Come out this weekend June 26th & 27th for the Green Music Fest just a hop and a skip from us here at LivingRoom. The festivities go down both days on Chicago Avenue between Ashland & Noble.
There are ton of bands playing including The Wailers, The Aggrolites, Cloud Cult, David Bazan, Maps & Atlases and many more! There is also a craft beer tent featuring Magic Hat, Abita, New Belgium and Pyramid among others.
With free bike parking, a family fun fest and an eco-friendly vendor village this festival sounds too good to pass up!
Enter the “What Makes Your Place Great?: Your Secret Corner of Chicagoland” contest!
The Chicago region is known for well-used plazas, parks, sidewalks and gardens that bring the city to life. Many of these special places are hidden in the heart of our neighborhoods, known only to a lucky few. These secret havens form connections between neighbors and places, and are as important as famous landmarks are to the metropolitan region.
Last summer, dozens of people entered the “What Makes Your Place Great?” contest by sending the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) original photographs and videos of their favorite public spaces in Chicagoland. Some 40 photos and 11 videos told the story of gardens and public plazas, coffee shops and hiking trails. More than 8,000 votes later, four public spaces emerged from these 51 nominees as shining examples of the positive impact Chicagoland’s amazing public spaces have on residents, businesses, communities – the entire region.
MPC is hosting the contest once again, this time in partnership with the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF). This summer, we want to know about your favorite “undiscovered” public space in Chicagoland. What public space do you go back to again and again, and why? It could be your favorite secret garden, nestled in an empty lot in your neighborhood, or a beautiful courtyard invisible from the street. Maybe it’s a quiet upstairs reading nook at a local library, or a peaceful plaza that tends to be overlooked in favor of its more crowded, famous next-door neighbor.
From June 2 through July 26, 2010, send a photo or video of your favorite hidden public space, along with a short description about why it’s so special to you, to placemakingchicago@metroplanning.org and you could win great prizes and the chance to be featured in a CAF tour this fall!
Read the full guidelines for entry and voting at www.placemakingchicago.com. Questions? Please contact Karin Sommer, MPC Associate and Placemaking Chicago Project Manager, at 312-863-6044 or ksommer@metroplanning.org.
MPC and Placemaking Chicago are grateful for the generous contributions of our sponsors and donors:
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Prince Charitable Trusts
Perkins+Will
Sorry, this event had to be canceled for now. We hope to reschedule soon and will let you know when we do!
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Chicago Coffee Confederation presents Coffee Roasting 101 with David Meyers. Join us for your introduction to roasting coffee at home and the awesome work of David and his fellow roasters as they work towards their goal of opening Cafe Chicago. The event will take place at LivingRoom on Wednesday, June 23rd from 7-9PM. If you would like to attend please RSVP.
Here is some more info about Cafe Chicago and the Chicago Coffee Confederation:
A couple of visionary, deep-rooted community organizations are making history in Chicago. They are taking the Windy City back to its roots as the city of big shoulders, not big lattes.
The Chicago Coffee Confederation, working with the Latino Union of Chicago, is creating the first immigrant-and-worker-owned, justice-oriented coffee company in the country. Cafe Chicago will dramatically transform the landscape of social justice and immigrant rights struggles for years to come, while serving as a new model of social action, job creation, and non-profit funding.
In seeking to address real and growing economic and social failures within our society, Café Chicago will be the city’s first 100% fair trade organic coffee roaster operating as a workers’ cooperative, with revenues devoted to funding the Latino Union’s work.
With a vision of opening up public space for a revival of working class culture, an attached cafe will serve as a place for folks to relax with food and beverages, while hosting a workers center for immigrant and blue collar workers.
The Chicago Coffee Confederation started six years ago in an old garage on the Northwest Side, roasting fair trade organic coffee in a BBQ equipped with a rotisserie and a steel drum while raising funds to support organizations such as the Latino Union and the Chicago Women’s Health Center. Three such micro-roasters are now operating in garages round town, and earlier this year the Confederation won a Time Out Chicago Eat Out Award for Best Micro-Roastery in the city. Through these years of creative collaboration with the Latino Union’s work to improve the social and economic conditions of the city’s street corner immigrant day laborers, our work finally and recently spilled over into the making of Cafe Chicago
We received these recent sketches from Micro Grant winner Donna Goode. We here at LivingRoom are thrilled to offer our support. Keep up the great work Donna!
The staff here at LivingRoom couldn’t help but have fun when we visited the newly opened Archery Bow Range Chicago.
Here is some more information from their website:
Archery Bow Range Chicago is managed by a team of Lincoln Park Archery Club members who are dedicated to growing the sport and art of archery in the city of Chicago and surrounding areas. It is our goal to put the great sport of archery on display by offering a full schedule of events that will be sure to appeal to archers of all skills levels.
From beginners to the competitive archers, from the traditional recurve shooters to the bowhunter and modern compound shooters, EVEN THE PASSERSBY WHO JUST WANT TO TRY SOMETHING NEW…we have something for you!
On Saturday June 19th & Saturday June 26th there is an introductory class at the Archery Bow Range from 11am-1pm. Next month there is also a free clinic available through the LPAC. Give it a shot!
After a year of planning, Annie, with help from friends, installed a green roof on the top of her garage! Here is a look at the process.
The garage was specially built to support the weight of the different components. The first layer is a root barrier and drainage boards from ELT in Canada.
Then comes the soil, which is predominantly Perlite, but also contains mulch and compost. Perlite is volcanic glass and is a lightweight material that replaces heavier materials in soil making the load the roof carries lighter.
Finally it’s time for the plants!
Look for more updates from us as this garden grows!
Let us know if you have any questions or if you want your own private roof garden tour!
