Spotlighting the many West Side community news and happenings
Celebrating International Jazz Day
While jazz started in New Orleans, Louisiana, it expanded to Chicago when musicians moved up north. New Orleans native Louis Armstrong lived in Chicago in the 1920s, developing the city’s jazz legacy, along with names like Lil Hardin Armstrong, Earl “Fatha” Hines and Captain Walter Dyett. To celebrate such local legends, Chicago is hosting the 15th annual…
Riot Fest hosts Douglass Park community engagement meeting
Riot Fest hosted its 2026 Community Engagement Meeting on March 19, providing residents and local stakeholders with a comprehensive update on festival logistics, park impact and opportunities for involvement. Riot Fest at Douglass Park is a three-day, all-ages festival celebrating music, art and community, featuring national and local artists across multiple genres, carnival attractions, local vendors and community partnerships. Riot Fest will…
Austin at a Crossroads: What Housing Trends Reveal About the Neighborhood’s Direction
For a long time, the story of Austin was defined almost entirely by what left. Residents, businesses, investment, population. The numbers made for grim reading year after year. But something has started to shift, and the housing data is one of the more honest ways to see it. According to a price index maintained by…
Kenn Cook’s loving view of the West Side
#MyWestSideStory is a testament to the enduring strength of Chicago’s Westside, a visual diary that captures the soul of the community. Through my lens, I seek not just to document faces but to reveal lives in full: the struggles, the triumphs, and the undeniable resilience that defines this place. This project is a love letter…
Entertainment Industry Apprenticeship Program trains Chicago apprentices for film and tv careers
Chicago teens and young adults are getting a direct path into film and television careers thanks to the new Entertainment Industry Apprenticeship Program, a hands-on training initiative launched this year by Hollywood producer and South Side native Danita Patterson. Through Destiny Outreach’s Dreams and Destiny curriculum, apprentices receive industry-level workshops, professional development and paid placements…
BUILD’s 8th annual art show celebrates young creatives
The Austin-based violence prevention and youth development organization BUILD held its eighth annual youth art show on Nov. 15 at The Graff in Humboldt Park, where BUILD also has an office. A convening of works by community artists, BUILD staff and participants, the show celebrated the voices of local creatives, especially adolescent voices. “We create…
‘Bingo Hall’ brings Native American stories to the stage in Austin
Community members gathered at the Austin Town Hall Cultural Center for Cultural Conversations: Native American Heritage Month, featuring a staged reading of “Bingo Hall” and a discussion on identity, heritage, and belonging on Nov. 6. Dillon Chitto, a Mississippi Choctaw, Laguna and Isleta Pueblo playwright, joined Osage director Elise Bear for a panel discussion led…
Four Blues hosts 1st show Nov. 13
About a decade ago, Austin resident Bonni McKeown started writing her first screenplay. It turned into the movie “The Rhythm and the Blues,” which premiered last year and tells the story of West Side blues guitarist Eddie Taylor Sr. in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, “the crookedness of the music business and the hardships faced,…
Painting hope: Austin residents unite for transformative mural at A.C.T. Yoga
Antidote Inc. and Taproots Inc. brought the Austin community together to create a transformative mural at A.C.T. Yoga, turning a blank wall into a canvas for healing, storytelling and youth empowerment. The project is powered by Austin-based leaders including Courtney Gipson of Antidote Inc., Ruby Taylor of Taproots Inc., Alexandra Auguste and Jermaine Harris of…
Where art meets action: The One Lawndale Arts and Activism Incubator
October marks National Arts and Humanities Month, a celebration highlighting the impact of the arts on communities across the U.S. It’s a time when individuals and organizations are encouraged to engage in creative activities that inspire reflection, dialogue and social change. The One Lawndale Arts and Activism Incubator (OLAAI) empowers Black and Brown youth in…
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