Curator Conversations - September 28
2021-09-28 18:00 - 19:00 UTC | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Date: Tuesday, September 28
Time: 6 pm CST (Doors open at 5:30)
Where: 21c Chicago, Main Gallery
How: Free event, RSVP at our Eventbrite link to get reminders for the event
Our next Curator Conversations at 21c Chicago will feature Olivia Junell with local artist A.Martinez!
Curator Conversations is a bimonthly series that asks a local art curator to chat with an artist of their choice with ties to the Chicago arts community. We’ll switch up those pairings to give you a look into the rich arts community that we have here in the city.
Light refreshments will be provided and guests are welcome to stay after the talk and enjoy our current exhibition, This We Believe.
This event will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page.
About our Speakers:
Olivia Junell is Director of Development & Outreach at Experimental Sound Studio. She has over 15 years of experience working in development at small to mid-sized arts non-profits, where she has gained extensive, diverse experience in fundraising, project management, project development, budgeting, production, strategic planning, and marketing. Along the way, both independently and in the context of organization-based projects, she has worked with dozens of artists to secure funding for their visions.
A native Texan, Olivia moved to Chicago in 2013 to earn a dual Masters in Arts Administration and Public Policy and Modern Art History and Critical Writing at the School of the Art Institute Chicago (2016). She has held various roles at a number of contemporary arts and music organizations including significant development and leadership roles at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival (Chicago), the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, High Concept Labs (Chicago), and Women & Their Work (Austin), among others.
Olivia serves on the board of Honey Pot Performance, where she is also Chair of the Development Committee. She is also the Program Director for Back Alley Jazz, a project of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival and South Shore Works.
A.Martinez is a poet, visual artist, mother, and community and arts organizer living in Chicago. She received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Writing Program, and has been published in LVNG Magazine, Contratiempo, Poiesis, and will release a limited edition artist book of poetry and drawings, Turn, in 2022. Her work explores identity, memory, spirituality, and the body.
In addition to her creative practice, A.Martinez produces community and cultural events. She most notably helps produce Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival and is production and development coordinator for Grammy-nominated, Spektral Quartet. She also curates her own independent events that center on and for mothers of color in the arts, and is an organizer and member of the Wild Yams cohort of black artist mothers. A.Martinez is a proud recipient of the 2019 3Arts Make a Wave Award.
You can find out more about her work and projects at https://www.alyssahydemartinez.com/

Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art - New On-Site Exhibition Opening Event
2022-03-24 18:00 - 20:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Date: Thursday, March 24th, 2022
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm
Where: 21c Chicago, Main Gallery
How to Attend: Free event
Join us for an opening reception for 21c Museum Hotel Chicago’s newest on-site exhibition, “Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art.”
21c Museum Director and Chief Curator Alice Gray Stites with introduce the exhibition and have a conversation with featured artist Brendan Fernandes.
The reception begins at 6:00 p.m. with remarks scheduled at 6:30 p.m.
Guests will be treated to food tastings from Lure Fishbar along with house wine.
The multi-media exhibition illuminates the intersection of celebrity, commerce, technology and the media, including notable works by Nick Cave, Titus Kaphar, Hank Willis Thomas, Kehinde Wiley and Brendan Fernandes, among others. “Pop Stars!” features over 90 works of art by 55 artists from around the world.
[Brian Paumier, “Act of Faith,” 2014, unique cuadros and archival pigment prints on panel with resin. Photo courtesy of 21c Museum Hotels.]

Pop Stars! - Guided Tour with Alice Gray Stites, 21c Museum Director and Chief Curator
2022-03-25 10:00 - 11:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Curious about contemporary art? Learn about 21c Chicago’s current exhibition, Pop Stars!, and the artists behind all of the works on a guided tour from 21c’s Museum Director and Chief Curator,
Alice Gray Stites.
Meet us in the lobby at 10am to explore. Tours are free and open to the public.

Pop Stars! - Guided Tour with Juli Lowe, 21c Museum Manager
2022-03-30 12:00 - 13:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Curious about contemporary art? Learn about 21c Chicago’s current exhibition, Pop Stars!, and the artists behind all of the works on a guided tour from 21c’s Museum Manager, Juli Lowe.
Meet us in the lobby to explore. Tours are free and open to the public.

Pop Stars! - Guided Exhibit Tour with Juli Lowe, 21c Museum Manager
2022-05-26 17:00 - 18:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Curious about contemporary art? Learn about 21c Chicago’s current exhibition, Pop Stars!, and the artists behind all of the works on a guided tour from 21c’s Museum Manager,
Juli Lowe.
Meet us in the lobby at 5 pm to explore. Tours are free and open to the public.

Art and Wine Tour
2022-06-02 17:00 - 18:30
Sip on a glass of wine and enjoy a guided tour of our new exhibit, Pop Stars!. Learn all about contemporary art and the artists behind the work.

Meet in the Main Gallery on the 2nd Floor

Tour starts at 5:00pm and is free and open to the public

RSVP via Eventbrite here.

(Re)Design Fashion Workshop with Scooter LaForge
2022-06-13 18:00 - 20:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Join New York-based artist Scooter LaForge in designing a new look for your wardrobe.
21c Museum Hotel and Scooter LaForge collaborate and bring you this (Re)Design Fashion Workshop that will teach you how to paint directly on clothing with easily accessible materials like acrylic and leather paints. Using simple techniques, Scooter will show you how to bring new life to existing articles of clothing that are currently hiding in your closet. Scooter will introduce best practices for painting on specific fabrics, then assist each participant as they create their first design. While your paint dries, enjoy a complimentary glass of wine with Scooter and other participants.
Please bring one item of clothing or accessory to paint. 21c will provide paint supplies. Dress appropriately for painting activities.
Limited seats available. RSVP here.
About Scooter LaForge
Scooter LaForge (b. Las Cruces, New Mexico) is a New York-based artist who has lived in the East Village for the past 20 years. His unique style mines the canon of art history by infusing classical themes with a colorful sensibility. LaForge works in various media, including painting, sculpture, and drawing, and employs unorthodox techniques and striking iconic images. Often combine-like, his works are a walking journal of images where ideas are explored and refined. LaForge approaches art-making intuitively, absorbing what surrounds him and working with agility and focus—drawing from a fertile inner emotional realm and an extensive painterly vocabulary.
His paintings have been shown at Howl Happening New York, Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, the Friedrichshof Museum in Vienna, and the Spritmuseum/Absolut Art Collection in Sweden. In 2015, the artist was awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant. He holds a BFA in painting from the University of Arizona.
On June 14, Scooter will be the honored guest at the 2022 Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum‘s Annual Meeting. He will give a unique presentation on the intersection of art and fashion. The event is open to Costume Council members as well as all other friends and guests who wish to hear from this lively contemporary artist. Drinks and light bites will be served. For more information, visit ChicagoHistoryMuseum.org.
Photo caption: Photograph by Ron Amato

21c Presents "The Art of Fashion": Fashion's Night Out
2022-06-16 19:00 - 21:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
21c Presents “The Art of Fashion”: Fashion’s Night Out celebrating 8 local Chicago fashion designers, in benefit of Center on Halsted.

21c Museum Hotels Chicago presents the first “Art Of” series premiering with Fashion’s Night Out: The Art of Fashion hosted by Nigel Barker. This evening will celebrate 8 local designers showcasing unique pieces influenced by 21c’s new exhibit Pop Stars! Snap photos of these rare designs, show off your best blue steel look, mingle with designers, and celebrate local fashion with food, drinks, and good music.
This event will be entry by donation, with 100% of the proceeds benefitting the Center on Halsted, Chicago’s LGBTQ+ Community Center.

**At 6:30PM there will be a special appearance of Blue Alice, performed by 21c’s first Artist in Residence, Irene Hsiao.

RSVPs are now closed.
Featured Designers:
828 collection by Suzette Opara – @828_collection
Ajovang by Adreain Guillory – @ajovang
Delvin McCray – https://delvinmccray.com
Justin LaBlanc – http://www.jleblancdesign.com
Lola Élan Studio by Lola Osire – https://www.lolaelan.com
Raj Patel – @Karmic_couture
Sheila Rashid – https://www.sheilarashid.com
Sublime Remains by Av Grannan – https://sublimeremains.com
About 21c Museum Hotel Chicago
21c Museum Hotel Chicago, one of the newest hotels in heart of downtown Chicago, offers travelers a one-of-a-kind experience that blurs the line between contemporary art museum and boutique hotel. Boasting 297 beautifully appointed rooms, including 106 suites, the hotel is located at 55 East Ontario Street. 21c Museum Hotel Chicago joins eight other renowned 21c Hotel locations across the country to form North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century. 21c Museum Hotel has over 10,000 square feet of gallery space to exhibit the work of notable contemporary artists. The current exhibition on view, Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art is a multi-media exhibition that illuminates the intersection of celebrity, commerce, technology and the media. Pop Stars! features over 90 works of art by 55 artists from around the world.
About Center on Halsted
Center on Halsted is the Midwest’s most comprehensive community center dedicated to advancing community and securing the health and well-being of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) people of Chicagoland. More than 1,000 community members visit the Center every day, located in the heart of Chicago’s Lakeview Neighborhood.
About Nigel Barker
Barker opened his New York studio in 1996. He served 17 seasons as photographer and judge on the hit TV show, America’s Next Top Model, which airs in over 140 countries, and hosted Oxygen Network’s modeling competition series, The Face, starring alongside Naomi Campbell. Barker also created the VH1 Reality show The Shot. His latest hit show, Top Photographer, premiered to rave reviews and a second season is in the works. Barker’s presence in the fashion and entertainment industry has resulted in an array of exciting projects including the creation of a furniture line, skateboard collection, three fragrances and many more innovative projects. Barker has directed and produced films, documentaries and commercials for Hollywood clients and international charitable organizations. He was awarded the “Film Heals” Award for Humanitarianism at the 6th Annual Manhattan Film Festival for Dreams Are Not Forgotten. Using the power of photography and motion pictures, Barker has been able to spread his humanitarian message to vast audiences through films, PSAs and traveling exhibitions.

Design by Ajovang. Photo by Mateo Hererra.

Thunder & Clash (from Last Audience)
2022-06-24 19:30 - 21:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Thunder & Clash (from Last Audience)
At 21c, interdisciplinary artist Yanira Castro will be guiding the audience through a set of performance scores from her award-winning work, Last Audience. Enacted by the audience, Last Audience is an immersive, participatory work that invites the audience into a sensory-rich communal experience. Drawing on language and themes from requiems and Greek classical tragedy on judgement and democratic formation, Last Audience moves inside the unstable space between the perfunctory and the transformative.
Yanira Castro is the 2022 MOCO Artist-in-Residence. This project is supported in part by the Conference for Research on Choreographic Interfaces (CRCI). For more information, visit www.choreographicinterfaces.org
RSVP via Eventbrite here
INFORMATION FOR AUDIENCES
This performance is an immersive participatory experience with limited seating. Please let us know upon arrival if you require a seat. For everyone’s safety and to care for the performer who will be unmasked, we are requiring audience members to show proof of vaccination and wear masks during the entirety of the 30 minute performance. Masks will be provided.
ABOUT YANIRA
Yanira Castro is a Puerto Rican born interdisciplinary artist living in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn, NY). Since 2009, she has made participatory performances and interactive installations with a team of collaborators under the moniker, a canary torsi. Her work is rooted in communal construction as a practice of radical democracy and invites the public into co-creation. Castro is the recipient of the 2022 Herb Alpert Award for Dance and has received two New York Dance & Performance (a.k.a BESSIE) Awards for Outstanding Production, and a New York Foundation for the Arts Choreography Fellowship as well as various commissions, residencies and national project grant awards. She has been commissioned and/or presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, New York Live Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Abrons Arts Center, Danspace Project, The New Museum, ISSUE Project Room, The Invisible Dog Art Center, The Chocolate Factory Theater, and EMPAC, among others, and has toured nationally and internationally. She has received residency support for her work including MacDowell, Yaddo, IN_Residence @ Dancehouse (Australia), Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, and Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio, Italy). She is a co-author of “Creating New Futures,” two collectively-written documents drafted as calls-to-action to address deep-rooted inequities in the performance field. www.acanarytorsi.org
About MOCO
MOCO is an interdisciplinary conference that explores the use of computational technology to support and understand human movement practice (e.g. computational analysis) as well as movement as a means of interacting with computers (e.g. movement interfaces). This requires a wide range of computational tasks including modeling, representation, segmentation, recognition, classification, or generation of movement information but also an interdisciplinary understanding of movement that ranges from biomechanics to embodied cognition and the phenomenology of bodily experience. We therefore invite submissions from a wide range of disciplines including (but not limited to): Human-Computer Interaction, Psychology, Dance, Artificial Intelligence, Neuroscience, Sports Science, Machine Learning, Cognitive Science, Visual Arts, Robotics, Philosophy, Anthropology, Music, Affective Computing, Games, Healthcare and Animation.
Instagram: @acanarytorsi
Facebook: @YaniraCastro
Twitter: @acanarytorsi

Michelle Hartney Elevate Exhibition and Residency - Write In
2022-06-30 17:00 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Exhibition: July 1 – August 28, 2022
Activations: Write-In June 30, 5-7pm and Sewing Circle August 26, 5-7pm
Location: Gallery 3
Partners: 21c Kansas City, 21c Cincinnati
RSVP via Eventbrite here.
21c Chicago’s Artist in Residence program offers prolonged engagement, development, and support for Chicago artists. Through this program, we invite Chicago artists to create new works in response to world events and our current exhibition, Pop Stars!. Our second Artist in Residence is Michelle Hartney, whose artwork lays bare the injustices women have faced, and continue to face, often in attempting to control their reproductive and maternal health and choices. 21c Chicago will host a proliferating exhibition from July 1 through August 28, 2022. The exhibition will launch with a community-led write-in and culminate with a sewing circle on August 26. Throughout the residency, Michelle will be onsite at 21c furthering the development of the project, exhibition, and dialog. Please visit our website for forthcoming dates.
Michelle Hartney and these projects are supported by 21c Museum Hotels.
Upcoming Studio Hours:
July 11 & 14 10-12pm
July 25 2-4
Aug 1, 12-2 Aug 4 12-2
Aug 18 10-12
Aug 22 & 26 10-12
Located in Gallery 3
About Michelle Hartney and Unplanned Parenthood
Unplanned Parenthood is a collaborative, textile-based piece exploring historical attacks on reproductive health access and calling for intersectional reproductive justice. Hartney will work with volunteers from across the country to tell the stories of more than 250,000 women who penned desperate letters in the 1920’s asking for help ending and preventing pregnancies. The letters come from Motherhood in Bondage, a collection published by Margaret Sanger in 1928 of the correspondence she received when any information about contraception was deemed “obscene,” and disseminating it was punishable by law.
To reckon with Sanger’s racism and her legacy with Unplanned Parenthood, Hartney centers the project on the letters and individual stories, instead of her work. These testimonies remind us of how urgent it is to stay organized and focused in this fight, and to work toward a more intersectional future. Through this work—from stitch to show— Hartney will seek to shine light on Sanger’s racist legacy and call out the ways white supremacy persists in the movement for, and attacks on, contraception access and reproductive rights.
Michelle Hartney is a Chicago based interdisciplinary artist who works with fiber, installation, sculpture, performance, and the internet. Her practice focuses on women’s rights, maternal healthcare issues, and misogyny in art institutions. Hartney’s interest in using art to address social issues began during her graduate studies in art therapy at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was an Albert Schweitzer Fellow.
In 2016 Hartney founded the Women’s Health Collective, an art collective dedicated to utilizing creative approaches to raise awareness about women’s health issues by linking artists, writers, musicians, and activists to work collaboratively on socially engaged projects.
Exhibition
Unplanned parenthood: letters to an army of millions is a mixed media installation centered on the stories of people who longed for reproductive justice—and reminding us of the urgency of retaining our control over our destinies. This collaborative exhibition will present a growing number of handwritten letters on the gallery wall. Volunteers who choose to participate will pen a letter from Motherhood in Bondage onto floral paper designed by the artist. Once written, the letter is pinned to the gallery wall. The stories of these 250,000 individuals will unfold as the project and exhibition evolves on the gallery wall.
Activations
This project is a collaboration; a converging of our stories, much like those in Motherhood in Bondage. The Write-In launches the exhibition with a community-led activation. Hartney asks volunteers to handwrite quotes from select letters in the book and pin the penned letter to the gallery wall. Throughout the exhibition, Hartney will be present at 21c furthering the development of the project, exhibition, and encouraging dialog.
The exhibition and residency will culminate with a Sewing Circle on August 26. Michelle Hartney and community volunteers will be embroidering select letters from the collection, hand-written by volunteers from across the country, onto fabric from antique wedding dresses. Each piece of fabric is dyed with dandelion—a flower that was picked for bouquets before it was deemed a weed—to remind us that things can change drastically, even in a lifetime. The artist will supply kits during the sewing circle and the first ten participants will receive a fine art print.
All events are a safe space for community dialog around reproductive rights.
Sign up to participate remotely on Michelle Hartney’s website here.

Art and Wine Tour
2022-07-07 17:00 - 18:30 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Sip on a glass of wine and enjoy a guided tour of our new exhibit, Pop Stars!. Learn all about contemporary art and the artists behind the work.

Meet in the Gallery 5 + 6 on the 2nd Floor.

Tour starts at 5:00pm and is free and open to the public

Open Mic Night at 21c Chicago
2022-07-07 19:00 - 21:30 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Doors open at 7pm to sign up. Performances start at 7:30pm.
All musicians and types of music are welcome. 21c Chicago will provide speakers, a microphone, and an amp. Feel free to bring your own instrument.
RSVP here.

21c Presents: "The Art of Music" Jazz Jam Session
2022-07-14 19:00 - 22:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Join us for 21c Chicago’s first Jazz Jam Session!
RSVP via Eventbrite here.

Jazz jam sessions have long been the place where musicians gather to connect and perform together while honing their skills. Matt Jarosch Quintet will kick off the night with a 30 minute set before opening the evening to Jazz musicians in the audience to come sit-in!
The evening will feature a fundraiser for Bandwidth Chicago, with donations collected upon entry. Lite bites and wine will be served. Free and open to the public.

How does it work?
Musicians can sign up on-site, and fill out a jam session info card listing three to five tunes they can play and improvise on from memory. The jam session host will call up musicians to perform and improvise together in front of an enthusiastic live audience.
What should I bring?
Bring your trumpet/saxophone/trombone/voice/flute/vibes/drumsticks and a list of jazz standard tunes that you know and can improvise over. A vocal microphone, drum set, bass, bass amp, and piano will be provided.
Parking
There is street parking and parking garages in the area, we recommend arriving by rideshare, bicycle, or rickshaw.
About BandWith Chicago
Founded in the Fall of 2015 by Annie Palomino, BandWith is a Chicago-based non-profit organization whose mission is to provide lasting access to high quality performing arts instruction to underserved Chicago communities.
Since its inception, BandWith has addressed the need for access to music and creativity in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. Annie Palomino launched BandWith when the band program was dropped from LEARN Campbell Charter School due to budget cuts. Starting a nonprofit allowed Annie to continue providing free access to music instruction to students at the LEARN Campbell Campus while increasing reach to new students.
Since then, BandWith has developed into a stable organization offering individual and small group instruction, weekly ensemble play and performance opportunities to participants throughout the year. BandWith’s free in-school and after-school programs are located in East Garfield Park. They include our longest standing in-school band program, the Titan Band, within LEARN Charter School. BandWith also provides an after-school performing arts program at Marillac St. Vincent’s Hope Jr. Youth Center, which includes Drumline, WestDance, Studio-Engineering and Vocal Training/Choir. This summer, we partnered with After School Matters to support our growing Drumline Program as well as Chicago West Community Music Center to launch the WestDance Program.
BandWith offers instrumental music programs at 3 additional sites that are fee-for-service. The sites of these are St. Procopius School in Pilsen, St. Helen School in Ukrainian Village, and St. John Berchmans School in Logan Square. The three fee-for-service programs ensure BandWith’s financial viability and stability, and help subsidize the cost of our free programs. All other fundraising efforts are used to support free programs.
About 21c Museum Hotel Chicago
21c Museum Hotel Chicago, one of the newest hotels in heart of downtown Chicago, offers travelers a one-of-a-kind experience that blurs the line between contemporary art museum and boutique hotel. Boasting 297 beautifully appointed rooms, including 106 suites, the hotel is located at 55 East Ontario Street. 21c Museum Hotel Chicago joins eight other renowned 21c Hotel locations across the country to form North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century. 21c Museum Hotel has over 10,000 square feet of gallery space to exhibit the work of notable contemporary artists. The current exhibition on view, Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art is a multi-media exhibition that illuminates the intersection of celebrity, commerce, technology and the media. Pop Stars! features over 90 works of art by 55 artists from around the world.

SoFar Sounds Concert @ 21c Chicago
2022-07-15 19:30 - 22:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Attn: Live music lovers!
This month, we’re bringing a SoFar Sounds show to YOU! ICYMI, they transform everyday spaces into captivating venues for secret, live music shows. Expect three local and diverse artists, great vibes, and a whole lot of magic– get your tickets here.
Use promo code SOFARSPACES15 for 15% off the show.
Located in the Main Gallery on the 2nd Floor.
Doors open at 7:30pm. Show starts at 8:00pm.

Lyrics & Legends: Live Storytelling with Music by Kelly Campos
2022-07-27 18:00 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Lyrics & Legends (Teen/Adult Version)
A haunting melody chills your spine in a ghostly folk tale… A driving rhythm has you leaning forward to follow a journey…
Join storyteller-singer-songwriter Kelly Campos for a series of stories intertwined with song in this one of a kind performance.
RSVP via Eventbrite here.
About The Performer
Kelly Campos is a Librarian, a musician, and the winner of the 2022 Folktale Fight. She twists folk & fairy tales into new patterns and highlights life with her true stories, and weaves music through them all
About 21c Museum Hotel Chicago
21c Museum Hotel Chicago, one of the newest hotels in heart of downtown Chicago, offers travelers a one-of-a-kind experience that blurs the line between contemporary art museum and boutique hotel. Boasting 297 beautifully appointed rooms, including 106 suites, the hotel is located at 55 East Ontario Street. 21c Museum Hotel Chicago joins eight other renowned 21c Hotel locations across the country to form North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the art of the 21st century. 21c Museum Hotel has over 10,000 square feet of gallery space to exhibit the work of notable contemporary artists. The current exhibition on view, Pop Stars! Popular Culture and Contemporary Art is a multi-media exhibition that illuminates the intersection of celebrity, commerce, technology and the media. Pop Stars! features over 90 works of art by 55 artists from around the world.

Art and Wine Tour
2022-08-04 17:00 - 18:30, 2022-09-01 17:00 - 18:30 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Sip on a glass of wine and enjoy a guided tour of our new exhibit, Pop Stars!. Learn all about contemporary art and the artists behind the work.

Meet in the Gallery 5 + 6 on the 2nd Floor.

Tour starts at 5:00pm and is free and open to the public

RSVP via Eventbrite here.

Virtual Sewing Circle with Michelle Hartney
2022-08-23 18:00 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
August 23, 6-7pm
RSVP via Eventbrite for Zoom link
Join Michelle Hartney on August 23 for a virtual sewing circle and introduction to Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions, a collaborative mixed media project currently on view at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. During the virtual sewing circle, Hartney will introduce Unplanned Parenthood and lead a community sew-in via Zoom. She will also share tips for participants to sew independently at home.
As a community, we will sew select letters from Motherhood in Bondage, a collection of letters received by Margaret Sanger in the 1920’s from mothers asking for help to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Sewing circles have traditionally served as a time for women to gather and talk, sometimes working on projects, such as this one, focused on creating a more just society. Hartney invites all genders and community members to join her contemporary sewing circles that create space for community advocacy and dialog around reproductive rights.
Order your sewing kit by August 16 to insure delivery before Aug 23. Order online here. Sewing kit not required to attend event.
Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions is a collaborative, textile-based piece exploring historical attacks on reproductive health access and calling for intersectional reproductive justice. Hartney will work with volunteers from across the country to tell the stories of more than 250,000 women who penned desperate letters in the 1920’s asking for help ending and preventing pregnancies. The letters come from Motherhood in Bondage, a collection published by Margaret Sanger in 1928 of the correspondence she received when any information about contraception was deemed “obscene,” and disseminating it was punishable by law.
To reckon with Sanger’s racism and her legacy with Planned Parenthood, Hartney centers the project on the letters and individual stories, instead of her work. These testimonies remind us of how urgent it is to stay organized and focused in this fight, and to work toward a more intersectional future. Through this work—from stitch to show— Hartney will seek to shine light on Sanger’s racist legacy and call out the ways white supremacy persists in the movement for, and attacks on, contraception access and reproductive rights.
Michelle Hartney is a Chicago based interdisciplinary artist who works with fiber, installation, sculpture, performance, and the internet. Her practice focuses on women’s rights, maternal healthcare issues, and misogyny in art institutions. Hartney’s interest in using art to address social issues began during her graduate studies in art therapy at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was an Albert Schweitzer Fellow.
In 2016 Hartney founded the Women’s Health Collective, an art collective dedicated to utilizing creative approaches to raise awareness about women’s health issues by linking artists, writers, musicians, and activists to work collaboratively on socially engaged projects.
Visit 21cChicago.com for more information about Michelle Hartney’s exhibition, Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions, currently on view at 21c Chicago and the in-person sewing circle on August 26 (in partnership with ACLU)

The "Art Of" Mixology: Cocktail Class
2022-08-25 18:00 - 20:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
21c Chicago is on a mission to discover the Art of Mixology. Partnering with Unmuddled Bartending, together they are hosting a cocktail class where you’ll learn how to shake up and stir a few different cocktails to impress your family and friends with at the next gathering.
RSVP and buy your ticket via Eventbrite here.
Your ticket includes:
+ 2-3 cocktails
+ Light bites
+ 1.5 hour cocktail class with mixology professionals from Unmuddled Bartending

The Art of Mixology: Battle of the Bartenders
2022-08-31 19:00 - 22:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Sip on cocktails and support your favorite Chicago bartenders as they battle it out to create a new 21c Chicago signature cocktail

Hosted by Nigel Barker and 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. Together they are bringing 8 renowned Chicago bartenders to battle it out and create a new signature 21c Cocktail.
Mix and mingle with the Chicago hospitality industry, sip on some delicious cocktails, and celebrate the amazing cocktail scene that Chicago has to offer.
The best part? YOU get a say! One bartender will walk away with the “People’s Choice” Award, which will be decided by you and your fellow audience.
Date: Wednesday, August 31st
Time: 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Venue: 21c Museum Hotel Chicago – 55 E Ontario St. Chicago, IL 60611 (Main Gallery)
RSVP and purchase your ticket via Eventbrite here.
Your ticket includes:
8 drink tickets to 2oz pours of each bartender’s cocktail creation
Light bites
Live entertainment including a DJ, caricature artist, and magician
LIQUOR SPONSORED BY CASAMIGOS
DJ ENTERTAINMENT PROVIDED BY DJ ONE CHANCE

Kelly Kristin Jones: Rib Of Disaster
2022-09-01 - 2022-10-31 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Elevate at 21c Chicago: September 1 – October 31, 2022
Opening reception with the Artist: September 1, 6:00-7:30pm
Plinths for the People Activation: October 2022
Kelly Kristin Jones’s photo-based interventions and counter monuments unsettle well-worn imperial attributes to consider alternative vocabularies. Time-based, collaborative and still works operate by blocking prevailing “master” narratives. Each action embraces the efforts to remove, reinterpret, and restore the landscape. Addressing the slipperiness of both medium and myth, photographic interruptions highlight problematic relationships around public space and memory.

Please join us for the opening reception of Kelly Kristin Jones: Rib of disaster on September 1 from 6:00-7:30pm. The artist will be present and will speak about the work at 6:30pm in Gallery 3.
Kelly Kristin Jones creates photo-based interventions and counter monuments to unsettle well-worn imperial attributes and consider alternative histories. Time-based, collaborative and still works operate by blocking a prevailing “master” narrative. Each action embraces the efforts to remove, reinterpret, and restore landscape. Addressing the slipperiness of both medium and myth, her planned interruptions highlight problematic relationships around public space and memory.
Born and raised on the westside of Chicago, Jones received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including a 2021 Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant, a 2019 Chicago Artists Coalition HATCH residency, LATITUDE residency, and Luminarts Cultural Foundation Project Grant. Her project, Plinths for the People, was featured in the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial.

Elevate at 21c presents temporary exhibitions of works by artists living and working in the communities surrounding each 21c Museum Hotel Chicago. Elevate provides hotel guests and visitors with unique access to the work of notable regional artists, while featuring their work in the context of 21c’s contemporary art space.

SoFar Sounds Concert @ 21c Chicago
2022-09-10 19:30 - 22:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Attn: Live music lovers!
This month, we’re bringing another SoFar Sounds show to YOU! ICYMI, they transform everyday spaces into captivating venues for secret, live music shows. Expect three local and diverse artists, great vibes, and a whole lot of magic– get your tickets here.
Use promo code SOFARSPACES15 for 15% off the show.
Located in the Main Gallery on the 2nd Floor.
Doors open at 7:30pm. Show starts at 8:00pm.

21c Chicago x Lululemon Presents: TRIFECTA | A Celebration of movement, lifestyle and, community
2022-09-11 09:30 - 12:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Notes:
Exercise/Yoga Mats are provided.
Please bring your own water bottle and towel.
OUR SPONSORS:
21c Chicago
Basecamp Fitness
Gotham Bagels
Tula
Sleep Walk
Day-of-Schedule
9:00am: Doors Open
9:30am: Kick-off: Opening Remarks from lululemon.
9:35am: Word from our Sponsors
9:40am – 10:00: 10-min HIIT with Eric Cervantes, lululemon Train Ambassador
10:05am – 10:25am: Half-mile Scenic Run with Arturo Rodarte. lululemon Run Ambassador
10:30am – 10:50am: Yoga and Cool down with Margot Greer, lululemon Yoga Ambassador
10:55am to 11:00am: Closing Remarks 21c
11:00am to 12:00nn: Social Hour, free Mimosas!!!

Jazz Jam Session with The Matt Jarosch Quintet
2022-09-13 19:00 - 22:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Jazz Jam Session
Tuesday, September 13, 7-10pm
RSVP here
Free and open to the public.
21c’s Jazz Jam Sessions continue bimonthly!
Jazz jam sessions have long been the place where musicians gather to connect and perform together while honing their skills. The Matt Jarosch Quintet will kick off the night with a 30 minute set before opening the evening to Jazz musicians in the audience to come sit-in!
Musicians can sign up on-site, and fill out a jam session info card listing three to five tunes they can play and improvise on from memory. The jam session host will call on musicians to perform and improvise together in front of an enthusiastic live audience. A vocal microphone, drum set, bass, bass amp, and piano will be provided, otherwise bring your axe!
The evening will feature a fundraiser for BandWith Chicago. Suggested donation is $10 (collected at the door).Wine be served. Lure Fishbar will offer special menu items in conjunction with this event (advance purchase not required, but encouraged).
About BandWith ChicagoFounded in the Fall of 2015 by Annie Palomino, BandWith is a Chicago-based non-profit organization whose mission is to provide lasting access to high quality performing arts instruction to underserved Chicago communities.
Since its inception, BandWith has addressed the need for access to music and creativity in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. Annie Palomino launched BandWith when the band program was dropped from LEARN Campbell Charter School due to budget cuts. Starting a nonprofit allowed Annie to continue providing free access to music instruction to students at the LEARN Campbell Campus while increasing reach to new students.
Since then, BandWith has developed into a stable organization offering individual and small group instruction, weekly ensemble play and performance opportunities to participants throughout the year. BandWith’s free in-school and after-school programs are located in East Garfield Park. They include our longest standing in-school band program, the Titan Band, within LEARN Charter School. BandWith also provides an after-school performing arts program at Marillac St. Vincent’s Hope Jr. Youth Center, which includes Drumline, WestDance, Studio-Engineering and Vocal Training/Choir. This summer, we partnered with After School Matters to support our growing Drumline Program as well as Chicago West Community Music Center to launch the WestDance Program.
BandWith offers instrumental music programs at 3 additional sites that are fee-for-service. The sites of these are St. Procopius School in Pilsen, St. Helen School in Ukrainian Village, and St. John Berchmans School in Logan Square. The three fee-for-service programs ensure BandWith’s financial viability and stability, and help subsidize the cost of our free programs. All other fundraising efforts are used to support free programs.

21c Chicago & Roosevelt University Presents: Chamber Music Masterworks
2022-09-21 17:30 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Join 21c Chicago and Roosevelt University for a two-night performance of the chamber music masterworks in concert
Date: WEdnesday, September 21st (Night 1 of a two-night performance)
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Where: 21c Museum Hotel Chicago (55 E Ontario St. Chicago, IL 60611)
Free and open to the public
RSVP Here
The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University is delighted to partner with the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago in presenting chamber music masterworks in concert. These highly-talented undergraduate and graduate students hail from some of the top music schools and training centers from around the globe, and their electric performances are not to be missed. You can say later that you heard these young musicians – many bound for superstardom in the field – when they were just getting their starts in Chicago, so, join us in supporting them!
About CCPA at Roosevelt University: Comprising the Music Conservatory, the Theatre Conservatory, and the Interdisciplinary Conservatory, CCPA trains world-class musicians and theatre professionals in the heart of one of the country’s most creatively accomplished cities. We invite you to learn more about the faculty and students within our talented, diverse, and inclusive artistic community.

21c Chicago & Roosevelt University Presents: Chamber Music Masterworks
2022-09-22 17:30 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Join 21c Chicago and Roosevelt University for a two-night performance of the chamber music masterworks in concert
Date: Thursday, September 22nd (Night 2 of a two-night performance)
Time: 5:30 – 7:00 PM
Where: 21c Museum Hotel Chicago (55 E Ontario St. Chicago, IL 60611)
Free and open to the public
RSVP Here
The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University is delighted to partner with the 21c Museum Hotel Chicago in presenting chamber music masterworks in concert. These highly-talented undergraduate and graduate students hail from some of the top music schools and training centers from around the globe, and their electric performances are not to be missed. You can say later that you heard these young musicians – many bound for superstardom in the field – when they were just getting their starts in Chicago, so, join us in supporting them!
About CCPA at Roosevelt University: Comprising the Music Conservatory, the Theatre Conservatory, and the Interdisciplinary Conservatory, CCPA trains world-class musicians and theatre professionals in the heart of one of the country’s most creatively accomplished cities. We invite you to learn more about the faculty and students within our talented, diverse, and inclusive artistic community.

Michelle Hartney Sewing Circle and Intimate Conversation with Ameri Klafeta, Director of the Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project (WRRP)
2022-09-23 17:00 - 19:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
21c Museum Hotel Chicago is proud to host a Sewing Circle on September 23rd with Artist in Residence, Michelle Hartney. As part of her collaborative mixed media project and exhibition, Unplanned Parenthood: Letters to an Army of Millions, Hartney will lead the sewing circle and join Ameri Klafeta, Director of the Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project (WRRP), in an intimate conversation surrounding the impact of the overturn of Roe vs. Wade.
As a community, we will gather to sew select letters from Motherhood in Bondage, a collection of letters received by Margaret Sanger in 1928 from mothers asking for help to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Sewing circles have traditionally served as a time for women to gather and talk, sometimes working on projects, such as this one, focused on creating a more just society. On September 23rd, we welcome all genders and community members to join us for sewing and dialog about reproductive rights.
The artist will supply kits during the sewing circle and the first ten participants will receive a fine art print. All events are a safe space for community dialog around reproductive rights.
September 23rd, 5-7pm
Location: Gallery 6
RSVP via Eventbrite here
Unplanned Parenthood exhibition
Unplanned Parenthood is a collaborative, textile-based piece exploring historical attacks on reproductive health access and calling for intersectional reproductive justice. Hartney will work with volunteers from across the country to tell the stories of more than 250,000 women who penned desperate letters in the 1920’s asking for help ending and preventing pregnancies. The letters come from Motherhood in Bondage, a collection published by Margaret Sanger in 1928 of the correspondence she received when any information about contraception was deemed “obscene,” and disseminating it was punishable by law.
Volunteers can participate onsite at 21c Chicago by penning a letter from Motherhood in Bondage onto floral paper designed by the artist or sewing a handwritten letter onto vintage bridal fabrics. Throughout the exhibition, Michelle will be onsite at 21c furthering the development of the project, exhibition, and dialog.
Upcoming Studio Hours:
Aug 4, 12-2pm
Aug 18, 10a-12p
Aug 19, 12-2pm
Aug 22, 10a-12p
September 23rd, 5-7pm** In-person Sewing Circle
Date forthcoming ** Virtual sewing circle with tips and tricks from Michelle Hartney.
Sign up to participate remotely on Michelle Hartney’s website here.
Michelle Hartney is a Chicago based interdisciplinary artist who works with fiber, installation, sculpture, performance, and the internet. Her practice focuses on women’s rights, maternal healthcare issues, and misogyny in art institutions. Hartney’s interest in using art to address social issues began during her graduate studies in art therapy at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she was an Albert Schweitzer Fellow.
In 2016 Hartney founded the Women’s Health Collective, an art collective dedicated to utilizing creative approaches to raise awareness about women’s health issues by linking artists, writers, musicians, and activists to work collaboratively on socially engaged projects.
Ameri Klafeta, Director of Women’s and Reproductive Rights Project
Ameri Klafeta is the Director of the WRRP. In the role, she works to expand access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare and improve gender equality. She joined the ACLU in 2018, helping lead the effort to draft and secure passage of the Illinois Reproductive Health Act and repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act in 2021. She previously practices law at Eimer Shahl LLP, where she spent over a decade litigating in state and federal courts across the country.
Ms. Klafeta is a 2002 University of Chicago Law School graduate, where she was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She also received a BBA from the University of Michigan with distinction. After law school, she clerked for the Hon. Mary M. Schroeder on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is active with the American Constitution Society and the League of Women Voters.
ACLU of Illinois
The ACLU of Illinois has been the principal protector of constitutional rights in the state since its founding in 1926.
The ACLU of Illinois (ACLU), and its affiliated Roger Baldwin Foundation (RBF), are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to protecting the liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the state Constitution, and state/federal human rights laws. The ACLU accomplishes its goals through litigating, lobbying and educating the public on a broad array of civil liberties issues.

21c Presents: Behind The Lens with Nigel Barker
2022-09-29 17:00 - 21:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Join internationally renowned fashion photographer Nigel Barker as he takes you behind the lens discussing his career from America’s Next Top Model, photographing celebrity magazine covers to advertising campaigns. The event will showcase his greatest work and include a masterclass and photo walk of downtown Chicago. Nigel will share decades of experience photographing the fashion industry, urban landscape, and how he stays inspired.Following his presentation, Nigel and his team will guide participants on a photo walk from 21c Museum Hotel sharing advice and tips on how to capture the narrative of Chicago from the big picture to the details and help unlock the hidden beauty in the every day. Following the photowalk, participants will return to 21c to share their photographs on a digital gallery wall, socialize during a cocktail reception, and have the opportunity to get their portraits shot by the one and only Nigel Barker!
Date: Thursday, September 29th
RSVP and buy your tickets here
Schedule:
5:00pm – Doors open at 21c Chicago Main Gallery
5:15-5:55pm – Nigel Barker Masterclass presentation at 21c*
6:00pm – Meet in Lobby, depart on Photowalk
7:00pm – Return to 21c Museum Hotel
7:00-9:00pm – Cocktail reception at 21c Museum Hotel
Tickets: $30 general, $15 students
Levels: All photographers of every skill level are encouraged to participate.
Walking Tour: Participants walk to three locations within 10 minutes of 21c. All paths are ADA accessible. Please wear appropriate attire.
Equipment: All camera formats are welcome. Please know how to use the gear prior, technical instruction will not be provided.
Additional Tour Guides: Kambua Chema, Brooke Ellis, and Juli Lowe
* Participants are welcome to join for the Photowalk only. Meet in the lobby at 5:30pm.
** Please contact jlowe@21cchicago.com if you have been affected by Covid and would like to participate at a reduced price.

Pop Stars! - Guided Exhibit Tour with Juli Lowe, 21c Museum Manager
2022-09-30 16:00 - 17:00 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Curious about contemporary art? Learn about 21c Chicago’s current exhibition, Pop Stars!, and the artists behind all of the works on a guided tour from 21c’s Museum Manager, Juli Lowe.
Meet us in the lobby at 4 pm to explore. Tours are free and open to the public.

Art and Wine Tour
2022-10-07 17:00 - 18:30 | 21c Museum Hotel Chicago, 55 E Ontario, Chicago, IL, 60611
Sip on a glass of wine and enjoy a guided tour of our current exhibit, Pop Stars!. Learn all about contemporary art and the artists behind the work.

Meet in Gallery 5 + 6 on the 2nd Floor.

Tour starts at 5:00pm and is free and open to the public

RSVP via Eventbrite here.
