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Free Free Free Chicago Arts _ Events
FEBRUARY 2019
"Free, Free, Free!" is an e-newsletter and website that provides a monthly curated list of free programs, events and activities happening throughout the city in our libraries, museums, cultural centers and parks. We encourage you to express your culture through the arts and take advantage of the many opportunities the City of Chicago provides you to engage, create and participate!

  Rahm Emanuel Mayor   Mark Kelly_ Commissioner  
Rahm Emanuel
Mayor
Mark Kelly
Commissioner

Year of Chicago Theatre
Year of Chicago Theatre
Year of Chicago Theatre
2019
Citywide
 
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Commissioner Mark Kelly, League of Chicago Theatres Executive Director Deb Clapp, and many other civic, arts and theatre leaders announced plans to designate 2019 as the ' Year of Chicago Theatre.' This citywide, year-long focus on theatre is the first of its kind in the U.S. The initiative will include theatre performances - including improv, dance, opera, puppetry and more - and special events for the public at hundreds of cultural venues, theaters, parks and neighborhood locations throughout the city.
 
2019 Year of Chicago Theatre
It's Showtime Chicago - A Celebration of Chicago's Theatre
Monday, February 11, 6-8pm
Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
 
Celebrate the start of the Year of Chicago Theatre! This free-admission, building-wide celebration invites everyone - from the curious to seasoned theatre-goers - for an inspiring and surprising look at the "fearless soul" of our city - Chicago's theatre community. Participating artists and theatre companies including The Second City, Walkabout Theater, Free Street Theater, Chicago Youth TheatreFest and many others will present interactive performances, live music, youth project showcases and more.  

The event is held in conjunction with the 7th annual Chicago Theatre Week, taking place February 7-17. Visit ChicagoPlays.com for more info on discounted tickets to more than 100 productions across Chicago.

 
Chicago Cultural Center
Forgotten Forms

Exhibit Opening: Forgotten Forms

Saturday, February 2, 10am-7pm

Chicago Cultural Center, Michigan Avenue Galleries, 78 E. Washington St.

 
Forgotten Forms is a collaborative exhibition between members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance, the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Investigating seemingly everyday objects to reveal a much greater story about neighborhood identity, placemaking and city life, the exhibition highlights the work of two emerging artists, both of whom explore structural elements of urban landscapes. Edra Soto revisits Puerto Rico's vernacular architecture through her GRAFT installations and architectural interventions, and Yhelena Hall touches on the history of Chicago and explores a marginal state of detritus becoming artifacts through her series Polished Remnants.
   
Everyone_s a Designer_Everyone_s Design
Everyone's a Designer/Everyone's Design
Open through Sunday, February 3, 7pm
Chicago Cultural Center, Room 108, 1st Floor South, 78 E. Washington St.
 
Presented as part of Art Design Chicago, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art exploring Chicago's art and design legacy, " Everyone's a Designer/Everyone's Design" is a free traveling museum exhibition that explores and celebrates everyday Chicagoans' influence on art and design in the city. Travelling across Chicago's Cultural Centers, the exhibition tells the stories of five people, the homes they've made uniquely their own, and the rich design and architectural history of their neighborhoods.
   
4th Annual Arts _ Culture Docs Fest _ACDF_
4th Annual Arts and Culture Docs Fest (ACDF)
Sunday, February 17, 2-5pm
Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, 2nd Floor North, 78 E. Washington St.
 
At the upcoming 4th edition of " Arts & Culture Docs Fest" Asian Pop-Up Cinema is proud to premiere select episodes from "This is China" documentary series recently produced by the China Broad View Cultural Communication Center (CBVCCC) in Beijing. "This is China" consists of six episodes that reflects the mainstream of development and progress of contemporary China, but also displays the essence of traditional Chinese culture with the objectives of cultural exchange and mutual learning.
   
Chicago Park District 
Coco
Movies in the Parks at Mozart : Coco
Friday, February 1, 7-8:45pm

Mozart (Amadeus) Park, 2036 N. Avers Ave.

 

Cozy up with some of our favorite films this Winter! Grab a blanket and have a "picnic in(side) the park" while enjoying a classic comedy, holiday flick or adventure movie. It is all part of our Indoor Film Festival.  

Coco: Aspiring musician Miguel, confronted with his family's ancestral ban on music, enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather, a legendary singer.

 
Dodgeball Tournament at Kennedy
Dodgeball Tournament at Kennedy
Monday, February 18, 10:30am-12pm

Kennedy (Dennis) Park, 11320 S. Western Ave.

 

Come enjoy a friendly round of dodgeball at Kennedy Park. Players try to get each other out by throwing the ball at one another or catching it. This energetic game teaches the basic fundamentals of catching and throwing and stresses participation and teamwork.
 
Polar Adventure Day at Northerly Island
Polar Adventure Day at Northerly Island
Saturday, February 23, 12-4pm
Northerly Island Park, 1521 S. Linn White Dr.
 
It's winter in Chicago - come out and enjoy it! Have fun enjoying all the wonders of nature at the Chicago Park District's annual Polar Adventure Days at Northerly Island. Explore Northerly Island and come face-to-face with live animals, engage in winter activities, and create nature-inspired crafts. For full list of activities, visit the event's website. Dress for the weather as events take place both outdoors and inside the Visitor Center.
 
Chicago Public Library 
Prometheus
Film Screening: Prometheus (2012)
Friday, February 1, 2-4pm
Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St.
 
Following clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.

 

This program is a part of the 2018-2019 One Book, One Chicago season, exploring the theme "Imagine The Future" and the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

Cultural Appreciation_ Cantonese Opera
Cultural Appreciation: Cantonese Opera

Wednesday, February 6, 12:15-3pm

2100 S. Wentworth Ave.

 
Enjoy traditional Cantonese opera performed by Zhaoqiu Chinese American ART Center at Chinatown. Cantonese opera has been a popular form of drama and musical theater in China that has been refined over centuries and continues to be performed today. The acting and singing techniques, as well as makeup conventions, owe much to traditions from southern China.
 
Knights of the Kitchen Table
Stories Come Alive With Lifeline Theatre
Saturday, February 23, 10-11am
6907 N. Clark St.
 
Stories come alive at the library when actors from Rogers Park's own neighborhood theatre company, Lifeline Theatre, read stories and play drama games with children of all ages. This month Lifeline is previewing Time Warp Trio based on the series by Jon Scieszka. Come BE the story! The Time Warp Trio series of books includes: Knights of the Kitchen Table; Tut, Tut; It's All Greek to Me.
 
Museums
Field Museum
Field Museum
All of February, 9am-5pm
111 S. Michigan Ave. 
 
The Field Museum fuels a journey of discovery across time to enable solutions for a brighter future rich in nature and culture. Walk through our doors and connect with science and natural history! Let us fuel your passion for discovery with dinosaurs, ancient artifacts, cultural insights, and groundbreaking science.
 
The Field Museum is free to Illinois residents (with proof of residency) February 1-28th. For a full list of  Free Admission Days, visit the Field Museum's website. 
 
The Shedd Aquarium
The Shedd Aquarium

Monday-Friday in February, 9am-6pm

1200 S. Lakeshore Dr.

 
Like no other aquarium in the world, The Shedd combines the best of early 20th-century "age of aquariums" characteristics-a diverse, global animal collection surrounded by eye-popping architecture-with 21st-century advances in animal care, environments and interpretation. Excellence and innovation are Shedd traditions.

 

The Shedd Aquarium is free to Illinois residents every weekday in February. For a full list of free days, visit the Shedd Aquarium's website.

 
Museum of Contemporary Art
Museum of Contemporary Art

Admission is free for Illinois residents on Tuesdays

10am-9pm

220 E. Chicago Ave.

 
The MCA's mission is to bring artists and audiences together, presenting contemporary art and culture in ways that illuminate what it means to be a citizen of both Chicago and the world.  
 
We believe that the diversity of ideas and the multiplicity of voices that these community members bring to our conversation are key to the museum's and the city's vitality.
 
City Seal_ DCASE logo