Brighter days: spring theater and arts

Though snow is again on the forecast for Chicago this week, spring was definitely in the air the day I visited Arts of Life (AoL) for my Spring Theater and Arts feature story. Birds were chirping, plenty of people were out in T-shirts and shorts, and the colorful artwork being made in the studio was positively buzzing. 

The organization, which provides artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities space to expand their practice, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with programming all year long. Opening March 28 is a group exhibition, “What they said,” co-organized by Bob Faust and Nick Cave of Facility at AoL’s Circle Contemporary gallery. Like all exhibitions there, works by AoL artists will be on view beside artists from the greater community. “We wanted to find artists, Arts of Life artists, as well as younger, emerging artists from our network that we can put in conversation with one another visually,” Faust told me. He and Cave were delighted to learn that when they approached artists in their networks, presenting the AoL artist they wanted to pair them with, the artists immediately understood the connection. 

“We’re connecting folks through primarily a formal lens of choice, with the hope that when they’re in the same room together, this opportunity during the opening just allows folks to get to know one another a little better and maybe be fueled by each other,” Faust said. Works on view will vary wildly in medium, from colored pencil and marker to hair extensions and beads. “It’s not a great commercial project, it’s a great social project at the end of the day.”

The rest of our Spring Arts section is also bursting with dynamism, from Reader staffer Charli Renken’s celebration of Chicago’s drag kings to theater and dance editor Kerry Reid’s piece on the vital role of our performing arts coverage to Kat Sachs’ feature on the 24th annual Chicago Palestine Film Festival. By the time you pick up this issue, spring will have officially sprung (hopefully Mother Nature gets the memo soon). With the dawning of the new season—and its promise of warmer weather, brighter days, and new life—there’s no better time to get out into the city and explore our cultural offerings.