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 what to do at home and why you love them to Creative Director / Publisher Dave Hamilton at dhamilton@streetwise.org

Mod Masterpieces!

'A Designed Life: Contemporary American Textiles, Wallpapers, and Containers & Packaging, 1951–1954'

The Design Museum is thrilled to bring the traveling exhibition, A Designed Life: Contemporary American Textiles, Wallpapers, and Containers & Packaging, 1951–1954, from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture (CADVC) to Chicago. “A Designed Life” is an exhibition based on three historically significant traveling exhibitions of contemporary, mass-produced, American-designed consumer goods that were commissioned by the U.S. Department of State in the early 1950s. It recreates those early Cold War exhibitions — featuring American textiles, wallpapers, containers, and packaging — restating and interpreting part of each display as it might have appeared in the early 1950s. By this time, the United States and Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War. Extensive propaganda campaigns were part of both countries’ strategy for extending their spheres of influence. As part of this strategy, the United States Department of State developed a series of elaborate traveling exhibits that created an attractive portrait of contemporary America. The three exhibits organized in 1951 by the Traveling Exhibition Service that are recreated in "A Designed Life" include: Contemporary American Textiles, designed by Florence Knoll; Contemporary American Wallpapers, designed by Tom Lee; Containers and Packaging, designed by Will Burtin. FREE through September 19 at Expo 72, 72 E. Randolph St.

Summer Staple!

Windy City Ribfest

Finger lickin' slabs from some of the best local and national ribbers will be in the spotlight at this popular summer food/ street fest. Even better? A rockin' 3-day music stage lineup featuring some of the hottest local and national rock/pop and classic indie acts as well as local tribute bands! This "saucy" happening also features arts & crafts, a daytime play area for kids, plus beer and wine. Windy City Ribfest in Uptown takes place just steps away from three of Chicago's hippest music venues: the Riviera Theatre, the Green Mill, and the iconic Aragon Ballroom. July 2-4, 12 - 10 p.m. $5 suggested donation.

Keep Dancing!

Chosen Few DJs Virtual Picnic & Festival

Started in 1990 as a small gathering of friends behind the Museum of Science & Industry, the Chosen Few Picnic & House Music Festival is the world’s longest-running event dedicated to House Music. Nicknamed the “Woodstock of House Music” for its family-reunion vibe, the Picnic & Festival attracts more than 40,000 fans to Chicago’s Jackson Park each year, and counts among its supporters former United States President Barack Obama. The event is virtual once again this year from 12 - 9 p.m. July 3 at chosenfewdjs.com

Video Game Master!

Sketch Journals of Jordan Mechner

Chicago Gamespace is proud to host the first major solo exhibition of work by video game icon Jordan Mechner. Mechner is among the most recognizable figures in video game history as the creator of the Prince of Persia franchise. In 2016, Mechner moved from the United States to France for a video game project and captured his impressions of the country in a series of largely monochromatic ink and paper drawings. These magnetic studies of quietly beautiful street life, cafés, airports, and live models offer a distinctly fresh view of a place that has been muse to so many throughout art history. This series was the focus of two books, “Year 2” and its prequel “Year 1” in France by Jordan Mechner, printed by Tomoe in Montpellier. The exhibition will run through August 22. It will be open to the public on Sundays 1-5 p.m. and by appointment. More information at chicagogamespace.com

Pride Month!

Panel Discussion: Pride in the time of COVID-19

The global pandemic has been a roadblock to traditions and celebrations for consecutive years. Since the 1970s, the last Sunday in June was an opportunity for thousands of LGBTQ+ people to celebrate their individuality, to be seen and heard – accepted. Before COVID-19, countries across the globe celebrated LGBTQ+ Pride Month with parades, marches, and celebrations. Although we must adjust and find a new normal due to the pandemic, this does not mean the celebrations will vanish. Join the Illinois Holocaust Museum for a thoughtful reflection and virtual celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month with a dynamic panel of thought leaders and advocates at 6:30 p.m. June 30. Columnist and Political Analyst Laura Washington of the Chicago Sun-Times and ABC-7 Chicago will be joined by State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago), CEO of Equality Illinois Brian C. Johnson, Director/Producer of “Art and Pep” Mercedes Kane, and Executive Director of GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders Janson Wu. $10 suggested donation at www.ilholocaustmuseum.org

Vroom Vroom!

Rush Hour Concerts: The Lincoln Trio

The International Music Foundation presents Rush Hour Concerts, the best of Chicago-based classical artists in chamber music performances at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St., at 5:45 p.m. June 29. FREE, but reservations are required to attend. This week’s featured performers are The Lincoln Trio in music by Augusta Read Thomas and Ernest Bacon. Concerts will also be streamed from the IMF website. Visit imfchicago.org to register for in-person attendance or to stream the performance.

Arts & Anniversary

'DECAHEDRON'

June 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of Artists on the Lam. It was on Monday, June 6, 2011, that Jenny Lam published her first post on what would later be voted “Best Arts Blog” in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago issue. As part of the celebration, Jenny has curated an international exhibition called “DECAHEDRON.” Knowing from the start that this would be virtual, Jenny wanted to involve more artists than she would for any physical show, as a way to truly take advantage of having an online platform and to truly fit a milestone anniversary. She invited all artists from past shows, invited other artists she admired but hadn’t exhibited yet (likening the process to an episodic TV series where you wander the land embarking on different adventures and meeting different characters, and then in the end you go back and revisit all your old friends and ask them to be part of your heist), and—in keeping with the nature of Artists on the Lam group shows—put out an open call for artists too. Past, present, and future are all intertwined. The result? A show with 74 artists, with over 350 works of art. View for FREE at artistsonthelam.com/decahedron.

A Classical Lunch!

Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert: Caitlin Edwards & Daniel Schlosberg

Join the International Music Foundation for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert, its FREE lunch hour concert June 30 at 12:15 p.m. This week's concert features Caitlin Edwards (pictured), violin and Daniel Schlosberg, piano, in music by J. Rosamond Johnson, Irene Britton Smith, Jessie Montgomery and William Grant Still. Concerts can be streamed from imfchicago.org and 98.7 WFMT.

Comic Visionaries!

Chicago: Where Comics Came to Life (1880 - 1960)

A significant but often overlooked contribution to American art and culture is Chicago’s role in the development of the early comic strip. Through its countless newspapers and its publishing industry, Chicago led the transformation of comics from daily fantasy and joke features into ongoing stories grounded in the textures and details of real life, its first real step towards legitimacy as an expressive language and semi-literary art form. The exhibition focuses on the origins of the comics in popular publishing, the immeasurable importance of African-American cartoonists and publishing, the first woman cartoonists and editors, the first daily comic strip, and finally the art and comics of undeservedly forgotten Frank King, who with “Gasoline Alley” captured not only the rhythms and tone of everyday existence in his characters that aged not only at the same daily rate as its newspaper readers, but were also fictionalized versions of real people. Curated by artist and author Chris Ware, and Chicago Cultural Historian Emeritus, Tim Samuelson, this exhibition is designed and planned as an intentional historical companion to the concurrently appearing survey of contemporary Chicago comics at the Museum of Contemporary Art, in which Ware’s work also appears. FREE through October 3 at the Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney Yates Gallery, 4th Floor North, 78 E. Washington St.

-Compiled by Dave Hamilton