Alanna Zaritz, 39, was born and raised in Chicago and is one of our city’s treasures. She is a familiar, welcoming, and eye-catching figure at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), where she has worked since 2005 (she’s currently the MCA’s store manager). Zaritz’s awe for her hometown is contagious, and very handy, since […]
Tag: Pilsen
Grabadolandia, Trans Weekend of Resilience, and more
It’s the last day of Grabadolandia, a three-day printmaking festival in Pilsen organized by the Instituto Gráfico de Chicago. From 10 AM-5 PM, they are hosting a printmakers fair at the National Museum of Mexican Art (1852 W. 19th) where you can appreciate (and buy!) works from various members of the Pilsen printmaker community. The […]
Dia de Muertos celebration, Shape Shifter Night Market, cat films, and Starcrawler
The Pilsen organization SGA Youth and Family Services hosts the annual Dia de Muertos parade and celebration this afternoon at Dvorak Park (1119 W. Cullerton), celebrating life and honoring the memories of community members and loved ones that have passed away. The event has been happening for 43 years, making it the longest-running free Dia […]
Margo Price, Pilsen art, gospel, hardcore, and more
Today is the second day of Pilsen Open Studios, happening in the neighborhood from noon-8 PM along 18th Street and elsewhere in the area from Halsted to Western. Yesterday we mentioned where to catch some of our favorite highlights, but you can see a more complete list of vendors and activities on the Pilsen Open […]
House of the Exquisite Corpse, Pilsen Open Studios, Panther Party, and more
Pilsen Open Studios is happening from noon-8 PM today and tomorrow along 18th Street and elsewhere in the neighborhood from Halsted to Western. Galleries, artists, and vendors invite visitors and neighbors to experience the hyperlocal arts community. This 20-year-old event celebrates aesthetic traditions and innovations within hip-hop, muralism, screenprinting, self-publishing, graffiti, and more. Appreciators, admirers, […]
Jeanne Dunning looks at what’s left behind
The works in this exhibition radiate death. Roadkill is scattered around on the floor, from the upper level, to the stairs leading down to the exhibition space, to the main gallery. A massive mandala takes up most of that floor, made up of ash sourced from wood effigies the artist made of herself and then […]
Mi Raza, Sarah Weddle, audio workshops, performance, and more
The film presenter South Side Projections (founded in 2011 to bring movies to locations across Chicago’s south side in order to spur conversation about complex social and political issues) travels to the Lozano branch of the Chicago Public Library (1805 S. Loomis) this evening for a presentation of 1973’s Mi Raza: Portrait of a Family […]
Ruth Page showcase, The Wizards, Shamilton!, Podlasie Club, Viva Acid
Ruth Page Center for the Arts (1016 N. Dearborn) offers its Fall Showcase 2022, the debut performance of the current Ruth Page Civic Ballet Training Company, tonight and tomorrow at 7 PM. The program includes Steady Going, a new piece by South Chicago Dance Theatre founder and artistic director Kia Smith; Dreaming With Ruth Page: […]
The road ahead
“Good things come to those who wait,” the adage goes. Back in the summer of 2009, I found myself in Chicago as an alternative journalism fellow at Medill, and I quickly fell in love with the city, its people, culture, and greasy spoons (if I close my eyes and concentrate hard enough, I can still […]
Vintage Fest, Sérgio Mendes, Hurricane Fiona benefit, and more
Today is the final day of the Chicago Vintage Fall Fest (19th and Blue Island), an outdoor gathering of vendors, music, and more, happening from noon-8 PM. Fabulous Freddies Italian Eatery will be selling food, and the day is stacked with DJs: DJ AuntieSocial from noon-2 PM; Angelfuk from 2-4 PM; Light of Your Vida […]
Cook County Uncovered: the Board of Review
A look at Cook County’s property tax appeals board
La verdad que nadie quiere enfrentar
Las notas de una reunión sobre la seguridad pública en Pilsen que resultó polémica
The elephant in the room
Notes from a recent public safety meeting in Pilsen that turned contentious.
Sweat equity, radical politics, and gentrification
Before Pilsen welcomed gallery spaces and Little Village became La Villita, the city’s Mexican population fought to make their voices heard and for places to live. Georgetown University historian Mike Amezcua chronicles this decades-long struggle in his compelling Making Mexican Chicago: From Postwar Settlement to the Age of Gentrification, published in February by University of […]