4th Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago's Hip-Hop Arts

Chicago Public Radio station WBEZ, presents its 4th Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago's Hip-Hop Arts.  A jam packed festival featuring a street art and graffiti exhibition curated by the Believe Inn, documentary films, t-shirts by Grime Time magazine,  live painting, DJ sets, breakdancing, and more.

This year the festival is being held at Metro just a block north of Wrigley Field.  The afternoon portion from noon to 6pm is free to attend.  The evening portion is a ticketed event featuring a breakdance battle.  This should be a fun afternoon.  Check out the entire schedule of events here.

4th Annual Winter Block Party for Chicago's Hip-Hop Arts
at Metro
3730 N Clark St
Saturday, January 21, 2012

FREE festival from noon to 6pm
Breakdance battle ($15) from 8 to 11pm

Sticker show and Martha Cooper at Maxwell Colette Gallery

Last night, Chicago's Maxwell Colette Gallery opened a show based on DB Burkeman's extensive sticker art collection in conjunction with the book Stickers: Stuck Up Piece of Crap, which he published last year  containing images of thousands of stickers. Today Saturday, both Burkeman and legendary documentary photographer Martha Cooper will be signing books at the gallery from 1 to 3 pm.  Martha Cooper is the co-author of the seminal graffiti book, Subway Art, as well as the author of documentary books ranging from Street Play, the Hip-Hop Files, and Going Postal.

Martha was out here in Chicago a few years ago for the release party for the 25th anniversary edition of Subway Art.

That was a lot of fun.  Today's show and signing should be just as great.

DB Burkeman and Martha Cooper book signing
at Maxwell Colette Gallery
908 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL

Saturday, January 21, 2012
1 to 3 pm

The sticker show itself, Stuck Up: A Selected History of Alternative & Pop Culture Told Through Stickers will be on view today through March 3, 2012

Thor

Thor, originally uploaded by fotoflow / Oscar Arriola.

I submitted this photo of my friend Thor for the You Are Beautiful show that opened this past weekend at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. You Are Beautiful is a non-profit campaign that started in Chicago close to a decade ago. People around the world have been spreading this simple message in many forms including signs, stickers, street art, and large-scale installations. There'll be an opening reception tonight Wednesday, January 18, 2012. More info here... www.missionculturalcenter.org/MCCLA_New/events.html#youAr... It should be a fun time.