Notes for a People's Atlas of Granada (Spain), an adaptation of AREA's Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago has just been completed! Check out documentation:

A great video they made

An overview photo collage of their workshops

The whole photo set of all their workshops Including a great photo of kids learning about the project in front of a bunch of print outs of the high resolution Chicago

Dear Concerned Peoples of Chicago:

Do you ever wonder who does the important and challenging work to confront the status quo in this city? We wonder that too, and that's why we started AREA Chicago, to document the Art/Research/Education/Activism happening here.

For more than four years AREA Chicago has been producing critical publications and events in Chicago. AREA is a unique project about the city and its social movements. We're writing today to tell you more about what we are doing and to ask that you help us to continue this work by giving AREA a tax-deductible donation.

AREA continues to grow. Here are a few highlights from 2009:

-AREA #8 - a Local Reader about creative responses to the statement "Everybody's Got Money Issues" was released to the public on May 1st. A dynamic series of lectures, workshops and other events took place following the release from August through October and has even inspired a new independent reading group of past AREA contributors.

-AREA #9 - A Local Reader on the geographic edges of Chicago that also brought in reflections on issues and ideas which are sometimes at the edges of our work was released on November 1st at the South Side Community Arts Center, the last living WPA era community arts center in the country. This issue had a strong emphasis on mapping projects and was funded especially for that work by grants from the Smart Museum of Art and the Graham Foundation.

-areachicago.org is getting a face-lift and it will be easier than ever to freely access the archives from our past magazines dealing with themes such as privatization, the local food system, solidarity, prisons, education, public policy, the legacy of the '60s.

-We are developing curriculum out of the articles from past issues of our Local Reader series. With hundreds of articles and interviews about Chicago and the people who live here, we are confident it can be a resource for classrooms and informal education environments.

-The "Notes for a People's Atlas" mapping project that we sponsor has been expanded to other cities and will be touring throughout the country for the next few years in an exhibition entitled "Experimental Geography" (http://peoplesatlas.areaprojects.info/).

 

- In recent weeks we were notified that we received a $6,000 grant from the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. We also held our most successful community fundraising auction ever, raising $5,200. This means we are just $2,000 away from our goal for starting the new year with the funds we need. We aspire to raise as much money through grassroots fundraising as possible and this year we have proven we can do that.

As you can see we have a very busy year. We are planning for 2010 already and will be releasing our summer double-issue on the topic of "institutions and infrastructures." We depend on contributions from individual supporters like you to do all of this. From office supplies, to youth mapping workshops to printing the publications, your support makes this work possible. Please give a tax-deductible donation to AREA today! Checks can be made to our fiscal sponsor "Experimental Station" and mailed to AREA Chicago at PO Box 476971 Chicago IL 60647. To donate online visit http://www.areachicago.org/donate/

Sincerely,

Daniel Tucker and Rebecca Zorach, Editors of AREA Chicago

AREA 2009/2010 Advisors: Beth Gutelius, Amanda Gutierrez, Charles Vinz, David Marques, David Omotoso Stovall, Euan Hague, Gabriel Piemonte, Jerome Grand, Jason Reblando, Jayne Hileman, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Lisa Lee, Mairead Case, Dave Pabellon, Ryan Hollon, Therese Quinn, Daniel Tucker, Dakota Brown, Rebecca Zorach, Rachel Wallis, Eric Triantafillou, Lee Ann Norman, Ashley Weger, Frank Edwards, Robin Hewlett, Sam Barnett

AREA Chicago 3rd Annual Wants & Needs Auction

Friday, 11th December 7-12pm - Auction @ 930pm -

@ UE Hall - 37 S. Ashland

 $10 Donation at the door, $20 Donation for admission and a tote bag. ALL proceeds from AREA's Wants and Needs Party will benefit the Summer 2010 issue of AREA.

Photos from 2007: Link

Photos from 2008: Link

MC Ryan Hollon will host the event while DJs Dave Marques, Naomi Walker, and Sarah Smizz keep you entertained and dancing.

This year 28 contributors and friends of AREA have offered up their skills and services to you.

AREA 3rd Annual Needs and Wants Auction list:

• 1) Beth Gutelius and Dave Pabellon offer a Tequila Night for 4. Starting bid: $50
• 2) Charles Vinz offers his skills as a draftsman to measure up one floor of a home and draft it by hand to scale. Starting bid: $30
• 3) Frank Edwards offers 2 introductory or intermediate bass guitar lessons. Starting bid: $25
  
• 4) Amber Ginsburg and Lia offer to take you on a Chicago tastings for 10 with 3 spring greens associated with the naming of the city. Starting bid: $30
  
• 5) Sarah Lewison offers a retreat in the Countryside for Small Group (up to 5 people) or Individual. We are about 5 hours from Chicago by train- I will pick you up, and take care of you so you can have a chilled-out productive  and engaging retreat.  The place has great light,  an amazing bird population, good internet, wood heat, delicious water, library access, and your stay will be fully catered with mostly local organic food. Starting bid: $150
  
• 6) Samuel A. Love offers a customized tour of the Calumet Region (Example: sand dunes, Mexican Mutual Aid Societies, company housing, etc...). Starting bid: $30
  
• 7) Paul Duricais offers a personalized Pocket Guide to Hell walking tours; the tours focus on sites connected to social justice, labor history, and true crime stories. Starting bid: $30
  
• 8) Rachel Wallis offers her Service/Skill of sewing a pillow to your specifications, with the embroidered design of your dreams. (previous pillow designs have included images from loteria cards, maps with state birds and flowers, robots, sea creatures, and a portrait of north korean dictator kim jong il, although not all on the same pillow). Starting bid: $25
• 9) Mairead Case offers to create six anonymous collaged snail-mail letters for you or your special friend. Remember real mail!? (she won't write them herself, but she will choose pieces to copy from her personal library, based on the winner's stipulations), plus small found objects and bits of bright paper. Starting bid: $15
• 10) Tim Sarrantonio/The Arts of Life offers a personalized portrait of the winner by Arts of Life artist Daniel Brendel. The winner can come in and pose for Daniel or they can provide him with a picture they want painted. We will frame the picture for you and prefer you to come see the studio where it is made! Starting bid: $150
• 11) Rebecca Zorach offers one-hour consultation on application to grad school, fellowships, or academic jobs. For best results you should be in the arts, humanities, or humanistic social sciences. If I'm not in Chicago I will consult by phone (my dime). starting bid $40
• 12) Dakota Brown offers to make you custom "Correspondence Stock” Typographic Design and Hand Printing. Includes one session on what your options and desires are, and some strategizing on how to do it cheaply + the actual design and printing! Bidder must pay for paper and some printing supplies. starting bid $40
  
• 13) Mike Wolf offers to make for your use two black-and-white, hand drawn illustrations or fliers on a subject of your choice. Starting bid $25
• 14) Lorenza Perelli offers to make a Italian meal at her house in Pilsen.  3 courses: antipasti; main courses: pasta e ceci (Tuscany); polenta with Gorgonzola, butter and Parmigiano (Lombardia), and salsiccia (options). Italian red wine. Eat dinner, discuss life and enjoy. Dinner will be for 4 people plus Lorenza and Andrew. starting bid: $50
• 15) Alice Kim offers  'nouveau' Korean BBQ home-cooked dinner for 4 at her place -- starting bid $50
  
• 16) Carrie Breitbach offers a custom crochet hat. Chose solid or striped (colors of your choice). starting bid $10.
• 17) Euan Hague offers a 2hr guided walking tour of gentrification, Tax Increment Financing, Historic District status and other urban development processes in pilsen (53 page research booklet included). Time/date/duration can be adapted to suit a class (of up to 25 people). Starting bid: $20 
• 18) Salem Collo-Julin offers baby (or adult) sitting services for a minimum four hours. For those who don't have children, Salem will entertain your out of town guest, your parents, your roommate that never gets out of the house. Starting bid: $30
  
• 19) Tricia Van Eck and Andre Fiebig offer a 2 bedroom apt. in Edgewater on the lake with a private beach access for a weekend. You can hear waves while you sleep - its great for people wanting to get out of city without leaving. starting bid $100
• 20) Kieran Gadbury offers 2 hour-long massages!  starting bid: $20
• 21) Lee Ann Norman is offering her program proposal consulting services for 1-3 people.  If you have an idea that's swimming around in your head related to the arts, arts education, youth, or community development, she can help you solidify your ideas and help you create language/structures/protocols/strategies that will help you realize your plans. starting bid. $50
• 22) Kirsten Cox offers "Your Ideal Dream Get-A-Way Search Service". She brings ten years of private cottage rental experience ranging from couples to large groups. She will sit with you, personalizing your request, and try to make all your domestic get-a-way dreams come true! Starting bid: $10
• 23) Jacob Chris Hammes offers a hypnosis session. starting bid: $25
• 24) Elise Zelechowski offers twenty five 2x4's or 2x6's from the ReBuilding Exchange for your next building project. starting bid: $25
  
• 25) Robin Hewlett offers brunch for 2 at Backstory Cafe.  starting bid: $30 
• 26) Naomi Walker offers custom-made pies with a mix cds. starting bid: $20
  
• 27) Mejay Gula offers 4 hair cutting sessions for one person (or one session for 4 people). Starting bid $40.
• 28) Kim Soss offers to be Your very own Personal Librarian will research the question(s) of your choosing. Specializing in architecture, urban planning, and design. starting bid: $25

Release of AREA #9 Peripheral Vision: A Local Reader Inside and Outside Chicago!

November 1, 2009 from 2:00pm till 5:00 pm.

The release party will be coinciding with the closing party for The Demise of the South Side Community Art Center at the South Side Community Art Center, 3831 S. Michigan Ave. (CTA: Indiana stop on the Green Line)

So there will be lots of great things to see alongside two events which are scheduled:

3:00 Peripheral Feminism: Readings by contributors
and 4:00 Performance by Sebastian Alvarez

This issue's contributions are by/about:

Notes for a People’s Atlas of Calumet, Claire Pentecost, disability activism, Paul Durica, deindustrialization, Stephanie Farmer, Sean Noonan, Compass Group, Hobofest, Jayne Hileman, Ishpeming, Anthony Rayson, Forgotten Chicago, Dinah Ramirez, James Lane, Crandon mine campaign, Sarah Kanouse, Nick Brown, suburban segregation, The Brownlands, Mairead Case, rural pilgrimage, Beth Gutelius, feminism, Dale Asis, Southeast Environmental Task Force, Sarah Kavage, the Burnham plan, Lorenza Perelli, Chicago Otra, Donna Kiser, Erin Moore, immigration detention, Mara Naselli, used bookstores, Sue Simensky Bietila, Mary Patten, donation diasporas, Joann Podkul, MAS, Brian Schultz, ecology, Joey Pizzolato, regional energy, Alex Yablon, Native American sites, Carrie Breitbach, HIV in minority communities, Quincy Saul, Gary, Bert Stabler, Great Lakes waterways, Charlie Vinz, teaching urban studies in the suburbs, teaching art on the south side, Larry Shure, Southworks, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Dan Wang, Nazis in Skokie, No Se Vende, Mike Wolf, Human Action Campaign Organization, Ashley Weger, demolition, Ryan Hollon, Andrew Greenlee, Gloria Ortiz, Steel Shavings, Paul Sargent, slumming, Laurie Palmer, neoliberal poetry, Michelle Lugalia, world systems, Steve Macek, distribution, Rebecca Zorach, Nicolas Lampert, sprawl, Daniel Tucker, Tamms, Carol Ng-He, STAND, Wade Tillett, Nicole Marroquin, CTA, anarchists in the suburbs, Sam Barnett, Chase Bracamontes, Sergei Chrucky, Generations for Peace, Matthias Regan, Just Farming Small Farmers Confederation, parking meter protests, radical memory.

RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=150798202534&ref=ts 

For more info, email areachicagointern@gmail.com

 

Upcoming events for AREA #9 Peripheral Vision includes the Heartland South Study Day on Oct 17. Our release party will be held Nov 1 at the South Side Community Art Center (details to come).

Heartland South Study Day

Saturday, October 17, 12-6pm
Co-organized with the Smart Museum of Art’s Heartland exhibition, a co-sponsor of AREA #9. Visit far South Side neighborhoods and learn about local history, culture, and politics with artists, activists and researchers. Events include tours, informal presentation and discussion, and a meal. A bus leaves from in front of the Smart Museum on Greenwood at 12pm sharp. Space is limited; reserve your spot by emailing areaeditors@gmail.com. Please use the subject line “Heartland South Study Day.”

Tour Schedule:

12pm Bus leaves from the Smart Museum, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave.

12:30-2 “Southworks Slag and Lakeside Commons: A Look at US Steel’s 600-acre Development.” Tour with Charles Vinz. Begins Rainbow Beach, E. 79th and the lake, at 12:30.

2-3 Tour of exhibition “The Great Migration and What They Brought With Them,” Bronzeville/Black Chicagoan Historical Society, Hotel Florence, Pullman State Historic Site with Sherry Williams, curator

3-4 Presentation: “A Political Map for Michael Jackson,” by Samuel Á Love

4:15 Arrive Jeffrey Manor for nourishment and conversation at the home/studio/garden of travis

Samuel Á. Love is a Chicago/Calumet Region-based educator, photographer, and writer currently serving on the advisory board of AREA Chicago and as a keyholder with Mess Hall. Judge Gary, his ongoing exploration of the city of Gary, began in 2002.

travis is a 63-year-old Mississippi Chickasaw/Black painter, gardener, Vice-President/Treasurer of American Veterans for Equal Rights, and performance artist providing Guitar/Words/Voice/Noise for the experimental noise ensemble ONO since 1980

Charles Vinz is a practicing architect and educator. He works for Tom Brock Architect and runs an After School Matters Architecture & Design program in Logan Square. He also writes for Proximity, volunteers for Chicago Architecture Foundation CPS curriculum planning, and serves on the advisory board of the Rebuilding Exchange.

Sherry Williams is the founder and Executive Director of the Bronzeville/Black Chicagoan Historical Society, located at the Pullman State Historic Site. Among other goals, its mission is to preserve, protect, collect, and perpetuate the record of African Americans who live or lived in Chicago.

EVERYBODY'S GOT (MORE) MONEY ISSUES

A local exhibition and event series continuing the conversations from a local reader about money and its relationship to our work and lives.

During the months of August and September, AREA Chicago and Mess Hall are organizing an exhibition and event series to expand the content of AREA#8 and continue the conversations about money and its relationship to our work and lives. As the recession deepens, we are continuing the discussions started by the contributors in Issue #8 and offering new points of entry in the topics covered. In addition, this marks the launch of a year of programming at Mess Hall on the crisis of capitalism and the building of a neighborhood solidarity network in Rogers Park. Everybody's got (more) money issues will culminate at the end of September with a city-wide event titled "Who is going to save us? We are." For more information contact Jerome Grand grandj@gmail.com or see areachicago.org

EXHIBITION – August 9-30, 2009
Exhibition with contributions by/about: Humanizing a timeline of the financial crisis, Bert Stabler, Isolationism, Larry Shure, Rogers Park Money, Chicago Political Workshop, Reading Table, Cindy Waldeck, Anti-Redlining, Journal of Ordinary Thought, Exploring Chicago’s Economies, Ashley Weger, Neil Brideau, Neily Jennings, InCUBATE, The Artist Run Credit League, Samuel Barnett, Food Not Bombs, and more.

EVENT SERIES [Events are held at Mess Hall (6932 N Glenwood) except where otherwise noted.]

Sunday, August 9 3-6pm
Opening of Exhibition with readings and discussion. Join contributors of AREA#8: Daniel Tucker, Chicago Political Workshop, Ashley Weger, Bert Stabler, and others.

August 10-13, 4-7pm
Open/Reading Hours. Mess Hall will be open for people to stop by and spend time reading and viewing the exhibition. Check the Mess Hall Calendar for additional Open/Reading hours.

Saturday, August 15, 12-4pm
Open gathering to envision a year of programming at Mess Hall around the crisis of capitalism. Join Mess Hall keyholders to think and discuss ideas for teach-ins, lectures, workshops, reading groups, film screenings, exhibitions, and more.

Sunday, August 16, 1-5pm
Finding the surplus, turning the surplus into resource, and using the resource.
With readings, discussions and food with contributors Raechel Tiffe, Food Not Bombs, Temporary Services, Rebuilding Exchange, InCUBATE, Wade Tillett, Neighborhood Writing Alliance and more.

Saturday and Sunday, August 22-23, 12-6pm
In conjunction with the Glenwood Ave Arts Fest in Rogers Park: Experiments in barter and exchange & Humanizing a timeline of the financial crisis.

Tuesday, August 25, 6-8pm
at the Hideout, 1354 W Wabansia
Bars, (da) Business & Benefits: A Conversation about Social Consciousness, Community, and Giving Back
In conversation with leaders from Mucca Pazza, The Hideout, Backstory Cafe, Epiphany Church, Kuma's Corner, Quennect 4, and Danny's Tavern, among others.

Here in Chicago, these small business owners have integrated fundraising for local social justice organizations into their business practices. Join a group of committed entrepreneurs, promoters, cultural workers and musicians for a conversation about the important role that independent business can play in raising consistent resources for activist and non-profit communities. Conversation organized and facilitated by Kristen Cox, guest advisor for Issue #8, in collaboration with The Public Square. Snacks will be provided.

Thursday, August 27, 7-10pm
at Insight Arts, 1545 W Morse
Community Forum: Solidarity Economies (or means & methods of getting together in the face of the current economic collapse). With Insight Arts, Rachel Wallis, Kristen Cox, Luis Tubens & Ed Onaci, COCAL (Chicago Coalition of Contingent Academic Labor), and Open Discussion.

Sunday, August 30, 6-9pm
Visualizing a Vision: Exhibition closing and collective critique.
How do our representations of capitalism help us understand where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to be? How do we visually represent the dynamics of capitalism and imagine a future beyond it? With presentations by Rozalinda Borcila and Eric Triantafillou on the relationship between visual language and political imagination, followed by a collective critique of the exhibition and its visual work.

September Memorial for Franklin Rosemont.
Mess Hall will hold a memorial to commemorate the work and life of Franklin Rosemont.

Tuesday, October 27, 630pm,
Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Cultural Center  
Revolt on Goose Island: The Chicago Factory Takeover—And What is Says About the Economic Crisis. Washington Post reporter Kari Lydersen and lawyer, author, and former Democratic congressional candidate Tom Geoghegan will discuss the historic takeover of Chicago’s Republic Windows & Doors factory—and its implications for the future of organized labor. Event organized by Melville House Publishing.

October, Location and time TBD
Who is going to save us? We are.
A culmination of conversations and inquiries on the future of structuring our work and lives.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The exhibition and event series is organized by AREA Chicago and Mess Hall, in conjunction with Insight Arts, Public Square, Melville House Publishing, The Hideout, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, and more.

 

 

From 2005-2009 We've released 8 publications, hosted nearly a hundred events, and promoted hundreds of events through our monthly newsletter...Come celebrate!

Peace Party: AREA Chicago's 4th Birthday Party
DJs: Naomi Walker, Jeff Parker, Jocelyn Brown, and Josh Abrams.
Monday July 13th
9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Danny’s Tavern 1951 W. Dickens
Free Admission

Thanks to Joe Proulx for hosting this and so many other Peace Parties over the years

Call For Proposals
AREA Chicago #9: Peripheral Vision
 
People think of Chicago as the center of a vast suburban galaxy (sometimes called Chicagoland or even “the Chicagoland area”) and beyond that, the greater Midwest. 

Chicago is a population center, a transportation hub, a capital of commerce and research, a magnet for culture workers and immigrants. But whenever we say that Chicago is a center, we are saying that other places are not: that they are instead “peripheral.” Thinking of the city as center privileges those activities and phenomena that can be gathered in urban density:  the built environment, industries of finance and capital, bureaucracies, cultural institutions, wealth and poverty.  There is no center to deer hunting. Is there one for immigration, or postindustrial blight, or solar energy?

Social scientists often speak of “core” and “periphery”; together, as a “core-periphery model,” these terms have been used to describe and project development at the global scale. As a single explanation for global patterns of development, they have also been critically interrogated and contested by advocates of other models. There are other ways of thinking the periphery: for ecologists, the “edge” presents a specific type of habitat. Within cultural politics, being on the “margins” has risks, even as it sometimes appears fashionable. But do the margins lose their identity if assimilated into the center? Peripheral vision may actually reveal what’s taken for granted, yet crucial.  AREA #9 will explore this mental map in its common application to Chicago and its surroundings.  

In order to do this, we invite writers, teachers, activists, and artists to take a point of view outside the center. This might be a view from the fraying edges of the metropolis, from marginal communities within the city, from the non-human world, from the suburbs or the hinterlands, from a conceptual position outside the mainstream—and to show us Chicago from ”out there.“ Contributions should have some relationship to Chicago and should focus on specific practices (policies, projects, action, art, travel, resistance). They might address environment, housing, history, immigration, labor, or other issues. By virtue of origins and continued economic connections, places like Mississippi or Michoacán might also be considered peripheries of Chicago—or is Chicago their periphery? Where once there was periphery, there will someday be a place on the edge, with all the disruptive and rich potential of an edge habitat. Now is a good time to ask, “What do you see in your peripheral vision?”

Text/Project Ideas for AREA#9: Histories of movements that have linked Chicago to other places; maps of flows in and out of Chicago; visionary plans for different edge zones near the city limits of Chicago; interviews with suburban activists; stories of Chicagoans and downstate prisons; studies of wildlife in the city and suburbs; maps of the decentralization of homelessness and public housing; views of Chicago from far-flung activist and artist correspondents; visits of CPS students to suburban public schools; walking tours of neighborhoods at the city limits; ethnographies of public transit in the suburbs; reports from diasporas in Chicago, and the Chicago diaspora; drawings of what you see out of the corner of your eye.

Timeline:

June 14. Those interested in contributing to the issue are urged to attend an introductory brainstorming session at the Orientation Center, 2129 N. Rockwell, Sunday, June 14 at 4pm. It’s an opportunity to think through ideas, generate new ones, make suggestions, seek collaborators.

July 1. Proposals (no more than 250 words) due. We recommend being in touch sooner with initial ideas.

August 10. First draft for accepted proposals.

September 10. Final draft due September 10.

(Deadlines will be strict, and all pieces will go through an editorial process involving at least two readers.)


Email proposals to Dan S. Wang and Rebecca Zorach at areaeditors@gmail.com

25 pieces of original art and photography, inspired by the city of Chicago, will be sold for $25 each, with proceeds to benefit making AREA Chicago #9 (www.areachicago.org).

This one day exhibit runs from from noon until midnight on June 20th, with DJ Charlie Vinz and a photo booth by Justin Goh from 7pm on.

The Orientation Center 2129 N. Rockwell Ave.

For more info contact Rachel.a.wallis@gmail.com

Featuring Works by:
Rachel Wallis, Anthony Elms, Rebecca Zorach, Emily Piper Forman, Jayne Hileman, Mary Sea, Jerome Grand, Frank Edwards, Jason Reblando, Justin Goh, Samuel Love, Borys Niewiadomski, Seth Kammueller, Dave Pabellon, Paul Sargent,  Laurie Palmer, Mike Bancroft, Naomi Leibowitz, CAFF Collective, Daniel Tucker, Michael Coolidge, Allison Havens, Earl Secrest, Dave Marques, Sam Sieger

This is a video made by Laura Klein at AREA's release party at Jane addams Hull House Museum in December 2008 for the 7th issue of our publication: "68/08: The Inheritance of Politics and the Politics of Inheritance" (click here to view in google browser at larger size)

 

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AREA Chicago #8 "Everybody's Got Money Issues"

A local reader about money and its relationship to our work and lives

Release Party on Friday May 1st, 2009

7:30pm-11:30pm

@ St Paul¹s Cultural Center*

2215 W North Avenue, Chicago, IL 60647 (773.278.7677)

Hosted by NNWAC

*This space is not wheelchair accessible

$5 Donation requested at the door

7:30-9:30pm - DJs Dan & Jay, Readings from Neighborhood Writing Alliance's contributions to AREA #8 and a temporary bazaar of low-cost, fair-trade and fun-filled items (featuring Resistance Coffee, Maya Essence, Mark Shipley, AREA Chicago, JustSeeds, TWINE NFP, and more)

9:30-11:30pm DJs Dan & Jay + Special May Day Premier of the new Reading band (http://readingband.wordpress.com)

Refreshments Available/BYOB Not allowed

In this issue of AREA contributions by/about:

Mark Messing,  Elanor Laskiw, Meghan Strell, Mucca Pazza, Neighborhood Writing Alliance authors, Bert Stabler, Timothy Sarrantonio, B. Loewe, Latino Union, Kari Lydersen, the occupation of Republic Windows, UE, Rachel Wallis, Congress Hotel Strike, Unite HERE, Lauren Cumbia, Labor History, Chicago Political Workshop, Mark Shipley, Erotic Massage, 183 definitions of capitalism, Rodrigo Paredes,Temporary Services, Bail-out Protests, CORE, Dave Marques, Half Letter Press, InCUBATE, Megan Wells, Kammy Lee, Douglas Ward, Kristen Cox, Amber Ginsburg and Lia Rousset, Daniel Tucker, NFP vs For Profit, Florence Johnson ,Sara Black, Robin Hewlett, Backstory Cafe, Elise Zelechowski, Pilsen Alliance, Rebuilding Exchange, Delta Institute, David Wolf, the punk scene and the financial crisis, Lee Ann Norman, Insite Arts, Alice Kim, Erica Meiners, Ajitha Reddy, Activist Nuns, Raechel Tiffe, Food Not Bombs, Sergio Zetina, Mark Saulys, Tamara Smith, Dale Asis, Rebecca Zorach, Southwest Youth Collaborative , San Lucas Workers Center, ARISE Chicago, in memory of Franklin Rosemont, protesting the Milton Friedman Institute, ourmfi.org, Crossroads Fund,  Harishi Patel, Jill Doub, the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Patrick Dunn, Free Street Theater, Subprime Mortages, Damon Rich, history of red-lining in Chicago, NTIC, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Neily Jennings, Solidarity Economies, Ashley Weger, Wade Tillett, Neil Brideau, Larry Shure, Marisa Holmes, Town Hall Talks, Creative Time, Nato Thompson, Ed and Rachael Marszewski, Amanda Guiterrez, Mike Bancroft, Nance Klehm, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Coya Paz, Shannon Stratton, Edra Soto, Deborah Stratman, Dan Peterman, Marianne Fairbanks, Nicole Garneau, Amy Partridge, Sara Black, Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa, Salome Chasnoff, Amanda Du, Boone Public School Funding, Sheila O'Donnell, Jeanne Kracher, Marshall Sahlins, Toussaint Losier, Bruce Lincoln, Kara Elliott-Ortega, Lauren Berlant , Yali Amit and more.

areachicago@gmail.com | http://areachicago.org

Report Back from the Solidarity Economy Conference
Thurs. April 2nd 7pm
@ The Orientation Center 2129 N. Rockwell (behind the Congress Theater)

AREA Chicago invites you to join Kristen Cox (Fire This Time Fund and the Working Group on Extreme Inequality), Neily Jennings (North American Students of Cooperation), and Rachel Wallis (Other Worlds) as they report back from a recent gathering of hundreds of individuals from around the world who are engaged in envisioning new, more just ways of constructing our economy. Learn more about just what the "Solidarity Economy" is, hear about concrete Solidarity Economy projects that are flourishing in thousands of communities, and discover why Chicago should be excited about these new economic initiatives.

This event is party of AREA's irregular Infrastructure lecture series and coincides with the preparation for the next issue of our publication: AREA #8 Everybody's Got Money Issues to be released on May 1st.

For more information contact Rachel.a.wallis@gmail.com

Follow this link to place a classified ad in AREA Chicago #8 - to be released May 1st. The deadline for text ad submissions is April 1st, 2009.

This is an anonymous survey about your work, life, money, resource sharing, class background, and thoughts on capitalism. With this issue, we thought it would be interesting to understand the unique perspectives and backgrounds of the AREA Chicago community - you, our contributors and readership. The results will be printed through profile portraits, graphs and interesting correlations that depict who we are in the "Everybody's Got Money Issues" issue, to be released to the public on May 1st, 2009. In addition, a handful of composite profiles will be published (don't worry. remember, this is anonymous) alongside a featured spotlight on the most common profile among everyone's survey results. This is your chance to speak your mind and find out if others feel the same way, too. Please answer all questions and plan to complete the survey by March 15, 2009. It should only take about fifteen minutes. Thanks for taking the time and helping AREA conduct a little evaluation experiment.

Cordially, Kristen Cox and Daniel Tucker

Fill out the survey here  

AREA just won the InCUBATE Sunday Soup Grant of $150 to print postcards for the release event of our upcoming "Everybody's Got Money Issues" publication on May 1st. Thanks to everyone that voted for us to win Chicago's favorite souo-based microfunding effort.

Happy half-way through winter everybody!
We just wanted to thank everyone or coming out last week to the People's Atlas exhibition (see photos). There was also a great article on the project by Victoria Fine for the Medill News Service (check it out here).
For this announcement, we are inviting people who either missed our 68/08 programs over the fall or who have picked up the issue #7 (full contents here) and have a desire to learn more about where the issue was coming from. Please come out to one, two or three of the events listed below. Look out for our "Another Chicago" calendar of non-AREA related events for feb 09 later this week, and please dont forget to send in a proposal for our next issue by Sat (the details are here).

SUMMARY

1) Sun Feb 1 - Come talk with contributors to AREA #7 "68/08" @ 4427 North Clark Street
2) Wed Feb 4 - Check out an archive of Chicago's Rainbow Coalition and pick up AREA #7 @ 400 S Peoria
3) Mon Feb 9 - A release party for Journal of Ordinary Thought feat. AREA maps @ 6 S Hoyne

DETAILS

1)=============
Sunday, February 1, 3-5pm
Readings and Discussion of AREA #7 with Magazine Contributors
AREA #7: 1968/2008: The Inheritance of Politics and The Politics of Inheritance
http://areachicago.org/p/issues/7/ (all publication content is free online)

@ Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago 4427 North Clark Street
This event is free of charge

Readings and discussion with writers in celebration of the latest magazine release of AREA Chicago, a publication and event series dedicated to researching, supporting, and networking local social, political, and cultural movements. Featuring AREA #7 contributors: Ashley Weger, Michael Staudenmaier, Cathleen Schandelmeier, Samuel Barnett, Rebecca Zorach, Frank Edwards, Earl Silbar, and Daniel Tucker
 
Part of:
LINKS HALL PRESENTS....
When Does It or You Begin? (Memory as Innovation)
Writing, Performance, & Video Festival
Curated by Amina Cain and Jennifer Karmin,
More Info http://www.linkshall.org/09-pp-jan.shtml

2)=============
Paper Trail (an archive of Chicago's original Rainbow Coalition)
February 3 - March 7, 2009
Reception: Wednesday, February 4, 5-8pm
@ Gallery 400/UIC  - 400 S Peoria

Paper Trail is an exhibition of historical and contemporary ephemeral material originally produced by disparate communities using remarkably similar forms of rhetoric and graphic styles to visually articulate their collective revolutionary agendas and concerns.

The historical material was created, produced, and distributed in the late 1960s by Chicago's original Rainbow Coalition-an alliance between The Black Panther Party, the Young Lords Organization, Young Patriots, and Rising Up Angry. This material is presented "in conversation" with what can be considered its contemporary counterpart­-visual reproductions of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, language of the newly formed Rainbow Coalition Council of Elders, and publications from other contemporary initiatives in Chicago and beyond that re-engage with the principal of grassroots political organizing and cross-cultural solidarity. The movements share a common idea that despite our dire collective circumstance a spirit of hope and optimism results and acts as a unifying, mobilizing force.

This exhibition is organized by curators Nancy Zastudil and Julia Hamilton, with the support and participation of Kathleen Cleaver, Michael James, Bill Jennings, Cha Cha Jimenez, Jaqueline Lazu, and countless others.

Copies of AREA #7 will be available at the gallery.

More info is here


3)=============
Monday, February 9
Release Reading for the Journal of Ordinary Thought/Neighborhood Writing Alliance
Mabel Manning Branch Library (6 S Hoyne), 5:30-7pm
Come hear Chicago adults read stories they wrote about their own lives and neighborhoods. Plus: snacks and a free copy of the Journal of Ordinary Thought, featuring maps from a AREA Chicago's notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago.
Questions? Contact Mairead at mcase@jot.org.

Today we launch "5 Questions About Socially Engaged Art In Chicago"
online at http://5questions.areachicago.org/

Featuring Interviews with:

Mike Bancroft (Co-op Image), Wafaa Bilal, Sara Black (Material Exchange), Brett Bloom (Temporary Services), Aquil Charlton (Crib Collective), Salome Chasnoff (Beyondmedia), Marianne Fairbanks (Mess Hall), Edra Soto Fernandez, Nicole Garneau, Theaster Gates, Amanda Gutierrez, Craig Harshaw (Insight Arts), David Isaacson (Theater Oobleck), Jennifer Karmin (Anti Gravity Surprise), Nance Klehm, Edmar and Rachael Marszewski (Lumpen), Mark Messing (Mucca Pazza), Anne Elizabeth Moore, Sonjanita Moore (Kuumba Lynx), Laurie Palmer, Amy Partridge (CAFF Collective), Mary Patten (Feel Tank Chicago), Coya Paz (Teatro Luna), Dan Peterman (Experimental Station), Jon Pounds (Chicago Public Art Group), Aay Preston-Myint (Chances Dances), Toufic El Rassi, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa (Polvo), Deborah Stratman, Shannon Stratton (threewalls), Brad Thompson, travis (American Veterans for Equal Rights), Dan S. Wang, Rebecca Zorach (Feel Tank Chicago), and more.

Thursday January 15th 2009 is Unofficially "Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago" day on the northwest side of Chicago.

Join AREA Chicago in Wicker Park (Chicago) this coming Thursday January 15th for two events related to our Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago project. The first is a collaboration with Around the Coyote Festival (Funded by the Wicker Park SSA #33) which involves an exhibition of all of our Peoples Atlas of Chicago maps at the Wicker Park Field House (1425 N Damen Ave, Chicago) from 5-8pm. Then head down the street from 8pm-10pm to STOP SMILING Magazine's Storefront (1371 N. Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL) where we will be celebrating the release of "Experimental Geography" a book by Melville House Publishing about mapping and art that features AREA's Peoples Atlas project. AREA's People's Atlas work is partially supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Contact areachicago@gmail.com for more information

Dear Concerned Citizen:

• "In a very short time, AREA has become a place for serious policy discussions and independent criticism of city governance, a medium through which activists and organizations from throughout Chicago learn about each other, an indispensable grassroots teaching tool, a model of advocacy journalism, and a key element in the media landscape of the Chicago art scene." - Dan S. Wang

• "AREA Chicago reports on the city's hidden histories." - Lauren Weinberg, Timeout Chicago
  

In 2008, AREA:

AREA Readers and Friends:

Thanks to everyone who came out to our AREA #7 Release Event on Saturday (the content from that issue will be online soon). Later that night we made $3,800 at the 2nd annual AREA "Wants and Needs" auction and everyone that came out for that and helped with the event deserves a thanks as well! Which leads to the call for proposals for the next issue of AREA #8, which will be partially funded by the generous support of our readers through the auction as well as individual donations (mail us a check today to PO Box 476971 Chicago IL 60647 - made payable to Experimental Station).

So most people in Chicago by this point know about the inspiring actions of Republic Window unionized workers over on Goose Island who occupied their factory which was getting shut down (http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uenews.html). And hopefully some of you caught this afternoon's rally down at Bank of America to call for a People's Bailout. Between these events and our corrupt state is has been an exciting week in Chitown. It is likely that this factory occupation and increased  worker and citizen  militancy responding to the financial crisis will only increase - so its a great time for AREA to develop a new issue about economic justice, capital and cash-money. Please consider proposing an article, interview or project to our upcoming issue. The details are below.....

"Everybody's Got Money Issues" Issue #8 of AREA Chicago (www.areachicago.org)
Submission Deadline 2/1/2009
To be released 5/1/2009
Send proposals to areachicago@gmail.com

Twenty years ago we were told that there was no other option besides capitalism, and that the socialism of the 20th century was a failure. Today we witness economic justice struggles around every corner-from labor rights organizing, to protests against unaccountable free-trade conferences, everyday price increases from entertainment ticket surcharges to groceries-the unprecedented inequality of wealth is deforming our lives and the general crisis, illustrated by the recent Wall Street bailout, is plain to see. Still, it's hard to talk about money and how it impacts our lives and work. There are struggles for fair wages and benefits at the same time as an increasing number of people are relegated to the flexible free-lance/temp/day-labor sector where nothing is consistent or reliable. Money obscures our hard work as it turns activism and culture into a struggle for grants; those with access can dedicate their energy to publicity and gaining more access while others are ground to disintegration. And what about taxes and welfare-the political mechanisms that can supposedly re-distribute wealth? Money breeds money. We want a different way of life but sometimes our alternatives seem to exist only in a mythic universe. We're constantly comparing apples and oranges: material comforts and intangible emotions, the necessities of living and our wildest dreams, abstractions like the ideas that fuel our creative, intellectual, and activist work. This confuses our sense of what matters. Just as the housing market is speculative, everyone is always looking for a better option in every aspect of life-looking for a deal, looking to buy low and sell high.

In the Money Issue of AREA, we hope to reveal examples of Chicagoans tacking the question of money, capital, and work in challenging or creative ways. Ideas for articles might include a profile of an organization tackling fair or locally-oriented economic concerns,  an interview with an immigrant from a Soviet-aligned country about the impact of the fall of the Berlin Wall on their community in Chicago, a manifesto from a cultural organization about how money affects their art, a report back from school funding protests, documentation from Chicagoan's protests in the 1930s to nationalize the banks, or a group discussion with Chicago activists about funding their work in creative ways. Please don't feel limited to these suggestions-they are purely meant to get your head spinning with ideas. Once you settle on one, email AREA with a proposal by February 1st 2009 at areachicago@gmail.com

Your proposal should be no longer than 200 words. Include ideas of "keywords" that you think might explain your work and the topics it connects to. Feel free to send links or attachments that show related work.

http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/art-design/69354/news-worthies

 AREA Chicago reports on the city’s hidden histories

By Lauren Weinberg 

Even though Chicago-based Boeing has contributed millions of dollars to the arts nationwide, local antiwar group Kick Boeing to the Curb had a sneaking feeling the manufacturer wouldn’t underwrite its performative protests. So the other artists and activists attending AREA Chicago’s 2007 How We Fund workshop helped the group find alternative grants, AREA Chicago cofounder and editor Daniel Tucker recalls, suggesting that his organization made that connection possible.

AREA, which stands for Art/Research/Education/Activism, brings Chicagoans from those four fields together by publishing a free, eponymous biannual publication and coordinating public events throughout the year. (How We Fund, for example, took place at the Hyde Park Art Center in conjunction with its exhibition “Pedagogical Factory.”) On Saturday 6, AREA Chicago releases its seventh issue, 1968/2008: The Inheritance of Politics and The Politics of Inheritance, with an afternoon of performances and readings at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. That night, it holds its second annual Wants and Needs benefit auction at 511 North Noble Street.

Tucker, a 25-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, native who moved to Chicago in 2001 to attend SAIC, started AREA Chicago in May 2005. At the time, he had already organized several networking events for local art and activist organizations including the Austin-based Stockyard Institute, which carries out art-related outreach projects in underserved Chicago communities. When Stockyard Institute founder Jim Duignan asked Tucker if he would like to continue his networking efforts through a publication, AREA Chicago was born; the Stockyard Institute published the first three of its six issues.

Tucker says he and the advisory group he assembled to plan AREA Chicago “didn’t conceive of it as a Time Out or Chicago Reader.” With a print circulation of only 5,000, the publication targets Chicagoans working in the arts, at nonprofits or in schools rather than a general audience. Volunteers distribute new issues to about 20 venues throughout the city that Tucker characterizes as informal “community centers,” including Quimby’s, the Heartland Café and the Southwest Youth Collaborative.

Each issue tackles a different theme; the fourth issue, for example, reported on criminal and community justice. Instead of just focusing on policymakers reforming the prison system, Tucker explains, writers also sought out the philanthropists funding community-justice initiatives, conceptual artists who work with prisoners, documentary filmmakers and “high-school teachers creating what are called ‘restorative justice peace circles’ to keep kids from getting violent…. Instead of producing theories, we look at what people in Chicago are actually doing.” The all-volunteer writing staff has included numerous members of the Chicago art world, such as Temporary Services’ Salem Collo-Julin; Green Lantern founder Caroline Picard; SAIC professor Claire Pentecost; and Rebecca Zorach, a University of Chicago art historian.

Issue No. 7, which Zorach guest edited with Chicago writer and audio producer Aaron Sarver, investigates the history of 1968 “that hasn’t been written” rather than “well-documented” events like the DNC protests, Tucker says. Several pieces examine the long-neglected role of artists in Chicago’s various 1968 protests, chronicling the Black Arts Movement and the Chicago Artists Boycott. The issue also explores “intergenerational dynamics in politics and culture in Chicago,” Tucker says, “specifically between people from that period—baby boomers—and younger people today.” He cites the transcript of a dialogue AREA Chicago coordinated in October between Bob Crawford, who photographed the Black Arts Movement’s work in the 1960s, and his daughter Margo Crawford, a historian of that movement, as a feature that reflects both those themes.

At 68 pages, Issue No. 7 is about twice its predecessors’ size. The page count isn’t the only sign of growth: AREA Chicago just completed a residency at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, and after functioning without an office for years, in March it moved into a Logan Square storefront. This week, it launches Five Questions About Art in Chicago, an online series of interviews with 40 local artists, and in January it will bring its popular People’s Atlas project to Around the Coyote. These initiatives advance what Tucker considers to be AREA’s ultimate goal: to be “a documentary about the city and about the people who care about the city—but also want to change it for the better.”

For more information and to read AREA Chicago, visit areachicago.org.

 

Issue #7 Release Reception and Program & the 2nd Annual Wants and Needs Auction to Benefit AREA

1. AREA Chicago #7 Magazine Release Event: The Inheritance of Politics and The Politics of Inheritance
December 6th, 2008 1-4pm
at Jane Addams Hull House Museum, 800 S. Halsted Chicago IL

1pm-2pm Public release of new issue of AREA on the theme of the legacy of 1968 in Chicago,

2pm-4pm Performances, Films and Speaking by:
Nicole Garneau's Uprising performance; Lucky Pierre performing songs for 1968/2008; James Tracy discusses researching the working class Left in Chicago; clips from Bernadine Mellis' "Struggle Baby" in-progress film on children of the New Left, and more

With contributions by and about:
The Chicago Seed, Steve Macek, Alyssa Vincent, Bernie Faber, Abe Peck, Chicago Journalism Review, Cosmic Frog, Free Schools, Blackstone Rangers, Julie Glasier, Rising Up Angry, Euan Hague, Chicago Surrealist Group, Joey Pizzolato, The Woodlawn Organization, Carrie Breitbach, Kartemquin Films, Darcy Lydum, Chicago Area Draft Resisters, SDS, A.L. Gray, Amy Martin, Negro Digest/Black World, Chris Brancaccio, Harper Court, Andrea Baer, Conservative Vice Lords, Chicago Artist Boycott, Maggie Taft, JOIN Community Union, Lauren Cumbia, James Tracy, Amy Sonnie, Africobra, Black Arts Movement, Edna Togba, UIC SDS, Earl Silbar, Sylvia Fischer, Charles Nissim-Sabat, Marilyn Nissim-Sabat, Nelson Peery, Hymie Rochman, Penelope & Franklin Rosemont, Dr. Quentin Young, Aaron Sarver, Rainbow Coalition, Mike James, PLP, April 68 Oral History Project, Sam Barnett, Barbara Jones-Hogu, Monica Barra, Rebecca Zorach, White Privilege Concept, Mike Staudenmeir, Daniel Tucker, Non Profit Industrial Complex, Eric Tang, Eve Ewing, 68 in 08 Elections, Jerome Grand, Rick Perlstein, Daley, BLW, Vietnam, Iraq, Lucky Pierre, Ben Shepard, BLW, Re-enact 68, Bert Stabler, AJ Kane, Mark Tribe, Winter Soldier, Paige Sarlin, Laura Gluckman, Nicole Garneau, Young Lords, Frank Edwards, Sam Greenlee, Judy Hoffman, Tracye Matthews, Kevin Gosztola, Old Left, Eric Triantafillou, Generation X, Dan S. Wang, Theaster Gates, Bob and Margo Crawford, Lincoln Park, Pete Zelchenko, Mark Shipley, Michael Thompson, Cathleen Schandelmeier, Louise Lincoln, Lumpen, and more.

This event is the culmination of a six month long "Project in Residence" at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum organized by AREA Chicago.

Map out directions here.

And then when you are done, please join us two miles away at our auction benefit party......

2. Second Annual "Wants and Needs" Auction to Benefit AREA
December 6th, 2008 7-11pm
at CAMPO - 511 N Noble (In a carriage house just behind the Italian restaurant on the NE corner of Grand and Noble). See below for directions.

Come Party and Support AREA Chicago.
Help us move towards financial sustainability with grassroots fundraising!
At 930pm there will be an emcee for a  Live "Wants-and-Needs" Auction of Skill and Resource Sharing donated by AREA friends, contributors and advisers. Bids for the Service and Skill Sharing Auction will start as low as $5. We can accept cash, check or credit card on site at the party.

Proceeds from AREA's WANTS and NEEDS Party will benefit the spring 2009 issue of AREA, the "Everybody's Got Money Issues" Issue #8.

Details
$10 Donation at the Door, $20 Donation for admission and a t-shirt.
To RSVP or prepay for admission, email areachicago@gmail.com
Cost of admission gets you one complimentary drink. All drinks after are for cheap donation prices.
Auction items range in cost from $5 to $100.

To see photos from last year's auction and party click here
To see a listing of last year's auction items click here
If you know you cannot make it and would still like to donate, visit http://areachicago.org/donate/

Directions
The party is at 511 N Noble (In a carriage house just behind the Italian restaurant on the NE corner of Grand and Noble). For a map click here .

• From the Jane Addams Hull House Museum, simply hop on the Halsted #8 Bus going North, then get off at Grand and either walk west to Noble or take the #65 bus going west. You will have enough time between the events to grab some italian food in the Grand/Noble area.
• From north or south, this location is extremely accessibly from the #9 Ashland Bus. Simply get off at Ashland and Grand and walk east on Grand 3 blocks to Noble.
• If you are coming from the Blue Line, simply walk 9 blocks west of the Grand stop on the blue line, or take a #65 westbound bus.
• From the Kennedy Expressway, simply exit at Ogden/Exit 50A, merge onto N Racine, turn right on W Erie, and turn left and N Noble.

==
areachicago@gmail.com
areachicago.org

In Memorium For Ben Schaafsma, Our Friend and a Contributor and Office-Mate to AREA Chicago

Ben Schaafsma, 26, was an ambitious and admirable man. A man with a plan! He worked hard to build community and to understand the history of like-minded people who came before him. Growing up in Grand Rapids (Michigan), Ben got his start at organizing culture and community through booking concerts, often at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art. While studying urban planning and art history at Calvin College, he became involved with the Civic Studio program which introduced him to a tradition of the visual arts engaging in community building that resonated with the work he had already begun. Ben was a key figure in initiating a number of projects such as the Division Avenue Arts Cooperative and http://g-rad.org which helped to make the nascent cultural practices occurring in Grand Rapids more visible to one another as well as to outsiders.

Ben understood through lived experiences that people needed spaces and occasions to come together to learn, meet and grow - and the more interesting the context of those encounters then the more likely they would be changed and affected as people. On a message board someone recently said "Ben was constantly preoccupied by the usefulness of art in our lives."

Following years of this committed work in Michigan, Ben did what many young and ambitious people do these days - he went to graduate school. This transition took him to study Arts Administration at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Ben did his research and knew what he was looking for and how to make the most of that time in school - he was highly motivated. As his turf shifted his desires and goals were re-articulated in his new home - he started new endeavors and relationships building on his own history.

Within six months of moving Ben had pushed out of his school environs and staked a claim in community building and cultural experimentation in Chicago. Along with his fellow Arts Admin graduate students Roman Petruniak and Abby Satinsky (and later Bryce Dwyer), he co-founded InCUBATE (http://www.incubate-chicago.org). In just two years they have established an artist residency program bringing international artists to Chicago every month. They have established their own granting program, hosted numerous lectures and workshops and created a touring exhibition which has traveled to five cities throughout the country.

In the last year Ben had begun to publish extensively, writing on the history of artist-initiated programs to self fund culture and to create their own economic and organizational sustainability outside of traditional means. His writing on this work and the work of Incubate have appeared in Phonebook, AREA Chicago, Proximity Magazine and the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest.

Just months before his passing, Ben took a job with the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City, where he was brought on to overhaul and expand their studio program.

He will be greatly missed.

(Daniel Tucker 10-26-08)

10.23 Thu - Intergenerational Dialog on Black Arts Movement with Bob and Margo Crawford (AREA Event)
Thursday, October 23, 7:00pm
at the South Side Community Art Center
3831 S. Michigan Ave.

The Black Arts Movement of the late 1960s: An Intergenerational Interview
with
Bob Crawford, photographer
and
Margo Crawford, Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts

An intergenerational dialogue between Bob Crawford, a photojournalist who documented many scenes of the Black Arts Movement in Chicago (including the Wall of Respect), and his daughter Margo Crawford, a professor of African-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts and co-editor of New Thoughts on the Black Arts Movement (2006). The discussion will address Black Arts photography, the significance of the Wall of Respect, and current Black Arts scholarship.

Co-sponsored by AREA Chicago and the "Looks Like Freedom" exhibition, DOVA Temporary Gallery (www.looks-like-freedom.com)

10.24 Fri - AREA/Chicago Underground Library Welcome Reception for APC magazine archive
Friday, October 24th 2008 7-9pm
AREA and the Chicago Underground Library Welcome.....
The Alternative Press Center to Chicago!

It is a rare occasion in which two young organizations get to throw a coming out party for a 40 year old organization. But this coming October 24th, that occasion will arrive on the northwest side of Chicago. AREA and CUL are pleased to invite you to a welcome party for the Alternative Press Center, who recently relocated their impressive archive of independent media to Chicago after several decades in Baltimore. We hope that the progressive and radical librarians, academics, students, researchers, and concerned citizens of Chicago will come out for a night of complimentary drinks and snacks to say hello and welcome to APC staff and check out this new amazing local resource.

About APC
The Alternative Press Center (APC) is a non-profit collective dedicated to providing access to and increasing public awareness of the alternative press. Founded in 1969, it remains one of the oldest self-sustaining alternative media institutions in the United States. For more than a quarter of a century, the Alternative Press Index has been recognized as a leading guide to the alternative press in the United States and around the world. http://www.altpress.org/

Event Details
Friday, October 24th 2008 7-9pm
2040 N. Milwaukee Ave. on the 2nd floor (Location is not handicap accessible)

Come and drink from 7-8pm and stay for a short talk on the history of the APC and contribute ideas for the new era of their organization after relocating to Chicago.

Further Info:
This event is part of AREA's Infrastructure series about cultural and political resources, networks and institutions. It also coincides with AREA's upcoming issue on the legacy of 1968 due out Dec 6th at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum. areachicago.org

The Chicago Underground Library is at underground-library.org

Please give a tax-deductible donation to AREA today!

Checks can be made to our fiscal sponsor "Experimental Station" and mailed to AREA Chicago at PO Box 476971 Chicago IL 60647. To donate online visit http://www.areachicago.org/donate/

You will be credited in future publications as a supporter of AREA Chicago.

What AREA Is or Has Been Up To: 

• We have moved into a new office at the historic Congress Theater building in the Logan Square neighborhood. We hope to use this space for small networking dinners to bring together progressive organizers from throughout the city to meet face to face.
• AREA #6 - a Local Reader about education, housing and labor policy in Chicago was released on June 7, 2008. Check out photos.
• areachicago.org is getting a face-lift and it will be easier than ever to freely access the archives from our past magazines dealing with themes such as privatization, the local food system, solidarity, prisons, education, public policy and the legacy of the '60s.

• areachicago.org has a new blog: "ReportBack" where Chicagoans are encouraged to write reflections of events and actions they have attended.
• We are developing curriculum out of the articles from past issues of our Local Reader series. With hundreds of articles and interviews about Chicago and the people who live here, we are confident it can be a resource for classrooms and informal education environments. Look for a sample of the new curriculum at this year's Teachers for Social Justice Curriculum Fair.
• A group in NYC has been inspired to start their own AREA NYC and we are assisting them in getting off the ground
• We have been granted the status of "project in residence" this fall at the Jane Addams Hull House Museum where we will develop an event series and AREA # 7.- dealing with the legacy of 1968 and intergenerational dynamics in social movements. The research process has already begun here http://1968.areachicago.org.
• The "Notes for a People's Atlas" mapping project that we sponsor has been expanded to other cities and will be touring throughout the country for the next two years in an exhibition entitled "Experimental Geography". Also see this week's Timeout Chicago for an article about the project.
• AREA has contributed to numerous local and national events such as the Social Justice Curriculum Fair, Version Fest, Printers Ball, Public Square's Café Society, Creative Time (NYC)'s Democracy Project - just to name a few of the diverse exhibitions and events we contribute to.
• Over 1000 Chicagoans have subscribed to our monthly newsletter "Another Chicago" which  has been promoting 20-30 Activist/Art Events every month for nearly 2 years.
  
• Our annual "Wants and Needs" auction will be held again this year on Dec 5th, please save the date. Location is still being determined. Check out a photo from last year.

 

This week's Timeout Chicago features AREA's Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago project. Thanks to Jake Malooley for approaching us about the article. AREA was also recently awarded a $5k grant from the Graham Foundation for the Notes project and a book featuring some of the maps is forthcoming in Jan 09 by Melville House Books (Experimental Geography, edited by Nato Thompson).

This week "Cafe Society" sponsored by the Public Square at the Illinois Humanities Council will be reading texts from AREA Chicago #6 by Eric Triantafillou and Therese Quinn. Please check out their event description here

and check out the discussion groups at one of these locations:

Café Society meets at:

Monday 8-25

* 7:30-8:30 p.m., Intelligentsia Coffee, 3123 N Broadway St

Wednesday 8-27

* 12:30-1:30 p.m., Chicago Cultural Center's Randolph Street Café, 77 E Randolph St
* 7-8 p.m., Pause, 1107 W Berwyn Ave (Berwyn and Broadway)

Thursday 8-28

* 7-8 p.m., Caffe De Luca, 1721 N Damen Ave
* 7-8 p.m., Valois, 1518 E 53rd St

Friday 8-29

* 5-6 p.m., Ron's Barber Shop, 6041 W North Ave, Oak Park

Sunday August 10th - 12pm-4pm

BBQ @ 2129 N Rockwell (near corner of Rockwell/Milwaukee at the Congress Theater, in the Logan Square area).

Come share a BBQ and Drink with AREA, See the latest additions to the "Notes for a People's Atlas" (http://chicagoatlas.areaprojects.com/) and learn about upcoming events related to our 68/08 issue (http://1968.areachicago.org/)

http://areachicago.org

AREA has officially kicked off planning for our 68/08 Issue (see full project description here). We are excited to be working with the Jane Addams Hull House Museum on this issue and event series. If you want to know more or get involved:

• You can check out our research blog here
• Submit a proposal by August 1st (Drafts are due Sept 1st and Final content is due Oct 1st) to areachicago@gmail.com
• Check out one of our upcoming events. The best way to keep up with the events is to join our email announcement list here.

Of other interest, please check out the new website dedicated to our Notes for a People's Atlas project. We have a general People's Atlas site that will serve to document the overall project and some of the other cities that are developing People's Atlas projects and then we have one dedicated to the Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago project as well. Get in touch with areachicagointern@gmail.com if you are interested in contributing to this effort.

[[[[[[[Release Party for AREA Chicago #6: City As Lab]]]]]]]

Saturday June 7th, 2008 2pm-4pm @ Paseo Prairie Garden directly adjacent to the south exit of the Logan Square 'el' exit at the intersection of Kedzie/Milwaukee at the West End of Logan Blvd.

(view map here http://xrl.us/PaseoGarden)

Monday, May 12th 2008 9pm-2am Danny's Tavern 1951 W Dickens Ave (Cross Street: Damen Avenue) View Map (http://tinyurl.com/yz8st4 ) Directions: Bus: 50 to Dickens Ave; 73 to Damen Ave Peace Party is a monthly program organized by danny's tavern to fund small operation non-profits in the Chicago area. This month the money gets split between AREA Chicago and Arts for Life. DJs: Naomi Walker, Jeff Parker, Jocelyn Brown, and Josh Abrams.

!!!EVENT DATE CHANGED!!! Please attend this event, rescheduled to Feb 26th, and note that AREA Chicago no-longer co-sponsors this event. The event next monday (2-18) is canceled, we appologize for the short notice. Vanity Fair, Participant Media, River Road Entertainment, and Roadside Attractions Invite you to a Screening/conversation: 1968-2008 Stories of Activism and Creating Movements Celebrating Brett Morgen's Chicago 10 Moderated by Scott Simon of NPR Feb 26th 2008 Screening at 7pm Conversation at 830pm Columbia College Film Row Cinema 1104 S. Wabash 8th Floor Chicago IL 60605 rsvpchicago@participantmedia.com Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9uJL7lWdFg&feature=related Distributed by Roadside Attractions, opens in theaters in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston, DC and San Francisco on February 29, 2008

Join AREA Chicago and Participant Productions for a special advanced screening of Chicago-10........ Monday February 18th 7:30 pm; FREE @ Columbia College Film Row Cinema (1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor)....... Written and directed by Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture), Chicago 10 presents contemporary history with a forced perspective, mixing bold and original animation with extraordinary archival footage that explores the build-up to and unraveling of the Chicago Conspiracy Trial. Learn more at: http://takepart.com/chicago10....... This Event Kicks Off AREA's Year of Programs building up to our fall issue (AREA #7) on the theme "1968/2008: The Inheritance of Politics and the Politics of Inheritance" http://1968.areachicago.org/

"AREA reflects an exciting new energy that challenges who will live in the city, who will benefit from its growth and development, and who will get to participate in fundamental decisions affecting economic, cultural, and social life. AREA is a space to contest whose city Chicago will be." - Pauline Lipman, Author of "Whose City is It Anyways?"

 

Dear AREA Friend, Ally and Supporter:

For over two years AREA Chicago has been producing critical publications and events in Chicago. ] We write to tell you more about what we have been doing and to ask that you help us to continue this work on AREA by giving us a donation.

The challenge for AREA in the coming months and years will most certainly be how to create a sustainable economy. We must create meaningful and flexible roles for a wide range of contributors/collaborators, build and sustain community around the project and maintain an exciting and diverse approach to the many topics addressed in the publication and during associated events. All this will help avoid the burnout and staleness associated with so much activism and non-profit/NGO work in the US.

In its first 2 years, AREA has received financial support from the combined sources of the Stockyard Institute, Fire This Time Fund, Synapses Foundation, private donors, Peace Party, Lisa Yun Lee, and Crossroads Fund. This past weekend AREA had our first ever fundraising auction and dance party - we are happy to report that we made $4,000 from our community's support.  It takes $7,000 to put out an issue ($4,500 for Labor and $2,500 for printing). That is what your money is going to today. Thanks for your support.

If you would like to make a tax- deductible donations to AREA, make checks payable to Experimental Station and mail to AREA Chicago PO Box #476971 Chicago IL 60647 (write AREA in the memo line). To make an online donation, visit http://www.areachicago.org/donate/

We also encourage you to share other resources like free office space (we really need an office by summer time!), printing, computers, food, your skills, cars for delivering the publication, and many more things we cannot anticipate until you step up and propose them. Thanks for your generosity!

In Cahoots,

Daniel Tucker, Editor - AREA Chicago

 

 

Recap: The first 2 1/2 Years of AREA Chicago

What we've been up to?

• -Since the project started five issues have been released, including 70 contributors, 40 advisors/copyeditors/proofreaders, and 60 different projects in the city's current and recent history profiled in the pages of the magazine/website. Each of these issues has had a release event, which serve as a celebratory and networking occasion for contributors and friends of the project. Every event associated with the publication has happened in a different location (Ping Tom park in Chinatown, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Experimental Station in Woodlawn, the Jane Addams Hull House in West Loop, and Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport), reflecting the project's interest in the diverse geography of the city.

• - All five issues (#1 Privatization, #2 Local Food Systems, #3 Solidarity, #4 Prisons/Justice System and #5 Education) have been published in print with 5,000 copies per issue and online in their entirety, receiving over 1000 unique visits to the website per month.

• -Six lectures as part of the "Infrastructure Series" (at Mess Hall in Rogers Park, Polvo Arte in Pilsen, In These Times in Logan Square, ACME arts in Bucktown, the Hyde Park Art Center, and the Hull House Museum in the West Loop).

• - Editorial retreat at the Jane Adams Hull House and Young Chicago Authors with a 15 person advisory group

• - Another Chicago, the email newsletter keeping contributors updated with organizational developments of AREA, and announcing the events/activities of our local contributors has been regularly sent since September 2006 to over 800 local subscribers.

• -This summer's How We Learn event series brought together hundreds of Chicagoans to nearly 30 events about education, organization and participation. Including presentations by Andrew Gryf Paterson, Josh MacPhee, Feel Tank Chicago, Waite White, Chicagoland Bike Mechanic Orgs, Chicago Underground Library, Mess Hall, Platypus, Free Geek, Chicagoland/Calumet Underground Railroad Efforts, Bronzeville Historical Society, Chicago Women's Health Center, The Odyssey Project, Stephen Haymes, Meredith Haggerty, Lavie Raven, Dave Pabellon, Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester, Nicholas Wisniewski, Jesse Seay, Lou Mallozzi, Christina Kubisch Daniel, Kunle/Holger Lauinger, John Dewey, Charlie Vinz, Material Exchange, Nance Klehm, Vocalo.org Producers, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Counter Cartography Collective, and Kristen Cox of Fire This Time Fund.

• - Workshops related to publishing and AREA have been developed for teenage contributors at the Howard Area Alternative High School and with the Young Chicago Authors organization. Numerous educators are using AREA texts in their after school program, high school and university classrooms.

• -Lectures by about AREA have been presented at national and international conferences including Artivistic (Montreal), ReActivism (Central European University Budapest), 16beaver Group (New York), National Conference on Organized Resistance (Washington DC), Planners Network (University of Illinois Chicago), UCLA's Department of Urban Planning (Los Angeles), Syracuse University, and in numerous university seminars throughout Chicago at DePaul, Loyola, UIC, and the Art Institute of Chicago. 

• -AREA's mapping endeavor "Notes for a Peoples Atlas of Chicago" has been exhibited in such places as Columbia College's A+D Gallery, the Hyde Park Art Center, UIC's Gallery 400 and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

 

What People Are Saying About AREA Chicago....

Letters of Support

• "I had the honor of being asked to write an introductory article for the first issue of AREA on the changing nature of the city and efforts by grassroots organizations and artists to challenge injustices in housing, transportation, and the use of public space. A few weeks after the first issue was published, I was contacted by the producers of a Toronto public radio (CBC) news show. They were developing a week-long series on Chicago as a model of urban development that Toronto's mayor was proposing to emulate. The show's producers had found my article in AREA on-line and wanted to interview me for the series. They told me the publication was the only thing they found that challenged the city's development strategy and that raised questions about the displacement and exclusion of low-income and working class people of color. I think this anecdote reflects a larger truth - in a period of media consolidation and info-bite news there is a need for, and an audience for, a small (though expanding), relevant, and honest publication that voices multifaceted critique and resistance. I am looking forward to continued collaboration with the community being built through and around AREA."

-Pauline Lipman - Professor, Policy Studies in Education University of Illinois at Chicago

 

• "AREA is inspiring to all artists and activists who themselves aspire to engage the social sphere in a critical way."

 

- Gregory Sholette, Editor of "Collectivism After Modernism" and "The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere"

 

• "As the President of the San Francisco Community Land Trust, I was invited to give a talk in Chicago by AREA on the topic of new directions in housing policy. It was there where I witnessed what AREA is really up to: bringing together people who might never have a chance to meet each other to think about the direction of the city. At the event were local organizers, public housing residents, planners, artists, union workers, just to name a few. I returned to San Francisco inspired by their work, as unusual alliances are one of the only ways forward today."

- James Tracy, SF Bay Area Housing Activist

 

• "[AREA] functions as a clearing house for artists and activists to talk about their work"

- Martha Bayne, Chicago Reader 09.12.06

 

• "A great resource to learn about socially engaging and political projects happening in Chicago. AREA is one of the only entities in the city trying to bridge the divides between various communities by giving them a multi-faceted media platform to address their concerns to each other."

 

- Lumpen Magazine #102

 

PLEASE Help Us Spread The Word To Your Contacts!

AREA Chicago will host its first annual WANTS and NEEDS Benefit Party on Saturday, December 8, 2007 at Green Lantern Gallery, 1511 N Milwaukee Ave., 2nd Floor. Pease note this is not an ADA accessible venue. 8 pm til late; $10-$20 (sliding scale) before 10 pm. $20 thereafter for Dance Party with DJs Naomi Walker, Kim Soss and Charlie Vinz!  Admission includes homemade goods and one free drink.

At 10 pm, the hilarious Micah Maidenberg will emcee a Live "Wants-and-Needs" Auction of Skill and Resource Sharing donated by AREA friends, contributors and advisors. Bids for the Service and Skill Sharing Auction will start as low as $5.

Proceeds from AREA's WANTS and NEEDS Party will benefit AREA's sixth issue. This issue will document the local economic justice issues and create a "How to easily understand the last 30 years of public policy toolkit for local activists".  This issue will be published in Spring 2008.

This is a current list of auction services (and their contributors):

• Labor for Auction             #1

 Service/Skill:  Mike Wolf, complete with facial hair and a good, smiley attitude, will offer up to 8 hours of labor for this AREA auction.  Labor of the following persuasions are some examples:  -High quality interior painting (including patching holes, etc...) -Home electronics installation/consultation -Unskilled odd-jobs such as carrying and moving stuff, cleaning,          hanging mirrors, putting together IKEA furniture, etc...   Restrictions: 8 hours (give or take, depending on the demands of the task/s)  Need Advance Notice: 10 days advance notice but flexible. (February 2008 not available) 

Starting bid: $30 

Mike Wolf, when he is in town, is a Chicago-based interdisciplinary artist and Mess Hall keyholder. Some of his projects can be viewed at: www.stopgostop.com/nca. He appreciates criticism and questions.
 

• Hand Sewn Embroidered Pillow         #2

 Service/Skill:  Rachel Wallis will hand sew a pillow to your specifications, with the embroidered design of your dreams (previous pillow designs have included images from loteria cards, robots, sea creatures, and a portrait of north korean dictator kim jong il, although not all on the same pillow). You can either submit a simple image for the design, or we can work something out together based on your ideas.   Restrictions:  Designs have to be relatively simple line drawings or easily adaptable photos  Need Advance Notice:  1 month to sew the pillow, depending on the complexity of the image 

Starting bid:  $20 

When Rachel Wallis isn't organizing around immigrant rights and latin american solidarity, she's making things out of fabric, thread, pictures, paint, shrinky dinks, and pipe cleaners. Her creations have been sold at the Handmade Market at the Empty Bottle, and online at Rebelimports.com.

• Getting Organized          #3

Service/Skill:  Marc Fischer Need help sorting or inventorying your stuff? For four hours (preferably all in one day) Marc Fischer will help you get your crap in order. He could alphabetize your books by author, sort your
records or CDs by artist or genre, arrange your lint collection bysize or texture, put your DVDs in order by title, arrange your sea shell collection by color or sort your VHS tapes by the year of release in reverse chronological order. It's up to you. Marc will either strategize with you on how to better organize your personal reference collection, or he'll just do the labor or organizing the stuff by whatever system you desire.Restrictions: The session will last 1 hour   

Starting Bid:  $30  

Marc Fischer is a Chicago-based artist and the administrator of Public Collectors (www.publiccollectors.org). Fischer is also a member of the long- running group Temporary Services and an active co-founder of Mess Hall, an experimental cultural center in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.  

• A Self-Guided Tour To & From Your Location of Choice plus Map     #4

 Service/Skill:  Ryan Griffis of the Temporary Travel Office will create A Self-Guided Tour From Your Location of Choice to Your Parking Lot of Choice.  The winner will receive a guide map and instructions printed on heavyweight paper using high quality ink jet printer. Winner will also receive a CD digital version of the tour created using Google Earth.  Need Advance Notice: Guide will be deliverable 2-4 weeks upon receiving locations. Directions sent to  HYPERLINK "mailto:agent@temporarytraveloffice" agent@temporarytraveloffice.net  

Starting bid: $30 

More information on the project, including previous maps, are available here: http://www.yougenics.net/traveloffice/ollywood/parking.html The Temporary Travel Office is a fictional, yet operational travel agency specializing in “critical tourism”. More info: http://www.temporarytraveloffice.net  

 

• Theraputic Body Work Session           #5

 Service/Skill:  Kate Sheehy will treat you to an hour and a half of bodily massage theraputic goodness.  The session will include a thorough intake to determine specific goals, postural assessment, individual treatment plan and self care recommendations following the treatment.   Restrictions:  one session  Need Advance Notice:  one - two weeks, depending 

Starting bid:  $40  

Kate Sheehy has been practicing bodywork for the past three years. She specializes in Thai Massage and therapeutic muscular therapy..  Other interests include unicycling, puppet shows and digging in her garden. 

• RY_BO!            #6

Service/Skill:  Ryan Hollon Teaches Ry Bo! For one time only!   Ry-Bo! is a pro-dance, post-gym method for taking care of your self and knocking out your stress. It weaves together movement magic, heart friendly drills, and mind calming breaths. One part dance party, two parts freedom, Ry-Bo! explores the moving body in search of where liberation begins. Are you ready?  Need Advance Notice:  2 - 3 weeks 

Starting bid: $20 

Ryan Hollon is a volunteer organizer and Research Associate at the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He was guest editor for AREA Solidarities Issue #6.

• Hand Set Letterpress Poster Edition            #7

Service/Skill:  Dan Wang is making an exclusive offer to print an edition of 50 hand set, letterpress printed event posters for the auction winner's chosen event.  The event could be a public event, performance, meeting, wedding celebration, lecture, birthday, anniversary, graduation, etc.   Restrictions: The design will be created by Dan, himself, because a) he is the artist and b) he only has a limited selection of typefaces--only certain faces in certain sizes in varying amounts), but the essential information will be provided by the winner. Dan will keep a few for his archives.  Need Advance Notice: sixty days  

Starting bid:  $200. 

Dan S. Wang Dan S. Wang is a printer, writer, artist, and activist who works individually and with groups. He prints on a Vandercook SP-15, using handset type. Not part of the cultish book arts world, he prefers printing on non-archival papers. His printer heroes include Fredy Perlman, Joseph Labadie, Alexander Berkman, and Benjamin Franklin.  

• Volleyball Coaching *             #8

Service/Skill:  Interested in hiring a volleyball coach to join that indoor league? Want to polish that slam or Impress the babes (male or female) in the Summer heat on the Lakefront?  Volleyball maverick Dave Pabellion offers 3 hours of instruction for you, a group of your friends, or your recreational team.  Restrictions:  Will need a Net. How does Summer fun at a public park sound? 

Starting bid: $10    *This is open for shared bidding.*  Dave Pabellion used to play college club and coach USAV traveling teams in a former life. 

• College Counseling Services            #9

 Service/Skill:  Sarah Atlas spends her working days helping young people navigate the ins and outs of applying to colleges.  Got a friend who has teenagers, any nieces or nephews that need a bit of help? Maybe your organization wants to have Sarah come in and lead a workshop for your youth. Either way, she will contribute one or two college counseling sessions, a service that will provide general information about college planning and financial aid.  These sessions can be used for an individual or for a group of students or organization working with students.  She promises brightly colored handouts!  Restrictions: evenings and weekends work best.  Need Advance Notice: three-four weeks 

Starting Bid: $25 for one session; $40 for two sessions.   Sarah Atlas is an educator who currently works at an arts education organization and whose heart lies in sunny California.

• Singing Telegram            #10

 Service/Skill:  Charlie Vinz will sing a song with banjo accompaniment for your sweetheart, or the person you want to be your sweetheart! Choose from a short list of sweet love songs, or you could even suggest one for him to learn. He can perform on the spot at this very event, or he can make a special appearance at the most appropriate time and place! 

Starting bid: $5  Charles Vinz is an architect with a B.Arch from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and as it appears, he also plays the banjo. He has built a handful of shanty-like structures in various collaborative contexts and is into participatory and inclusive design practice.

• Bicycle Tune-Up AND Mechanic Lessons*        #11

 Service/Skill:  Complete with her own tool set, Sarah Miller will come to your  house and give your Bicycle a Tune-Up and you a Mechanic Lesson. Get your bike running in tip top shape...and learn how to do it yourself for the future!  Tune-Up and instruction includes cleaning and maintenance of brakes, dérailleurs, cables, chains, headset, bottom bracket, hubs and truing.  She’ll even bring special mechanic beer to share.  Restrictions:  (2) 3 hour classes for you, or you and your friend.  * This is open for shared bidding for up to 2 people.*  Need Advance Notice:  2 weeks 

Starting bid:  $50  Sarah Miller has worked for the city and the bicycle federation teaching biking safety. Despite all the time spent wrenching she still believes humans are more important than bicycles.  She currently teaches, volunteers, and learns at West Town Bikes.

 

• “Correspondence Stock” Typographic Design and Hand Printing    #12

 Service/Skill:  AREA designer extraordinare Dakota Brown will offer  typographic design and hand screen printing for either a two-sided business card or a letterhead and envelope, or some similar design printing service. He calls this "correspondence stock" -- which sounds very classy -- after that scene in "The Life Aquatic." His services include one session on what your options and desires are, and some strategizing on how to do it cheaply in order to make it easy to have a steady supply ready for the next printing + the actual design and printing!   Restrictions: Paper and some printing supplies will need to be provided by the winner.  Need Advance Notice:  2 months   

Starting Bid: $40

• Tres Leches Cake and Tea Service*             #13

 Service/Skill: Vanessa Roanhorse will come to your house, or invite you to hers,and make a tres leches cake from SCRATH with homemade whip cream and fresh strawberries. She will provide tea service and elegant conversation for you and any others during the baking. Restrictions:  You decide the location. Cake takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours in total preparation.  Need Advance Notice:  one week   

Starting bid: $10  * This is open for shared bidding.*

• Video Documentation                #14

 Service/Skill:  Laura Klein will video document your next important or exciting event – a Birthday Party, Infomercial, Invention etc. It will be 5 to 15 minute Video Documentary and services include filming of event, editing, and 3 copies (plus master) on DVD. She also conducts pre-requested interviews during the event being taped!  Restrictions:  She can film the event for up to two hours. All editing requests at day of filming, (titles, transitions, etc…) No porn, sorry.  Need Advance Notice:  3 weeks 

Starting bid: $75  Laura Klein is an artist and filmmaker working rimarily with a 16mm bolex camera and a Sony digital camcorder. Her films have shown in Beijing,Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Amsterdam and at the Telluride International Experimental Film Festival.

• Spanish translation/editing services                   #15

Service/Skill:  Leticia Cortez will offer Spanish translation or editing services  - your choice. She will translate for a program or event of up to 2 hours in length, or edit an essay, newsletter or paper no more than 3000 words.   Need Advance Notice: three-four weeks 

Starting Bid: $20  A lover of Spanish Literature and Geology, Leticia Cortez teaches presently at Truman College in their Adult Education program. Leticia was one of the editors of the biligual publication ¿Hasta Cuándo? and use to write for Chicago Ink among others.

• Photoshop/Illustrator Tutorial Workshops              #16

Service/Skill:  Dave Pabellion will donate a design tutorial workshop series comprised of (3) 1 hour photoshop/illustrator class meetings with the auction winner. The classes can take place at Mercury Cafe on Chicago Ave. or at the comfort of the bidders home. 

Starting bid: $25  Dave Pabellon is a prolific designer and educator who bounces between Chicago and Oakland teaching and designing. He is in constant pursuit of projects that overlap visual communication and community empowerment.

• Swimming Lessons                  #17

 Service/Skill:  Did you ever want to learn the butterfly Or rotational breathing? How about that that stroke you just couldn’t ever get right? Kristen Cox is offering (2) 1 hour swim lessons courtesy of her Irving Park/Pulaski YMCA membership.   Restrictions: limited YMCA hours, depending on open swim time  Need Advance Notice: two weeks 

Starting bid: $5  Kristen Cox Is a resource developer and avid cultural absorber who has found meditation the most fruitful while swimming. She was on the swim team during the summers while growing up and often swam freestyle for her team’s relay races. 

• Get Your Group a Blog            #18

 Service/Skill:  Dave Marques is a blog-making nerd, especially if they're blogs for small non-profits, activists, or issue-based discussion groups. He bets you’re involved with a project that could benefit from some blog interactivity.  Special Bonus:  fancy header graphics!   Restrictions: set aside 2 - 7 hours  Need Advance Notice:  three weeks  

Starting Bid: $75   Dave Marques is the Administrative/IT Coordinator for the Southwest Youth Collaborative and a big fan of AREA Chicago..  

• Oral History Knitting Afternoon            #19

 Service/Skill:  Cassie Fennell will collect and document your, or someone else's oral history, like your grandma, while teaching you enough knitting basics to make a blanket for your action figure.  She’ll even make you and your grandma (or someone else) a very good vegetarian sandwich!  Restrictions:  3 hrs. Lunchtime activity.  Need Advance Notice: one month 

Starting bid: $10  Cassie Fennell studies anthropology at the University of Chicago. Nowadays she’s conducting ethnographic research for a dissertation project about Chicago’s public housing reforms. 

• Audiotape and Editing plus Educational Service    #20

 Service/Skill:  Aaron Sarver is auctioning off his audio recording and editing skills for your needs.  Got an important event or program coming up? Aaron’s your man. He’ll record an event, an interview, a conversation or something difficult like a live mixed media piece and submit an audio file for your records.  He would be more than happy to share his knowledge with you about the equipment, his recording techniques and have you watch and work with him during the editing process.  Restrictions:  one event up to three hours in length.  Need Advance Notice: 2 – 3 weeks 

Starting bid: $25  Aaron just completed an audio tour of the Jane Addams' Hull House Museum and is open for audio recoding hire. Aaron Sarver was the associate publisher of In These Times magazine; you can see an archive of his radio show at www.fireontheprairie.com.

• Guasha Treatment or Training          #21

  Service/Skill: Liz Appel is offering a guasha treatment or would be interested in training someone how to do it.  It's a basic but incredible healing technique used in Asia by practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Guasha is practiced to help provide relief from pain and symptoms of acute "colds" and "flu" including stiffness, fever/chills, cough, etc. The techinque used removes blood stagnation considered pathogenic, promoting normal circulation and metabolic processes and is valuable in the prevention and treatment of acute infectious illness, upper respiratory and digestive problems, and many other acute or chronic disorders.  Restrictions: 1 treatment/training session   Need Advance Notice:  2 – 3 weeks  

Minimum bid: $40   Liz Appel is a member of Acudetox Healing Collective, a group of community health workers, activists, and organizers who believe that accessible health care is social justice. Appel also organizes fellow Chinese medicine students to provide community healthcare.     

• Personal Letter Writing Service        #22

 Service/Skill: Claire Pentecost will write you three hand-written letters delivered to your mailbox. They will be about all kinds of things she is thinking and may also include writing about topics of your choice (up to three topics per letter). This is a sort of personalized mail art project with extra epistolary content, i.e. letters may include drawings and ephemera and letters will be no shorter than two pages each. If you write her first and if you reply to her letters, she will respond to you, but if you don't have time or don't want to, she will still write to you all three letters.  They my or may not come from other countries. there is no money back guarantee.  Restrictions:  you must have a mailing address.  Need Advance Notice: She is not promising any particular schedule.  

Minimum bid: $50   Claire Pentecost is an artist, writer and educator. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Photography at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

• Tarot Reading                #23

 Service/Skill: Claire Pentecost will also offer a tarot reading for you. This is a face to face session that takes a minimum of one hour but could go longer. You can come to her house in Humboldt Park or she will come to yours, but a quiet setting is required.  Restrictions:  Steve Kurtz was one of her teachers, if that means anything to you, but their methods are radically different. Infer as you like..    Need Advance Notice:  be patient. It will happen within a year. 

Minimum bid: $94.00  Claire Pentecost is an artist, writer and educator. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Photography at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

• Historical tour of Chicago's Haymarket monuments*       #24

 Service/Skill:  Nicolas Lampert will lead a historical tour of Chicago’s Haymarket monuments -  Martyr's Monument at Waldheim, Mary Brogger's Haymarket Monument, and the Police Monument. As a well-informed guide, he will provide transportation, historical analysis of all three monuments, information on public interventions, and a biased perspective that sides heavily with the anarchists.   Restrictions:  Tour limited to four people.  Tour can accomodate schedules but will take place in a 4-6 hour time span on a weekday or weekend.    Need Advance Notice:  4 weeks  

Minimum bid: $50  *This is open for shared bidding.*  Nicolas Lampert is an interdisciplinary artist focusing on collage, graphic art, writing, curating, and teaching. He co-edited Peace Signs: the Anti-War Movement Illustrated, a collection of international posters and graphics against the War in Iraq in 2003.   

• Make 2 Herb forumulas with Rebecca Davila 

Service/Skill  Learn how two make two exceptional herb formulas for staving off the common cold (really easy to make!) It can involve a trip to chinatown to visit an herbal pharmacy or i will have the herbs available.
We can also make a stop at St. Alps Tea House in Chinatown- they have yummy teas!

Starting Bid: $20
 

AREA Chicago Issue #5 "How We Learn: The Critical Pedagogy and Popular Education Issue"

Issue Release Party
Thursday October 11, 2007
6pm-830pm
@  The Co-prosperity Sphere (CPS) 3219 S Morgan St in Bridgeport

Featuring articles and interviews by and about the following groups and individuals:

Aaron Sarver, Acudetox Healing Collective, Alex Blanchette, Anne Rapp, Beth Gutelius, Bronzeville Historical Society, Caroline Picard, Chicago Freedom School, Chicago Teaching Artists Collective, Chicago Women’s Health Center, Chicagoland/Calumet Underground Railroad Efforts, Dakota Brown, Daniel Tucker, Dave Pabellon, Dave Stovall, Debbie Gould, Ellen Gates Starr, Eric Rodriguez, Erica Meiners, Euan Hague, Faith Wilson, Ferd Eggan 1946-2007, Fire This Time Fund, Free Geek Chicago, Green Lantern Gallery, Home Schooling Collectives, InCUBATE, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Irina Zadov, Jane Collective, Jayne Hileman, Jeanne Kracher, Jesse Senechal, Jessica Pupovac, Jim Duignan, Joanie Friedman, Kelvyn Park High School, Kristen Cox, Latino Union, Lisa Sousa, Little Village Lawndale High School, Mary Patten, Maura Nugent, Mess Hall, Mia Henry, Mike Wolf, Nance Klehm, Neighborhood Writing Alliance, Paula Ladin, Pauline Lipman/Rico Gustein, Pedagogical Factory, Pomegranate Radical Health Collective, Popular Education Alliance, Rouge Forum, Sarah Alford, Sarah Atlas, Sarah Miller, Stockyard Institute, Substance News, Teachers for Social Justice, The Odyssey Project, Therese Quinn, Walt Senterfitt and more.

Welcome to the early version of the new AREA Chicago website. We are still working out the kinks, planning some new features and getting all the graphics and formats right - so please be patient and please email us if you've got any comments or feedback.

This summer AREA Chicago is participating in an exhibit at Chicago's own Hyde Park Art Center called Pedagogical Factory: Exploring strategies for an educated city (July 22-September 23, 2007). The show was organized by The Stockyard Institute and AREA contributed the ongoing Notes for a Peoples Atlas of Chicago project. AREA also organized a very large event series called How We Learn happening every Wednesday and Saturday for 2 months. 

Early this summer, AREA Chicago was invited to develop a spin-off of our Notes for a People's Atlas of Chicago project in Zagreb, Croatia by the organizers of the Urban Festival. AREA contributors Dave Pabellon and Daniel Tucker formed a group called "The Speculators" to initiate a new endeavor - Notes for a People's Atlas of Zagreb.