About eight years ago, Bau Graves, the former executive director of the Old Town School of Folk Music, expanded the school’s community ventures with Music Moves.  Through grant-funded programming, Music Moves offers arts and wellness programs to roughly 30 community partners and schools across 10 Chicago neighborhoods, including Austin.  Graves “was really interested in challenging the popular narrative of the school, which is that it primarily serves affluent white families on the North Side,” said Arif Smith, Music Moves’ manager. Music Moves started in Chicago’s Englewood neighbo ..read more

Nearly a decade ago, Bonni McKeown, an Austin-based writer, decided to draft her first screenplay. Her script followed the life of Eddie Taylor Sr., a Chicago blues guitar legend in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, covering his family drama and relationship with the music industry as a Black guitarist.   Taylor moved to Chicago’s West side from Mississippi and, though he never achieved stardom like other blues musicians of the time, he played an important role in the Chicago blues scene.   “The music is the most important part of the story,” said Darryl Pitts, a Chicago-based producer ..read more

A vast collection of documents and photographs reflecting the life and legacy of civil and human rights activist Brenetta Howell Barrett is on display at the Austin Branch Library as part of a traveling exhibit that started last March at a different location. “The name of the exhibit is No Brick on My Tongue: Brenetta Howell Barrett for the People’s Liberation display, which was directly pulled from one of her campaign slogans,” said Raquel Flores-Clemons, unit head of the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection. The extensive collection – 93 archival boxes of various sizes – chronicles Howell Ba ..read more

BandWith, a free performing arts program, will be moving into a permanent home in a former East Garfield Park casket factory. The Glasser & Rosenthal families donated a 25,000-square-foot building in East Garfield Park on South California Avenue, a block away from where the program started 10 years ago. “It’s going to be beautiful. We’re super excited,” said Annie Palomino, founder of BandWith. Palomino founded BandWith, a nonprofit organization, in 2013 after LEARN Campbell Charter School in East Garfield Park dropped the band program because of budget cuts. The total cost of the project ..read more

This season, West Side is alive with the holiday spirit. This weekend alone features plenty of places where kids can pick up free toys, enjoy tasty treats and take pictures with Santa. There are also some events for adults and seniors. This list isn’t intended to be all-comprehensive, but we tried our best to include as many as we could. Friday, December 15 Better Life Faith Church, 5401 W. Lake St., is hosting a Christmas Spectacular Spectacle. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., but the festivities will kick off at 7 p.m. The church promises a “LipSync Battle, great music, giveaways and an entertainin ..read more

Music, photo op with instant print, art, free food and a mini-ball. Loud and fun, that is how the social campaign  PrEP4Teens launched to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention. Teens, young adults, their parents and local residents gathered to celebrate the launch of the social campaign and unveiling of a new mural in mid-November at West Side’s Taskforce Prevention and Community Services, campaigns main partner.  The highlight of the evening was the reveal of that two-sided mural on the windows of Taskforce’s building. “It’s a lot easier to digest an image than it is an essay ..read more

The mural is seen off of North Avenue on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, in Oak Park, Ill. | ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer The North Avenue District and the Oak Park Area Arts Council are working to put up murals on both the Oak Park and Galewood sides of North Avenue. However, the Oak Park plans are much further along than the Galewood ones. Adding street art has been a long-term goal for Judith Alexander, the chair of The North Avenue District, an organization that works to revitalize both the Oak Park and Galewood sides of the section of North Avenue between Harlem Avenue and Austin Boulevard. I ..read more

When young people arrive at BUILD’s South Austin campus, they will see faces resembling theirs on the new mural at the northwest corner of its main building. “I wanted to put up youthful faces looking inspired, looking determined, looking passionate,” said Chicago artist Dwight White at the mural unveiling on Oct. 12. “I feel like that’s what is inside of that building.” Later that evening, about a dozen middle school participants in BUILD’s art program demonstrated their passion and determination during a master class in mural making led by White. BUILD’s arts programs were initially created ..read more

A Garfield Park-based artist started playing with clay when she was three or four years old in her native Nebraska. Now a professional ceramics artist, Shalom Parker recalls making clay storyboards for the county fair.   Twelve years ago, her interest in arts brought her to the city of Chicago to pursue a career in studio art, specializing in ceramics.   She created a show of ceramic plates that represent her family history, with each plate representing one of her ancestors. The collection showcases her family’s origins: a Black lineage on her father’s side and a German fr ..read more

Chicago artist Barrett Keithley stood with open arms before young elementary and middle school students from Austin-based Catalyst Circle Rock Wednesday morning.  Behind him, glimpses of colorful patterns and musical notes caught the students’ eyes, awaiting to see Keithley’s work. To the side, a team of co-artists, arts leaders, supporters and elected officials waited to hear about his latest mural on the West Side.   “The beauty that I see awakens the power in me,” Keithley said, asking the young crowd to repeat those words after him before unveiling the mural.   Ca ..read more