WBEZ's Fourth Annual Event Series
The Off-Air Series is a production of Chicago Public Media (WBEZ-Chicago) which aims to extend your WBEZ listening experience to nights on the town through collaborations with our Partners and friends – come see what you’ve been hearing and celebrate Chicago!
Founded in 2008, Off-Air is now in its fourth season – presenting ten unique experiences, one each month, from September through June. Over 20,000 people have attended since the Series’ inception and this year we aim to impress. So come join us! Taking place throughout the city and spanning diverse topics, each event promises to be different and something not to miss – with discounted tickets for WBEZ members.
Click here for tickets: $15/general admission, $12/WBEZ members, and $10/students (with valid ID) unless otherwise noted below.
Chicago Chef Battle 2011
SEPTEMBER 25 at 4:00pm, doors at 3:00pm
Goose Island Brewery Loading Dock (1800 W. Fulton Street)
It’s become a tradition! Public Radio fans love food. Public Radio fans love beer. We kick off the Off-Air Series with the now annual WBEZ battle where five local chefs will be challenged to create a dish using one of Goose Island’s beers as an ingredient. The audience will have the chance to taste each dish and be the judge. Prizes awarded to the winning chef! Click here for more information.
The Art of the Political: Can the Stage Be More Than Entertainment?
OCTOBER 9 at 7:00pm, doors at 6:00pm
Victory Gardens Biograph Theater (2433 North Lincoln Avenue)
Three playwrights of color will present a showcase of new works, commissioned specifically for this event on the subjects of race and class in America. These plays will be performed by select Chicago companies alongside an in-depth conversation hosted by WBEZ’s Natalie Moore to explore theater’s role in weaving politics and art together. Click here for more information.
The Chicago Manual: More than a Century of Style
NOVEMBER 8 at 7:00pm, doors at 6:00pm
International House at University of Chicago (1414 East 59th Street)
Now in its 16th edition, The Chicago Manual of Style is the must-have reference for everyone who works with words. Attendees will explore both the history and modern relevance of this authoritative text in an era where instantaneous global publication is only a tap, text or tweet away. WBEZ’s Alison Cuddy, UChicago scholars, and University of Chicago Press editors will discuss how the Manual continues to guide and adapt to the evolution of publishing. Click here for more information.
What’s Your Art? Celebrating the Art Centers of Chicago
DECEMBER 3 from Noon – 5:00pm
Chicago Cultural Center (78 East Washington)
From Hyde Park to Pilsen to Ravenswood, there are amazing places of art exhibition, classes and public events fostering the development of art and culture. Twelve Chicago Art Centers will gather together in one place to offer live demonstrations, hands-on activities and workshops. Original artwork from Chicago artists will be on sale–alongside a unique wrapping station–so items can be purchased as holiday gifts. FREE. Click here for more information.
The 4th Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago’s Hip-Hop Arts
JANUARY 21 from Noon – 6:00pm (daytime); 8:00pm ticketed event, doors at 7:30pm
Metro (3730 North Clark Street)
Over 2,000 people attended the event last year, and this year’s all day free party will again feature a visual art and graffiti gallery, breakdancing exhibitions, a film screening, literary event, music all afternoon by some of Chicago’s best DJs, the Hip-Hop Barbershop, and more. No ticket required! Then join us for the 2012 culminating event "Legends of the BodyRock: An All-City 3-on-3", beginning at 8pm. This retrospective on breakdancing in Chicago will feature interviews and archive footage, live guests, and the semi-final and final rounds of a live head-to-head “3 on 3” dance battle hosted by the Legendary Brickheadz. Click here for more information.
So Many Ways to Tell a Story!
FEBRUARY 8 at 6:00pm, doors at 5:30pm
Chicago Children’s Museum (700 East Grand Avenue)
With words, songs, movements and sounds – there are so many ways to tell a story! Participating children help craft the night’s story then sit back and see it performed live. The evening’s storytellers include Justin Roberts and Oba William King, who will join innovative Chicago-area movement and sound artists to bring everything to life. Tickets are $10/general admission (children and adults), $8/WBEZ and CCM members & their children. Click here for more information.
Chicago Sounds in the 80s: Underground Incubator
MARCH 6 at 6:00pm, doors at 5:00pm
MCA Theater (220 E Chicago Avenue)
Sound Opinions hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot – two of the finest and best-recognized pop music writers in the nation – sit down with living legends from all three of Chicago's musical movements of the 1980s: house, industrial/Wax Trax, and indie underground punk to explore the music and politics of 1980s Chicago. Click here for more information.
Global Activism Expo 2012
APRIL 28 from Noon – 6:00pm
UIC Forum (725 West Roosevelt Road)
Derived from the “Global Activism Series” hosted by Worldview’s Jerome McDonnell, the Global Activism Expo has become WBEZ's largest event of the year! This remarkable celebration – complete with music & food – brings together literally hundreds of Chicago-area global activists, each providing ways to immediately get involved and join the efforts Chicagoans are making every day to improve the quality of life in communities around the globe. FREE. Click here for more information.
Drive-In Double Feature! Zombie Apocalypse
MAY 17 at 8:00pm and 10:00pm
Cascade Drive-In (1100 E. North Avenue, West Chicago, IL)
It is vital that you stay in your homes… unless you’re venturing out to join Filmspotting hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen, for a Zombie Apocalypse Double Feature! Don’t miss George Romero’s groundbreaking 1978 film Dawn of the Dead and Edgar Wright’s 2004 genre send-up Shaun of the Dead on the big screen at Cascade Drive-In, Illinois’ largest outdoor cinema. Price is per car. Click here for more information.
Superheroes: Hollywood’s Rewriting of History
JUNE 1 at 7:00pm, doors at 6:00pm
Victory Gardens Biograph Theater (2433 North Lincoln Avenue)
You couldn't adapt William Shakespeare's Hamlet, change the Ghost of his father to a zombie, have Hamlet save Ophelia and live happily ever after, still calling it Hamlet could you? Hosted by WBEZ’s Gabriel Spitzer and featuring prominent Chicago comic book illustrators and writers, join us to explore the use of comic books celebrating costumed crime fighters as adaptive literature for other visual media (such as film, television, and theater), asking the question: At what point do these changes require a new character name rather than a direct attribution to the work of the original authors? Click here for more information.
The 2011-2012 season is sponsored in-part by:
