Pencil This In

By Amy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 17, 2008 5:30PM

Art
The 4th annual Change Please! art showcase takes place tonight, an opportunity for more than 25 homeless/formerly homeless youth to feature their visual and performance art. All of the show’s participating artists are active in the H.E.L.L.O. (Homeless Experts Living Life's Obstacles) Youth Group, sponsored by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and advocating an end to homelessness in Chicago.
Chicago's Second Unitarian Church, 656 West Barry St., 11/17, 7 p.m., Free

Poetry
Through April 2009, Mental Graffiti will be hosting a monthly poetry slam and open mic show, featuring both local and internationally known performance poets and spoken word artists. Tonight’s headliner will be Kevin Coval, a Chicago live-performance hip-hop poet and co-founder of Louder Than A Bomb, an annual teen poetry slam festival and poetry contest.
Butterfly Social Club, 722 W. Grand Ave. 11/17 and every 3rd Monday of the month, 7:30 p.m., $5

Lectures
Next up on the National Geographic Live! series at the Field Museum (which we reviewed last month) is a presentation given by Mattias Klum, a natural history photographer and filmmaker who has spent 20 years exploring the island of Borneo. Klum’s presentation for the series, titled Borneo: Paradise Under Seige, will address the rampant deforestation of the island's rain forests and the effects on its wildlife; in particular, the increasing number of orphaned and stranded members of the Orangutan population.
The James Simpson Theatre at The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Dr., 11/18, 7:30 p.m., Members $22; General Public $24

Image via National Geographic. Orphaned orangutan photo by Mattias Klum