Friday 8/20 – Thursday 8/26
“Gender is a drag,” Patti Smith once said. Her comment is the stepping-off point for Mindy Faber’s short video poem “The Man Within Me.” It’ll be screened with two more of her videos and work by Alexandra Halkin and Deb Ellis, Paula Froehle, and Vivian Yu at Illinois’ Own: 1999 Illinois Arts Council Media Arts Fellowship Recipients. The free Chicago Filmmakers-sponsored event starts at 7 in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington (312-744-6630).
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The etiquette of communicating with people with disabilities sounds a lot like common sense. According to Natural Ties, a nonprofit group that brings the disabled and nondisabled together socially, you should speak directly to the person you want to address, listen attentively, and treat them with the proper respect. The group also warns against leaning on a person’s wheelchair, which is “generally considered annoying.” Today the group will hold its annual Summer Bash from 3 to 6 at Elliot Park, on the lakefront between Hamilton and Greenleaf in Evanston. It’s free; bring a side dish or dessert. Call 847-475-5501.
Has “outsider” art gone the way of “alternative” music? Today a group of collectors and curators will discuss the issue at a free panel discussion called Nobody’s Outside Anymore: The De-Marginalization of Outsider Art and Its Role in the Mainstream Critical Mass. It’s at 7 at Intuit: the Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, 756 N. Milwaukee (312-243-9088).
