Chicago Cultural Alliance

Neighborhood Nights
2026-05-14 19:00 - 23:00 (America/Chicago) | 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!

3rd Fridays Free Admission Museum Night
2026-05-15 17:00 - 20:00 | 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.

Unheard Voices of Care: Filipino Nurses in America - Opening Reception
2026-05-15 18:00 - 20:00 | International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 N Lake Shore Dr,, Chicago, 60610, United States
New Filipino Nurses Exhibit to Reveal Lives Beyond Stereotypes

Friday, May 15, 2026, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Join The Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago Museum for the opening reception and meet surgeons and artists with complimentary fare and beverages.

With the Philippines funneling more workers into the U.S. healthcare system than any other country, a new museum exhibit is set to both define and deconstruct an emerging stereotype: the Filipino nurse.

The tangled history of colonialism, misogyny and racism powering this unique migration story plays out in “Unheard Voices of Care: Filipino Nurses in America,” a new exhibit set to run from May 15 to August 2, 2026, at the International Museum of Surgical Science, 1524 N. Lake Shore Drive in the Windy City’s Gold Coast neighborhood. It will feature hospital uniforms, medical equipment, awards, immigration documentation, photographs and personal mementos, as well as a full schedule of lectures, panels and dramatic presentations designed to bring the collection to life.

“The history of Filipinos in health care here in the U.S. dates back over a century,” said Merle Salazar, a board member of the Filipino American National Historical Society Greater Chicago Chapter (FANHSC), which created the exhibit. “They helped shape the profession with their knowledge and cultural instincts, making nursing what it is today. This is an important exhibit that we hope will engage many within the Filipino-American community and beyond.”
Telling the stories of young women coming to America alone in the 1940s until present day, the exhibit artifacts displayed will range from university yearbooks and journals to combs and ballgowns brought and worn decades ago. Other items reference Richard Speck and the Filipino student nurses killed in the nation’s first mass murder.

Stammtisch Open Haus, Every 3rd Friday
2026-05-15 19:30 - 2026-05-16 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

Kino, Kaffee und Kuchen
2026-05-16 10:30, 2026-05-23 10:30, 2026-05-30 10:30, 2026-06-06 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

Puerto Rican Arts Alliance: Studio Arts Program
2026-05-16 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-05-23 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-05-30 10:30 - 14:30, 2026-06-06 10:30 - 14:30
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.

Constructing Jathi Choreography with Harini Nilakantan
2026-05-16 13:15 - 14:15, 2026-05-23 13:15 - 14:15, 2026-05-30 13:15 - 14:15, 2026-06-06 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

Haitian Heritage Month Konpa Sware
2026-05-21 19:00 - 23:00
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*

Through Her Lens: Caribbean Image Makers
2026-05-22 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-26 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-27 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-28 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-05-29 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-02 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-03 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-04 08:00 - 17:00 and 1 more date | Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, 3000 N Elbridge Ave, Chicago, IL, 60618, United States
The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA) is pleased to present Through Her Lens: Caribbean Image Makers, a group exhibition featuring six lens-based artists whose work explores Caribbean identity, migration, memory, and belonging across diasporic spaces. The exhibition is on view through July 25, 2026.
Bringing together artists working across documentary, ethnographic, conceptual, and research-based photography, Through Her Lens centers women image-makers whose practices expand photography beyond documentation into a form of witnessing, care, and cultural record-keeping. The exhibition highlights how photography operates as a visual archive of movement, ritual, survival, and cultural continuity across the Caribbean and its global diasporas.
Featured artists include Sonia Báez-Hernández, Lisa DuBois, Brenda Lee Hernández Díaz, Qurissy, Alexandra Majerus, and Tameshia Glass. Their work spans multiple geographies—including Chicago, New York, New Orleans, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Barbados, Cuba, and beyond—reflecting the Caribbean as both a region and a network of lived diasporic experiences.
Sonia Báez-Hernández’s interdisciplinary practice examines migration, illness, and the body as a political and poetic site. Lisa DuBois documents ritual and cultural expression within Black diasporic communities, emphasizing photography’s capacity to witness spiritual and communal life. Brenda Lee Hernández Díaz explores introspection and transformation through documentary and conceptual approaches. Qurissy’s work centers Afro–Puerto Rican lineage and the stateside experience through image and oral narrative. Alexandra Majerus interrogates representation, tourism, and postcolonial identity within Caribbean landscapes. Tameshia Glass presents documentary portraits of Chicago residents, positioning the city as a diasporic space shaped by migration and memory.
Together, these artists offer layered perspectives on Caribbean identity in contemporary contexts, examining how culture is held, transmitted, and reshaped across borders and generations. The exhibition foregrounds photography as a relational practice—connecting photographer and subject, homeland and diaspora, personal narrative and collective history.
Curated by Jorge Félix, Director of Exhibitions & Collections at PRAA, Through Her Lens reflects the organization’s ongoing commitment to community-based curatorial practice and diasporic cultural preservation. The exhibition complements PRAA’s broader archive initiatives, including El Archivo Project, which documents the histories and contributions of Puerto Rican communities in Chicago and the Midwest.
The exhibition is FREE Admission and open to the public Tue to Fri: 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM, and by appointment on Saturdays or during non-gallery hours. To schedule visits during non-gallery hours, email Jorge Felix at jorge@praachicago.org. Guests will have the opportunity to meet participating artists and learn more about the exhibition’s themes and related programming.
About the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA) The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance is a multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Puerto Rican and Caribbean arts and culture through exhibitions, performances, education, and community-based archival initiatives. Through its Exhibitions & Collections Program and El Archivo Project, PRAA documents and shares the cultural histories of Puerto Rican and Caribbean communities in Chicago and the Midwest.
Media Contact: Jorge Félix Director, Exhibitions & Collections Program Puerto Rican Arts Alliance jorge@praachicago.org | +1 (773)620-8608
# # #

Neighborhood Nights
2026-05-28 19:00 - 23:00

Yellow Peril Drag Show
2026-05-30 18:00 - 21:00 | 238 W 23rd St, 238 W. 23rd St, Chicago, 60616
Show your Pride in Chicago’s queer Asian community here in the heart of Chinatown ✨
Presenting the second annual ✨👲💕Yellow Peril Drag Show 👯🌈✨
Saturday, May 30 | 6:00 – 9:00 PM | FL4
Join our Pride Kick-off Party to celebrate and show love to our queer Asian community right in the heart of Chicago’s Chinatown.
Space is limited. Ticket includes food, beer, and one specialty cocktail. While you’re here, you can explore Language of Abstraction after-hours on FL1.
Dress code: 💃🌈🪩✨
This event is 18+

American Writers Festival Day 1 - American Writers Museum
2026-06-06 08:00 - 17:00, 2026-06-06 10:00 - 17:00 | American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL, 60601, United States
American Writers Festival – Day 1

The American Writers Festival is back and bigger than ever. Two days, two locations. One free literary event in Chicago!
The American Writers Festival is a free literary event co-presented by the American Writers Museum and Chicago Public Library. It features in depth conversations with diverse writers from across genres and backgrounds, all to celebrate the power of the written word. Featured speakers include Lauren Groff, Reza Aslan, Tananarive Due, John Fugelsang, Maggie Smith, Mayda del Valle, Bill Kurtis, Jen Hatmaker, and more. See the full lineup here and the program schedule here!
This year, we have expanded to two days and two locations.
June 6, 2026: American Writers Museum
June 7, 2026: Harold Washington Library Center
With a range of topics discussed and genres represented, the American Writers Festival celebrates the past, promotes the present, and inspires the future of American writing. Children’s storytimes, photo booths, literary crafts and mini writing workshops get adults and kids into the written word, with books for sale and authors signing them!
The American Writers Museum will offer free admission on June 6 and will be closed on June 7. The Harold Washington Library Center is always free.
VISIT THE AMERICAN WRITERS FESTIVAL HOMEPAGE
