Friday 12
Empty Big Mac containers, napkins, and french-fry wrappers are some of the materials used to make the clothes in today’s McDonald’s Paper Products Student Fashion Show, which starts at noon and again at 12:30 at the Daley Civic Center, Dearborn at Washington. Twelve students at the International Academy of Merchandising and Design made the clothes as part of a school contest in November, with, a spokesman from the school emphasized, “clean and unused materials.” The show is free. 346-3278.
Myron Kartman, chairman of the strings department at the Northwestern University School of Music, didnt have to look far for members for the chamber-music group he recently formed. His daughter, Lise Kartman McDonough, his son-in-law, Michael McDonough, and his son, Stefan Kartman, are all practiced players with a variety of music degrees. With Lise on viola, Stefan on cello, and Michael and Myron on violin, the Kartman Chamber Players makes its debut tonight at 7:30 at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 1977 Sheridan Road in Evanston. Award-winning Los Angeles pianist Jeannie Yu will accompany them. Tickets are $3; call 491-5441 for more info.
Saturday 13
Everybody generates more garbage than usual around the holidays. So the Chicago Academy of Sciences, as part of its Recycling Day today, invites visitors to the museum to bring in the most ridiculous, wasteful packaging they can find that’s no bigger than nine inches square. The academy will pick the best items to become part of an “outrageous rubbish” display. You can also pick up free info on recycling, watch videos about recycling, and take home free mulch ground from used Christmas trees. Bring a bag if you want mulch; drop off your tree before Saturday if you want to contribute. Recycling Day runs from 9 AM to 2 PM, and it’s free; the academy is at 2001 N. Clark. 549-0606.
Dena Epstein’s mother never finished her autobiography, I Came a Stranger: The Story of a Hull-House Girl. So Epstein finished it and got it published after her mother died. Epstein will talk about the book and how it compares with documented history at the Chicago Area Women’s History Conference meeting, from 2 to 4 today at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton, in the second-floor Fellows Lounge. Mary Ann Johnson, editor of The Many Faces of Hull-House: The Photographs of Wallace Kirkland, will also talk about her book. The talks are free, and copies of both books will be for sale; details at 943-9090.
Anton LaVey, the leader of the California-based Church of Satan, opposes animal sacrifice, has never been implicated in any criminal activity, and does not play records backwards at the meetings he presides over. Not impressed? Learn more at the Psychotronic Film Society’s screening of Satanis–The Anton LaVey Story, which starts at 7:30 tonight at the 950 Club, 950 W. Wrightwood. There’s a $3 admission. More at 738-0985.
Sunday 14
Self-help groups aren’t a product of the 80s; Chicago immigrants were forming them as early as the turn of the century. Landsmanshaften, as they were called, helped immigrants adjust to the strain of new surroundings. Today’s Chicago Jewish Historical Society talk, Our Second Home: A History of Landsmanshaften In Chicago, will include a question-and-answer session and info about a group founded in 1907 that’s still active. The talk will be given at the Spertus College of Judaica, 618 S. Michigan. Refreshments start at 1, and the talk runs from 2 to 3:30. An exhibit of the same name is also on display at the museum. Everything’s free; details at 663-5634.
Two-hour Tours of the Lyric Opera–the stage, the prop room, the wig and makeup department, wardrobe and dressing rooms, the orchestra pit, the lighting installations, and practically every other place that has anything to do with putting on a performance there–start today, beginning every eight minutes between 1 and 4. Tours continue Saturday, January 27, from 11 AM to 2 PM, Sunday, January 28, from 1 to 4 PM, and Sunday, February 4, from 1 to 4 PM. They cost $12.50, $10 for seniors; lunch is available before or after the tour for $7.50. Reservations are required, so make them at 332-2244; then show up at the stage-door entrance, on Wacker near Washington.
Monday 15
Today would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 61st birthday, and the Peace Museum is celebrating with an exhibit of paintings and drawings of the civil rights movement by Chicagoan Franklin McMahon. McMahon, a recipient of the Art Institute’s Renaissance Prize, covers more than ten years of history in this show, including the Emmett Till murder trial (1955), the Deerfield housing controversy (1959), the Alabama march from Selma to Montgomery (1965), and King’s visit to Chicago (1966). An Artist’s Notebook: Civil Rights, Selma to Chicago runs through March 31 at the museum, 430 W. Erie. McMahon will speak about his work at tonight’s opening reception, 5:30 to 7:30; regular museum hours axe noon to 5 daily, except noon to 8 Thursday. Admission is $3.50, $2 for seniors and students. 440-1860.
Tuesday 16
Will inflation get worse in the 90s? Will oil prices go up again? Three panelists will make economic projections for the 90s at today’s breakfast meeting of the Greater O’Hare Chapter of the International Association for Financial Planning- The Next Decade–Boom or Bust starts at 7:45 AM at Rupert’s Banquet and Conference Center in the Continental Towers, 1701 W. Golf, Rolling Meadows. The $15 fee ($10 for members) includes breakfast; make reservations at 291-0211.
Wednesday 17
The winners of last year’s Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition made their five-ton block of snow into three icy dolphins. They defeated 11 teams from around the state and went on to the international competition in Milwaukee. This year 15 state teams and three high school teams will compete, and three international teams will demonstrate their skills. The snow-sculpting starts today and runs through Saturday, when judging takes place. Teams work from 9 AM to 7 PM each day until Saturday, when they finish at 11 AM. Spectators get into the park free throughout the competition. It all happens in Sinnissippi Park, at the corner of Highway 251 and Ethel Avenue in Rockford. For more information call 815-987-8692.
“This series is for anyone who ever knew, was, or is a youthful criminal,” says Lawrence Steger, a member of Boys Behind Bars, about the performance-video-poetry series he helped organize, Crimes of Reckless Youth. Every Wednesday night at 9 through January 31, the group presents various forms of entertainment that celebrate the antihero: Huck Finn, James Dean, Oliver North. Tonight’s offerings include five performance pieces, a video called This Town Will Tear You Apart, and music-video clips. Each show at Lower Links, 754 W. Newport, costs $3, $1.50 if you’re female. More at 276-4226.
A complete 15-volume set of Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia is among the literary bargains offered at Children’s Memorial Hospital’s White Elephant Resale Shop’s used-book sale. The sale runs from 10 to 5 today, 10:30 to 7 tomorrow, and 10 to 5 Friday and Saturday. The resale shop is at 2380 N. Lincoln; details at 281-3747.
Thursday 18
Thomas Ashby was director of the British School in Rome from 1906 to 1925, during which time he established himself as an authority on the topography of Rome and collected 7,000 drawings and prints of the city by artists from Italy, France, Holland, Britain, and Germany. Two years after his death in 1931, his widow sold the collection to the Vatican. Today through March 18, Views of Rome: Watercolors and Drawings From the Collection of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, an exhibit of 81 works, will be up at the Smart Gallery at the University of Chicago, 5801 S. Ellis. Gallery hours are 10 to 4 Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 Sunday. Admission is $2, $1.50 for seniors, and $1 for children; everyone gets in free on Tuesday. Call 702-0176.