Wednesday
May 22, 2013
6:00 pm

Blackstone Branch Library
4904 S. Lake Park Ave.
In the Auditorium

Dreaming in French highlights the formative power of life in Paris in the lives of three American icons – Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, Susan Sontag, and Angela Davis. Their brief but powerful encounters with French intellectual life in their early years served to shape their later callings in life – politically, culturally, and intellectually.  Join author Alice Kaplan to explore this French influence on American history.

Alice Kaplan is the John M. Musser Professor of French at Yale University. An award-winning author, her works include French Lessons, The Interpreter, and The Collaborator which won the LA Times Book Award.

For more information about the Institute or restorative justice, check out the links under Juvenile Justice on the right hand side of our blog.

Reblogged from The Socially Responsible Practitioner:

"The Fenger case shows that restorative justice practices can be real, tangible vehicles for making city schools better by offering a pathway to peace for students willing to learn. It's our job to remember there are students all over urban America waiting for their chance to play a bigger role in their surroundings."

Clinical/community psychologist Elena Quintana, Ph.D., Executive Director of the…

Read more… 447 more words

 

Juvenile Justice -
Restoring the Balance

 
 March 27, 2013 • Wednesday • 6 pm

School suspensions and expulsions are at an all-time high. But do they really make schools any safer? And these measures disproportionately impact students of color, students with disabilities, and other historically disenfranchised youth.

The Mansfield Institute of Social Justice is studying restorative justice practices as an alternative. They are working in two Chicago Public Schools to create a climate that is healthy, restorative, and empowering. Join us for a look at restorative justice methods and experience the power of the peace circle.

Co-sponsored by the Mansfield Institute of Social Justice and Transformation at Roosevelt University

featuring
architect and urban planner Marshall Brown

February 27, 2013 • Wednesday • 6 pm

Where most people see vacant land in the Washington Park neighborhood, architect and urban planner Marshall Brown sees open spaces ready for the enjoyment of its residents. Join us for a conversation with this visionary about new possibilities in this historic space.

Brown, an Assistant Professor at IIT and graduate of Harvard University’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning, has lectured as part of “The City of the Future” at the Chicago Humanities Festival and “Visionary Cities: Urban and Architectural Futures” at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Co-sponsored by Civic Knowledge Project, University of Chicago

Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg is no stranger to controversy. But he remains fascinated by the stir caused by A.J. Liebling’s dubbing of Chicago as “the Second City” in 1952. In this new release, You Were Never in Chicago, Steinberg examines his own encounters with the city, first as a young student at Northwestern’s School of Journalism and later as an established writer.

Join us as we view the city through the eyes of the movers and shakers that shape this city we call home.

57^th Street Books will have books onsite for sale

August Tye has been dancing and creating dance since she was a little girl. For the past twenty years she has shared that love of dance with hundreds of other young children and their families. Founded in 1993 by August, the Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD), formerly the Hyde Park School of Ballet, has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of Hyde Park and the larger Chicago dance community. I talked with her about her journey with dance and HPSD.

FOB: I read that you began your career as a dancer. Can you tell us more about the start of your dancing career?

AUGUST: I began creating dances when I was a little girl. By the time I was a teen, I was a teaching assistant. I studied and performed with the Kalamazoo Ballet where I remained for twelve (12) years. In 1992 I came to Chicago. I became the Ballet Mistress at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2005. I manage the dancers during a production, taking them through their daily practice and assisting the choreographer. I learn his work in order to continue it once he leaves. My job is to maintain the integrity of his choreography throughout the production. I’m also starting to do choreography for the Lyric. I worked on Carmen and more recently the production of Elektra.

FOB: What are you currently working on?

AUGUST: I’ll be working on “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” at Lyric this coming January. Right now I’m able to focus on The Nutcracker at HPSD.

FOB: So, why did you start HPSD?

AUGUST: I came to Chicago to train at the School of Chicago Ballet. When the owner decided to close, the board asked me to step in.  I was glad to do it but also nervous because I was so young. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do at the time but I made the commitment.

FOB: As a trained dancer, I know you’re very excited when alums of the program succeed on a professional level. Is that the focus of HPSD, to build a pipeline of professional dancers?

AUGUST: At the time we started, the board and I agreed that we really wanted anyone who wanted to dance, to have the opportunity. We don’t just produce professional dancers. Students develop life skills, discipline, friendships, and self-confidence. It was important to me to give back to others in ways that will build their future. That’s the kind of giving I experienced as a young child whose family couldn’t afford lessons.

FOB: When was the first HPSD production of The Nutcracker? How has it changed over the years? What draws so many to your production?

AUGUST: The first production in 1994 wasn’t a complete one but excerpts from it. Our first full production at Mandel Hall was in 1998 and this is our 14^th season. Our production is special because people have become so involved in its making. There’s a great team of volunteers who work on all facets of the production including making costumes for hundreds of cast members. There are whole families who are part of the onstage production especially the party scene. Parents of former students still participate!

FOB: Next year (2013) will be HPSD’s 20^th Anniversary. As you look back, what most amazes you about that longevity?

AUGUST: How fast 20 years go by! I’m proud of the steady growth and community support that we receive. At times fast growth has brought on its own growing pains but strong community and board support has helped us through it. A special celebration, “En Avant”, is scheduled for June 2013 at the Logan Center. Watch for the announcement of some very special guests.

Chicago Public Library and the Friends of Blackstone Library present “A Taste of the Nutcracker” featuring the Hyde Park School of Dance, Saturday, Dec. 8, 2012 at 10:30 am. Blackstone Library is located at 4904 S. Lake Park Ave.

HPSD’s 2012 production of “The Nutcracker” is Saturday, December 15^th, 2pm & 7pm and Sunday, December 16^th, 2pm. Visit the HPSD website for ticket information.

credit: Dmitry Samarov

Artist and writer Dmitry Samarov drove cabs for twelve years. He stopped this year. Samarov talks with FOB about his post-driving life.

FOB: You stopped driving a cab in June this year. What was it like to end that period of life for you?

DMITRY: I wrote about the end for Gadling – “Notes From A Retired Cab Driver”. When it came, I said goodbye to some of the cabbies I’d gotten to know and regular customers. But I don’t miss it at all. It’s such a different life being awake when other people are and not driving all night. I didn’t really think about not driving until the Kick Starter project. And then it seemed like a real possibility. I weighed a lot of factors like the survival of my personal relationships.

FOB: What was your Kick Starter project about?

DMITRY: I decided to do Kick Starter after my royalty check from the book wasn’t what I expected. So Kick Starter was replacement funds but then I began to think about it as a way to stop driving. It’s funding the finish of my second book. The way it works is that for different levels of support, you get a different reward, like a signed copy of a book or a picture I’ve already done or a requested picture. My most interesting request was for a picture of White Sox player Adam Dunn holding a copy of the children’s book Summer of the Monkeys. (Samarov illustrations)

FOB: There’s a film project with filmmaker John McNaughton. Tell us about that.

DMITRY: I met John through Tony Fitzpatrick. They wanted to make a film about my life but it’s turned into a TV show pilot. John has written almost a full season and a short clip about my last days driving is available now. I see myself consulting on this project but I have no acting aspirations. Maybe I’ll provide some artwork too.

FOB: What do you hope people will walk away with Wednesday night at Blackstone?

DMITRY: I’m always hoping to communicate the life of the city. I hope the audience recognizes the world they live in or at least some part of it. And I hope I’m not alone in what I see.

Friends of Blackstone Library presents Dmitry Samarov Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 in “Hack”, 6-7:30pm. Blackstone Library is located at 4904 S. Lake Park Ave. Blackstone Branch Library is part of the Chicago Public Library system.

credit: Dmitry Samarov

Artist and writer Dmitry Samarov enjoys people-watching. And he records what he sees on the printed page (or blog) and on canvas. Born in Moscow, Samarov immigrated to the US in 1978. After completing a degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he tried his hand at lots of different jobs while continuing with his art. He “lucked into” cab driving while in Boston and continued it here in Chicago until recently.

FOB: You are an artist by training and desire? What about writing?

DMITRY: I became a writer by accident. Driving a cab, the crazy day job, made me want to write. I heard so many stories that needed to be told. I made something of driving. It gave me exposure to all kinds of people and I like people watching.

FOB: What is it about watching and listening [to people] that you like?

DMITRY: As a creative person, I love seeing and recording others. It’s my job. That is, passing the stuff from the outside world to others. Maybe others will see something that they recognize.

FOB: What makes that recognition part important to you?

DMITRY: It’s what I do. It’s my job to show my viewers the world that they live in.

FOB: Are there larger lessons for people to draw from your work?

DMITRY: No, no larger conclusions. It’s not my role to draw bigger conclusions. I’m a recorder, not an interpreter. And the deeper meanings often come later.

FOB: How long have you been drawing?

DMITRY: Always. I doodled as a kid. I did caricature drawings of teachers and students in school.

FOB: You were born in the USSR. How did that influence you?

DMITRY: It makes me see things as an outsider because I am one. I was born in Moscow and moved to Boston in 1978. I’ve never been back but it’s not the same place since the 1990s.

Friends of Blackstone Library presents Dmitry Samarov Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012 in “Hack”, 6-7:30pm. Blackstone Library is located at 4904 S. Lake Park Ave. Blackstone Branch Library is part of Chicago Public Library system.

credit: Dmitry Samarov

As the start of the 2012-13 Despres Family Memorial Lecture Series nears, we’re happy to present the opening of a special exhibit featuring the works of our first presenter Dmitry Samarov. Mr. Samarov, an artist and painter trained at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is an astute observer of human nature. He records those observations in his debut book Hack: Stories From a Chicago Cab and on canvas.

The art exhibit will open at Blackstone Library on October 1, 2012 and run thru the end of the month. Samarov will read from Hack and share from his upcoming work on Wednesday, October 24^th. Join us.

sponsored by Friends of Blackstone Library

“View From A Chicago Cab”
an exhibit by Dmitry Samarov

I drove a cab in Chicago from 2003 to 2012. The artwork in this exhibition documents some of those days and nights behind the wheel. The gouache paintings of cabs were done on site at the O’Hare Airport Taxi Staging Area and the Yellow Cab garage, while the Sumi ink pieces were done from memory as illustrations for my book, Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab and my blog, Chicago Hack.

Together these pictures give some sense of an aspect of life in this city. The vehicles, drivers, and passengers of Chicago taxis occupied much of my time and thoughts for nine years. It is my hope that you’ll see something you know or recognize in them from your own experience as well.

Dmitry Samarov
September, 2012