Credit: Courtesy Elmhurst Art Museum

Time to plan your Mother’s Day weekend. Here are some things we recommend you do (with or without mom):


Through 5/14: The second annual Evanston Lit Festival featuring discussions, readings, and signings across Evanston. Guests include Zoe Zolbrod, Sharman Apt Russell, and Laura Kasischke. See the full schedule of events and locations at evanstonlit.org. 

HI-BUTFL and Double Rainbow, on display as part of “Hatorade Retrograde” at Comfort Station through 6/11.Credit: courtesy the artist


5/6-6/11: Lise Heller Baggesen’s glitter-covered solo exhibition at Comfort Station (2557 W. North), “Hatorade Retrograde,” imagines a “not-so-distant future so sparkly, we’ll have to wear sequin camo.” Opening reception Fri 5/6, 6-9 PM.

The Seldoms explore the “bra-burning” counterculture of the 60s in RockCitizen.Credit: Brian Kuhlmann


Through 5/15: Contemporary dance company the Seldoms presents RockCitizen at the Storefront Theater (66 E. Randolph). The performance is inspired by the counterculture of the 1960s and a continuation of their exploration of the era with last year’s Power Goes. Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM

Kerry James Marshall, School of Beauty, School of Culture (2012)Credit: SEAN PATHASEMA / MCA


Through 9/25: “Kerry James Marshall: Mastry,” on display now at the Museum of Contemporary Art (220 E. Chicago), is an exhibition of the artist’s paintings from the last 35 years. Sasha Geffen writes, “The subjects’ eyes stand out because their skin is stark, symbolic black: charcoal, ebony, obsidian. Marshall paints human figures with the darkest shade of each composition’s palette. They appear to be negative space, but they’re all fiercely human.”

Sat 5/7: Ticketholders at the Chicago Beer Classic at Soldier Field (1410 S. Museum Campus) can enjoy 48 two-ounce samples of beers from breweries both big and small (Goose Island to Aquanaut). If that won’t suffice, additional drink tickets are available. 11:30 AM and 4 PM

From “Playboy Architecture, 1953-1979″ at Elmhurst Art MuseumCredit: Courtesy Elmhurst Art Museum


5/7-8/28: Put on your silk robe and get to the Elmhurst Art Museum (150 S. Cottage Hill, Elmhurst) for “Playboy Architecture, 1953-1979,” a collection of photographs, films, architectural models, and more from Playboy magazine’s early days.

Kathleen Turner plays a murderous matriarch in John Waters’s Serial Mom.

Sun 5/8: Ditch the brunch and flowers and instead bring your mom to Emporium Arcade Bar (1366 N. Milwaukee) for Trash Movie Night: Mother’s Day, a horror-movie marathon with a lineup including Serial Mom and Mother’s Day (no, not that one). 8 PM

For more stuff to do this weekend—and every day—check out our Agenda page.