Arts & Entertainment
A Play, a Lecture, a Movie and a Party: 4 Arts Picks for Your Week
Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Stalker” (Kino Lorber)
Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.
Daily Chicagoan, the newsletter from WTTW News, sends these picks to your inbox each week along with more essential recommendations from our staff. Sign up here.
Yes, Labor Day marked the symbolic end of summer and autumn feels closer than ever. Before you start buying pumpkin spice lattes, decorating the house for Halloween and taking your cardigans out of the closet, take a moment to realize that the city’s arts community doesn’t slow down as the seasons change. Just as summer brought the goods when it came to cultural events, you’ll find more than enough to do as we dive into fall.
Theater: “The Birth of the Pill” — TimeLine Theatre
A play based on journalist Jonathan Eig’s 2014 nonfiction book “The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution” makes its world premiere at Chicago’s TimeLine Theatre. Adapted by Jessica Huang and directed by Sandra Marquez, this brand new production “explores the transformative power of vision and invention, alongside the costs of pursuing both by any means necessary.” It runs now until Oct. 4. Buy tickets here.
Film: “Andrei Tarkovsky: Complete Retrospective” — The Gene Siskel Film Center
One of this newsletter producer’s favorite filmmakers is the Russian auteur Andrei Tarkovsky, whose patient, visually lush and cerebral approach was wildly influential. Whether he was making movies about historical figures, interpersonal dramas or science fiction, his work weighed and toyed with heavy themes like spirituality, reality and dreams. Throughout this month, the Gene Siskel Film Center is screening all of his movies, from 1962’s “Ivan’s Childhood” to 1986’s “The Sacrifice.” Check out screenings and showtimes here.
Festival: SkyART’s 25th Anniversary Block Party — SkyART West
Via WTTW News’ Eunice Alpasan: The nonprofit SkyART, which provides free arts programming to young people on Chicago’s South and West sides, aims to reduce the waitlist for its programs through a recently announced expansion of its South Side studio space.
A $2.5 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity covers infrastructure costs for SkyART to add an additional 2,000 square feet of studio and art therapy space at its flagship location in South Chicago, according to a news release.
The planned expansion comes as SkyART gears up to host a free community block party on Saturday from noon-5 p.m. in celebration of the organization’s 25th anniversary. The celebration will be held at SkyART West, 3450 W. Lake St., the organization’s West Side location that opened last year in Garfield Park. Free tickets are available here.
Art: Catherine Opie Lecture — The Art Institute of Chicago
The acclaimed photographer, educator and filmmaker Catherine Opie will be visiting the Art Institute of Chicago for a lecture Monday evening. The UCLA professor and 2019 Guggenheim Fellow is appearing at Fullerton Hall from 6-7:30 p.m. as part of the museum’s Visiting Artists program. For more information on the free and open-to-the-public event, click here.
WTTW News arts coverage is supported by the JCS Arts, Health & Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation.
