FEST ALERT: 7th Annual ChillFest Pop-up Music Festival Returns Saturday, February 8 from 2-6 p.m.

Chi, IL Live Shows on our radar

7th annual ChillFest pop-up music festival 

returns to Wicker Park and Bucktown 

with free performances on

Saturday, February 8 from 2-6 p.m.

30+ musicians include Celia Rose, Jeff Wichmann, Meghan and Timothy Pratt, Neil Dixon Smith, Robinlee Garber, Ryan Burns, and Sammy Canillo

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce is delighted to announce the artists and venues for its 7th annual ChillFest pop-up music festival on Saturday, February 8 from 2-6 p.m. This free one-day-only event celebrates the creative and entrepreneurial roots of the Wicker Park and Bucktown neighborhoods by curating 30+ local musicians to perform live acoustic in 15 neighborhood storefronts.

Participating musicians for ChillFest 2020 include: Indie-folk-pop singer-songwriter Celia Rose, licensed Japanese koto performer and composer Jeff Wichmann, father-and-daughter duo Meghan and Timothy Pratt, classical guitarist Neil Dixon Smith, singer-songwriter and creative arts therapist Robinlee Garber, genre-bending folk artist Ryan Burns, and indie singer-songwriter Sammy Canillo.

Attendees can stroll from venue to venue, taking in the live music sets while shopping, getting a hair treatment, picking up a book, or experiencing local art. Each business hosts 2 bands/artists in a dedicated portion of its space, with musicians playing 1-hour sets, paired closely to the venue’s ambiance.

For the most up-to-date schedule of where and when each artist will be playing, along with a festival map, visit chillfestchicago.com.

Participating Musicians and Bands:
Acoustic Raccoon, Bill Ryan, ButterBean, Celia Rose, Corridor Brass Quintet, Edson Avalos, Frankii Dex, Heidi Serwer, Ian Leith, Jeff Wichmann, Marshall, Meghan and Timothy Pratt, Morning Commute, Nathan Clemente, Neil Dixon Smith, Quinn Guillermo, Robinlee Garber, Ryan Burns, Ryan Herrick, Sammy Cannillo, Sweet Kay, and Syahi.

Participating ChillFest Venues:
828 Chi, Alexandra Marks Jewelry, Crossroads Trading Co., Dynamic Salon, Epoch Studio Salon, Futurgarb, Gemini, Jackson Junge Gallery, Matty and Lou, Sprout San Francisco, The Den Café, TOMS, Transit Tees, Volumes Bookcafe, and YETI.

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce serves as a cornerstone of the Wicker Park and Bucktown commercial districts, advancing the financial goals of neighborhood businesses through the creation of a dynamic economic climate, increasing the neighborhood's visibility and viability, and encouraging profitable relationships within the community. The Chamber administers Special Service Area (SSA) #33, guided by a volunteer Commission of SSA taxpayers who serve on active committees. For more information, please visit www.wickerparkbucktown.com.

THIS WEEKEND ONLY: Pop In at MCA's 1979 Pop Up in Wicker Park for FREE T's, Discounted Museum Admission and More...

ChiIL Mama's Chi, IL Picks List: 

Pop Culture Pop Up

1979's Calling!

Whether you remember the late 70's (yes, I was 12 in 79), or just wish you did, come discover why the music, art, pop culture, protest politics and more, still resonate today. It was my great pleasure to pop in to 1330 N. Milwaukee Avenue during Friday's sneak peek for the press and I highly recommend a stop for some 70's style fun, a free t-shirt, and free buttons that will give you admission to the MCA at 1979 prices. Check it out! Then head downtown to the museum for an in depth look at our collective past. You don't need to track down Dr. Who and his time machine Tardis to visit 1979. Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art's got you covered through May 20th.

From XTC to Etch A Sketch... Sex Pistols to Star Wars, 1979 had it all. I was thrilled to see Joy Division and so many other favorites lining the walls. Check out my full set of Pop Up shots in the slideshow here and more favs embedded below:

MADE YOU LOOK

MCA Launches First Major Advertising Campaign 

in 20 Years with Ad Agency FCB

Featuring the MCA's First-Ever Pop-Up Experience 

Inspired By the Howardena Pindell Exhibition

This weekend, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago officially launches MADE YOU LOOK, the first major advertising campaign for the museum in 20 years. The launch is in conjunction with the MCA's first-ever pop-up experience dedicated to the work of groundbreaking artist Howardena Pindell, whose retrospective is currently on view at the museum. 



This free, two-day pop-up experience takes as its theme the year 1979, which was a pivotal time in Pindell's life and work. Attendees can interact with and experience the music, art and pop culture of 1979, created by advertising agency FCB Chicago. The pop-up event takes place on Saturday, April 7 (10 am to 5 pm), and Sunday, April 8 (noon to 5 pm), at 1330 N Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago.



The Made You Look campaign was created to re-introduce the museum after a highly regarded major redesign of the building by architects Johnston Marklee that blurs the boundaries between art, food, design, and learning. The redesign includes a new, world-class restaurant, Marisol, with an immersive art environment by Chris Ofili; and a new social engagement space, the Commons, with a design by Mexican design duo Pedro y Juana. The museum also added two enormous new "MCA" signs in soft yellow lights on the front of the building, signaling a renewed welcome to the city.

Yes, I grew up in a living room with a crushed velvet sofa the color of the rug below, gold wall to wall shag carpet, and a TV as wide as it was tall. Snap a selfie in a pre-Snapchat world.

Made You Look is a fully integrated campaign that leverages immersive storytelling across digital, social, and print to re-introduce the MCA to new and returning visitors. One of the highlights of this campaign is a series of six-second, high-energy, high-impact videos that make people stop and think about what they are seeing. These lively and engaging videos present a selection of powerful images and text with a playful spirit that reflect the creative and stimulating experience offered at the MCA. The museum partnered with the Chicago office of FCB, an Interpublic Group global creative ad agency, to help translate the museum's vision into this exciting new campaign and bring to life one of its current exhibitions with the 1979 pop-up.





About the Pindell Pop-Up Experience
The experiential nature of the Made You Look campaign kicks off with the Pindell Pop-Up Experience, located in a storefront at 1330 N Milwaukee which is open this weekend ONLY (Saturday, 10 am-5 pm and Sunday, noon-5 pm) and is free to all visitors. Based on the work and inspiration from the Howardena Pindell exhibition, this pop-up experience offers a blend of art, music, fashion and fun centered around the pivotal year 1979. Visitors can discover augmented reality viewfinders, throwback video games such as Space Invaders, a record vinyl wall, a Walkman listening station and a Pindell-inspired wall mural made for selfies. Visitors can also read through comics and magazines from the 1970s, and get a complimentary screen-printed T-shirt with legendary quotes from Howardena Pindell that are still relevant today.





About Howardena Pindell
The Howardena Pindell exhibition at the MCA runs until May 20, and spans the artist's acclaimed, five-decades-long career. Tracing the themes and visual experiments that run throughout Pindell's work, the exhibition shows how she challenged the traditional art world and asserted her place in its history as an African-American woman artist. Pindell revolutionized painting from her early, radical explorations of color and shape to her later work that expanded to address human rights injustices such as war, famine, homelessness, racism, and the AIDs crisis. Howardena Pindell: What Remains To Be Seen is co-curated by MCA Curator Naomi Beckwith and Valerie Cassel Oliver, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Shop Locally and Show Your Chi, IL Love With Gifts From Transit Tees

Hundreds of unique holiday gifts under $30 at Transit Tees

Chicago-inspired, locally produced merch includes original winter hats, tees, jewelry, mugs, puzzles, ‘L’ stop magnets & more

Wicker Park store celebrating 5th anniversary this holiday season

The locally produced, Chicago-inspired merchandise at Transit Tees includes hundreds of gifts under $30 just in time for the holidays. The unique items designed in-house range from Chicago flag whiskey glasses and winter caps to Chicago ‘L’ and neighborhood-themed tees, new deep-dish pizza and Chicago hot dog pins and a 1,000-piece puzzle of a neon map of Chicago’s distinct 240 neighborhood areas.

Check out more details on their website at www.transittees.com.

This holiday season, Transit Tees’ Wicker Park location (1371 N. Milwaukee Avenue) celebrates its fifth anniversary. The new storefront in Andersonville (5226 N. Clark Street) is also ready for the holidays, stocked with all the latest merchandise.

About Transit Tees
Transit Tees, founded in 2001 by Tim Gillengerten, takes visuals from Chicago's metropolitan landscapes and transforms them into fashionable artwork, accessories, home goods and more. An official manufacturer for the Chicago Transit Authority, Transit Tees locally designs, fabricates and retails their signature brand online and at two storefronts in Wicker Park and Andersonville. Most store items are created in their design studio and produced on-site by local artists and craftsmen. The Wicker Park store celebrates its fifth anniversary this holiday season. For more information, visit www.transittees.com.

FESTS ON OUR RADAR: Green Music Fest In Chicago's Wicker Park Neighborhood 6/10-6/11

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

JD McPherson, Lucero and July Talk headline

Saturday, June 10 – Sunday, 11 from noon - 10 p.m.

Full artist and vendor lineup at GreenMusicFestChicago.com

Green Music Fest is one of the best smaller fests around. They'll be rocking out this year on Saturday, June 10th through Sunday, June 11th on Damen Ave between North and Schiller.

Green Music Fest features sweet live tunes, an eco-friendly bent, pet and family friendly areas and activities, adoptable trees & re-fillable stainless-steel cups ($10 suggested donation). Come check it out!

Now in its 9th consecutive year, Green Music Fest embraces environmentally conscious and green technologies like its pedal-powered stage, where attendees pedal stationary bicycles to power amps, guitars, spotlights and more. Bright Beat returns to lead the festival’s eco education and sustainability programming. 



In addition to live music stages and a variety of Lagunitas brews, the festival showcases innovative green vendors and products, along with the return of Pet Fest & Kids Fest areas where kids and pet-owners can enjoy demonstrations, crafts, games and more. For the second year, attendees can adopt a tree at the festival to take home with them. Suggested $10 donation gets guests a re-fillable stainless-steel cup.

August Spaces Available for BookClub’s Summer Day Camp in Wicker Park for 6-12 Year Olds

BookClub’s SUMMER DAY CAMP IGNITES IMAGINATION FOR KIDS 6-12

Explore the written word through art with BookClub in Wicker Park

Announcing BookClub, a new place in Chicago’s Wicker Park where readers of all ages gather to strengthen their relationship with the written word through art. During the month of August, Kids BookClub Camp offers a chance to play, get messy, and explore the world through books and art to children ages 6-12. Each week focuses on a different theme: Animals + Nature, Architecture + Museums, Stars, Space + Science, Greek Myths + Fairytales, and Books + Movies.

Camp includes shared and personal reading time, thoughtful discussion and focused art projects. Each week will consist of up to 12 participants, mixed ages will be separated into small groups.

TIME, PLACE, AND DETAILS

weekly Monday – Friday, 9:30am-12:30pm

1211 N. Wood Street, Wicker Park storefront

EARLY DROP OFF is available 8:30am-9:30am

EXTENDED DAY is available 12:30pm-4:30pm (reading time, guided art projects and play outside weather permitting)

COST AND SIGNUP $325 for 1 week of camp Monday – Friday, 9:30am-12:30pm

Additional $50 for 1 week, early drop off at 8:30 – 9:30am

Additional $300 for 1 week, Extended afternoon 12:30-4:30

To register go to https://bookclubchicago.net/.

ABOUT BOOKCLUB

New to Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, BookClub is a place where readers of all ages gather to strengthen their relationship with the written word through art. BookClub offers book club options for adults and children that are moderated or privately hosted as well as BookWorms for preK through Kindergarten. In addition, BookClub has summer day camp for kids ages 6-12 and provides customized Kid BookClub birthday parties. Located at 1211 N. Wood, Chicago, IL. Book Club Chicago