"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!
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Rahm Emanuel
Mayor
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Mark Kelly
Commissioner |
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Year of Creative Youth
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Presented by
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The Year of Creative Youth is a citywide initiative to celebrate Chicago's young artists and the mentors who inspire them! Check out the Year of Creative Youth website for more arts events and programs featuring and for young Chicagoans all year long:
cityofchicago.org/yocy
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Stars of Tomorrow 2018
Intonation Music
Saturday, June 2, 11am-6pm Kennicott Park, 4434 S. Lake Park Ave.
Bring a blanket, a picnic and settle in for this all-day FREE community arts extravaganza taking place at Kennicott Park in Chicago's beautiful Kenwood neighborhood. The fest will also feature a community dance party, and hands-on activities such as a Musical Petting Zoo, Face Painting, a photo booth, guitar raffle and delicious food for purchase. With over 200 students performing, this will be the youth arts event of the year!
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Chicago Park District Teens in the Park Dance Party
Friday, June 8, 6:30-8:30pm
Kelvyn Park, 4438 W. Wrightwood Ave.
Free, Recommended ages 13-17
Chicago teens and friends are welcome to a dance party hosted by the Chicago Park District's Teens in the Park, featuring artist performances by Donda's House! 2018 Teens in the Park events are presented as part of the City of Chicago's Year of Creative Youth.
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21Minus
Saturday, June 16, 1-6pm
Teen Creative Agency at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago 220 E. Chicago Ave.
The MCA's Teen Creative Agency-25 curious, creative 15-19 year-olds from all over the Chicago-present the sixth annual 21Minus. This festival of teen creativity and passion fills the museum with exciting, eclectic and unexpected projects that invite visitors to engage with the museum and each other in dynamic ways. 21Minus is curated and produced by TCA. This event is free for people age 21 and under and their families.
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Chicago Gospel Music Festival
Friday, June 1, 12-4pm Chicago Cultural Center, Randolph Square, 78 E. Washington St. (also Millennium Park, June 1-2)
Celebrating the genre's deep Chicago roots with traditional choirs and contemporary urban gospel music in the city where the genre was born, the 33rd Chicago Gospel Music Festival features local and national artists.
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Chicago Blues Festival - Preview Events and Performances
Monday, June 4, 6-8pm Chicago Cultural Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater, 78 E. Washington St.
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Alexis Rockman: The Great Lakes Cycle
June 2 - October 1 Chicago Cultural Center, Exhibit Hall, 78 E. Washington St.
This multi-faceted project explores the past, present and future of North America's Great Lakes - one of the world's most emblematic and ecologically significant ecosytems. Painted in Rockman's signature, meticulous but visionary hyper-realist style, the works in the exhibition are anchored by five mural-sized (72" x 144") oil paintings, each exploring a theme that emerged during Rockman's field research and engagement with lake experts.
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Family Day: Finger Painting
Saturday, June 2, 1-4pm
Smart Museum of Art, 5550 S. Greenwood St.
Drop by and join in the Smart's free family activities every month! Each Family Day features hands-on art activities designed to inspire children to think about and respond creatively to art and the world around them.
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Exuberus Teen Night
Thursday, June 28, 6-10pm Art Institute of Chicago, Griffin Court, 112 S. Michigan Ave.
Celebrate summer at our annual free teen party! Participate in teen-led tours and activities, display and trade your art with other teens in a citywide art exchange - and experience the reveal of the museum's new teen-created audio guide. Then party after hours with music, food, and dancing. Admission to the Art Institute of Chicago is free to Illinois residents every Thursday evening from 5-8pm.
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Presented by Mayor Rahm Emanuel,
Night Out in the Parks brings over 1,000 cultural events to neighborhood parks each year. Chicagoans and visitors alike, enjoy the breadth of world-class events in every one of the city's 77 community areas. Here are a few programming highlights happening in June, but be sure to check out their
website (or
download the app!) for a full listing of events!
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Jazz City Concert
Friday, June 6, 7-9pm
Columbus Refectory Park, 5701 W. Jackson Blvd.
Jazz City is a free concert series initiated in 1997 by the Jazz Institute of Chicago in collaboration with the Chicago Park District, now in its 21st season of bringing people together from across the city to listen to Chicago's top jazz musicians.
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Safe Summer Kickoff
Saturday, June 16, 12-4pm
Hamilton Park, 513 W. 72nd St.
Hamilton Park with community non-for-profits and Hamilton Park PAC, host this Love Your Community Day Event. This event will include free food and refreshments, entertainment, educational resources, sporting games for the whole family and guest performers.
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Block Party at the 606
Saturday, June 23, 10am-9pm
Bloomingdale Trail, 1600-3750 W. Bloomingdale Ave.
The 606 Block Party celebrates all that is great in the community. Kick off the day with a pancake breakfast, then enjoy hands-on activities from dozens of community organizations, food, beer, musical entertainments and dozens of community processions. As in the past, the day will conclude with a DIY Illuminated Procession.
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Since first opening our doors in 1873,
Chicago Public Library has served all Chicagoans with free and open places to gather, learn, connect, read and be transformed. The libraries are that special third place-beyond home and work-where people come to improve their lives, nourish their intellect or savor entertainment. Their 80 locations host a variety of free events ranging from performances, arts and crafts, writing and poetry, continuing education and more.
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Imagine Doing More: Painting Birdhouses
Thursday, June 7, 5-7:30pm
Richard M. Daley Branch, 733 N. Kedzie Ave.
Come decompress from a long week with relaxing music and the strokes of a paintbrush.
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Creative Writing Workshop
Tuesday, June 12, 6-7:30pm
King Branch, 3436 S. King Drive
Writers within all genres are invited to participate in this
weekly workshop. Come prepared to share your writing, receive constructive feedback and network with fellow writers.
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'Scopes in the City with Adler Planetarium
Saturday, June 23, 11am-12:30pm
Budlong Woods Branch, 5630 N. Lincoln Ave.
As part of Imagine Doing More!, Chicago Public Library Teen Services and Adler Planetarium are partnering together to offer over 10
`Scopes in the City events across the city for teens to learn fascinating facts through fun, hands-on activities and telescope viewing with Adler staff and interns.
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Eddie Shaw Tribute: Brass in the Blues
Friday, May 25, 8pm
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, 915 E. 60th St.
Join Rodney Brown, Michael Peavy, Bill McFarland and Hank Ford of the Chicago Horns in a tribute to the great Chicago blues saxophonist, Eddie Shaw, who passed away in January 2018. The tribute will include members of Howlin' Wolf's legendary Wolf Gang, of which Shaw was bandleader and a long-time member. Guitarist and Wolf Gang member Eddie "Vann" Shaw Jr. will also be in attendance to celebrate the life and legacy of his father. It will be a night of music and conversation in honor of Shaw's unique style and illustrious career - and in recognition of the role brass played in the rich history of the Blues. (Also, save the date for the Logan Center Bluesfest, October 19-21, 2018!)
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