Stay at Home Order

In response to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Chicago has joined the State of Illinois in issuing a Stay at Home order effective Saturday, March 21st at 5pm CT. In addition, City of Chicago facilities are closed to the public. Staff are prioritizing essential services to protect the health and safety of our residents and employees. As such, we may be delayed in responding to non-essential inquiries and service requests. To stay up to date on the City of Chicago’s COVID-19 response, please visit the City Coronavirus Response Center site.

Chicago Cultural Center Learning Lab

Reopening TBA

Meet an Artist: Every Friday, 12–2pm &
Every Saturday 1–3pm

Chicago Cultural Center, 1st Floor South

FREE Admission

Chicago Cultural Center  >  Plan Your Visit  >  Learning Lab

 

Learning Lab(click on image to enlarge)

 

The Learning Lab is a place to engage and experiment with aspects of all DCASE cultural programming. Watch archival footage of guests at past DCASE events on a vintage TV set, hear the sounds of upcoming DCASE music festivals, try your hand at mural making like Keith Haring on our chalk wall, touch pieces of the building to get a feel of the sumptuous materials used to create this golden age building and more!

Meet an Artist Schedule:

Caroline Ng and Ji Yang – DiscussionCaroline Ng and Ji Yang – Discussion

Saturday, March 28, 1–3pm

Caroline discusses the phenomena of ‘culinary slumming’ seen as immersing oneself in the food of a “lower culture” as a way to consume ‘otherness.’ Both Ji and Caroline discuss the problems of exoticizing poverty in an age of austerity and unequal wealth distribution.

 
 

Alberto Aguilar – Artist LectureAlberto Aguilar – Artist Lecture

Friday, April 10, 12–1pm & 1–2pm

Alberto Aguilar is a Chicago-based artist who uses whatever materials are at hand as a way to connect with the viewer. He recently had a survey exhibition at Gallery 400 in Chicago titled Moves on Human Scale. He has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; Palo Alto Art Center; National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; Minneapolis Institute of Art; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; and The Art Institute of Chicago. His work is in the collections of the National Museum of Mexican Art; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Soho House Chicago; Facebook; and the Office of the Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot. Aguilar is the recipient of the 3Arts Award.
 

Sylvia Gonzalez – Book Making WorkshopSylvia Gonzalez – Book Making Workshop

Saturday, April 11, 2–4pm

Compass to Now|Here is a multilayered artists’ book project archiving Chicago's history of settlement, resettlement, unsettlement, justice, and labor movements, in larger connection to national immigration policy.

The workshop for Compass to Now|Here invites participants to critically engage our city's history through writing, movement, and alternative artist book making. The public is invited to sha re their own stories around settlement, resettlement, and unsettlement as it pertains to individual experiences around living, organizing, and the geographical shifting that continues to shape the way our city is experienced.
 

Kirsten Leenaars – Interactive Video PerformanceKirsten Leenaars – Interactive Video Performance

Saturday, April 18, 12–4pm

Kirsten invites the public to be video taped as she asks the question: “What do you look like?” and invites them to describe themselves. Through this process and exploration of the self, they reveal the role that social and cultural norms play in defining and determining how individuals identify themselves in relation and opposition with social groups and society at large.
 

Sabba Elahi – Sewing Circles

Sabba Elahi – Sewing Circles

Friday, May 1, 12–3pm & Saturday, May 9, 1–4pm

These sewing circles invite the public – with or without sewing skills - to embroider the names of the civilians whose deaths are a result of America’s decade long drone offensive in Pakistan.
 

Irina Zadov – Goluboy Vagon Kollektiv

Saturday, May 2, 1–3pm

The Goluboi Vagon Kollektiv (Голубой Вагон Коллектив) is a virtual/analog community of Post - Soviet Queer Jewish immigrants with central hubs in Chicago and the Bay Area. Join Goluboi Vagon Kollektiv for a zine launch, Soviet zakus ki (appetizers), and a performative workshop exploring de-assimilation and co-liberatory practices across the Soviet Jewish Diaspora.

Featured Artists: Irina Zadov / Ирина Задова, Masha Serdyukova / Маша Cердюкова, Rivka/Ривка/ רבקה Yeker, Маша Лисак, ste pha velednitsky / стеша веледницкая, Sophia Sobko / соня собко
 

Aymar Jean Christain & Open TV Screenings

Dates TBD

Photo Gallery

(click on image to enlarge)

Learning Lab

Learning Lab

Learning Lab

Learning Lab
Learning Lab

Learning Lab

Learning Lab

Learning Lab

 

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Chicago Cultural Center
    

Admission is FREE
Monday–Friday, 10am–7pm
Saturday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
(Closed Holidays)

Plan Your Visit Here

Find us:

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602

 

Take CTA to Chicago Cultural Center

  • From the elevated lines: exit at Washington/Wabash and walk east.
  • From the subway: exit at Lake (Red Line) or Washington (Blue Line) and walk east.
  • Served by Michigan Avenue buses 3, 4, 19, 20, 26, 60, 66, 124, 143, 147, 151, 157 and Washington St. buses 4, J14, 20, 56, 66, 147

 

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Opportunity:

Learning Lab Programs

Applications accepted on a rolling basis

Meet an artist. Explore ideas. Make some art. Repeat. Artists and organizations are invited to apply for an opportunity to celebrate that sweet spot where artists and visitors engage in a unique way in the Learning Lab at the Chicago Cultural Center. This year, we are especially interested in activities that align with the Year of Chicago Music. For more information and the application, visit Meet an Artist in the Learning Lab.

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