Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival this weekend!

As you may have noticed, we have been very busy throwing together a stellar festival called the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, which kicks off today at 4! We have been getting a lot of wonderful press about the fest, including from The Huffington Post and The Reader, which we are very excited about! But in the midst of all the planning, we have also been putting together our website which we are pleased to announce has officially been launched! Go on over and take a look: we have announcements, a comprehensive events listing page to keep you up-to-date, a directory of local businesses and tons of info about the arts in Logan Square.  We are quite proud of the new site and hope you pop on over, take a look and tell your friends. Are you an artist or business in Logan Square that promotes the arts? Get listed on our directory for free! Just visit the website and submit a directory listing. Got an arts event in Logan Square? Submit that on the website and we will help get the word out! 

While you are visiting the site, be sure to check out the info about getting your Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival wristband, it’s not too late, and for only $10, you get admission to all three days, along with numerous discounts at local restaurants, stores and services. It's like a special little Logan Square bracelet that rewards you beyond the festival and all throughout the neighborhood! We are so excited about this year's festival --over 30 independently-curated art galleries, numerous performances, a music line-up that can't be missed and culinary delights that you can wash down with some Revolution brews and Lula sangria.

MAAF is host to numerous performances this weekend many of which will be at the new Logan Square-Avondale’s Arts Center in the historic Hairpin Lofts, located at 2810 N. Milwaukee. The Arts Center will be open to the public, showcasing dance, theater, performance arts and music in addition to Manuel Cinema's shadow puppetry projection (which you should all know about!) Check out the lineup for the Arts Center on MAAF's site!

"The Porch" by Margaret Rogers 

Part of "Calling Home

Among the dozens of galleries that will be lining Milwaukee Avenue and filling up empty spaces, there are a few we would like to highlight! At Pierre's bakery parking lot, check out Neighborhood Gift Chain directed by Woman Made Gallery, where you create and exchange small art objects and take a photo in the photo booth. At our gallery at 2648 N Milwaukee, Oscar Martinez has curated Symbols, Myths and Metaphors, an exhibition of outstanding Chicago-based Latin American Artists. Calling Home is an exhibition of print-based works examining the theme of home and identity and how the notion of home changes in response to foreclosures, natural disasters and immigration. And the lot by Milwaukee and Logan will be transformed into a HUGE outdoor sculpture garden (the largest in CHICAGO to be exact!) for Sea of Sculptures!


Another special event we are excited about is Around the World in Eighty Hours at Nothin' Less Cafe. We all already love that little cafe for the inventive coffee drinks inspired by flavors from around the world and this weekend, as part of the festival, Nothin’ Less, (located at 2642 N. Milwaukee) will also become a stage for international music, dance, and martial arts.

So take advantage of what is supposed to be a sunny and gorgeous weekend and come out to the festival, support these artists, musicians and local restaurants.

Where else can you experience so much art in one place? 

What:  Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival

When: this weekend, July 29-31, Fri. 4-11, Sat. & Sun. noon-11

Where: Along N. Milwaukee Ave. between Kimball and California in beautiful Logan Square

Cost: $5 suggested donation per day or all 3 days for $10

--Brooke Herbert

www.brookeherbert.com