Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival Takes Over Logan Square This Weekend
By Julia Weeman in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 20, 2012 6:20PM
The Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival kicks off this afternoon on Milwaukee Avenue, between Kimball and California in Logan Square. The festival will feature curated art exhibitions, three stages of music, the Threadless Make Great Market curated by Urban Folk Circuit, live performance artists, family art activities, a great selection of food and drink, and two artisan open-air markets.
The music lineup this year is incredible and includes live jazz presented by Elastic Arts and Chicagomusic.org, Vocalo's DJ Collective, an all female-fronted showcase, and a Chicago Mixtape showcase. Chicago Mixtape has put together a mega mix of 20 artists who will be performing at the festival, available for download here. The mix starts out mellow and progresses to the heavier bands and after each track, they announce when/where each band is playing.
The Festival Center at Milwaukee Avenue and Logan Boulevard will feature exhibitions by Spudnik Press, Penguin Foot, Latitude, AnySquared, & Comfort Station Logan Square. Spudnik Press is a print shop cooperative and will feature affordable prints as well as a hands-on printing activity. Ceramic studio Penguin Foot will be presenting work revolving around the theme "Transformation in Form: An Exploration in Shape." Latitude, an open digital lab that supports artists by providing access to the digital media equipment and other resources, will be featuring work by Walter Blackwell, Eileen Mueller, Victor Yanez-Lazcano, Matt Austin, and Maria Hummel revolving around the theme "City on the Make." AnySquared, an artist collaborative, will have a multi-media exhibit entitled "Stop. Look Listen." The work poses the question "If you could put one moment of your life on pause, what would it be?" Comfort Station Logan Square will be showing photographs by David Schalliol and Chioke Morais will be showing original jazz & soul themed paintings.
Performances will take place at the Hairpin Arts Center and will include a sample of short plays about the neighborhoods of Chicago, vaudeville-style acts, dance, cabaret, and more.
The festival is co-presented by Revolution Brewing who will provide their Rosa, IPA, Cross of Gold, and Bottom Up Wit beers on tap. If beer's not your thing, try the ever-popular sangria from Lula Cafe. Food options include Balkan sausages with pita from Cevapcici Chicago, tacos from Taquero Fusion, Miko's Italian Ice, and Intelligentsia coffee. Snap some photos in a vintage photo booth that's totally free (donations accepted), presented by Magnolia Photo Booth company. Film screenings include a horror movie showcase Friday at 8 p.m. as well as fine art film screenings by Cinema Culture on Saturday and Sunday. Logan Theater will also be showing cult classics including Labyrinth, Spaceballs, Star Trek II:The Wrath of Khan, and Wayne's World.
The festival runs from 4 p.m - 12:30 a.m. today, 11 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. tomorrow, and 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sunday. There is a $5 donation or you can purchase a three-day wristband that includes local discounts.