ASL Performance!!
Use code: WTASL2425 for $30.00 tickets!
If you experience any difficulties with redeeming this promo code, please contact the box office directly at 847-242-6000 or at boxoffice@writerstheatre.org.
Iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a woman who lived boldly, loved wildly, and painted prolifically in order to see herself and the world around her more clearly. Witness this extraordinary figure come to life onstage through playwright and performer Vanessa Severo, who brings breathtaking physicality and raw honesty to this stunningly creative production. With music and movement, Vanessa cracks open a powerful portal between herself and Frida, uncovering insights into the painter’s physical limitations, complex love life, addictions, and, of course, the beauty in her art.
Open Caption Performance!!
Use code: WTOC2425 for $30.00 tickets!
If you experience any difficulties with redeeming this promo code, please contact the box office directly at 847-242-6000 or at boxoffice@writerstheatre.org.
Iconic Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was a woman who lived boldly, loved wildly, and painted prolifically in order to see herself and the world around her more clearly. Witness this extraordinary figure come to life onstage through playwright and performer Vanessa Severo, who brings breathtaking physicality and raw honesty to this stunningly creative production. With music and movement, Vanessa cracks open a powerful portal between herself and Frida, uncovering insights into the painter’s physical limitations, complex love life, addictions, and, of course, the beauty in her art.
Sound Bath at LaSalle Hotel Chicago
Join us for a transformative and immersive Sound Bath experience led by Christie, certified sound healer at the stunning LaSalle Hotel in Chicago. Step into an oasis of calm as you’re enveloped by soothing sounds and harmonious vibrations designed to quiet the mind, release tension, and rejuvenate the spirit. In this tranquil setting, allow yourself to drift into a state of deep relaxation and healing, as the tones of crystal singing bowls and other sound healing instruments restore balance and harmony.
After the Sound Bath, take time to explore our vendors, showcasing an array of unique, handcrafted products from talented local artisans. It’s a perfect opportunity to find something special, whether for yourself or a loved one, and support Chicago’s creative community.
Held at the beautiful LaSalle Hotel at 208 S La Salle St, this event promises a blissful day of relaxation, connection, and conscious shopping. Mark your calendars and invite friends to share in this experience of peace and rejuvenation!
Vendors will be available from 6:30pm-6:50pm and 7:50pm to 8:30pm
The sound bath will take place promptly at 7:00pm-7:45pm
What to bring:
A yoga mat (if you don’t have one, mats will be made available)
Support for your head and knees
A blanket if you tend to be cold
Water (if you don’t bring one, bottled water is available)
A friend, the more the merrier
Street parking is free after 6pm along with paid options being available at nearby garages. Uber/Lyft or Spot Hero are options to consider. Give yourself ample time for parking.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Christie Edwards, sound bath facilitator via email christie.r.edwards@gmail.com
Accessibility: For individuals who utilize a wheelchair they can access the space using the side elevator to access the ballroom. They would need to check in at the 21st floor and someone would be able to direct them to the side elevator that leads to the ballroom.
Sound Bath at LaSalle Hotel Chicago + Vendor Pop-Up
Join us for a transformative and immersive Sound Bath experience led by Christie, certified sound healer at the stunning LaSalle Hotel in Chicago. Step into an oasis of calm as you’re enveloped by soothing sounds and harmonious vibrations designed to quiet the mind, release tension, and rejuvenate the spirit. In this tranquil setting, allow yourself to drift into a state of deep relaxation and healing, as the tones of crystal singing bowls and other sound healing instruments restore balance and harmony.
After the Sound Bath, take time to explore our Vendor Pop-Up, showcasing an array of unique, handcrafted products from talented local artisans. It’s a perfect opportunity to find something special, whether for yourself or a loved one, and support Chicago’s creative community.
Held at the beautiful LaSalle Hotel at 208 S La Salle St, this event promises a blissful day of relaxation, connection, and conscious shopping. Mark your calendars and invite friends to share in this experience of peace and rejuvenation!
The sound bath will take place promptly at 1pm-1:45pm
Vendors will be available from 1:45pm-3pm
What to bring:
A yoga mat (if you don’t have one, mats will be made available)
Support for your head and knees
A blanket if you tend to be cold
Water (if you don’t bring one, bottled water is available)
A friend, the more the merrier
Paid street parking is available in addition to nearby garages. Uber/Lyft or Spot Hero are options to consider. Give yourself ample time for parking.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Christie Edwards, sound bath facilitator via email christie.r.edwards@gmail.com
Accessibility: sensory friendly.
Four Athenians run away to the forest in the name of love (reciprocated and otherwise) and unknowingly find themselves in the crossfires of a war between the king and queen of the fairies. In the midst of this conflict, local workers are attempting (poorly) to rehearse a play to celebrate the upcoming nuptial of Duke Theseus to Queen Hippolyta. All the while, the mischievous Puck is guiding events and creating chaos for fairies and mortals alike.
Visiting Artist Program
Presented in partnership with SAIC’s Wellness Center.
This event will be live captioned by Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) services. The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and hearing assisted devices are available. For additional access requests, visit saic.edu/access.
Join us for a lecture by artist Martin O’Brien followed by an audience Q & A.
Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Explore the Visiting Artists Program homepage for visitor information, recordings of past events, and more.
Martin O’Brien is an artist and zombie. He works across performance, writing, and video art. O’Brien has cystic fibrosis and all of his work and writing draws upon this experience. His work uses long durational actions, short speculative texts, critical rants, and performance processes in order to explore death and dying, what it means to be born with a life-shortening disease, and the philosophical implications of living longer than expected. He has shown work throughout the UK, Europe, the US, and Canada and is well known for his solo performances and collaborations with the legendary LA artist and dominatrix Sheree Rose. His most recent works were at Tate Britain in 2020 and the ICA London in 2021, and he was Writer in Residence at Whitechapel Gallery in 2023. He is the winner of the Philip Leverhulme Prize for Visual and Performing Arts 2022. In 2018, the book Survival of the Sickest: The Art of Martin O’Brien was published by Live Art Development Agency. His work has been featured on BBC radio and Sky Arts television and as a double-page spread in The Guardian. He is currently senior lecturer in Live Art at Queen Mary University of London.
Join us for an evening that brings the soul of Chicago’s neighborhoods to the big screen! Experience the powerful stories of our community through the lens of three talented Chicago residents from the 2023-24 Community Storytellers program:
Alexie Young
Take 290 (15:53; North Lawndale, Westside)
Directed by Sanicole
Written by George Ellzey Jr.
A defeated artist from the Westside of Chicago finds inspiration in the common ground she discovers through a spontaneous interaction with an art curator from the Southside.
Laura Sáenz
Artista (11:23; Little Village)
Directed by Juan Linares
Written by Christian Mejia
An immigrant child uncovers a world of magic and possibility through the arts at their school.
Brian Herrera
Ask A Punk (15:28; Little Village)
Directed by Kevin Contento
Written by Teri Carson
A non-binary queer teen cultivates community, individuality, and resilience through the subculture of the DIY punk scene in Little Village.
From the spirited journey of an artist finding connection in the city, to the magical exploration of a young immigrant’s discovery of art, and the vibrant resilience within the DIY punk scene, these shorts illuminate the unique experiences and voices that shape our communities.
This event not only showcases these compelling narratives but also fosters a sense of belonging and community connection. Join us for a moderated conversation following the screening, featuring all three Storytellers and key members from their film’s respective casts and crews, including:
Sanicole Young (Director, Take 290)
Dayeliz Richardson (Lead Actor, Artista)
Teri Carson (Screenwriter, Ask A Punk)
Together, we’ll dive deeper into the creative process and the importance of telling stories that reflect our neighborhoods.
Please note: Registration does not guarantee entry. Seats will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to arrive early for prime seating and to engage with fellow attendees, as we celebrate and honor the vibrant narratives that define our community!
Accessibility: The venue entrance has push-button doors. The theater features 3 accessible seats which are paired with companion seats, if needed, and have been set aside next to each wheelchair-accessible area. CART captioning, live English audio description, and Spanish interpretation will be available. For additional accommodation requests, we encourage you to complete your registration at least 72 hours before the event to help ensure we can accommodate them.
Calm Waters is an exclusive event for guests with disabilities and Veterans to explore Shedd Aquarium’s exhibits and experiences in a comfortable and accepting environment. Modifications for this event will include limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration.
Modifications for Calm Waters Include:
Limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration
A sensory friendly app
A low-sensory animal spotlight with American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation
An animal encounter opportunity
Complimentary 4D Experiences during the event
Family members and companions are welcome.
https://www.sheddaquarium.org/plan-a-visit/accessibility/calm-waters
For FREE tickets, us promo code SEAL2024 at checkout.
Join us for a night of still sounds and static lights at ZooLights.
This ticket is for the zoo’s sensory-friendly visit option on Wednesday, December 4, from 4:30 to 9 p.m.
During this special night, all blinking or moving lights will remain static or turned off, while the music will be turned down or off. Nightly capacity is limited to foster a safe and enjoyable guest experience, meaning there’s more space to enjoy the beautiful lights with your family and friends!
All ticket sales support the zoo’s world-class animal care, global conservation, and innovative learning programs.
Lincoln Park Zoo works to minimize barriers and ensure that everyone can fully experience the zoo. We are dedicated to ensuring zoo programs, spaces, and facilities are accessible to all. Please visit lpzoo.org/accessibility for more information.
For FREE tickets, us promo code SEAL2024 at checkout.
https://tickets.lpzoo.org/events/01920b38-2249-dd1a-38f9-ca9050081886
Accessibility: Sensory-Friendly
KCM welcomes children with disabilities and their families for an afternoon of learning and play focused on them. Our Museum campus is designed for universal accessibility with a purpose to encourage linguistic, cognitive, motor and social skills for all children ages birth to 8. -16 hands-on Museum exhibits. -One-on-one interactive activities with trained, registered therapy animals and other partners. -Quiet room for stimulation breaks. -Museum staff providing play support and guidance. -A free family pass for 4 to return to the Museum.
Accessibility: Sensory Friendly
KCM welcomes children with disabilities and their families for an afternoon of learning and play focused on them. Our Museum campus is designed for universal accessibility with a purpose to encourage linguistic, cognitive, motor and social skills for all children ages birth to 8. -16 hands-on Museum exhibits. -One-on-one interactive activities with trained, registered therapy animals and other partners.-Quiet room for stimulation breaks. -Museum staff providing play support and guidance. -A free family pass for 4 to return to the Museum.
Accessibility: Sensory Friendly
https://www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org/outreach-programs/eap/
Halloween Creepy Crawlies is a family friendly dance production that explores the mysteries of Halloween through a lost ghost’s search for her haunted home. On her way, she is helped by Ballerina Witches, Jazzy Vampires, Modern-Dancing Mummies and even a Jack O’ Lantern named Jake! Join us on October 12 + 13 at Dovetail Studios for this Halloween adventure!
This project is partially supported by an Individual Artists Program grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and is a part of the Dovetail Studios 16×2 performance program. It is presented in an ADA compliant venue.
This production was created by Mariah Eastman, artistic director of Darvin Dances, a Chicago based modern/contemporary dance company. Along with six professional dancers, there are two young dancers from the Chicago community participating in this production (dancers are based at Dovetail Studios and Dance on Broadway). The choreography was created by Mariah Eastman with Alicia Wilson choreographing for the young dancers. Illustrations were created by Nat Thomas (https://natthomas.work/work) with lighting design by Richard Norwood.
Accessibility includes: wheelchair accessibility, all gender restrooms, and digital documents available.
ASL performance of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Writers Theatre!
$30.00 Tickets! Promo Code: ASLNatasha
(Please enter code before selecting seat. If you run into any issues please give the box office a call at 847-242-6000)
“There’s a war going on somewhere out there, and Andrey isn’t here.” Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. But when she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, family friend Pierre must push through his existential crisis to help Natasha pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation. Based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel War and Peace, this innovative musical spectacle took Broadway by storm with its “electropop opera” score, earning 12 Tony Award nominations. Katie Spelman and Matt Deitchman, the inspired creative team behind WT’s hit production of Once, reunite to bring this modern spin on a literary classic to Chicago for the first time.
Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals. www.concordtheatricals.com
Accessibility: open captions, ASL interpretation, assistive listening devices
https://www.writerstheatre.org/natasha-pierre-and-the-great-comet-of-1812
Expect unfiltered stories and insights as these two friends and collaborators take the stage to discuss their rise in New York’s alt-cabaret and improv comedy scene to starring roles in HBO’s Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series, Somebody Somewhere. After a short screening of the Season 3 premiere episode, Everett and Hiller will share behind-the-scenes stories from the new season and career anecdotes with the witty charm for which the series is known. Don’t miss this opportunity to see these larger-than-life personalities and stars up close and personal in an intimate, no-holds-barred discussion.
Accessibility includes wheelchair accessibility and assistive listening devices.
https://chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/bridget-everett-jeff-hiller/
The New York Times bestselling author and adored comedian Randy Rainbow has a few things on his mind that he wants to talk about in his newest essay collection, Low-Hanging Fruit. As a savvy social commentator who is keenly attuned to the public discourse, Randy’s unfailing intuition tells him that the perspective everyone in America is clamoring for is that of a privileged white male complaining about a bunch of stuff. So join Chicago Humanities as Randy tackles the most pressing issues facing the U.S., from dancing TikTok grandmas to Elon Musk, the GOP, and Donald Jessica Trump.
Accessibility includes wheelchair accessibility, open captioning and assistive listening devices.
The Curator Presents, a solo show by Madeline Esterhammer-Fic, is a one-woman play that explores the feelings of isolation, fear, and hope experienced during the height of COVID. Madeline will be playing the Curator, a character who works at the fictional World COVID Museum of Chicago. By providing a platform for discussion and incorporating humor into the narrative, the play seeks to offer a space for healing and reflection on the challenges faced during the pandemic.
Accessibility includes ASL Interpretation.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-curator-presents-tickets-984271441377?aff=oddtdtcreator
MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD is a musical odyssey of imagination. Through vibrant song, expressive dance, and a whole lot of imagination, this magical, musical journey takes us through the mind of a child, as he learns to see the world as it really is. A journey from house to home, this play is a real ride!
Adapted for the stage by Terry Guest
Music by Christian Albright & Christian Magby
Based on the book by Newbery-winning children’s author Matt de la Peña & illustrator Christian Robinson
Directed by Mikael Burke
MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD runs 65 minutes and is recommended for ages 6 & up.
Accessibility includes Audio Description and a Touch Tour.
https://chicagochildrenstheatre.org/event/milo-imagines-the-world/
MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD is a musical odyssey of imagination. Through vibrant song, expressive dance, and a whole lot of imagination, this magical, musical journey takes us through the mind of a child, as he learns to see the world as it really is. A journey from house to home, this play is a real ride!
Adapted for the stage by Terry Guest
Music by Christian Albright & Christian Magby
Based on the book by Newbery-winning children’s author Matt de la Peña & illustrator Christian Robinson
Directed by Mikael Burke
MILO IMAGINES THE WORLD runs 65 minutes and is recommended for ages 6 & up.
Accessibility includes ASL interpretation and Open Captions.
https://chicagochildrenstheatre.org/event/milo-imagines-the-world/
It has been twenty-five years since publication of bestseller, The Tipping Point. Let’s join Malcolm Gladwell as he reveals a fresh reframing of his groundbreaking first book in a startling new light. Hear the always provocative Gladwell revisit the phenomenon of social epidemics and the ways in which we have learned to tinker with and shape the spread of ideas, viruses, and trends—sometimes with great success, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Don’t miss this thought-provoking discussion skating on the double-edged sword of viral phenomena in our world.
This event will have Open Captions and ALDs onsite.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/malcolm-gladwell/
Spend the day with us at UIC Forum! Check out the event link to see the full festival lineup. Please note that ticket prices and accessibility offerings vary by event; visit our event pages or call our box office for specific details.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/?sort=venue&view=day&fromDate=2024-10-05
Join us for a thrilling evening with two-time Emmy Award-winning comedian Kate McKinnon as she unveils her debut novel and a new series for quirky tweens and young adult readers aged 8-12, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science. The former SNL cast member, no stranger to creating wonderfully wild characters, digs into her creative process and how her childhood love of adventure and the natural world inspired this years-in-the-making imaginative literary expression. Don’t miss this uproarious opportunity to witness Kate’s hilarious intersection of maniacal genius and proper etiquette!
This event will have open captions and ALDs onsite.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/kate-mckinnon/
Join Abra Berens in conversation with Greta Johnsen for delicious insights into innovative recipes with simple and sustainable ingredients. With a background in Midwestern farming, the celebrated author and chef shares her farm-to-table approach with tips for the climate and your own kitchen. Walk away with a packet of seasonal recipes and inspiration to start conversations around your own table!
This event will have ALDs onsite at the Box Office.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/abra-berens-x-greta-johnsen/
The Neo-Futurists present an ADA-Accessible and ASL-interpreted performance of The Infinite Wrench in partnership with Free Street Theater at Pulaski Park.
At THE INFINITE WRENCH you’ll see thirty original plays in sixty minutes, written and performed by The Neo-Futurist Ensemble.Each play offers something different, be it funny, profound, elegant, disgusting, topical, irreverent, terrifying, or a song; all are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. With new plays every week, THE INFINITE WRENCH is The Neo-Futurists’ ongoing and ever-changing attempt to shift the conventions of live performance and speak to those unreached or unmoved by traditional theater.
The Infinite Wrench will be preceded by a performance from the Free Street Youth Ensemble. Free Street will present a short excerpt from one of their recent works. Since 1969, Free Street Theater has been at the forefront of creating inclusive & accessible theatre in Chicago. Free Street is a femme-led arts and culture organization that centers original performance work by Black, Brown, and Immigrant communities; queer artists; youth artists; and work that is committed to the thriving and well-being of people on the South and West Sides of the city. We believe in the theater as a space to uplift joy and justice, especially racial, economic, and environmental justice in Chicago.
Tickets to this performance are pay-what-you-can. Please reserve them in advance. Masks are required.
Accessibility: ASL Interpreter
Acclaimed author Jesmyn Ward is a MacArthur Genius Grant winner and the first woman and Black American to win the National Book Award for Fiction twice. Join moderator Natalie Moore for an evening with this literary powerhouse as she dives into her latest novel, Let Us Descend. Set in the antebellum South during the early 1800s, the story describes a haunting journey of a young slave girl from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans. Landing on Oprah’s Book Club and several best book of 2023 lists, Ward’s lyrical prose and unflinching narrative confront the brutal realities of enslavement. Join a rigorous discussion on Ward’s contribution to the African American literary canon.
Accessibility: Assistive Listening Devices, Open Captions, Audio Description
Summer Screenings is Cinema/Chicago’s annual free film series that casts a spotlight on a different country’s national cinema each week all summer.
These shorts, all featured at past Festivals, display the brilliance and variety of our city’s incredible filmmakers. They explore a friendship in crisis (A Real One), the sisterhood bonds (Video Funeral), the inherent comedy of an overprotective mother (Grizzlies), a meditative cab ride (Saya), the meaning of success (Winning in America) and a supernatural animation (Step Into the River).
DIRECTED BY McKenzie Chinn, Linh Tran, Fawzia Mirza, Anam Abbas, Alex Heller, Weijia Ma, and Amrita Singh
Accessibility includes open captions and wheelchair accessibility.
Synapse Arts turns 20! The Birthday Bash is a celebration of Synapse Arts in a welcoming, festival-type environment.
All attendees will get a cupcake and have access to our open events: performances, dance films screenings, games.
But when you donate at the level of your choice, you can add some additional flair to your Birthday Bash experience, including a Interactive Museum tour, pre-registration for dance classes, and more!
Please see accessibility features available at the event:
– Sensory considerations
– ASL events
– Front desk people trained on welcoming service animals
– Spaces accessible for wheelchair users and people with mobility assistance devices
– Rest area (with Maggie Bridger, a sick and disabled dance artist, scholar, and access worker interested in re-imagining pain through the dancemaking process)
– All gender restrooms
– Masks available and encouraged but unable to require due to park
For additional assistance, questions, or to request specific accommodations, please contact info@synapsearts.com or text 947-2CREATE (947-227-3283).
Orientation video with captions: https://vimeo.com/984444567
Birthday Bash – Access and Location Information, also known as “wayfinding”: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qaBNxVdcxQ6lv4MqhQGTsBgXLvW4ASyXqLqgrGm-HJY/
Accessibility includes sensory considerations, ASL events, wheelchair accessible, rest area, all gender restrooms, and sighted guide.
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 July at 6pm. in this beautiful setting to hear outstanding featured poets perform their work in this partnership between Chicago Poetry Center and The Green at 320 S. Canal. After every poetry performance, there will be an open mic for any individual that would like to share poetry of their own!
https://www.poetrycenter.org/poetry-the-green-at-320-summer-2024/
Summer Tuesdays come alive on the MCA terrace with free concerts highlighting artists from Chicago’s internationally renowned music community. Enjoy live music while relaxing on the lawn with your own picnic, or savor snacks and drinks available for purchase. Then head inside to catch the MCA’s summer exhibitions—we’re open late on Tuesdays and free for Illinois residents.
In conjunction with the Guatemalan Consulate, this Tuesday we will be joined by Jorge Morataya-Marimba, whose band will grace the MCA stage to serenade us with the sounds of the Guatemalan national instrument: marimba.
Lineup:
Jorge Morataya
Zuleika Díaz
Carlos Ortiz
Ángel de Leon
Please note that this event will be taking place inside the Edlis Neeson Theater and seating will be limited.
https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/tuesdays-on-the-terrace-jorge-morataya-marimba/
Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, the renowned composer/librettist team, tell the story of Claire, who is driven nearly mad by an unending, low-frequency hum that she hears. In desperation, she joins a community organization, “The Listeners,” formed to discover the origin of the noise and destroy it. The group becomes frighteningly cult-like, ultimately leading to catastrophic consequences.
Audio Description and Sound Shirts will be available.
Touch tour will begin at 12:00pm before the performance at 2:00pm.
https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/the-listeners/
In the setting of Count Almaviva’s castle, his servants, Figaro and Susanna, conspire to get the better of their willful employer, joined by his long-suffering wife, the Countess. Also on hand is opera’s most lovable pageboy, Cherubino.
Audio Description will be available at this performance and a touch tour will begin at 12:00pm before the performance at 2:00pm.
Sound shirt will also be available at this performance.
For more information go to lyricopera.org.
https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/the-marriage-of-figaro/
Rigoletto, tragically obsessed with avenging his daughter Gilda’s dishonor. The score’s highlights are unforgettable, from Rigoletto’s hair-raising denunciation of the Duke of Mantua’s courtiers, “Cortigiani,” to the immoral, philandering Duke’s “La donna è mobile,” to Gilda’s ecstatic “Caro nome.”
Audio Description & Sound Shirts are available at the performance – more information at lyricopera.org.
Touch tour will begin at 12:00pm before the event at 2:00pm.
https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/rigoletto/
Co-produced by Lyric, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Washington National Opera, the opera presents the moving story of a Black middle-class family in Harlem whose hopes and dreams for their teenage son are shattered when he is shot by a white police officer.
Audio Description will be available and a touch tour will begin at 12:00pm before the event at 2:00pm.
Sound Shirt will also be offered on this date.
Please visit lyricopera.org for further information.
Co-produced by Lyric, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Washington National Opera, the opera presents the moving story of a Black middle-class family in Harlem whose hopes and dreams for their teenage son are shattered when he is shot by a white police officer.
Lyric Opera will be offering American Sign Language interpretation as well as the use of Sound Shirts. Please visit lyricopera.org for further information.
Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek, the renowned composer/librettist team, tell the story of Claire, who is driven nearly mad by an unending, low-frequency hum that she hears. In desperation, she joins a community organization, “The Listeners,” formed to discover the origin of the noise and destroy it. The group becomes frighteningly cult-like, ultimately leading to catastrophic consequences.
This performance will have both ASL and Sound Shirts, please visit lyricopera.org for more information.
https://www.lyricopera.org/shows/upcoming/2024-25/the-listeners/
Leonore, who disguises herself as a young man in order to work in the prison, hoping to rescue her husband.
Accessibility: SoundShirt, audio description, and touch tour.
Touch tour starting at 12:00pm before the performance at 2:00pm
On Sunday, June 23 from 10am to 3pm, Lincoln Park Zoo will host Sensory-Friendly Day at Farm-in-the-Zoo. Modifications include limited capacity. This is a free event, but it does require advanced registration. Please register HERE.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sensory-friendly-day-at-farm-in-the-zoo-tickets-910936173617
Sensory-Friendly Day at Farm-in-the-Zoo is a free program for all people who benefit from visiting the zoo without crowds and other sensitive environmental elements. This includes guests with sensory sensitivities, disabilities, autism, PTSD, and dementia to name a few. All guests are welcome at Sensory-Friendly Day.
During Sensory-Friendly Day at Farm-in-the-Zoo animal buildings may be open, but some animals may not be in their public viewing spaces. There will also be low sensory activities.
Timed Entry Window: While registered guests will be let in before or after their one-hour timed entry window, guests are strongly encouraged to come during their timed entry window to help limit crowd sizes. Limited crowd sizes is one of the most important ways to make this day sensory-friendly. Thank you.
View the zoo’s accessibility map HERE and accessibility page HERE to help plan your visit.
Lincoln Park Zoo is certified Sensory Inclusive by KultureCity. Please download the free KultureCity app with Lincoln Park Zoo social story. iOS Android
Upon arrival guests need to present their registration email to zoo ushers. This event is only happening at Farm-in-the-Zoo. The rest of Lincoln Park Zoo will have typical operations for the day.
Paid parking is available at the zoo’s parking lot located at Fullerton Parkway and Cannon Drive (2400 N. Cannon Drive). The zoo is also accessible by train via the Armitage and Fullerton stations and by bus via the 22, 36, 151, and 156 routes.
All Lincoln Park Zoo events take place rain or shine.
There is no smoking at Lincoln Park Zoo for the health of the animals in our care.
Pets are not allowed at the zoo, but licensed service animals are welcome.
For any questions, please email access@lpzoo.org.
Join us for 30 glow’d-up, sweat-soaked, lipstick-smeared, gender euphoric™, gay-panic-inducing plays in 60 minutes – all in the name of Queer Community.
100% of proceeds from this show will be donated to Families in Palestine. The performance is ASL-interpreted and will be followed by mask-optional DRAG BINGO and shmoozing.
Performance begins at 7:00 pm. Absolutely NO LATE SEATING.
When purchasing a ticket in advance for THE INFINITE WRENCH: 30 Queer Plays in 60 Straight Minutes you are guaranteeing your seat for the performance and avoiding the need to wait in line outside before our doors open 30 minutes prior to performance. Please note that seating in our Theater is General Admission and if you want the first choice of seat you still need to arrive early, especially given our limited capacity & social distancing measures.
All sales are final. We do not offer refunds, but will exchange tickets for a future performance if you are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or feeling unwell in any way. Please contact BoxOffice@Neofuturists.org for exchanges.
By purchasing this ticket you are agreeing to all terms and conditions listed in our Health & Safety protocols page which are available at https://neofuturists.org/health-safety/. This includes:
https://theneofuturists.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FUn000003bG8vMAE
In these short films from the queer underground, unruly rebels trespass, shoplift, scheme, skate, surf, fuck, and joyfully plot their revenge on a society which seeks to punish deviance. Featuring a live DJ set by easygoingtech at 9pm.
America loves outlaws. Curious paradox: a police state which valorizes those who don’t fall in line, provided they have the right combination of individualism and normative appeal. Our ideal outlaws can transgress for themselves, for family, maybe for a love interest—but never for a group. Never for a community. Above all, our mythic outlaw, whatever his motivations, works alone. The valorized American outlaw-hero could either be a criminal living in bold defiance of the law or an upright citizen forced to tragically buck the rules of society due to unusual circumstances. But what about those who can neither disregard the law nor take temporary hiatus from its approval? Those for whom adhering to the rules of society means destruction?
Stealing testosterone to redistribute to trans men, trespassing to dance, shoplifting to feed your friends, defiling a colonizer’s grave, assassinating a billionaire: these short films find in criminality the potential for new social forms, beautiful acts of love, and collective liberation. The rules are fucked up. Why not break them?
7:30pm show will be followed by a Q&A with “The Beach Boys” writer/director Milo Talwani, moderated by program curator Henry Hanson with Live CART captioning.
THE FILMS
Hormonal (Maz Murray, 2023) 12:22, UK
Young trans guy Gary catches eyes with brooding trans geezer Ian across the square of their Essex hometown, and unwittingly walks into a testosterone heist plot… (Instagram: @maz_murray @chazzamnazza_makesstuf)
Cicada (FRANK/ie CONSENT, 2021) 6:30, USA
A single-take dance video shot in an abandoned industrial lot, set to a radio broadcast switching between music and Trump-era punditry. Used tires, hula hoops, cereal, chalk circles, and a burning mattress. (Instagram: @soysage)
Skate Bitches (Samuel Shanahoy, 2012) 17:10, Australia
A DIY film about an all-girl skate gang who steal each other candy, terrorize the streets and are BFF’s. Will the gang survive the drama of a new girl on the block? (Instagram: @teeveedinner)
FUCK THE FASCISM – The Crossroad of Two Worlds (MariaBasura, 2020) 9:35, Chile
A group of queer activists take revenge on colonizers past and present through guerilla pornography. (Instagram: @basurapandemicx_2.0)
Play Structure (FRANK/ie CONSENT, 2020) 2:28, USA
In this mixed-media music video combining live action and various animation styles, mischief-makers dance in the burning streets of Atlanta. (Instagram: @soysage)
The Beach Boys (Milo Talwani, 2024) 20:32, USA
Two trans surfer bros are on a mission to suicide bomb Jeff Bezos…but not before spending one last, perfect day riding epic waves and smoking dank kush. (Instagram: @autobimbophilia)
https://facets.org/programs/disorderly-conduct/
This salon-style gathering invites attendees to share and discuss artwork, short performances/readings, clips, scenes, and anything else they might be working on. Sharing a project is optional. For those who wish to share, projects in any medium are welcome: time-based work (video, dance, song, spoken word, etc) should be limited to five minutes and any fine art should not require installation.
The event will begin with a short welcome and introduction to the Art/Access Lab series presented by HCL and UDF. The rest of the event will consist of short showings interspersed with time to mingle with fellow artists with disabilities.
Virtual attendees will have the option of attending the showings and discussions in the main zoom space or breaking off into smaller groups through break out rooms.
The event is intended to be relaxed, with attendees invited to come, go, and participate in whatever way feels best for them. The event will wrap with a short announcement of upcoming Arts/Access Labs and information about how to participate in future gatherings, including paid opportunities to show works-in-progress.
We encourage those who would like to share to sign up through the registration form. When possible, we will also accommodate day-of sign ups.
A few more logistics about sharing projects:
Digital files can be submitted in advance to info@highconceptlabs.org or brought to the event on a USB drive.
A projector, mixing board, microphone, and speakers will be available for use.
Small items (visual art, crafts, etc.) may be passed around among attendees.
Other visual art may be free standing or leaned against a wall.
Text-based work may be read aloud by the artist, or another attendee.
HCL and UDF staff are happy to provide additional support as needed.
Who Should Attend
Art/Access Labs are centered around artists with a lived experience of disability including Deaf, disabled, sick, neurodivergent, and Mad artists, and those working through their relationship to these categories, working in all mediums, with anyone who is invested in fostering a vibrant creative ecosystem inclusive of artists with disabilities.
RSVP
Advanced registration is appreciated but not required.
https://highconceptlabs.org/events/art-access-lab-welcome-salon
A showcase of The Second City’s Victor Wong Fellows. The Victor Wong Fellowship is an intensive program at The Second City that mentors & trains talented Asian / Asian American identifying artists.
Accessibility: ASL Interpreted, assistive listening devices, and wheelchair accessbile.
https://secondcityus.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/instances/a0FTP000000Gh932AC
This Mother’s Day weekend, celebrate the art of composers with disabilities from around the world! This program, presented in collaboration with the UIC Disability Cultural Center, is free and open to everyone. It includes the world premiere of “Consolation of Persephone,” created in collaboration with Momenta Dance Company, with choreography commissioned of Connor Cornelius, music commissioned of Karen Brown, and danced by Laddona Freidheim and her daughter Hana Javed! Hear also the world premiere of “In B-Flat” by Brazilian composer Andersen Viana, plus music by composers from Haiti, the UK, South Africa, and the US, including music from the amazing talents of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, arranged for Crossing Borders Music by AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa!
Momenta Dance Company cultivates and presents repertory and contemporary dance works that strive to educate, innovate and amplify the artistry of students and professionals, inclusive of artists with disabilities. Momenta was founded by Stephanie Clemens, Larry Ippel and James Tenuta in 1983, and in 2003 expanded its repertory to include physically integrated works for dancers with and without disabilities. Learn more at momentadances.org
Ladonna Freidheim, founder of ReinventAbility, is passionate about inclusion, dance, science, and joy! An award winning leader in the arts, disability inclusion specialist, and formally trained dancer; Ladonna grew up a bun-headed baby ballerina dancing around Chicago. After a degenerative disability ended her ballerina life, she recovered from surgeries with future paralympic athletes who introduced her to disability culture. With the aid of braces and a cane or crutches she is able to navigate the world much of the time, but it is Ladonna’s wheelchair that has restored her dancers soul. She currently performs with the MOMENTA Dance Company. Ladonna is honored to have received a 2023 Leadership in Dance Award and the Rhythm Within Award and has been nominated for 3Arts Awards in dance and education. Ladonna has served on a number of Boards of Directors, currently for See Chicago Dance, and is on the Chicago ArtsEd Leadership Committee.
Hana Angelina Freidheim Javed is a formally trained singer, dancer, and writer who attends the University of Chicago Lab High School. At only 17 years of age, she has performed extensively at the Civic Opera House, Symphony Center, Harris Theater, Navy Pier, Ravinia and Millennium Park music festivals with the Lyric Opera, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, MOMENTA Dance Company, and the Chicago Opera Theater. Hana is the much beloved only child of Ladonna Freidheim, an Irish-Catholic Chicago born arts professional (bio above), and Adil Javed, a Pakistani-Muslim born into abject poverty who immigrated to the US at ten years old, going on to earn both an MD and PhD. Hana’s background and status as a person with a disability (a degenerative condition) inform and enrich her arts practice.
Covid safety: Masking is encouraged, and we will have extra masks available. More masking means more safety for immunocompromised members of our community.
Access information:
This season of Crossing Borders Music performances is made possible through the support of the Paul M Angell Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Music USA Organizational Development Fund, the John R Halligan Fund, and CliffDwellers Foundation. Crossing Borders Music acknowledges the support of the Illinois Arts Council. Generous support provided by the UIC Disability Cultural Center through Cripping the Arts, a University of Illinois Presidential Initiative for Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities.
Pictured: Momenta Dance Company’s Facebook profile picture of two women wearing flowing white dresses, both in wheelchairs, facing one another with arms gracefully lifted.
A work-in-progress sharing, this event will consist of both the movement- and the textual-based research explored over the course of the residency.
ASL is provided for this event.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/dance_residency.html
Days after the February 1848 revolution, Fryderyk Chopin is teaching a piano lesson in Paris. Set in the Polish pianist-composer’s intimate salon, Chopin shares with his students secrets about the piano and secrets about himself—as well as playing some of his most beautiful and enduring compositions. In a tour de force performance, virtuoso actor/pianist Hershey Felder brings to life the romantic story and music of the man once called the “Poet of the Piano.”
https://www.writerstheatre.org/hershey-felder-s-chopin-in-paris
Watch the city breathe life into the stories of ten local young filmmakers. From documentaries to music videos, this program represents the city’s long-term love affair with art and culture.
Please note: Films in this program contain themes, images, and language that may not be suitable for all ages.
Virtual Screening
Available to stream globally April 22 @ 12:00pm CT through April 28 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window with Closed Captions.
https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/film/cineyouth2024-chicagolens/
In partnership with former Technical Director Glenn B. Rust’s Graduate Thesis Project, Keep it Going presents an afternoon of new works that you can watch in the theatre or from the comfort of your own home!
Beginning the afternoon we will have Interrobang by Resident Playwright Arlene Malinowski followed by the final performance of Access Fellow Deb Stein’s HAND, Foot, HAND. Following the performances there will be a thirty-minute talkback and an afterparty!
Keep it Going is designed to highlight technologies and practices that allow for more accessible theatre.
-You can join us at the Russ Tutterow Theatre to see the performances in person or virtually at https://www.youtube.com/@chicagodramatists6747
-Live captions will be provided for both in-person and virtual audiences.
-Additional seating will be available both in the house and on the stage including wheelchair accessible seating.
-The event will be a relaxed performance. House lights will remain at half. Audience members are welcome to exit and reenter the space at any point for any reason. We will asked phones be silenced, but texting is allowed. Audience reaction is also encouraged. If something stirs a response out of you, or if you need to ask a question of the folks you’ve come with, feel free!
-Scent & Allergen Free Space
-Masking Recommended
The in-person performance is Pay What You Will with all payments made going to support the Access Fellowship. The Chicago Dramatists Access Fellowship for Deaf & Disabled Artists is in honor of Charles and Dorothy Malinowski, who were revered storytellers in the Deaf Community. Fellows receive two free classes, one free Script Lab, and more!
The virtual performance is completely free!
Whether you’ll be joining us at the Russ Tutterow Theatre or logging in on our YouTube channel to join the talkback in the chat, we cannot wait to see you there!
Accessibility: All-Gender Restrooms, Captioning, Sensory Friendly, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://chicagodramatists.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/chicagodramatists/event.jsp?event=2064&
Join House of DOV in the Dance Studio for an intimate view of the rehearsal process and participate in the creation of a new work by Drew Lewis with live music by Family Junket.
Drew Lewis (he/him) is a performer, choreographer, composer and educator originally from Oak Park, IL. He graduated magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts in 2016. Drew has performed extensively with Sidra Bell Dance New York, C-LS, Project 44, Attack Theatre, The Joel Hall Dancers, The Lyric Opera of Chicago and in projects by Lucy Riner and Erin Kilmurray. In 2020, Drew formed his own small ensemble, House of DOV, whose debut performance was selected as a finalist for the Chicago Reader’s Best of 2021. House of DOV has since performed throughout Chicago, including the full-length Heavy Objects, commissioned and presented by Steppenwolf Theatre, and Drew has created works for many other venues and projects.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/dance_residency.html
Soulfully rooted in playful praise, this Praise House Language workshop will be a creative circle of expression with testimonials, dance, art-making and song. Through a guided process that centers care, participants of all experiences and backgrounds are able to step into the rehearsal process being used to develop “Praise House Ceremony”. The workshop facilitation is informed by Keisha Janae’s spiritual and faith-based experience.
Previously a teaching artist and Alumni of Columbia College Chicago, Keisha taught house dance on the west and southside of Chicago. She is a well-established improvisational movement artist, accompanied as a soloist for “ Black Monument Jazz Ensemble,” “Sebau,” Katherine Davis, and Ben LaMar Gay. She’s also performed for the Instigation Festival, Freedom From Freedom Too, BraveSoul Movement, and Project Tool. Keisha has been honored as the 2021 3arts Make a Wave awardee, 2021/22Links Hall resident artist, BeBe Millers Solo/Duo Dancing Project Mentee, and Featured in Chicago Takes 10. Passionate about community engagement, Keisha is a Housing Case Manager helping the homeless and underprivileged populations stabilize their housing and health and also personally develop. A creative care community facilitator, she encourages her audience to discover themselves and find release through artistic forms of self-expression. Her aspirations are to rebuild the bonds between family and community through the creative arts and the spiritual upliftment of praise.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/dance_residency.html
Soak is a dance-based performance project that emerges from a study of public bathing. This work considers how both dance and bathing practices carve out space to imagine new ways of relating to our bodies and each other. This piece explores the movements of pleasure and leisure, collectively created social space, and the relationship between body, sound, and environment.
Amalia Raye Wiatr Lewis (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist working with living beings, experiences, and objects. Rooted in ecological wonder and an exploration of the sacred, she works with dancers, non-dancers and sound artists to create site-specific performances and public interventions. She holds a BA from Bennington College in Vermont, where she studied choreography, visual art and anthropology, and an MFA from the Trondheim Academy of Fine Art in Trondheim, Norway. She has performed with national and international artists at galleries and museums and has shown her own work in the U.S., Mexico, Norway, France, Germany and Pakistan.
This performance will include ASL Interpretation.
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/dance_residency.html
On Sunday, April 28 from 8-10am, Lincoln Park Zoo is offering Sensory-Friendly Morning hours for guests with disabilities, chronicle illness, or Deaf to experience the zoo grounds and animal buildings in a comfortable and inclusive environment. Modifications include limited capacity and muted attractions. This is a free event.
Register for FREE tickets HERE.
During Sensory-Friendly Morning, Gift Shop will be open at 8am and Landmark Café will sell beverages starting at 8:30am. Endangered Species Carousel and Lionel Train Adventure will operate with music and noises muted. Not all animal buildings may be open, and some animals may not be in their public viewing spaces.
At 10am, the zoo will be open to the public and begin typical operations.
View the zoo’s accessibility map HERE and accessibility page HERE to help plan your visit.
Lincoln Park Zoo is certified Sensory Inclusive by KultureCity. Please download the free KultureCity app with Lincoln Park Zoo social story.
Guests may only enter at West Gate and East Gate, and they need to present their registration email to zoo ushers.
Paid parking is available at the zoo’s parking lot located at Fullerton Parkway and Cannon Drive (2400 N. Cannon Drive). The zoo is also accessible by train via the Armitage and Fullerton stations and by bus via the 22, 36, 151, and 156 routes.
All Lincoln Park Zoo events take place rain or shine. We have some wonderful animal buildings you can still enjoy if it rains, and the carousel is covered.
For any questions, please email access@lpzoo.org.
Accessibility: Sensory-Friendly
Set sail for an adventure like no other, full of twists and turns. Together we’ll meet indulgent Lotus Eaters and seductive Sirens who test our focus, and face terrifying monsters who test our wit and our courage. As we follow Odysseus on his Journey, the ensemble reflects on choice and agency and the hero in all of us…
A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations—a Chicago-based nonprofit that creates theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), is thrilled to return to Chicago Shakespeare Theater this spring with a re-imagining of the epic classic The Odyssey.
A.B.L.E’s production weaves music, movement, shadow puppetry, and scenes devised by the group into a powerful and joyful celebration of the choices we make, and the challenges we face along our journey. The vibrant adaptation features a neurodiverse cast of 44 performers, including 24 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The performance in the Courtyard Theater on May 11, 2024 at 2pm will mark the two companies’ 7th collaboration, most recently having co-produced A Midsummer Night’s Dream last spring.
Accessibility: Sensory Friendly, ASL, captions
Join House of DOV in the Dance Studio for an informal showing of a new work-in-progress by Drew Lewis, featuring music by Family Junket.
Accessibility: ASL
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/dance_residency.html
Curiosities of Wellness in Bodies of Grief and Joy
Glimpse into the rehearsal process of building choreography in the round for 7 dancers. While this work currently has several sections from 2 previous iterations, this open rehearsal (with possible audience participation) will focus on a new section. Join us as we stumble along together to sounds written by Lee and arranged and performed by Sharon Udoh on the piano. Laughter and tears are encouraged.
Days after the February 1848 revolution, Fryderyk Chopin is teaching a piano lesson in Paris. Set in the Polish pianist-composer’s intimate salon, Chopin shares with his students secrets about the piano and secrets about himself—as well as playing some of his most beautiful and enduring compositions. In a tour de force performance, virtuoso actor/pianist Hershey Felder brings to life the romantic story and music of the man once called the “Poet of the Piano.”
Accessibility
Opened Captioning available on Thursday, April 25th, 2024. Assistive listening devices, wheelchair accessible, and ASL interpretation available upon request. For information about scheduling an ASL Interpreter for your performance, contact boxoffice@writerstheatre.org or 847-242-6000. We ask for at least 2 weeks prior to scheduled performances in order to prepare ASL interpreters.
https://www.writerstheatre.org/hershey-felder-s-chopin-in-paris
Michael Ondaatje is one of the most influential writers of his generation. He won the Booker Prize for his successful 1992 novel The English Patient, which was made into the nine-time Academy Award-winning film, including for Best Picture. Critically respected for testing the limits of the genre of poetry with playful experimentation, Ondaatje makes a long-awaited return to the medium with his latest A Year of Last Things, an exploration of memory, history, and the act of looking back. At Chicago Humanities, Ondaatje presents a reading and then sits down with Srikanth Reddy, Professor of English at the University of Chicago, for a conversation about his sometimes witty, or moving, but always brilliant poetry.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/michael-ondaantje/
What guardrails do artists need in a new age of artificial intelligence? As artists voice concerns about AI replacing their work or using their creative intellectual property to train AI models without proper consent or compensation, lawmakers are beginning to take notice. The essence of this debate — what artists seek and how regulations should adapt — often remains overshadowed by broader discussions on copyright law and regulation. Join The Verge AI reporter Emilia David as she leads Chicago Humanities through a crucial and timely conversation with one of the plaintiffs in the ongoing Andersen v. Stability AI case, Kelly McKernan, on the current legal challenges working through the courts and the impact of generative AI systems on the art world.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/verge-ai-art/
The proliferation of artificial intelligence tools has created a flood of AI-generated content online, much of it spammy, inaccurate, or even abusive. In her coverage, The Verge reporter Mia Sato documents how generative AI is being used to accelerate the production of junk online and entrench existing disparities around art and labor. She’ll offer primers on how to spot this kind of AI-generated content — but is there another way forward to harness AI?
Artists and technologists are exploring fascinating ways to use AI that probe creative limitations and cut at the very question of what “human-made” can look like. Join The Verge journalist Mia Sato and pioneering artists and thinkers in the field to examine where AI-powered content appears today, and how automated tools could be used in the future.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/verge-ai-human/
Cultural historian and video gaming specialist, Dr. Carly Kocurek from Illinois Tech Lewis College of Science and Letters moderates a discussion with game and interactive experience designer Caro Murphy. Caro is leading the vanguard in the emerging field and art form of interactive, experiential, and live-action game design. Caro has produced award-winning work as the Immersive Experience Director for Disney’s Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser exhibit. Serving as a game adjudicator for the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Caro is also the Founder and CEO of the Boston Festival of Indie Games. They are a Visiting Associate Professor at Northeastern University in Boston and create immersive theater experiences as Chief Creative Officer of Incantrix Productions.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/caro-murphy/
Renowned multi-hyphenated artist and Chicago Humanities favorite, Miranda July has gained a cult following throughout her award-winning career as a filmmaker (Me and You and Everyone We Know, Kajillionaire), author (No One Belongs Here More Than You), and visual artist. Her perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries shine in her latest novel, All Fours: A Novel. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life, the story follows one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom in her drive cross-country from LA to NY. One of the most inspiring creative artists of our time, July and author Jessamine Chan comes to Chicago Humanities for an afternoon on storytelling, creativity and finding a new life.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
Over a century ago, MSNBC host Ali Velshi’s great-grandfather sent his son to live at Gandhi’s ashram in South Africa. That tough decision forever changed his family story. Velshi’s grandfather became focused on public service, social justice and the equality of all people. These beliefs evolved through generations as his family escaped apartheid, emigrated to Kenya and ultimately settled in Canada and the United States. In Velshi’s most recent book, Small Acts of Courage: A Legacy of Endurance and the Fight for Democracy, he explores his family legacy and takes notes from social justice warriors Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. as a guide to how small actions of those who fought for democracy and freedom have profound political impacts. Chicago Humanities welcomes the famed author as he explores 125 years of family history and how social justice is a living, breathing experience―a way of life more than an ideology.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
A Professor of African American studies at Princeton University, Ruha Benjamin brings a unique and interdisciplinary perspective to social justice and technology. In her latest work, Imagination: A Manifesto, Benjamin argues that imagination gives us the power to challenge systems of oppression, such as hierarchies created by racism, sexism, and classism. She highlights educators, artists, and activists reflecting new ideas to challenge these worldly problems. Join the famed thinker for a conversation on how imagination can create a world where everyone can thrive.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/ruha-benjamin/
Trap Door Theatre’s 30th Anniversary Season closes with Olwen Wymark’s splendid dramatization of Zola’s Nana: a story of sexual and financial greed in nineteenth-century Parisian society, depicting the rise and tragic downfall of a young courtesan.
Managing Director Nicole Wiesner and Resident Choreographer Miguel Long team up again to direct this reimagination, first produced at Trap Door in 2002.
This Friday, May 3rd performance includes open captioning.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Captioning, and All-Gender Restrooms
Award-winning graphic novelist James Spooner comes to Chicago Humanities for a chat on punk, comics and Black Identity. Spooner is a leader in the Black punk community. His works include the seminal documentary Afro-Punk (2003), creation of the Afro Punk Festival, and a graphic memoir, The High Desert. In this book, Spooner shares his experience being Black in small-town California and finding salvation in punk music, winning the American Library Association Alex Award and the Cartoonist Studio Prize. The artist and activist returns as an editor for his latest book, Black Punk Now. This anthology shares the voices and stories from the Black punk community. It is filled with contemporary nonfiction, fiction, illustrations and comics that collectively describe punk today and give punks—especially the Black ones—a wider frame of reference.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
Former South Carolina State Representative and CNN Political Analyst Bakari Sellers passionately asked live on-air the question that many Black Americans had in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020: “We have black children. I have a 15-year-old daughter. I mean, what do I tell her?” Four years later, Sellers has an answer to the question he raised on CNN. Discover his answers as Chicago Humanities grapples with this difficult question and learns about Barkari’s journey for personal and public policy solutions that impact Black families across the country. Sellers examines the inequalities in healthcare and education, and policing gaps, drawing from discussions with key thinkers like Rev. William Barber and attorney Ben Crump. Using these legends as jumping off points, Sellers deftly expands on his powerfully persuasive New York Times bestseller My Vanishing Country and latest book, The Moment: Thoughts on the Race Reckoning That Wasn’t and How We All Can Move Forward Now.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/bakari-sellers/
The legendary “Swans of Harlem” ballerinas take the stage with Brandis Friedman (co-anchor, WTTW Chicago Tonight / host, Black Voices) and author Karen Valby to reclaim and lift up the trailblazing contributions to the dance world by these Black artists whose stories have been marginalized, devalued and forgotten by history. Stay after the chat for a live dance performance tribute to the Swans by the Chicago-based dance company Move Me Soul.
At the height of the Civil Rights Era, Lydia Abarca was a star prima ballerina leading international performances for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the first Black ballerina with a ballet company to grace the cover of Dance Magazine. Abarca formed an unbreakable bond with fellow pioneering dancers, including Sheila Rohan, Karlya Shelton and Marcia Sells. At a time of intense racial and gender inequality, these remarkable women performed for the Queen of England, at the White House and beyond. Decades later, however, their story was still missing from history. This groundbreaking group of friends reunite at Chicago Humanities to discuss Valby’s new book, The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History. Their enthralling saga celebrates resilient Black women, the enduring power of female friendship, and reveals the hidden history of Black ballet, kept secret for far too long.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/swans-harlem/
Renowned Princeton University professor and New York Times best-selling author Eddie Glaude Jr. is one of the world’s most prominent scholars of African American Studies. Through the iconic interpretations of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Ella Baker, Glaude Jr. urges fellow Black Americans to focus on personal growth and individual empowerment to reshape our democracy. At Chicago Humanities, Glaude Jr. combines his reflections from We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For with insights from legendary writers Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Dewey, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin and Ralph Ellison. Led in conversation by Chicago natives and co-hosts of the Pushkin podcast Some of My Best Friends Are, Khalil Gibran Muhammad and Ben Austen, Glaude makes a passionate call for a stronger democracy through grassroots movements, not a hopeful reliance on political figures.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/eddie-glaude-jr/
Frank Bruni, renowned New York Times columnist, guides Chicago Humanities on an incisive exploration of our cultural obsession with grievance that has permeated both political spectrums. Grievance dominates our unpredictable political landscape as all sides label disappointment or dissent as personal injury, fueling blame and rage. In his latest work, The Age of Grievance, Bruni acknowledges the historical importance of grievance, yet questions the contemporary fusion of authentic and fabricated grievances. Through vivid political, cultural and personal examples, Bruni and Interfaith America Founder and President Eboo Patel confront the roots and consequences of our polarized society, offering crucial insights and a roadmap toward restoring civic unity.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/frank-bruni/
MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Photography at Columbia College in Chicago, Dawoud Bey, is one of the most celebrated photographers in American history. Fellow photography colleague Kelli Connell is an artist who investigates sexuality, gender, identity, and the relationship between photographer and subject. Natasha Egan, Executive Director at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, moderates a discussion for Chicago Humanities on re-engaging with and reimagining history through photography. Both Bey (Elegy) and Connell (Pictures for Charis) draw on references from their latest books that span their recent work and present how photos help us reconsider our perceptions of history.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/history-photography/
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham is a New York Times bestselling author of a long list of acclaimed presidential biographies. He presents Chicago Humanities with his latest work, The Call of Serve: The Life of An American President, George Herbert Walker Bush: A Visual Biography. In this recounting, gleaned from a lifetime of Bush family scrapbooks, Meacham curates a balanced personal view into an American president and man who was more than politics. With over 450 never-before-published photos and intimate memories to reference from his visually stunning book, Meacham frames the forty-first president’s vision of leadership as a service to his country.
Judith Butler’s groundbreaking work, and their theory of gender performativity, has had a vast influence on contemporary scholarship in feminism and gender studies. In Butler’s latest work, Who’s Afraid of Gender?, they tackle the global rise of right-wing movements that seek to nullify reproductive justice, undermine protections against sexual and gender violence and strip trans and queer people of their rights. Butler draws upon an array of approaches to gender to expose how authoritarian and fascist politics rely on a frightening phantasm of gender. Chicago Humanities welcomes this iconic thought leader for a timely discussion that offers rigorous analysis, hope, freedom and solidarity in confronting the reactionary politics that seek to intensify marginalization and inequality.
Accessibility: Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair Accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/judith-butler/
Honorably serving for twenty-eight years as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer challenges the textualist philosophy of the court’s supermajority with insightful analysis and arguments for a more nuanced view of Constitutional interpretation. Emphasizing the consequential impacts of major legal decisions, Breyer upends the prevailing textualism approach as outlined in his book Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism. Former Justice Breyer and CNN senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic connect with Chicago Humanities to expand on his views for a flexible, evolving Constitution. Breyer asserts that pivotal cases like Dobbs and Bruen were incorrectly decided. They underscore the importance of considering the intent and repercussions of legal statutes and offer a compelling case for a more balanced interpretation of law.
Accessibility: ASL Interpreted, Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, and Wheelchair accessible.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/breyer-biskupic/
Chicago Children’s Museum’s Play for All initiative creates a community where play and learning connect for visitors of all abilities. Play for All invites children and families with disabilities to come and experience CCM’s inclusive, multisensory exhibits and programs.
The museum will open at 10 a.m. for pre-registered children and families with disabilities and CCM members before opening to the public at 11 a.m. The first 250 children and families with disabilities who register will receive FREE admission! Pre-registration is required for free admission.
Accessibility: Wheelchair Accessible, Accessible & All-Gender Restrooms, Sound-reducing Headphones, Open Captions, Assistive Listening Devices, Quiet Spaces.
Children’s author and illustrator Arnold Lobel’s beloved characters hop from the page to the stage in the Tony-nominated musical A Year With Frog And Toad, based on his popular children’s book that follows two best friends – the cheerful, popular Frog and grumpy, but lovable Toad – through four fun-filled seasons.
A YEAR WITH FROG AND TOAD was originally presented on Broadway by Bob Boyett, Adrianne Lobel, Michael Gardner, Lawrence Horowitz and Roy Furman. The play had its world Premiere at The Children’s Theatre Company Minneapolis, Minnesota.
ACCESS Weekend |Sat, April 27th (9:30am: Sensory Friendly, 11:30am: ASL & Open Captions) and Sun, April 28th (9:30am: Sensory Friendly, 11:30am: Audio Description & Touch Tour – must confirm attendance two weeks prior to performance)
A trailblazing feminist icon, Kathleen Hanna changed the punk scene in the 90’s with her bands, Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. This rebel girl is back with her electric, searing memoir that takes us into her tumultuous childhood, her early years on the scene, and her connections with other music icons like Kurt Cobain, Joan Jett, and the Beastie Boys. Join Chicago Humanities with Women & Children First, Chicago’s feminist bookstore since 1979, for an evening with the music legend who shares how both the hard and the joyful times fuel her revolutionary art and music.
This event will have Assistive Listening Devices and Open Captions.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/kathleen-hanna/
Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC’s The ReidOut and best-selling author, chronicles the lives of civil rights icons Medgar and Myrlie Evers. Myrlie Louise Beasley met Medgar Evers in college, forging an instant connection that culminated in marriage a year later, prompting her to leave school to prioritize their growing family. Medgar, an NAACP field secretary, alongside Myrlie, focused their energy on fighting against segregation and discrimination. Despite relentless threats and Medgar’s assassination in 1963, Myrlie carried on their work, writing about Medgar’s activism and assuming a leadership role in the NAACP. Join Reid in conversation with veteran reporter April Ryan (MSNBC, The Grio) at Chicago Humanities as they discuss these towering figures in the civil rights movement, their relationship, and the crucial groundwork they laid for Black Americans, which still reverberates to this day.
This event will have Assistive Listening Devices and Open Captions.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/joy-ann-reid/
Award-winning journalist Kara Swisher has been sharing her witty, scathing take on the tech industry’s disruptive force for decades. Chicago Humanities hosts Kara as she intertwines tales of innovation and the complex power transformation of Silicon Valley, while highlighting its perilous position as a global power hub, and urging thoughtful action. Covering the 1990s digital explosion, Swisher’s relentless reporting exposed Silicon Valley truths, prompting CEOs to joke about her eavesdropping skills. In her latest work, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story, her continued coverage of tech history and influential interviews with industry titans reveal the ambition and downfall of giants and her views on new powerful AI tools changing the world. Despite chronicling the damage, Swisher remains optimistic about tech’s potential to help solve problems and not just create them.
This event will have Assistive Listening Devices and Open Captions.
https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/kara-swisher/
It’s Chicago Humanities movie night at the historic Davis Theater with a special preview screening of the Netflix drama film Shirley, followed by a conversation with the film’s rising star Christina Jackson.
Oscar-winning actor Regina King stars as political icon Shirley Chisholm in the film Shirley, written and directed by fellow Oscar winner, John Ridley (12 Years a Slave). The film celebrates the story of the first Black congresswoman and political icon, Shirley Chisholm, and her 1972 trailblazing run for president of the U.S. King’s transformative portrayal of Chisholm is complemented by a star-studded ensemble including Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Terrence Howard. The film releases globally on Netflix Friday, March 22nd.
Movie Screening: 6:30-8:30 pm
Conversation with Christina Jackson 8:30-9:30 pm
A family fun film with story & games
A crayon who is mistakenly labeled “r-e-d” could never draw anything right until a friend changed everything and helped him be true to himself!
Accessibility: The film includes the story, an interactive quiz and ASL lesson, all presented with ASL performance, enhanced text, voice over, animation & original music.
Details
March 10, 2024 @ 2-4 p.m.
Chicago History Museum
1601 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614
Free with RSVP at bit.ly/Red-ASL-Film
Parking
Public parking is conveniently located one block north of the Museum near Clark and LaSalle streets at 1730 N. Stockton Drive. $10 with Museum validation.
Presented by Sally Is Sarah Productions, CHS, Chicago History Museum
https://www.sallyissarahproductions.com/events/red-chicago-history-museum
In a small Israeli desert town where every day feels the same, a lost bus arrives carrying an Egyptian Police Band. With no hotel and no buses until morning, the musicians are taken in for the night by the locals. Under the spell of the desert sky, these misplaced musicians bring everyone together in the way that only music can. Winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, The Band’s Visit is a beautifully intimate show, perfectly suited for the Nichols Theatre, about the unifying power of music.
Accessibility: open captions, assistive listening devices
Calm Waters is an exclusive event for guests with disabilities and Veterans to explore Shedd Aquarium’s exhibits and experiences in a comfortable and accepting environment. Modifications for this event will include limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration.
Modifications for Calm Waters Include:
-Limited capacity and streamlined entry with advance registration
-A sensory friendly app
-A low-sensory animal spotlight
-An animal encounter opportunity
-Complimentary 4D experiences during the event
-Family members and companions are welcome.
-Audio description for the Animal Spotlight
Cost
Adults (12+)
Chicago Residents – $19.95
Non-Residents – $39.95
Children (Ages 3-11)
Chicago Residents – $14.95
Non-Residents – $29.95
Transportation to Shedd
Take CTA’s 146 Museum Campus bus to our door, or parking will be available for $30 in the surface lot between Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum.
Drop-off is available at Shedd’s bus loop on the south side of the building.
Be sure to check for traffic and parking alerts.
Accommodation Requests?
Please contact us (312-939-2438) at least one week before the event.
Visitors with severe disabilities may be accompanied by paid personal care attendants (PCA). Please call 312-939-2438 to request complimentary companion tickets for a paid PCA.
Additional information available at: https://www.sheddaquarium.org/plan-a-visit/accessibility/calm-waters
Lincoln Park Zoo is excited to share our first ever Beeping Egg Hunt with you!
Saturday, March 30
$25 (Best for ages 1-12)
50% OFF ($12.50) ticket with promo code BEEPINGEGGS
For Beeping Egg Hunt tickets, select 8am or 9am in the Green Zone. Follow the link below.
https://tickets.lpzoo.org/events/f7c3a3ea-2aaf-3f29-7f05-39cdbdd0a91d?utm_source=EventsEmail.2.6.24&utm_medium=Email%20&utm_campaign=Spring%20Egg-Stravaganza&utm_id=Spring%20Egg-Stravaganza
Get ready to hop into springtime fun at the zoo with our family favorite event, Spring Egg-Stravaganza!
Create lasting memories with your little ones as they embark on an “egg”-citing exploration throughout the zoo. Choose from one of six egg-hunting zones with varied levels of difficulty, accessibility, and terrain types. Each zone features age and ability recommendations along with different potential animal sightings to ensure fun for all ages.
Your ticket includes:
Egg hunts with up to 12 candy- and/or toy-stuffed eggs per child
Photo opportunities with spring characters and a costumed bunny character
Free rides on the Endangered Species Carousel and Lionel Train Adventure
A kid-friendly DJ on the South Lawn to keep kids dancing
A giant bubble activity
Animal chats, fun springtime learnings, and craft areas
Outdoor activities and games
Parents and non-egg-hunters must also purchase a ticket to enjoy all the other “egg”-cellent festivities throughout the morning.
https://tickets.lpzoo.org/events/f7c3a3ea-2aaf-3f29-7f05-39cdbdd0a91d?utm_source=EventsEmail.2.6.24&utm_medium=Email%20&utm_campaign=Spring%20Egg-Stravaganza&utm_id=Spring%20Egg-Stravaganza
Please email access@lpzoo.org with questions.
Calling ALL champions to Chicago Children’s Museum! Participate in event activities, including roller sled hockey, handcycling, wheelchair racing, bocce, Judo, group exercises, and See & Touch Prosthetics display. All of our inclusive, multisensory museum exhibits and programs will also be available during Play For All.
The first 500 children and families with disabilities who register will receive free admission.
The museum opens at 10 am for Play For All guests and members exclusively and at 11 am to the general public.
Accessibility: assistive listening devices, quiet spaces, wheelchair accessible
This is an opportunity for members of the TCA to enter into conversation with Christina and Cortney, the founders of #BlkGrlsWurld, about their growth and evolution as Black womxn publishers, event organizers, and lovers of punk, hardcore, and metal.
Coinciding with the Faith Ringgold: American People exhibition, this event highlights the creativity, influence, and impact of Black Femme creatives across generations.
ASL is provided.
https://visit.mcachicago.org/events/youth-led-programming-tca-blkgrlswurld/
Strawdog Theatre Company in partnership with Chicago Loop Synagogue presents Hershel & The Hanukkah Goblins. In this musical adaptation of Eric Kimmel’s Caldecott Honor-winning book, a traveling troupe of actors comes to town to find no one celebrating Hanukkah. To save the holiday, they must tell the tale of Hershel of Ostropol & his quest to outwit the goblins who haunt the old synagogue!
Audio Description will be available for this performance in-person and via the live stream. Audience members must RSVP for in-person audio description by emailing accessibility@strawdog.org. There will be an in-person Touch Tour at 10:15am. Those tuning into the live stream will be able to watch a pre-show Audio Description.
Accessibility: Audio Description, Touch Tour, Sensory Friendly
https://www.strawdog.org/hershel
Run Time: 2 hours, including intermission
Child Policy: Recommended for ages 8+. To help determine whether this performance is appropriate for your child, we encourage you to seek additional information about the themes in this program. All children attending a performance must have a ticket and be seated next to an adult.
Audio Description will be available on Saturday, November 11 / 2:00PM
Choreographer and director Akram Khan’s eponymous dance company makes its long-awaited Harris Theater debut with the Chicago premiere of Khan’s Jungle Book reimagined, a deeply personal interpretation based on the original story of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale. Khan, whose background is rooted in classical Kathak training and along with contemporary dance, reinvents the journey of young Mowgli and her animal friends.
In a near future world, a family is torn apart as they escape their homeland, devastated by the impact of climate change. Arriving alone in a deserted modern city, and with wild animals claiming the streets as their own, Mowgli soon discovers unlikely allies in this strange new jungle.
Featuring an original new score and state-of-the-art animation and visuals, Jungle Book reimagined is a compelling and vital piece of storytelling about our intrinsic need to belong and bond with others while connecting with and respecting the natural world around us.
https://www.harristheaterchicago.org/performance/jungle-book-reimagined
Let’s reclaim and rewrite our stories as disabled people through writing and drawing together! Too often disabled individuals have their stories told to them by medical professionals and cultural norms. It’s time to get the power back and tell our own tales!
Rewritten Narratives is a workshop for participants who self-identify as disabled and/or chronically ill, whether the disability is apparent or non-apparent. This could mean anything from physical disabilities, learning disabilities, “invisible” disabilities, and disabilities caused by mental health concerns.
No art making skills or experiences required!
Attendees will receive transportation stipend (PACE vouchers).
Location:
Center for Mad Culture
410 South Michigan Avenue, suite 419
Chicago, IL 60605
In-person Rewritten Narratives session RSVP Link: https://tinyurl.com/rewrittennarrative
Access information:
Press Here is on the 4th floor in the Fine Arts Building. It is accessible by elevator. A wheelchair accessible restroom is available. For in-person sessions, please request ASL interpretation and identify any access needs when signing up for a session.
AI captioning will be available for virtual workshop sessions. For virtual sessions, contact B at brandolph@accessliving.org or (312) 640-2100 with access requests. Please allow 2-3 weeks’ advance notice for ASL interpretation requests, both virtual and in-person.
About the facilitator:
Brian “B” Randolph (they/them) is an art therapy graduate student from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Brian specializes in portraiture, drawing the human form, and the writing/drawing of comics. B is working with their supervisor, disabled artist and art therapist, Sandie Yi, to create disability culture and art at Access Living this year.
Sponsor Information:
This project is brought to you by the Arts and Culture Project at Access Living, an independent living center for people with disabilities, Bodies of Work: Network of Disability Art and Culture, and the Disability Culture Activism Lab (DCAL). DCAL, a teaching lab housed under the department of art therapy and counseling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab. The contents of this project were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTCP0005). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this project do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Let’s reclaim and rewrite our stories as disabled people through writing and drawing together! Too often disabled individuals have their stories told to them by medical professionals and cultural norms. It’s time to get the power back and tell our own tales!
Rewritten Narratives is a workshop for participants who self-identify as disabled and/or chronically ill, whether the disability is apparent or non-apparent. This could mean anything from physical disabilities, learning disabilities, “invisible” disabilities, and disabilities caused by mental health concerns.
No art making skills or experiences required!
Attendees will receive transportation stipend (PACE vouchers).
Location:
Center for Mad Culture
410 South Michigan Avenue, suite 419
Chicago, IL 60605
In-person Rewritten Narratives session RSVP Link: https://tinyurl.com/rewrittennarrative
Access information:
Press Here is on the 4th floor in the Fine Arts Building. It is accessible by elevator. A wheelchair accessible restroom is available. For in-person sessions, please request ASL interpretation and identify any access needs when signing up for a session.
AI captioning will be available for virtual workshop sessions. For virtual sessions, contact B at brandolph@accessliving.org or (312) 640-2100 with access requests. Please allow 2-3 weeks’ advance notice for ASL interpretation requests, both virtual and in-person.
About the facilitator:
Brian “B” Randolph (they/them) is an art therapy graduate student from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Brian specializes in portraiture, drawing the human form, and the writing/drawing of comics. B is working with their supervisor, disabled artist and art therapist, Sandie Yi, to create disability culture and art at Access Living this year.
Sponsor Information:
This project is brought to you by the Arts and Culture Project at Access Living, an independent living center for people with disabilities, Bodies of Work: Network of Disability Art and Culture, and the Disability Culture Activism Lab (DCAL). DCAL, a teaching lab housed under the department of art therapy and counseling at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Shirley Ryan Abilities Lab. The contents of this project were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90RTCP0005). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this project do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, or HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.
Dancing with Parkinson’s is a partnership program between The Joffrey Ballet and Northwestern Medicine built for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers, friends, and family members.
This class offers a supportive space to explore the artistry of dance, ranging across the styles of ballet, jazz, modern, tap, and improvisation. In this class, we connect the mind to movement, inviting expression and exploration in where it may not have been before: moving the body in conjunction with others and with music, evoking creativity and connection. This program was built so everyone can experience the joy and freedom of dance, no matter age, status, or ability.
Accessibility: low lighting, quiet spaces, wheelchair accessible
https://joffrey.org/education/community-engagement/dancing-with-parkinson-s/
Free Dance Day brings together people of all ages and experience levels to enjoy a day filled with dance classes, performances, and festivities, all for free!
This annual open-house style event is a chance to try out dance classes in a relaxed, communal setting. Visit Synapse’s home studio as an Arts Partner in Residence with the Chicago Park District to try out a free movement class, bring kids to try ballet and hip hop classes, and see the Synapse Performance Troupe perform.
Come for Free Dance Day, then stay for the free Boo! Bash presented by Loyola Park, which includes a DJ dance party, crafts, snacks, and a Halloween-y photo booth.
Schedule and registration details available at www.synapsearts.com.
Accessibility: ASL interpreter, large print programs, quiet spaces
Experience Red: A Crayon’s Story like you never have before! This storybook video features Deaf American Sign Language master signer Crom Saunders signing the words to the animated book, with music and sound effects bringing the story to life. Then we’ll watch and play along with fun interactive games conducted by students and teachers from the Indiana School for the Deaf.
Crom will visit in person and play theater games with the kids after the video. This event will have a live interpreter.
Best for kids in preschool and elementary school and their family and friends.
More information at https://oakpark.librarycalendar.com/event/asl-storybook-red-crayons-story
Eurydice is a play about newlywed and newly dead Eurydice arrives in the underworld without memories or language where she struggles to recover her humanity with the aid of the father she lost years ago. When Orpheus arrives to rescue her, Eurydice must choose between staying with her father or escaping with her husband—between life and death. Pulitzer & Tony nominated North Shore native Sarah Ruhl infuses the ancient myth with humor, poetry, hope & sneaky surprises as this classic heroine finds her voice.
Run time: 1 hour and 20 minutes, no intermission
Accessibility: Assistive Listening Devices, Open Captions, Digital Document, Wheelchair Accessible
https://www.writerstheatre.org/eurydice
Join leading intellectual Farah Jasmine Griffin (Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature and In Search of a Beautiful Freedom) to talk about why book bans so often target Black literature. Griffin discusses the censorship of Black authors like Toni Morrison and the effort to preserve and share Black stories. This renowned author and Columbia University professor is joined by WBEZ Race, Class and Communities Reporter Natalie Moore for a chat about Black literature and our complex American history.
A book signing will follow this program
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/farah-jasmine-griffin/
Over the past year, language models have entered the popular consciousness as new apps like ChatGPT attract hundreds of millions of users. Bold claims have been made about the capabilities and future impact of such products. Researchers in the field of natural language processing (the scholarly field in which language models originated) have been somewhat taken aback by these developments; language models have been around for decades. Noah Smith, an expert in natural language processing, takes to the Chicago Humanities stage for a presentation that aims to demystify generative artificial intelligence with a focus on language models. By introducing historical context and a few key concepts and foundational ideas, he aims to narrow the gap between scientific and popular understanding of language models while avoiding the hype.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/language-ai/
Prepare to be dazzled by the transformative power of design with the Emmy-nominated host of Queer Eye, Bobby Berk. Why does the color of a room change how you feel? How can you decide what to get rid of or repurpose? And how can your home boost your mood? Berk’s new book, Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good For The Mind, shows us how the power of exceptional design can ignite joy, elevate our mental wellbeing, and optimize our lives. With practical tips and inspiring anecdotes, Berk sits down with Asad Syrkett, editor in chief of Elle Decor, to share invaluable insights on how to unlock the true potential of your home to create your personal sanctuary of serenity and a happier, more fulfilling life.
To meet and get a photo with Bobby after the event, add “Signed Book + Photo Opportunity” to your cart. Limited number of tickets available.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/bobby-berk/
Budmo!, meaning “cheers!” in Ukrainian, is the first cookbook presented by Ukrainian-born, California-based chef, blogger, and culinary instructor Anna Voloshyna. Celebrating classic Eastern European recipes with a modern, creative twist with bright flavors, Voloshyna presents vibrant ingredients that represent the rich culture and tradition of the people of Ukraine. Join Anna as she sits down with Chicago Humanities favorite award-winning chef Rick Bayless for a conversation on the food of her homeland and the unifying power of cuisine.
A book signing will follow this program.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/voloshyna-bayless/
When the film debuted in July of 1980, Airplane! had a budget of only $3.5 million, and yet it went on to earn nearly $200 million, gathering a rabid fan-base, inspiring countless comedians, and providing perhaps the most quotable lines of any comedy in cinematic history. In their new book, Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane! , ZAZ (filmmakers David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams) share hilarious trivia and never-before-heard anecdotes about the creation of this classic movie. At Chicago Humanities, Mark Bazar of WTTW’s The Interview Show sits down with writer/director David Zucker (and a special zoom appearance from his brother and fellow Airplane! filmmaker Jerry) for a night of laughter and nostalgia, as we dive into clips, images, and stories from behind-the-scenes of this legendary comedic gem. For a special keepsake, books pre-signed by all three filmmakers will be available for purchase.
This event will have asl interpretation, open captions, and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/airplane/
A Cicero native, Erika Sánchez grew up in a Mexican American household and is a self-described pariah, misfit, and a foul-mouthed, melancholic rabble-rouser. She returns to the literary world with her witty, raunchy, insightful, unapologetic honest memoir, Crying in the Bathroom. She covers everything from white feminism to debilitating depression, and finding a life rich with ideas and self-awareness. Join the Chicagoland native for a night of laughter, comedy, and personal self-reflection that feels like talking for hours with your best friend.
A book signing will follow this program.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/erika-sanchez/
Throughout history, museums and other cultural institutions have too often acquired their artifacts through conquest, imperialism and colonization. Today, these institutions are re-evaluating this “colonial looting” and facing increasing calls to return these artifacts to their rightful owners, aiming to rectify historical injustices and foster cultural healing. Join Chicago Humanities for a presentation on these stolen artifacts and the importance of returning cultural items to their rightful homes with Patty Gerstenblith, Director of DePaul University’s Center for Art, Museums and Cultural Heritage Law. Following her presentation, Gerstenblith will be joined by esteemed experts Victoria Reed, Curator for Provenance at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Shannon O’Loughlin from the Association of American Indian Affairs, and Dr. Helen Robbins, Repatriation Director at the Field Museum for a conversation about the ethical, legal, and cultural challenges and opportunities museums face when restoring cultural heritage.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/colonial-looting/
What constitutes a meaningful life in a violent world? Join celebrated author and essayist Teju Cole (Open City) as he considers this question through his most recent work of fiction, Tremor. This poetic exploration continues Cole’s masterful examination of colonial atrocities, casual racism, and “history’s own brutality.” Don’t miss this Chicago Humanities experience with one of the most vibrant voices on today’s literary scene.
A book signing will follow this program.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/conversation-teju-cole/
Academy Award-winning movie Don’t Look Up and the big-budget streamer Extrapolations tell us that humanity is incapable of addressing climate change, even in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence. But is that true? Are human beings incapable of changing our ways to help the planet? Join astronomer and physicist Marcelo Gleiser (The Dawn of a Mindful Universe), climate scientist Michael Mann (Our Fragile Moment), and award-winning Chicago journalist Monica Eng for a thought-provoking discussion about why we need a new Enlightenment to forge a sustainable future for all. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with influential voices who are shaping the discourse around climate change.
A book signing will follow this program.
This event will have open captions and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/morality-climate-change/
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow returns to Chicago Humanities to expose the shocking truth behind subversive attempts to undermine democracy and the inspiring tales of those who rose to challenge the insurrectionists. Inspired by the research for her #1 Apple podcast, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra, Maddow’s latest book PREQUEL: An American Fight Against Fascism tells the World War II story of a committed group of public servants and courageous private citizens thwarting the far-right’s attempts to align our nation with the Nazis. Join Maddow as she sits down with historian, author and Northwestern University professor Kathleen Belew to explore the rise of this wild strain of American authoritarianism, the profoundly relevant insights about America today that can be drawn from its history, and her take on our own unprecedented times.
This event will have open captions, audio description, asl interpretation and assistive listening devices with t-coil available at the Box Office.
To buy tickets, press on this link below: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/events/attend/rachel-maddow/