Join us for an evening of poetry, music and discussion of the legendary poet/musician/activist Gil Scott Heron. Presented by the Guild’s “Applied Words” series, with support from the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture – University of Chicago, and the Friends of Blackstone Library. You can read more about the speakers and performers on the Guild's website.

And, it's free!

Formosa, a work in progress, explores issues of beauty, global capital, and body modification as inspired by the twenty year history of Barbie doll manufacturing in Taishan, Taiwan. On Thursday, May 10th, at 7pm, join us for this special work-in-progress preview of poetry, multimedia, movement and spectacle: a tragicomedy written and performed by Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai.

Reserve your spot here!
Get more details about the event.

We invite you to join us at the Experimental Station this Saturday, May 5, at 3pm for a Family Concert by Grammy-nominated singer/composer Red Grammer. If your family does not yet know Red's music, you have something to discover! Hands down, his is the best music for children that you will find—rich, positive, sophisticated, and fun. Although Red writes songs for children—ages 4-12 or so—adults will find themselves listening to Red's music with equal enjoyment.

We are counting down to the start of the 61st Street Farmers Market's 5th season! Only a few days to go before we can reconnect with our farmers, our food and our neighbors every Saturday from 9am-2pm on 61st Street between Dorchester and Blackstone Avenues! We are very excited to see what the precocious spring has readied for us to put on our plates. You will be happy to find most of the farmers and producers whose products you have come to know and love, as well as some new ones!

Using atmospheric haze and film projectors, artist Anthony McCall creates beautiful, visually captivating light sculptures that explore ideas of architecture, duration and embodiment. Invoking comparisons to natural formations like waterfalls and moonlight, McCall’s slowly moving luminous projections invite visitors to step into the light, using their bodies to alter the shimmering forms.

Honey Pot Performance presents The Sweet Goddess Project, a multimedia dance theater work exploring women’s experiences in Chicago house music and dance culture. While women have long been essential to the sounds and scenes of house as vocalists, dancers and DJs, this urban performance tradition is often narrated as a male-dominated practice and cultural space.

Last Thursday, the Invisible Institute, a program of Experimental Station, hosted law professor and author Ralph Richard Banks for a conversation about his recent book "Is Marriage for White People?". We had about 90 people filling up the Big Room to hear Mr. Banks' ideas and discuss the issues, including Chicago Tribune reporter, Dawn Turner Trice. Her article is here. Thanks to everyone who came out and participated!

In the Congo, ndombolo music is so, so important for us. It is part of the daily life and experience. Why not use the fantastic energy…to speak the difficulties, dead ends, mistakes and the poor legacy of our fathers… If it’s impossible for us to send to hell a future that we never had, if it’s difficult to go on ruining our pile of ruins, let’s try to dream, the feet firmly kept on the ground, and just to imagine more future.

--- Faustin Linyekula

WHAT: An Evening of Horror and Suspense in the Old-Time Radio Tradition
WHO: Hyde Park Community Players
WHEN: October 21-22, 2011, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Experimental Station, 6100 South Blackstone Avenue

As the days darken and the spooky season comes around again, Hyde Park Community Players present their annual Halloween “radio show” on October 21 & 22 at 7:00 pm at Experimental Station, 6100 South Blackstone Avenue.

Over the weekend of October 15-16, 2011, the Chicago Architecture Foundation is presenting openhousechicago 2011 (OHC), where over 100 of the most interesting buildings in Chicago open their doors to the public for free tours. The key themes for OHC are sustainability and community: how buildings demonstrate a commitment to energy efficiency and green technology, and how design connects people and places to create great communities.

Experimental Station will be offering 20 minute tours every half hour (on the hour and the half hour) from 9am-5pm (the final tour at 4:30pm) on Saturday, October 15 and Sunday, October 16.

Our neighbors at the University of Chicago Chiller Plant, and the newly-built Chicago Theological Seminary will also be offering tours of their unique buildings.

We hope to see you then!