News across Greater Chicago

NU’s Block Museum to host screening of two Kip Hanks horror films on Oct. 1
On Thursday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, will screen two rare horror films by Gulf Coast-based filmmaker Kip Hanks, together on screen for the first time. In 1986, then-22-year-old Hanks announced his ambitions in the…

How an Evanston audience’s reaction to ‘Sunset Boulevard’ changed movie history
Sunset Boulevard is an iconic and classic film. But the film that audiences know and love was not the film its director, Billy Wilder, planned to release. A test screening in front of an Evanston audience in January 1950 generated a surprising reaction that ultimately altered the…

‘Public art is the best thing’
A three-story mural titled Welcome Back to Main Street was dedicated Saturday overlooking the city parking lot at 727 Main St. Artist Oscar Joyo designed the mural, which includes more than 800 clay tiles created over the past several months by everyday Evanston residents. Each…

Third annual RoundTable Reads features ‘The Hitch’ author Sara Levine and Rebecca Makkai
About 300 guests at Nichols Concert Hall Thursday evening heard Evanston novelist Sara Levine — author of The Hitch — in conversation with fellow author Rebecca Makkai as part of the third annual RoundTable Reads program. The program began with an introduction from RoundTable…

Robert James Johnson’s ‘OUR / SELVES’ on display at Noyes Cultural Arts Center through Nov. 3
“OUR / SELVES,” an exhibition of paintings by artist Robert James Johnson, is now on view through Nov. 3 at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center’s Second Floor Gallery. The arts center is located at 927 Noyes St. Admission is free. The collection brings together emotionally and…

Bookends & Beginnings to host Black Voices: Who Gets to Tell the Story on Sept. 30
On Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 6 p.m., join six of Evanston’s Black writers for an engaging conversation where we’ll ask questions centering Black perspectives on who gets to tell our stories, who documents them, who publishes them, who reports them, whose stories become part of the…

New Mural Takes Shape in Downtown Chelsea
The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will welcome Chicago-based artist Rawooh, represented by Artist Replete Gallery, to Chelsea October 2–4 to create a new mural at the Palmer Park Pavilion. Rawooh will begin painting at approximately 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 3,…

Music First concert series brings local tunes to Evanston children
Eighteen-month-old Luca plays among the bubbles at a children’s concert at the First Congregational Church of Evanston. It is part of the church’s Music First free concert series, which promotes local musicians. It featured the Jeanie B! Trio. (Photos by Richard Cahan.) Music…

New sidewalk mural celebrates newly opened Northlight Theatre
A city-funded ground mural titled Encore was completed Sept. 21 in Evanston’s Entertainment District. The city spent $24,000 on parking, directional signs, sidewalk decals, garage posters, design services, printing, installation and the mural itself, said Paul Zalmezak, the…

Read all about it! Northlight’s ‘The Front Page’ is a marvelous opener for new theater
Northlight Theatre is presenting its inaugural production of The Front Page at its new Evanston location through October 25, featuring a cast of local actors in a meticulously rendered 1920s newsroom setting. Read all about it! Northlight’s ‘The Front Page’ is a marvelous opener…

Evanston, Ill.’s Black history archive takes on a new fight over reparations
The Shorefront Legacy Center, a small archive in a church basement in Evanston, Ill., collects papers and objects that tell the history of the city's Black community.

Former ETHS educator takes constructive approach at home
The RoundTable’s Two-Minute House Walk column takes readers inside some of Evanston’s most distinctive dwellings. We aim to showcase the history, style, architecture and design of homes throughout the city, from grand lakefront residences to cozy coach houses, modern apartments…