Last month Gossip Wolf brought news of an Indiegogo fund-raiser for nonprofit Pure Joy, which aims to open an all-ages, feminist, LGBT-safe punk venue this fall—and it’s not the only new community arts group looking for a brick-and-mortar home in town. Alumni of defunct DIY venues Mortville and the Beauty Shop have teamed up with arts nonprofit Access/Praxis to launch a multidisciplinary space to foster collaborations among Chicago’s diverse creative communities—and because it’ll be subscription based, rather than using the typical DIY arrangement where people live in a venue to cover the rent, it shouldn’t suffer from the burnout that often gives such places frustratingly short life cycles. The folks behind the project, tentatively titled the Chicago Arts and Music Center, don’t have a property in mind yet; for now they’re hoping to scare up $10,000 through Indiegogo at bit.ly/anewspace. The campaign ends May 12, and before then they’ll host a couple IRL fund-Âraisers, including a combination yard sale and movie screening Sun 4/27. For details see newchiplace.tumblr.com or e-mail Mortville60623@gmail.com.
Last August, Gossip Wolf noticed that local electro weirdo Jim Magas had gotten Twitter fan mail from actress, director, and Italian horror-film royalty Asia Argento. Magas is a fan of her work too, and over the past year their mutual admiration society has blossomed into a collaboration! Magas says Argento asked him to “develop several themes she had written, while developing a few of my own” for her forthcoming film Incompresa (“Misunderstood”). He scored a few scenes with an ensemble that included Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello), Weasel Walter (clarinet), and Julie Pomerleau (violin), and his music made the cut! The film features Charlotte Gainsbourg, Gabriel Garko, and Justin Pearson of Retox and the Locust; it will compete in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival in May.
Got a tip? Tweet @Gossip_Wolf or e-mail gossipwolf@chicagoreader.com