ARTS & (HOME) ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Since being stuck inside, which shows have you been watching? Which movies? Have you read any good books lately? Any new music releases have you dancing in your living room? StreetWise vendors, readers and staff are sharing what is occupying their attention during this unprecedented time.

To be featured in a future edition, send your recommendations of things to do at home and why you love them to: Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Cuban Music!

HotHouse Meets Havana

HotHouse has been awarded the exclusive rights to stream the Cuban jazz festival “Jazz Plaza” January 21-24 on its recently launched HotHouse- Global platform. The two-hour nightly programs will also be televised in Cuba. The arrangement with the Institute of Cuban Music, part of Cuba’s Ministry of Culture, marks the first time that “Jazz Plaza” will be available to an international audience. Marguerite Horberg, executive director of the award-winning, Chicagobased HotHouse, said that “HotHouse Meets Havana” will feature the top Latin Jazz musicians based in Cuba, and some of the most acclaimed talents working in Chicago today: Tomeka Reid with bassist Junius Paul; Roscoe Mitchell, integrating influences from world music, funk, rock, classical; James Sanders, a global performer who stays true to his Caribbean roots, with Gold Record Awardee Leandro Varady; Coco Elysses, a featured musician in FOX TV’s “Empire” with Alexis Lombre, who recently released “Southside Sounds” and Ivan Taylor; Ben La Mar Gay, South Side native and renowned collaborator; percussionist Hamid Drake; saxophonist Ari Brown with Yosef Ben Israel and Charles Heath. HotHouse will also host a panel on Afro-descendant musical traditions and bridge building between the two countries. The free event will feature Grammy award-winning composer Arturo O’Farrill, veteran band leader Michele Rosewoman, and musicians James Sanders and Jean LeRoy. The concerts are a benefit for the non-profit 501(c)(3) HotHouse. Tickets are $25 per night or $75 for all four at hothouse.net. Programs will be streamed nightly at 7 p.m. CT, and will be available for 24 hours. The location of the program streams will be emailed in advance to ticket holders.

Test Your Trivia Skills!

Virtual Trivia Night at Illinois Holocaust Museum

What do you and your friends know about pop culture icons who have made a positive impact in our world? Flex your knowledge, attend a virtual happy hour with young professionals – and help local restaurants affected by COVID-19. Ten percent of proceeds in this Illinois Holocaust Museum event will also support virtual field trips and educational programming for low-income students. Most important, support the Museum’s mission to fight hate with education.

#TAKEASTAND virtual trivia night will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 21.

#TAKEASTAND trivia is partnering with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises to offer dinner and cocktail packages from Chicago culinary favorites Tallboy Taco, Bub City, Sushi San, Il Porcellino and Ben Pao. Packages for two to four people range from $39.99 to $120. You can make the evening a “happy hour” with one of their signature drink add-ons: sake bombs, margaritas, palomas, mai tais, stirred whiskey and more. Pickups are available in both city and suburbs. Details are available at ilholocaustmuseum.org Media partners include ChiTribe and Inside the Skev, a radio show/podcast airing at 10 a.m. Sundays on WCGO 95.9 FM hosted by Museum YPC member Aaron Masliansky. For more information on how to get involved with the Young Professional Committee, please email ypc@ilhmec.org or call 847.967.4850.

Artists' Impact!

Collective Communities

Weinberg/Newton Gallery, a non-commercial gallery dedicated to promoting the work of social justice causes, will host “Collective Communities,” a new virtual exhibition presented in collaboration with Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest environmental law organization. Running January 21 through March 27, the exhibition explores ecologies in crisis and the impact of artist collectives on the environmental justice movement. Presented virtually at weinbergnewtongallery.com, “Collective Communities” will feature new work by Deep Time Chicago artist collective and Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, among others.

Recognizing artist collectives that have made their group work visible from the outset, “Collective Communities” explores how these models of collaboration, collectivization and cooperation offer blueprints for future social and environmental justice movements. The exhibition will also showcase diverse forms of direct action produced by artist collectives, including in-depth research, protest and propaganda.

A related virtual programming series will introduce Earthjustice’s legal work in communities across the Midwest. The series will feature its attorneys, public interest partners, and community leaders in conversation about how they are working together to fight for the health and safety of frontline communities. Both the exhibition and related programming series will be free and accessible to the public.

Virtual Play!

'Other People'

"Other People" tells the story of Stephen, a struggling playwright and website movie critic who invites his ex-boyfriend, Mark, to spend Christmas with him and his roommate, Petra, a poet and stripper. Mark, who’s recently completed making an independent film and is fresh out of rehab, begins his life back in the real world by becoming friends with Tan, a street hustler. In the crucible of a tiny East Village apartment, Stephen, Mark, and Petra struggle with questions of art, sex, and each other as the impending New Year forces them to define how they want to live and love in a dark and confusing world. January 19 at 7 p.m., $10 at pridearts.org or by calling 773-857-0222.

Free Concert!

Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert

Enjoy free weekly classical concerts from the comfort of your own home broadcast live from the Chicago Cultural Center. Watch on January 20 at 12:15 p.m. for violinist Rannveig Marta Sarc and pianist Victor Asunción, in music by Lili Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade and Maurice Ravel. Concerts can be viewed at imfchicago.org, as well as 98.7 WFMT.

A Year in Review!

CAC Live: Hindsight 2020: Chicago Design and Development in a Turbulent Year

Don’t miss this special year-in-review program with CAC President and CEO Lynn Osmond. Hear how local architects, planners and developers pushed ahead with key projects and initiatives during a most challenging 2020. In addition to highlighting exciting, impactful new design and development ranging from skyscrapers to open spaces, this presentation will examine new and ongoing efforts to address equity and economic vitality in the neighborhoods. It will also explore the necessary reinvention of downtown Chicago as a more dynamic and increasingly residential community. With the reckoning brought by the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 was a time for architects and local leaders to respond forcefully to crisis and opportunity. W.hat role will design play in getting our city back on track in 2021 and beyond? January 21, 5:30 p.m.; $8 (FREE for Chicago Architecture Center members) at architecture.org

-Compiled by Dave Hamilton & Suzanne Hanney