This week is all about eating, but next week will be all about the holiday frenzy and plans to make before 2012 comes to a close.  For a change of pace, especially on a Monday evening, we recommend that you check out Fear No Art's The Dinner Party on Monday, November 26 at the Mayne Stage. The Dinner Party is a creation dreamed up by the ever-enthusiastic Elysabeth Alfano, who brings together a dynamic group of creatives to sit together and eat and chat while a live audience listens in and looks on. Monday's event features several of my own favorite local personalities: the witty host of NPR's "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!", Peter Sagal, will be there, along with star violinist Rachel Barton Pine - a talent I saw perform just this past Friday night at a Scottish extravaganza called the Feast of the Haggis.  Also around the table will be SNL alum, actor and screenwriter Tim Kazurinksy, and the dinner will be created by Jared Van Camp of Nellcote (I still havent' managed to get reservations there at a decent time.) There will also be wine pairings and chocolate (by Vosges!).  There's more: Lynne Jordan, of the super fabulous Lynne Jordan and the Shivers, will be the opening act (she performed at my wedding, plus I never miss a chance to see her perform at the Drake) and artist/cab driver Dmitry Samarov will be sketching live. Seriously - this is too good to miss! If you can't make it there in person (which is the best option, since you get to taste the food!) you can watch live online while the show streams at TimeOutChicago.com/dinnerparty

Bon Appetit!  And Happy Thanksgiving from CGN!  

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Join host Elysabeth Alfano at the Mayne Stage the last Monday of every month for a live filming of THE DINNER PARTY, a completely new and different kind of show. Alfano invites 3 cultural luminaries and a celebrity chef to join in food, art, wine, Twitter, performances and conversation during this 90 minute show which also streams live on the internet. Can't make the Mayne Stage? Watch THE DINNER PARTY live on TimeOutChicago.com/dinnerparty and www.FearNoART.tv and tweet in (and win prizes) to be a part of this fantastic, new multi-dimensional show.

When & What & Where: November 26th live dinner, conversation, performances at the Mayne Stage and streaming live on TimeOutChicago.com/dinnerparty and www.FearNoArt.tv

Price: $25 Buy tix to Mayne Stage including food, wine and chocolate tastings, or free on-line viewing.

Mayne Stage: Doors open at 6:30 pm. Starts at 7PM, including dinner sampling. No late seating. Post show party at the Mayne Stage's Mezz Gallery.

Streaming On-line: starts at 7:30 pm CST on FearNoART.tv and TimeOutChicago.com/dinnerparty

More Information, click on Fear No ART presents THE DINNER PARTY.

Logan Launch Festival is happening this weekend, an appropriate time for joviality considering October is Chicago Artist’s Month (CAM). The three-day festival is a celebration surrounding the opening of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago.  The Center will serve as a hub for the vibrant arts scene at the University and a destination for the South Side and greater Chicago area.  This weekend's festivities are free, open to the public and happening now through Sunday, October 14.

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Photos by Tom Rossiter
© The University of Chicago

Numerous events are occurring throughout the weekend ranging from site-specific sound installations, multiple performances, plays, films, orchestra ensembles, discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, a live broadcast, as well as visual artworks. There are a few ongoing installations, such as Sonic Environments: The Work of Richard Lerman: Sound Installation Piece, as well as exhibits MFA: On Display, and Wall Text both presented from the Department of Visual Arts, as well as Self-Guided Tours.
 
Multiple performances are shaking up this evening, Friday, October 12, so be sure to check out the full schedule. Ricardo Basbaum’s “Would you like to participate in an artistic experience?” addresses complex social transformations through the circulation of a deceptively simple object, one of his “New Bases for Personality (NBP)” which is ongoing all day Friday. Music Department Piano Showcase, Los Cenzonties with David Hidalgo, Monk and Mingus: Performance by University Jazz X-Tet, Uballet, Deeply Rooted, The Ransom Notes, Student Performance of Tony Award-Winning Play “Proof”, and Spektral Quartet are all exciting events ranging from music to performance to dance, or some combination of the above. There will also be a chance for you and your friends to participate in informal performances at the Logan Cabaret Series Kick-Off at the Performance Penthouse from 9-11pm, Friday, October 12. More performances will be held throughout the weekend, including the Turtle Island Quartet concert on Sunday at 3pm.
 
Several discussion panels, lectures, and conversations will develop this weekend including a few this evening.  Beware the Stairs Are Always Moving: A Conversation with architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien takes place tonight from 6-7:30 pm.  Later on, from 8-9pm in the Café, Café Scientifique sessions invite the public to explore and debate current issues and interesting topics in science research at the University, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
 
Family programming will take place all day Saturday including Family Telling Workshop; Barrel of Monkeys, “That’s Weird, Grandma”; Animation Workshop; and StoryTelling with the Ase Youth Ensemble. There will also be Arts Trolley Rides from noon - 5pm where guests can visit museums and cultural institutions across the University of Chicago campus including the Oriental Institute Museum, Renaissance Society, and Smart Museum of Art.
 
Open House Chicago (OHC) organized by the Chicago Architecture Foundation is an annual weekend festival providing free behind-the-scenes access to many of Chicago’s greatest places and spaces. The Logan Center, selected as one of OHC’s “Top Twenty Sites to Visit,” will offer self-guided tours for OHC participants that feature “backstage” areas of the performance spaces as well as private studios on Sunday from 10-5pm. Logan Center presents Scheduled Tours on Sunday to explore the Logan center with a knowledgeable guide. Hear about the building’s history, architecture, and role within the University with visits to the performance hall, blackbox theatre, digital media center, classrooms, gallery and more.
 
Look for more detailed information and a full schedule of events on the Logan Center for the Arts website, so you can participate in this dynamic community with its intriguing, intellectual, and enjoyable events.
 
Festival hours:
Friday: Noon – 11pm
Saturday: 10 am – 11pm
Sunday: Noon- 5pm

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637

Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Exterior construction view from the north
Photo by Tom Rossiter
© The University of Chicago

Chicago Artist’s Month (CAM) continues, and this weekend, on Saturday, October 13, Chicago Gallery News' Saturday Gallery Tours in River North and the West Loop will feature work by select Chicago artists on view in participating galleries.  On these tours, a gallery representative leads visitors to four art galleries in River North and the West Loop.  Tours are ongoing and happen all year round, but this Saturday’s tours are special CAM events.

The Jean Albano Gallery is leading the River North tour this Saturday, which will feature Chicago artist Gladys Nilsson’s vibrant, compositionally intricate watercolor paintings.  Visitors on this tour will also get the chance to visit the Roy Boyd gallery, which is currently hosting its 40^th anniversary exhibition.  Perimeter Gallery and Addington Gallery are also taking part in the River North tour.  To participate, meet at 750 N. Franklin Starbucks by 11am. 

Gladys Nilsson, Jumping, Jean Albano Gallery

 Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery will be leading the West Loop tour, which features “Palisades,” the gallery’s first solo exhibition for Los Angeles based contemporary painter Elisa Johns.  Johns’ oil paintings display a combination of abstract, dream-like landscapes and distorted figures, which fuse together as a narrative mechanism. 

Elisa Johns, Muses, Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery

The Chicago Artists Month featured artist Jeremiah Lee’s cigar box guitars are being exhibited at the Packer Schopf Gallery, another destination on the West Loop tour.  At 3pm there will be a music performance using the instruments from Lee’s show.  The Linda Warren Projects Gallery and Mars Gallery are also taking part in the West loop tour.  To participate, meet at 215 N. Aberdeen (Kasia Kay Art Projects Gallery) by 1:30pm.  These tours are free, and no reservations are required.  For more information, including the tour schedules, visit Chicago Gallery Tours. 

But wait, there’s more!  This Saturday and Sunday from 11am-2pm at the Art Institute of Chicago, you can get interactive with the art at “The Artists Studio: Mini Model Sculptures.” Build a small-scale version of your favorite public sculpture, or design your own monument for your favorite spot in the city. This is a great activity for children and adults of all ages!  Visit their website for more information.  And if sculpture is your thing, there is also a Reception and Trolley Tour of Chicago’s Sculpture Exhibit on Sunday at 3pm that spans Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park/Bucktown.  For details about this sculpture tour, click here.

Picasso, Maquette, Richard J. Daley Center

Michael Young, Looking Up, Chicago Sculpture Exhibit

Even though in Chicago the weather has been a bit rainy and grey, the holidays are approaching and bringing a new year; we know the snow will be here soon enough!

Chicago Gallery News is excited and ready to celebrate the New Year with our upcoming January-March issue, packed with events and openings in 2012! Grab your copy soon, and visit our website to check for the winter openings schedule, to be posted soon.

You don’t have to wait until January to get out and about though, and December’s not over yet. CGN has a list of things to do to keep you busy for the next couple of weeks when, hopefully, you have a little free time to enjoy the city.

See a movie

at the Gene Siskel Film Center

Regular movie theaters will be noisy and crowded this season, so why not venture to another theater like the Gene Siskel Film Center? December offers opportunities to see anything from Le Havre, a feel good film where a shoeshine man shields an African illegal immigrant child from the law, to The Interrupters, directed by Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams, in collaboration with the author of There Are No Children Here and more.

Visit siskelfilmcenter.org for schedules. 

Stop by a gallery

Roots and Culture is presenting an exhibition of international artists through January 8, with a Q+A session December 18 at 2pm to mark the occasion of International Migrant’s Day.

• 1034 N. Milwaukee

65GRAND exhibits Bob Jones through December 31^st in a show called Mountains and matte.  The work featured is in between sculpture and painting.

Bob Jones

• 1369 W. Grand 

Devening Projects and Exhibitions presents Mark Booth: The Sea is Represented by an Irregular Shape until January 29^th.   Booth is a Chicago based artist and received his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

• 3039 W. Carroll

Hear Holiday Music

Stop by the Harold Washington Library downtown to hear holiday concerts throughout the month.  December 15 at 2pm in the library’s grand lobby the Chicago Bar Association Symphony and Chorus performs.

• 400 S. State

Listen

At the Poetry Foundation on December 16 at 7pm Kenneth Goldsmith, poet, DJ, essayist, and UbuWeb founder, will be presenting “My Career in Poetry or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Institution,” a talk about poetic community, ambition, and his new book Uncreative Writing.

• 61 W. Superior

 Hop on the Holiday Express

At the Chicago Botanic Garden, from 10-6 until January 1^st visit the 10,000 sq foot miniature train that winds through Chicago landmarks including Navy Pier, Soldier Field, The Art Institute and Chinatown. The Joutras Gallery will also feature a gingerbread house display. See thousands of festive lights decorating the gardens inside and out! On select days hear carolers and participate in family activities. Visit chicagobotanic.org for more details and to purchase tickets.

Don’t miss the last opportunity of 2011 to shop at the Farmers’ Market at the Botanic Garden.  On December 18 from 10-2 the gardens host a winter farmers’ market with local vendors. It’s a perfect opportunity to purchase some green friendly holiday presents, stock up on your local favorites for the winter, or pick up a few ingredients for your holiday dinner. Expect to see a range of items from free-range meat to veggies, baked goods, handmade pottery, flowers, and soaps! 

Learn more about all of these events and more at chicagogallerynews.com  

As Thanksgiving approaches and relatives arrive in the city, you’re looking for places to show your family, or maybe you finally have the time to escape the hustle and bustle of the holiday. The DuSable Museum of African-American History has several events taking place next week and past the holiday.

November 26^th at 8pm and 27^th at 7pm

DuSable presents Global Rhythms, the first concert series in the United States dedicated to American tap and contemporary percussive arts companies. Celebrate the holiday in the spirit of giving just by attending, as 50% of your ticket will be donated to Chicago based charitable organizations! Performances will take place at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park. Find more info HERE. 

Step Afrika 

Ongoing exhibitions: 

• Spread the Word! The Evolution of Gospel from Chicago to the World

Chicago gets into Gospel music each year downtown during the Taste of Chicago, but Spread the Word! goes beyond to celebrate the rich history of Gospel Music, focusing on gospel’s Chicago origins. Featured will be some of Gospel’s greatest singers, Chicago choirs, and “singing” preachers such as: Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker, The Thompson Community Singers, “First Families of Gospel” and Reverend Clay Evans. 

• EVERYWHERE with Roy Lewis is a testament to Roy Lewis’s unique contribution to African American photography and history. Lewis possesses an uncanny ability to not only capture an image, but to tell an engaging visual story. “In this exhibition, each photograph creates a narrative for the various expressions of the African American experience spanning five decades (DuSable).” 

• December 2-4 at the AMC River East theater DuSable will present KINYARWANDA as part of the African American Film Festival.

The story interweaves 6 different tales to provide a grand narrative of human resilience and life during genocide. In KINYARWANDA, a young Tutsi woman and a young Hutu man fall in love amidst chaos, a soldier struggles with being absent from her family to foster a greater good, and a priest grapples with his faith in the face of unspeakable horror. (DuSable) 

The DuSable Museum is located in Hyde Park at 740 East 56^th Place 60637 and is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sundays 12-5pm

*Closed on Thanksgiving day