Chicago Cultural Alliance

3rd Fridays Free Admission Museum Night
2025-05-16 17:00 - 20:00, 2025-04-18 17:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Heritage Museum of Asian Art, 3500 S Morgan St, Chicago, IL, 60609, United States
Free Admission Museum Nights take place every third Friday of each month from 5 pm to 8 pm! The tour will start at 6 PM on time. All tours depart from the reception desk, and please be sure to arrive on time. The event offers wine and appetizers.
This Friday at 7-7:40 PM, our Resident Artist 2024 – Irene Hsiao will perform at the Heritage Museum of Asian Art as part of the project If The Sky Could Dream.
About the Tour –
Learn about Asian Art in the Heritage Museum of Asian Art with a guided hour-long tour around the gallery. Museum-trained interns and volunteers will give a talk on selected artworks. Each word is packed with fascinating insights, information, and stories. During this participatory experience, you’ll connect with works from across the collection and get a close look at highlighting artworks. Visitors of all ages are welcome.
Please note tours may be canceled or postponed due to unforeseen circumstances.
About the project –
IF THE SKY COULD DREAM focuses on the Chinese dragon as a powerful being that fosters harmony. This creature is emblematic of China as well as a mythological being for many Asian and Western cultures and thus evokes a sense of mysticism, and intrigue in many communities. Representing the Chinese Dragon as a water deity, the installation series will feature images and projections of the weather and local bodies of water in Chicago.
If The Sky Could Dream is supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant
About Irene Hsiao
Irene Hsiao creates performances in conversation with visual art in museums, galleries, and public spaces, a practice that includes site-specific interaction with visual artworks and experimental engagement with artists, institutions, and the public. Find out more through our website.
Accessibility
The Heritage Museum of Asian Art’s Entrance is on West 35th Street. Take the elevator to the third floor and turn right to the Museum Reception Desk. Accessible and standard toilets are located on the same floor. Free parking space is available next to the museum via West 35th Street.
If you have any programming questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with info@heritageasianart.org or 312-842-8884.

Haitian Heritage Month Konpa Sware
2025-05-15 19:00 - 23:00, 2025-04-17 19:00 - 23:00 | IL
Join the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC) at its monthly Konpa Sware! The museum is excited to continue this immersive event which includes an evening of Haitian dance and music. Join us at Room43. Food will be available for free and the FIRST 50 GUESTS will recieve 1 FREE DRINK!
FEATURING MUSIC BY: DJ Frantz!
This is a recurring event on the Third Thursday of each month. Keep an eye out for future event registration!
* TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR*

Dave Barry: "Class Clown"
2025-05-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Chicago Hope Academy, 2156 West Ogden Avenue, Chicago, 60612
How does the son of a Presbyterian minister wind up winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a wildly inaccurate newspaper column read by millions of people? America’s most beloved wiseass, Dave Barry, finally tells his life story with all the humor you’d expect from a man who made a career out of making fun of pretty much everything. Barry will be interviewed by Mark Bazer of The Interview Show on WTTW. Books will be sold at the event and Barry will sign them following the program.
This is event takes place at Chicago Hope Academy. The entrance to the auditorium is through the parking lot at 2156 W. Ogden Ave., Chicago, IL 60612. This lot can be used for parking, as well as additional street parking on neighboring streets. Please leave enough time for transportation and parking. The program begins promptly at 6:00 pm CT.
This program is part of the AWM’s American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture exhibit and programming series, which examines the relationship between American writers and religion. American Prophets opens November 2025 and is supported by a grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative.

Black Modernism and the Spatial Modernity of the Black Church
2025-05-13 18:00 - 19:30 | First Church of Deliveriance, 4315 S Wabash Ave, Chicago, 60653
Program in collaboration with the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Join us in the sanctuary of The First Church of Deliverance for a salon-style seminar on Black Modernism and the architectural modernity of Black American traditions with leading voices in architectural history, criticism and preservation.
This program is part of a larger series of national conversations curated by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, dedicated to reflection and dialogue on the evolving definition of Black Modernism and the undervalued legacy of African American contributions to modernist architecture. Set within one of Chicago’s most iconic examples of Black sacred modernism, the event brings together leading voices in architectural history, criticism, and preservation.
The evening will feature presentations by Lee Bey, photographer, writer and lecturer whose work documents and interprets the built environment through the lens of race, politics and power, and Charles L. Davis II, African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Fellow and Associate Professor of Architectural History and Criticism at the University of Texas at Austin, whose research explores the role of racial identity and race thinking in shaping architectural history and contemporary design culture. Following the presentations, a moderated conversation will be led by architect and cultural preservationist Brandon Bibby, Senior Preservation Architect for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and Manager of the Conserving Black Modernism initiative. The discussion will open space to collectively consider how Black Modernism continues to inform our understanding of identity, memory, and the built environment.

Constructing Jathi Choreography with Harini Nilakantan
2025-05-10 13:15 - 14:15, 2025-05-03 13:15 - 14:15, 2025-04-26 13:15 - 14:15, 2025-04-19 13:15 - 14:15, 2025-04-12 13:15 - 14:15 | Kalapriya Studio, 2101 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, United States
Weekly Saturdays
1:15 – 2:15 PM
Harini Nilakantan is a student of Aacharya Choodamani Guru Smt. Roja
Kannan, and has over two decades of experience in this art form. In this 90-minute class, dancers will learn new choreography – both how to piece together combinations and increase retention with her for advanced
rhythmic patterns or Jathis.
Class focus: execution, technique, creativity, retention

Puerto Rican Arts Alliance: Studio Arts Program
2025-05-10 10:30 - 14:30, 2025-05-03 10:30 - 14:30, 2025-04-26 10:30 - 14:30, 2025-04-19 10:30 - 14:30, 2025-04-12 10:30 - 14:30 | IL
El Rinconcito is a free open art space for creative expression for people ages 12-25. You can meet people like you who are interested in arts, painting, drawing, printmaking, and others. El Riconcito provides a safe and welcoming studio for art making. An artist and a counselor in the studio can guide you in creative experiences, but you can opt to do your own artwork.
Join us! We provide the art supplies, and you bring your creativity.

Kino, Kaffee und Kuchen
2025-05-10 10:30, 2025-05-03 10:30, 2025-04-26 10:30, 2025-04-19 10:30, 2025-04-12 10:30 | DANK Haus German American Cultural Center, 4740 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
Date:
Start
Saturday, January 06, 2024
Time:
Location:
Location
DANK Haus Room 206, 2nd Floor

KINO, KAFFEE UND KUCHEN
Saturdays at the DANK Haus in Room 206
10:30 – 11:00 AM | Kaffee und Kuchen
11:00 – 12:00 PM | Vorfilm
12:00 PM | Feature Film Begins

Join us each Saturday at the DANK Haus in Fall, Winter, and Spring for Kaffee, Kuchen, und Kino. Each week guests will choose the film they want to watch
DANK Members: $5 | Non-Members: $7

Neighborhood Nights
2025-05-08 19:00 - 23:00, 2025-04-10 19:00 - 23:00 | DANK Haus German American Cultural Center, 4740 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
Date:
Start
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Time:
Location:
Location
DANK Haus, 6th Floor Skyline Lounge

enjoy a beverage with a spectacular EXPERIENCE in our haus
A perfect place to meet your neighbors and socialize! All proceeds support the DANK Haus Museum
WHEN
Each 2nd & 4th Thursday of the month from 7-11 PM.
Location
Winter months – Brauhaus Room (2nd floor)
Summer/Fall months – Skyline Lounge/Terrace (6th floor)
Subject to change. Be sure to check elevator signs when arriving!

Design News Roundtable: Downtown Chicago
2025-05-08 18:00 - 19:15 | Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
Join us for the second quarterly Design News Roundtable, a space for freewheeling conversation with architects, designers, preservationists, planners and community leaders exploring our ever-changing city.
Our tapped-in panelists will scour the headlines and opine on recent design, development, and planning news impacting Chicago’s downtown. Office-to-residential conversions, efforts to revive our great shopping streets, public activations and open space, megadevelopment, historic preservation, and arts and culture are primary areas of focus. Brush up on the past few months of built environment news and gain a deeper appreciation for the projects, the ideas, and the difference-makers charting a path forward future of downtown.
This roundtable is hosted by Dario Durham, co-founder of the popular podcast 77 Flavors of Chicago. Our panelists are Preservation Futures co-founder Elizabeth Blasius; Gensler Principal & Cities Sector Leader Andre Brumfield; and Site Design Senior Project Manager Mejay Gula, founder of the Tender House Project.

Neighborhood Nights
2025-04-24 19:00 - 23:00 | IL

Constructing Housing During Crisis: Ukraine
2025-04-23 18:00 - 19:00 | Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
Join us for a discussion of the role of temporary housing as a place of care and healing during the ongoing crisis. This program is hosted in collaboration with the exhibition Constructing Hope: Ukraine which is currently on view in the CAC’s Skyscraper Gallery through September 1, 2025
FREE with Registration
Currently displayed in the CAC’s Skyscraper Gallery as part of the Constructing Hope: Ukraine exhibition, Co-Haty is a project by the Ukrainian NGO MetaLab that provides temporary emergency accommodations for internally displaced people in Western Ukraine, offering them solace in the aftermath of the Russian invasion. Approximately 12 million Ukrainians were compelled to abandon their homes, with 6.5 million seeking refuge in the western part of the country. However, decades of housing policy challenges revealed a shortage of affordable housing options. In response to this pressing need, the Co-Haty team closely collaborates with local governments and an extensive network of agencies.
Join us for a presentation and conversation with Anna Dobrova, co-founder of Metalab, who will present her firm’s project that refurbishes and repurposes large, vacant former Soviet municipal buildings into emergency shelters.

Teen Saturday Studio - Miniature Marvels: Model Making
2025-04-19 11:00 - 14:00 | Harold Washington College, 30 E Lake St Chicago, Chicago, 60601
Dive into the art of miniature model making in this hands-on workshop for teens. Learn to design detailed architectural models, create tiny furniture, or build imaginative miniature worlds. No experience is needed—just bring your creativity! This program will guide you step-by-step, and by the end, you’ll take home your own handcrafted miniature model along with the skills to keep designing at home.
FREE – ADVANCED REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Stammtisch Open Haus, Every 3rd Friday
2025-04-18 19:30 - 2025-04-19 00:00 | DANK Haus German American Cultural Center, 4740 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
Feiern Sie mit uns! Our monthly Open Haus Stammtisch is a great way to meet new friends and enjoy a little Gemütlichkeit over some delicious German food and drink!
Theme TBD
Food and drink will be available for purchase.
Free parking at 5/3 Bank after 6:00 PM located at Western and Gunnison

Dr. King in North Lawndale: Housing Access in Chicago
2025-04-10 18:00 - 19:00 | Chicago Architecture Center, 111 E Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
In recognition of April as Fair Housing Month, join us for a panel exploring an impactful and often overlooked Chicago chapter in the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the legacy he left behind in the city’s fair housing landscape.
In January of 1966, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. moved his family to the North Lawndale neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. On the heels of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Dr. King had set his sights on Chicago for his first major campaign outside the south, joining the Chicago Freedom Movement’s efforts to combat discriminatory housing practices. Due in large part to his advocacy in Chicago and beyond, legal protections from housing discrimination would finally be secured with the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968, six days after his assassination.
Our panel discussion will contextualize Dr. King’s time in North Lawndale and his work with the Chicago Freedom Movement, investigating the progress and ongoing challenges in combatting housing discrimination and access in Chicago spanning six decades.
Hear from distinguished panelists including Monica Chadha, AIA, LEED AP, and founder of the architecture firm Civic Projects; Jonathan Eig, journalist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, King: A Life; Blanche Killingsworth, president and founder of the North Lawndale Historical and Cultural Society; and Tim Swanson, President & CEO of Inherent L3C. The discussion will be moderated by CAC’s CEO & President, Eleanor Gorski.

CAMOC – 24th Benefit Dinner: Celebrating 20 Years Strong, Building 20 Years More!
2025-04-05 18:00 - 22:00 | New Furama Restaurant, 2828 South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60616, United States
The Chinese American Museum of Chicago (CAMOC) invites you to attend the 24th Benefit Dinner: Celebrating 20 Years Strong, Building 20 Years More! We are hosting our annual fundraising dinner on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 at New Furama Restaurant from 6:00 to 10:00 PM, with doors opening at 5:00 PM.
This year marks our 20th year, so join us as we celebrate together and raise critical funds necessary to continue to do the work we do. We look forward to seeing you and the CAMOC community over a traditional full-course Chinese banquet dinner, live performances, raffle prizes, silent auction, dessert bar, live DJ, dancing, and more.
Tickets for the event can be purchased here.
Become a sponsor or place a color print ad – explore package options here.
Thank you for supporting the museum and Chinese American stories!
