A chill is in the air! Listen to the voices of revered writers Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison and Lorraine Hansberry ring out under the stars on an autumn night of outdoor movies. Set your intentions for the changing season with multidisciplinary artist Benji Hart and writer Kemi Alabi.

As Summer on the Arts Lawn comes to a close, join us for a final evening of outdoor film, creative activation and fall treats as we prepare to move our programs indoors until next summer.

FILMS:

GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1966, 29 min.)

From WTTW’s The Creative Person series. Ms. Brooks reads from her verses and discusses her life and works. Photographic depictions of the atmosphere are the environment in which her poetry takes place.

LORRAINE HANSBERRY: THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN THE CREATION OF DRAMA (1975, 35 min.)

This film presents Chicago born writer Lorraine Hansberry’s artistic growth and unique vision expressed in her own words and in her own voice. It traces Ms. Hansberry’s life from her childhood in Chicago to her premature death at the age of 34, her student days at the University of Wisconsin, her work as a fledgling journalist in New York’s Harlem, her life as a Greenwich Village housewife, and her breakthrough as the first woman playwright to be produced on Broadway.

THE WRITER IN AMERICA: TONI MORRISON (1978, 28 min.)

Acclaimed novelist Toni Morrison explains the early impulses and obstacles she confronted as a young writer. She reads excerpts from The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon.

Presented by Arts + Public Life and the Chicago Film Archives.