Oversized
light and image installations of archival photographs will be showcased in the
windows of four landmark architectural structures from 35th to 47th Streets
along King Drive. It’s all part of The Future’s Past, an exhibit orchestrating
a dynamic dance between yesterday’s cultural giants and today’s contemporary
creatives – played against the backdrop of historic Bronzeville. It will
challenge all of Chicago to use modern technology to unearth and interrogate
the history of the streets we walk every day – and to see them with new eyes.
The exhibit runs through November.
Curated by Tempestt Hazel and presented
by Blanc Gallery, exhibit host, and the Black Metropolis Research Consortium,
The Future’s Past brings the history of Bronzeville to vibrant new life with a
project that ranges across miles and media. The exhibit launches on Friday, 6
p.m.–9 p.m., at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. King Drive. Visitors will be taken on a
nostalgic trolley ride along King Drive to see the Installations at the Regal
Theater and Savoy Ballroom, 47th Street; Metropolitan Funeral Systems
Association, current home to the Chicago Defender, and the Parkway Ballroom,
45th Street; The Lutrelle “Lu” & Jorja Palmer Mansion, a hub of Black
political thought for decades, 37th Street; and the Supreme Life Insurance Co.,
birthplace of Johnson Publishing Co, 35th Street. Visitors will then return to
Blanc Gallery to view the landmarks re-interpreted through a contemporary prism
and enjoy a bountiful buffet prepared by Chef Cliff Rome.
In addition to her archival
research, Hazel has interviewed living legends who made and recorded the
history of King Dr., Prof. Timuel Black, Rev. Leon Finney Jr., Eddie Read and
Conrad Worrill, Ph.D. Their stories will be memorialized within the exhibit and
on the website. All gallery
visitors will be invited to record their own memories on a living archive at
the exhibit. Hazel has invited four contemporary artists to use modern media to
relate to and reflect on the histories of these buildings and the individuals
and institutions they represent.
Amanda
Williams, a nationally-recognized artist, joins Stephen Flemister, Krista
Franklin and Emmanuel Pratt in presenting the exhibit. The Light Installation
is co-sponsored by Black Metropolis Research Consortium and East Lake
Management & Development Corp. The Blanc Exhibit is sponsored by Illinois
Service Federal Bank, Ald. Will Burns and Ariel. Wanna know more? Call Lydia
Davis Eady, (312) 949-3142.
In Memoriam –The late
Elsie V. Parker, founding president of The TAGgers (The Ancillary Group) of
Chicago State University, will be “remembered fondly” when the women’s
organization celebrates its 37th anniversary during a scholarship luncheon on
Oct. 15 at the university to raise funds for CSU’s Foundation. The event will
also honor the group’s past presidents and Mrs. Parker’s sons, the late Maurice
J. McFolling and Judge H. Parker Jr., former owners and board members of Parker
House Sausage Co. Belinda (Mrs. Maurice) McFolling is The TAGgers current
president.
The afternoon event,
planned as a reunion for all former TAGger members, will also include
entertainment, a welcome by Wayne Watson, Ph.D, CSU president, a 50/50 raffle,
a silent auction, a souvenir program book and a lavish fall fashion showcase
from the Mona Lisa Boutique. To participate in the scholarship fundraiser,
please call Mrs. McFolling at (773) 552-4369 or Wylola Evans, (773) 445-8977.
Other TAGgers working for the success of the fall fundraiser include Delores
Robinson Caldwell, vice president for membership; Sarah Thomas, treasurer;
Martha Stewart-Watson, Althera M. Steenes and Mildred V. Porter, secretaries;
and Jeri Richard, historian. “Teesee” is honorary luncheon chair.
Screening Specials –
Check out directors Bill Duke and D. Channsim Berry’s new documentary, Dark
Girls on Monday, 7 p.m., at DuSable Museum. It explores the deep-seated biases
and attitudes about skin color — particularly dark-skinned women – outside of,
and within the Black American culture. The lecture and special screening is
co-hosted by the museum and Trinity United Church of Christ, both of which are
celebrating their Jubilee (50th year) anniversaries in 2011. For a nine-minute
emotional preview of the documentary, go to Dark GIrls on You Tube. I guarantee
you’ll be moved almost – if not entirely — to tears! Entry: $20.
And more! “The Black
Power Mix Tape,” produced by Danny Glover and directed by Goran Olsson,
premieres Thursday, 7 p.m., at
DuSable Museum. At the end of the 1960s, Swedish journalists came to the U.S.,
drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Filming for close to a decade,
they gained access to many of the leaders of the Black Power Movement, i.e.,
Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Steele, Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver. Now, 30
years later, Glover and Olsson bring this mesmerizing footage to light. The evening
ends with a panel discussion. Free with museum admission; adults, $8, students
and seniors, $5; children, ages 6-11 years, only $2.
Newsy Names – Glad to
report that media brutha Bill Garth, CEO of Citizen Newspapers and chair of
Chatham Business Ass’n, is on the mend after kidney transplant surgery at Rush
Hospital ... More good news! Jim Hinton, Walgreens’ pharmacist, is home
following hospitalization in Las Vegas where he and his Ann(ie), were on hiatus
... Edwina and Bob Holmes were spotted among supporters of Justice Nathaniel R.
Howse Jr. at his kick-off for re-election to the Appellate Court of Illinois’
First District. The successful fundraiser was at Akainyah Gallery on W. Erie
... Happy b’day to Christine Dickerson Houston, Herb Kent, the radio legend who
celebrates Wednesday at the Alhambra Palace during Ken Bedford’s Afterwork
Steppers’ Set; Rev. Patrick L. Daymond, Cash Crenshaw, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson,
Bonita Bennett, Marcus Wiley, J. Minor Allen, Ferman Mentrell Beckless, LaToya
Dixon, Barbara Saddler, Hank W. Schwab and Judge Michael Stuttley ... Congrats
to Rev. Julius Rawls who celebrates his 10th anniversary as pastor of Mt. Hope
Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday at the 11 a.m. worship service ... Hats off
to Dorothy Brown, clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. She was initiated
into Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity at its fall membership ceremony and
recognized “for being a champion of E-Filing and for her strong focus on
modernizing her office since becoming clerk in 2000.”
Whazup! Whazup! –
We’re in the midst of Mental Health Awareness Week. Artwork and poetry by
behavioral health patients at Alden Wentworth and Alden Princeton
Rehabilitation and Health Care Centers, 201 and 255 W. 69th St., are on
display; patients will share what inspired them during Art Working: Living
Through Mental Illness, today (Wednesday), 1 p.m.-4 p.m.
More Newsy Names - Sincere
condolences to Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans on Sunday evening’s passing of his
dad, George Evans. The funeral service is Monday, Oct. 10, 7 p.m., at Greater
Institutional AME Church, 78th and Indiana Avenue. Wake: 6 p.m. Our thoughts
and prayers are with the family ... Chef Cliff Rome - he’s the proprietor of
both the Parkway Ballroom and the adjacent Gallery Blanc - turns up on the
pages of this month’s Ebony sharing tasty cooking tips and talking ‘bout his
most recent acquisition, H-Dogs, which occupies the northeast corner of 47th
and King Drive. in the heart of the Bronzeville community. Yummy, yummy to the
tummy! ... Gospel-singing great Vickie Winans takes to the spotlight on Oct. 24
when Chicago Baptist Institute stages its Annual Banquet at Condessa Del Mar in
suburban Alsip. Keynoter: Dr. Willie Wilson, CBI’s newly elected chair of its
trustee board. Call (773) 995-1028 to get on board ... Hurry and get well
wishes and constant prayers go up for Barbara (Mrs. Lucky) Cordell, wife of the
former WVON radio jock. She’s been hospitalized following a recent major fall.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
