poets in Residence Tarnynon Onumonu and Timothy David Rey. Join us on certain Monday nights in May at […]
A young violinist and her song collector boyfriend flee the confines of their Brooklyn apartment to the mountains of North Carolina, where the Appalachian music of Mira’s childhood is just the authentic inspiration they’re searching for. When they descend on her old family home, and an estranged grandfather she’s never mentioned, the unexpected complexity of […]