‘Girls rule’: Teen-led event offers inspiration, empowerment
“No Scrubs” by TLC and “Déjà vu” by Olivia Rodrigo echoed through a speaker as dozens of young girls sang along at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center. Nearly 100 girls from around Illinois participated Saturday in Girls Who Lead, a day of empowering workshops hosted by the founder of the Her Rising nonprofit, Cherie Animashaun, who is a junior at Niles West High School. Animashaun has been hard at work distributing her workbooks – Compass: Her…
Bookends & Beginnings battles pandemic effects and Amazon’s giant shadow
When Nina Barrett first visited Bookman’s Alley, the quaint downtown Evanston bookstore tucked away in an alley off Sherman Avenue, she never imagined she’d be writing the store’s next chapter…
Mudlark Theater presents ‘I’m Smiling Beneath This Mask’ May 27-June 2
Mudlark Theater, an Evanston-based youth theater company that presents new, youth-centered stories, is pleased to present “I’m Smiling Beneath This Mask,” which will be performed outdoors in Evanston’s Ridgeville Park,…
Evanston’s Umbrella Arts Festival celebrates local Asian, South Asian, Pacific Island American community
Editors’ note: Full disclosure, this story is written by contributor Sam Molitor, a high school student who is related to the event’s organizers. For more information on the rest of…
Friends of the Robert Crown Center transfers another $600,000 to City of Evanston
Friends of the Robert Crown Center (FRCC) announced Monday that it transferred another $600,000 to the City of Evanston for the new Robert Crown Community Center, bringing the total transferred…
books
Bookends & Beginnings’ top 10 April bestsellers
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. Narratives from the past, present and future overlap through time travel, the beauty of the North American wilderness and the song of the violin. Fans of The Glass Hotel…
Robert Crown hosts literacy carnival – a fun event with a serious purpose
In addition to the lively and spirited activity outdoors on Robert Crown Community Center’s athletic fields May 8, there was another inviting, free event indoors on the center’s second floor: From 9 a.m. until noon,…
Join one of the many book groups at the Evanston Public Library
The Evanston Public Library offers a wide range of book discussion groups for community members. Check out the many offerings with details below. Better Off Read Book Group The genres read run the gamut from…
Book Bird: Hidden treasures of the Evanston Public Library
My colleague sent the email first thing in the morning. “TOTALLY OPTIONAL, but if you’d like to participate in RAILS’ collection challenge to show off unusual items on social media, I’m happy to facilitate.” Come…
Questions for Nina Kraus
Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health. Her research has found that our lives…
Bookends & Beginnings goes beyond the page with author workshops
When Nina Barrett opened Bookends & Beginnings in 2014, she had hoped one day to offer accessible programming to readers. Barrett, an author herself, said she wanted to raise the profile of Evanston’s writers. “There…
Former Evanston teen librarian finds his true calling as a children’s book author
Evanston-born author Jarrett Dapier says he thinks he was always a children’s book writer, even before he realized it. For high school creative-writing prompts, for example, Dapier said he tended toward “absurdist, Shel Silverstein sort…
Book review: The year of living frugally
Food. Toiletries. Light bulbs. A few pairs of shoes for the kids. How much other stuff does a family truly need in one year? That question – and the consumption of household items in general…
MORE ART & LIFE
Thursday Night Markets return to Fountain Square this summer
Downtown Evanston is excited to host the second summer of Thursday Night Markets, an outdoor market featuring local shops, artists and makers. All are invited to spend…
The week in photos: May 16-23
This week’s spring photography is all purple and green, with falling lilac pedals and a “green alley.” Neither rain nor mud hindered Saturday’s rodeo-themed Dillo Day…
Evanston Garden Fair returns after pandemic hiatus
This weekend saw the return of the annual Evanston Garden Fair, which took a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Located in Independence Park at Central…
Celebrate the opening of the Gibbs-Morrison Teen Center with ribbon-cutting
Over the past few months, the Gibbs-Morrison Cultural Center at 1823 Church St. has gone through a transformation with a new Teen Center added for high…
Film review: Elegant escape to ‘Downton Abbey’ offers movie therapy at its best
Downton Abbey: A New Era is the second full-length sequel to the popular 2010-2015 PBS series. This Focus Features film, written by Julian Fellowes and directed by…
MORE ART & LIFE
How does anyone stay married, ever?
Dear Gabby, I’m 25 years old and I’ve recently started dating a new guy, David, and he’s pretty awesome all round. We have SO much in common, and the things we don’t have in common make it interesting. His parents are immigrants from Guatemala and Peru. My background is waspy and honestly, I’ve never had to worry too much about money, while his parents worked minimum wage jobs. We have pretty different relationships…
No stopping this rodeo: Dillo Day returns
Neither rain nor mud nor cooler temperatures hindered Saturday’s rodeo-themed Dillo Day music festival, which took over the lakefill behind the Norris University Center on Northwestern’s campus. “Dillo” is an abbreviation of armadillo and this year’s fest, the first in-person event since 2019, was a 50th anniversary celebration. The original Armadillo Day was a group of Texan NU undergrads getting together in the 1970s to reconnect to home through music, according to a…
Portrait of an elm: The mother tree in Maple Court
People walking by on the sidewalk stop in their tracks and look up with their mouths open, craning their necks to see its crown. Some run right up to it and press their entire bodies up against the rough bark, stretching their arms out to the side with hands splayed to reach as far around as possible. Others take photos from different angles, stepping back on the parkway or even to the other…
Organizations join forces for boozy art crawl
Community members flocked to Main and Dempster streets on a week night to sip craft beverages while perusing the work of local artists at the Evanston Arts & Craft Beverage Crawl. “Many people were eager to see and buy art, and the stores being able to share their space made a great way to bring new people in,” said Katherine Gotsick, Executive Director at the Main-Dempster Mile, the community organization that hosted the…
Evanston performer finds ‘we are all connected through art’
Claudia Renteria began her acting career when she was 12. In Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico, Renteria began attending summer school, which included theater class. It is that love of art that helped her through the many changes she has made in her life. “Theater has saved my life many times,” she said. “Once I started taking the classes, I loved it.” The RoundTable sat down with Renteria to talk about the impact of art…
The Weekender: The Roundtable Roundup
Happy Friday! Looks like a mix of sun and rain in the forecast this weekend. Rain or shine, I’ll be stopping by the Evanston Garden Fair where members of the Lincolnwood Garden Club will be selling plants from their own gardens. I remember my grandmother once told me her favorite plants in her sprawling urban garden were the ones that had been passed over the fence by neighbors eager to share their gardening…
Evanston Art Center will showcase short films by local film-makers on May 20
The Fourth Annual Side/Lot Evanston Experimental Video Showcase features short, experimental videos by film and video makers who live or work in the Chicagoland region. The showcase aims to present short, experimental work by diverse creators, highlighting their unique visions and approaches to media. This screening is free and open to the public. The screening will begin after dark outside on a large wall at the Evanston Art Center. The evening will start…
Levy Senior Center to host Fran Randall concert Friday
The Levy Senior Center Foundation is proud to bring the talents of young, award-winning classical musicians to the Levy Senior Center. The outstanding lineup continues to honor the memory of Fran Randall who loved classical music and played an important role in opening the current center. All are welcome. Join the Levy Senior Center in the Maple Room at 300 Dodge Ave. this Friday, May 20, at 1:30 p.m. for a special spring classical concert! This in-person Fran Randall concert will…
Eye on Evanston: Thoughts on Design | An overdue salute to Diane Korling, a founding member of Design Evanston
When Design Evanston published its book Evanston’s Design Heritage in 2020, one important planner was missing from the collection of essays: Diane Korling was not available to be interviewed for the book because of a serious injury. We’ve since researched and written her story and belatedly present it here. In 1980, Diane was a founding member of Design Evanston. She devoted her career to environmental concerns focusing on the location and design impacts…
Pre-Dillo Day prep: NU and city promote neighborliness
Dillo Day returns to Northwestern University this Saturday, May 21, and the lakefront festival is celebrating its 50th anniversary. To prepare, city and university officials hosted a virtual meeting with campus neighbors May 17 to review health and safety concerns surrounding the all-day event, which is expected to draw 12,000 people. Organized by the student group Mayfest Productions, Dillo Day is the largest student-run music festival in the country. Dave Davis, Executive Director…
Paws and Claws Rescue will celebrate 2nd anniversary with a community brunch on June 4
On Saturday, June 4 at 10:00 a.m. Paws and Claws Rescue in Evanston will be celebrating their two-year anniversary at the Firehouse Grill patio at 750 Chicago Ave. All members of the Evanston community are invited to stop by for brunch and coffee, and celebrate the 650 lives they have saved in just 24 months!Founder and Executive Director Ashlynn Boyce said, “Our life-saving work over the last few years would not have been…
Evanston Garden Fair on for this weekend
Local is best when it comes to shopping for garden plants, so mark your calendars for May 20 and 21 when members of the Lincolnwood Garden Club of Evanston will again offer plants from their own gardens for sale at the Evanston Garden Fair. Back after a two-year hiatus, the Evanston Garden Fair features homegrown perennials plus a selection of herbs and vegetables ready to plant or pot up in your own yard.…
Former Evanston child actor off to college, ‘balancing who I am as a person now’
In October 2016, Evanston child actor Eloise Lushina was on her way to Kentucky with her parents to film the Netflix horror movie Family Blood when she was hit by the enormity of missing out on Halloween. She wanted to dress up in costume with her friends, but her mother said she didn’t think there was time. “I wanted to try to somehow balance a normal life with the acting life from a young age,” said Lushina, now a…
Theater review: ‘Athena’ is about fencing – and much more
Athena, now playing at the Writers Theatre, is all about fencing and not about fencing at all. The stage is a piste – the official flat strip or platform where fencers compete. The audience is seated above and on both sides of the action. The two teenage fencers spend most of their time on stage in fencing gear. Action, action and more action is happening all the time. The conversations, though, are about anything…
The Art of Making Art: James Deeb
When you look at an oil painting by James Deeb, expect to see the work — the massive amounts of paint this artists uses to create his unique pieces.
Evanston Public Library accepting submissions for literary magazine
The 10th Ward Lit magazine is a digital literary magazine edited and published by the Evanston Public Library. The magazine looks to showcase the diverse artistic voices of Evanstonians. The title 10th Ward Lit was chosen because the library strives not only to be a space for residents of all nine Wards, but offers a “10th Ward” for imagination and growth. “Healing” will be the theme for the upcoming issue. Submissions will be…
Main-Dempster Mile and Evanston Made host Arts and Craft Beverage Crawl
Visit pop-up art galleries in stores all over Main, Dempster and Chicago Avenue while enjoying tastings of Sketchbook beer, FEW Spirits and Kombucha Brava from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 19. Here’s what your ticket covers: Three hours of inspiring local artists’ work, delicious MDM boozy beverages and fun food pairings, a goody bag, some live entertainment along the way! All profits from the event will benefit Evanston Made, a nonprofit arts…
Levy Lecture: ‘Chicago by Gaslight’ with Rich Lindberg
“Chicago rebuilt quickly after the great fire of Oct. 8, 1871. The fire proved to be the catalyst that jolted the city forward from the status of raw and rugged frontier village into a Gilded Age metropolis within the span of one generation.” So began historian and author Rich Lindberg’s virtual Levy Lecture, Chicago by Gaslight: A History of Chicago’s Netherworld, 1880-1920. The May 10 presentation, based on research compiled for his book…
Do I have to offer to pay?
Dear Gabby, I just got a new pair of glasses with new frames a week ago and while many people have remarked on them, my husband hasn’t seemed to notice something brand new that sits on his wife’s nose. Or, if he has, he hasn’t commented. I’m a little put off. I mean, really? How long am I supposed to wait until I say something to him? Seeing Red Dear Seeing Red, Totally…
Butterfield’s bronze horse grazes in memory of Evanston philanthropist
Duna is the name of the large, grayish bronze horse set out in 1998 to graze in Oldberg Park, the triangular green tract where Elgin Road, Clark Street and Sherman Avenue come together. By well-known and much-in-demand contemporary artist Deborah Butterfield, this sculpture was created and cast in bronze from pieces of found wood, as are most of her sculptures. The accompanying plaque says the artwork was given “in memory of Catherine R.…
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