Events Archive

Charity Event: Compass to Care’s Gold Ribbon Gala

Photo Credit: Adam Sturm (via Flickr)

The Compass to Care Childhood Cancer Foundation will be holding a gala to support children with cancer. All proceeds from the event will go to families of children who have cancer. The evening will include a cocktail reception, silent auction, music, and dancing.

Compass to Care’s Gold Ribbon Gala
Saturday, September 11, 2010
7:30 – 11:00 PM
1824 North Burling, Chicago, IL

Tickets are $75 in advance and $100 at the door. Online ticket sales will close 9/9/10.

Reserve your tickets here.

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Event: Angels with Tails Bucktown (Sun. 8/22)

As proud pet parents everywhere can confirm, there are few greater rewards than to experience the unwavering love of a shelter pet. PAWS Chicago knows this, and on August 22, they’ll help locals bring home the perfect canine or feline friend during the first annual Angels with Tails Bucktown adoption event.

Through their Angels with Tails program, PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving) aims to match animals with loving homes while bringing attention to the city’s homeless pet population. Over 50 stores along Bucktown’s Damen Avenue will team with local rescue groups to feature dogs, cats, puppies and kittens currently available for adoption.

Hundreds of adoptable pets are expected at the event. Even if you’re not currently looking for a new four-legged family member, the really adorable eye candy is reason enough to attend!

The Angels with Tails Bucktown Walking Tour will be held on Damen Avenue (between North Avenue and Webster Street) on Sunday, August 22 from noon to 4 p.m. To donate or learn more about PAWS and their work towards a “No Kill Chicago,” visit pawschicago.org.

Amy Phillips is a freelance writer whose work on local artists, style and design has appeared in LUXEInteriors + Design, Chicago Edition, as well as DailyBeauty Blog and NewBeauty magazine. Her cat is named Meow.

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Food Life: Chicago Gourmet (Sept. 24 – 26)

This weekend, thousands of music lovers will descend on Grant Park for the annual Lollapalooza music festival. Sigh. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Chicago hosted a festival for food-lovers too?

Behold! On September 24 to September 26, Bon Appetit will host Chicago Gourmet: A Celebration of Food and Wine. Local culinary stars (95 in all!) that include Rick Bayless, Graham Elliot Bowles, Stephanie Izard and Art Smith will provide demos, educational seminars and book signings. Enjoy beer and spirit tastings, meet the Bon Appetit editors and more! And maybe Lady Gaga will show up dress like a souffle! (Hey, you never know….)

For more information, visit their website and purchase tickets for the two-day event.

Judi Cutrone is a writer with Otherwise Incorporated for The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago, Magnificent Mile.  Check out her blog Judi. Clearly.

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Art: Exquisite Chicago Events (August)

We are pleased to present a list of our favorite art-programming events in Chicago for the upcoming month of August.  Happy summer from your friends at MIR Appraisal Services!

Fantastic Landscapes

August 2nd-October 1st

310 S. Michigan Avenue

Featuring Chicago photographers, sculptors, and painters who complicate and create new ideas concerning the art landscape genre.

Public Works Opening

August 6th, 6 p.m.-9 p.m.

Andrew Rafacz Gallery

835 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, IL 60607

Showcasing the works of Dan Funderburgh, with his “unabashed love for decorative arts”; Mike Perry, who believes that “the generating of piles is the sincerest form of creative process”; Nick Butcher and Nadine Nakanishi of Sonnenzimmer, who braid together inspiration from music and painting in the art of printmaking; and the experimental screenprinted posters of Yannick Desranleau and Chloe Lum from Seripop.

Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival

August 7th and 8th, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Dawes Park

Family activities, jazz and classical music in Evanston’s lovely Dawes Park.  A lakeside tradition for more than thirty years.

Summer Sounds—Jason Simon’s One-Minute Film Festival

August 13th, 9 p.m.-12 a.m.

Pritzker Garden

Art Institute of Chicago

Witness filmmaker Jason Simon’s presentation of a wide-range of films, each 60 seconds or less in length, from various contributors, in a “decidedly party atmosphere.”  Simon is accepting film submissions; details here: http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/event?EventID=7634&Program

Land Without End and Other Works by Theo Leffman

August 15th, Sunday exhibition tour, 1 p.m.

(Tours every Sunday through August 28th)

Alsdorf Gallery

The Block Museum, Northwestern University

Exhibition of Leffman’s masterful fiber artworks from the museum’s permanent collection.

Awareness Practice and Talk with Jackie Kazarian and Ginger Farley

August 18th, 12:15

Chicago Cultural Center

75 E. Washington Street

Chicago, IL 60602

As part of the exhibition Expect Nothing: New Works by Jackie Kazarian, this event features Kazarian and choreographer Ginger Farley in artistic communication with one another, as they “observe one another spontaneously moving and drawing with eyes closed.”

Gold Coast Art Fair

August 20th, noon-7 p.m.

August 21st, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

August 22nd, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Grant Park

For more than half a century, this “giant craft happening” annually offers free music, art events and children’s activities.

Ukranian Heritage Festival

August 21st-22nd, noon-10 p.m.

Smith Park

2526 West Grand Avenue

In its 27th year, this Ukranian cultural celebration offers music, dance, food, and arts and crafts.

Bucktown Arts Festival

August 28th-August 29th, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

Senior Citizens Memorial Park

2300 N. Oakley Avenue

The festival’s 25th anniversary art event features the works of visual artists, as well as music, dancing, poetry and more.

Containing Emotions: Chairs

Smart Museum of Art

August 29th, 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

As part of the exhibition Mid-Century: “Good Design” in Europe and America, 1850-1950, poet Matthias Regan leads a workshop in which poetic and philosophic excerpts from Lorine Niedecker, John Dewey, Gertrude Stein and Martin Heidegger will be considered in relation to our felt experience with everyday objects.  Free event, but advance registration necessary; contact Kristy Peterson at kristypeterson@uchicago.edu or 773.702.2351.

Jessica Savitz is a frequent Chicago art gallery and museum goer with MIR Appraisal Services, Inc. on Michigan Ave.


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Scene It: Transformers 3 Invades Chicago

Via AV Club

Aliens were among us in Chicago last weekend as filming for Transformers 3 continued on the Magnificent Mile. Shooting for the action flick began on Michigan Avenue earlier this month before moving on Monday to Wacker Drive, where onlookers got a Hollywood-style glimpse at some daring aerial maneuvers and on-ground stunts. Director Michael Bay told the Chicago Sun-Times that the scenes show the city under alien attack.

Via Crain's

Although the ensuing shutdown of Michigan Avenue traffic caused major disruptions, it’s worth the inconvenience: Filming here in Chicago is expected to boost the local economy by approximately $20 million. Not too shabby!

Via Crain's

While few plot details have been leaked on the third Transformers installment, we know that veterans Josh Duhamel and Shia LaBeouf are back, along with newcomer (and Megan Fox replacement) Rosie Huntington-Whitely. Chicagoans should also look out for the city’s iconic architectural backdrop and landmarks like the Michigan Avenue Bridge onscreen.

Transformers 3 will continue filming in the city through late August and is scheduled to hit theaters on July 1, 2011. You can follow the film’s progress here.

Amy Phillips is a freelance writer whose work on local artists, style and design has appeared in LUXE Interiors + Design, Chicago Edition, as well as DailyBeauty Blog and NewBeauty magazine.

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Restaurants: Girl & The Goat Opens

Finally! Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s long-awaited gastropub Girl & The Goat is opening for business in the West Loop on Monday, July 12.

I, personally, have been haunting their construction progress for the last three months on my way to work. When I passed by last night and saw set tables and a working valet, I almost did a cartwheel right there on Randolph.

Some early buzz:

From Thrillist (editing out the slightly inappropriate banter): Delivering on buzz that began building the moment Stephanie Izard was named Top Chef, G&TG’s an ode to gustatory ideology…

Chicago Tribune: Finally, we’ll learn what a smoked-goat pizzette with tart-cherry soffritto tastes like.

Chicago Reader: Opening Monday in the West Loop is the much-hyped Girl and the Goat, the latest from Stephanie Izard (Scylla, Top Chef), offering a menu divided into the categories vegetable, fish, and meat, plus a few desserts.

Judi Cutrone is a writer with Otherwise Incorporated for The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago, Magnificent Mile.  Check out her blog Judi. Clearly.

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Events: 4th of July in Chicago

Celebrate Independence Day in Chicago this year! With a number events, ranging from free fireworks to the world famous Taste of Chicago in Grant Park, all over the city, there’s sure to be something that strikes your fancy. Here are a few of our favorites:

Photo Credit: Beverly & the Pack

Saturday July 3rd

Visit Green City Market for everything you’ll need for the big July 4th barbeque- cheese, produce, meats, flowers and baked goods highlighting the two magic words “Fresh” and “Local.” An organic, grass-fed bison burger with red onions, plum tomatoes and Wisconsin cheddar, all fresh for the picking.

Racing, Music & Fireworks at Arlington Park with “the longest and largest fireworks display in Arlington history.”

Sunday July 4th

Start the big day with a little music that doesn’t include the words “John”, “Philip” or “Sousa.” A $100 festival pass to the American Music Festival in Berwyn features live music and a block-party feel (on a much larger scale).

9pm- Take the boat out onto Lake Michigan and enjoy Chicago’s finest fireworks display at Navy Pier with a front row seat to the best show in town. Make sure to take a minute between your Red, White & Blue Martinis to appreciate nothing quite like these exploding lights in the sky.

Home Photo Credit: Justin Kern

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The Residences: The Aparecio Foundation Event

On Thursday June 17, 2010, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago hosted a charity event for The Apareció Foundation.

This worthy organization provides mentoring, academic support, and scholarship programs for high-potential, low-income women in Chicago Public High Schools.  The foundation was conceived to advocate for forward looking strategies designed to improve the status of women and to eliminate gender based discrimination.

Lori Smuckler is a blogger and valued member of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago marketing team. She can be reached at lsmuckler@theresidenceschicago.com.

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This Week (June 21-25)

It’s officially summer in Chicago! No city does summer like Chicago and to prove it, here are a few highlights from Choose Chicago‘s heady activities list for this week:

To purchase tickets to the ball game, click here.

To see Harry live, click here.

For tour tickets, click here.

For information on the Taste of Chicago (June 25-July 4), click here.

Judi Cutrone is a writer with Otherwise Incorporated for The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago, Magnificent Mile.  Check out her blog Judi.Clearly.

Photo Credits: Michael Johnson (Home), Chris Metcalf (Bucket of Baseballs), Justin Kern (A Taste of the Taste)

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Spotted in Chicago: Robert Downey Jr.

On Saturday June 19th, The Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will present Robert Downey, Jr. with the Gene Siskel Film Center Renaissance Award.

Todd Phillips, director of Robert’s latest film Due Date, will interview the actor live at The Ritz-Carlton here in Chicago.

The Ritz-Carlton Chicago
160 E. Pearson St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Saturday 6/19 from 6:00pm to 11:00pm
Tickets for this event on sold out.
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