This event is OFF-SITE
Stone Temple Community Garden - 3622 W. Douglas Blvd. 

We’re excited to be back at Stone Temple Community Garden for our next Power of the Word event! This will feature a performance from The Aggregation with Hammond organist Justin Dillard. It’s a beautiful venue for summer music, so please join us for this free event in Lawndale.

Artist Bios

Born and raised on the west side of Chicago and attending both Vandercook College of Music and The Velvet Lounge; Justin Dillard’s studies at both institutions gave him the honorable privilege to work with innovators locally and globally performing/recording with and/or receiving tutelage from the likes of Branford Marsalis, Robert Irving III, Ornette Coleman, the late jazz master Von Freeman and Roscoe Mitchell to name a few. Howard Reich (Chicago Tribune arts critic) writes: “A new generation of jazz improvisers has emerged in Chicago in recent years, but few are more promising than organist/pianist Justin Dillard. Musically, Dillard tends to be all over the keyboard, drawing upon the examples of virtuosos such as Dr. Lonnie Smith, Eddie Harris, and McCoy Tyner. But there’s something more to Dillard’s work as well; a quest for new ideas in music, in the manner of his AACM mentors.” Justin has performed on national television (ABC) with his organ expose’ The DOT and has played in various genres spanning Avant-Garde with the late tenor master Fred Anderson to a Dave Matthews tribute band (Crash). He continues to transform his career by composing for and performing with his vast array of ensembles; all while accompanying great musicians all over the world.

$FREE$

Elastic Arts Outreach Program

The Elastic Arts Community Outreach Program explores and creates new spaces to share the fellowship we generate within our venue. Elastic is expanding our focus beyond of our four walls, first in our own neighborhood at the intersection of Logan Square and Avondale, and then working with peer organizations rooted in neighborhoods on the South and West Sides to bring new sounds and experiences, special events, uplifting workshops, and mentorship programs to communities we hope to celebrate and inspire.

This Program will kick off in summer 2023 with a four part events series, 'Power of The Word,' centering the power of the arts to amplify the voices of artists and community members to oppose injustice, to support healing, and to imagine positive futures. The program features participants in our Dark Matter Residency for emerging BIPOC artists along with other local artists performing in their own neighborhoods.

This program is partially supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Field Foundation, and the Arts Work Fund