PROGRAMS + EVENTS

APL welcomes audiences to participate in free programs, events, workshops, and performances that showcase South Side artists. We host, collaborate, and produce public programs with artistic communities that reflect the cultural vibrancy of the South Side.

ABOUT

Arts + Public Life has partnered with an extensive network of artists and art organizations over the past decade to welcome a mass audience of visitors to our year-round free public events since the opening of APL’s first home—the Arts Incubator in 2013.

Our programs range from live music performances and film screenings to artist talks, game nights, family yoga, storytelling showcases, and maker workshops.

A woman in a brown dress singing into a microphone on a stand, performing outdoors at night with speakers and a laptop on a table, surrounded by trees and streetlights.

Happening in 2025…

Old Town School of Folk Music's Fireflies

Introduce your child to the world of music with Old Town School of Folk Music's Fireflies, the perfect place to connect to music and socialize. The early childhood music program introduces children to sound and play through the Earth, Wind, & Fire songbook. Fireflies are part of Old Town School's Music Moves initiative, which serves community partners located in south and west side neighborhoods.

First Monday Jazz on the Arts Lawn

This summer, we’ll bring back our beloved First Monday Jazz to the Arts Lawn,

Outline of a calendar with a grid and two rings at the top.

Arts + Public Life Programming Highlights Include:

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First Monday Jazz

Launched in 2013, the First Monday Jazz series is APL’s longest running program, and has featured both established and emerging Chicago artists on the first Monday of every month on the Arts Block, including Dee Alexander, Junius Paul, Yaw Agyeman, Sam Trump, avery r. young & de deacon board, Bomba con Buya, Ugochi, and many many more. To celebrate the five year milestone of First Monday Jazz in 2019, Arts + Public Life partnered with the Jazz Institute of Chicago to dedicate an entire year of its First Monday Jazz programming to women artists and women-led musical projects and programs.

Never So Free

Never So Free: Black Queer Art + Assembly in Chicago invited seven multidisciplinary artists to explore the artistic legacies of queer, Black art-making spaces in Chicago through a series of salons, archival presentations, field trips, and creative activations that affirm the critical role of dedicated spaces for queer Black artists. This innovative program engaged over 20 organizations and artists in a sustained focus on space-making, culminating in a public showcase of the artists’ offerings in December.

Promotional graphic for "Never So Free," a Black Queer Art and Assembly event in Chicago for 2024. Features artists Kemi Alabi, Alexandra Antoine, Benji Hart, India Martin, Natasha Moustache, Thair, and Cai Thomas. Includes colorful graphics of city skyline, moon, stars, and logos of UChicago Arts, Arts & Public Life, and Terra Foundation. Bold and colorful text stands out on a black background.
People sitting on yoga mats in a park, facing a wooden pavilion, surrounded by trees and greenery.

Community Yoga

Arts + Public Life partners with South Side creative entrepreneurs and certified yoga instructors to offer free weekly and monthly community yoga classes throughout the year for all ages and experience levels, both virtually and at our spaces on the Arts Block.

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Committed Knitters

Committed Knitters is a volunteer-based group that goes to Cook County Jail every Sunday for a few hours to teach knitting and crocheting to the women serving their time. As a long-standing Arts + Public Life keyholder partner, they meet bi- weekly on Wednesdays at the Arts Incubator Flex Space to build a sense of community through knitting, crocheting, the sharing of stories and pleasant bites, along with birthday celebrations complete with singing and impromptu dancing.

Two people knitting with blue needles and green yarn.
Person playing a drum surrounded by musical instruments in a grassy outdoor setting

Homecoming

Homecoming invited Washington Park residents and neighborhood commuters to unwind between work and home in Washington Park’s newest “third space.” For two days, attendees enjoyed a unique soundscape, free books, refreshments, and card and board games while experimenting with APL’s first outdoor installation, ode to rhumboogie, a sound sculpture created by Chicago artists ebere agwuncha and Josué Esaú, and relaxing on the new suite of outdoor furniture designed by students of APL’s Design Apprenticeship Program II.

Interested in collaborating with Arts + Public Life to present meaningful work to the Washington Park and surrounding South Side communities?

Use the form to submit your inquiry!