Join us for a special activation of our current visual gallery exhibition “quiet as it’s kept” curated by Harlem West. Today will be another opportunity to see the work, but also experience live ‘sonic storytelling’ from Dark Matter Residency alumni Carissa Pickney along with curator Harlem West. Please join us! The event is free and open to the public.
Tone Glow is excited to present "I'll Walk With God," a screening of nine 16mm experimental short films that grapple with mortality and death. This event was curated by Kerry Laitala, an award-winning moving-image artist who uses analog, digital, and hybrid forms to investigate how media influences past and present culture through science, history, and technology. The event will feature five of her shorts made between 1997 and 2026, including a work-in-progress reel of her new film THE CAT LANDS ON ALL FOURS. The program will also feature works by artists who have influenced her: Gunvor Nelson, Chick Strand, Phil Solomon, and Scott Stark. With hand-processed filmic practices, mystifying collage work, and intimate depictions of family members, "I'll Walk With God" offers numerous avenues to consider life, film, and their outer limits.
An evening of collective exploration from two open-ended ensembles balancing alt-jazz groove and experimentation, lead by Juliann Wang and Matt Coglianese
We’re excited to welcome two solo electronic artists from Philadelphia, Morgan Garrett and Gloorp. Chicago artists Z Soniat and Rikki G. Godd open the evening.
Join us for the 1st public screening of The Good Curse of Bird Mummy Moon by Zack Sievers!
VASTLab brings VLX, its touring experimental film series, to Elastic Arts with 11 short films from 9 countries and a live score from Chicago duo Nireus.
Join us for a free family-friendly event celebrating the history of hip-hop at Unity Park in Logan Square! The early Friday evening event will feature performances by Chicago’s own Zion I, Dialect Tre, Kuumba Lynx, Emcee School, and more. Music by DJ Double8. Plus, face painting, dance tutorials, chalk art, trivia, games, prizes, giveaways, refreshments, and community participation. Attendees also learn about Chicago’s rich Hip-Hop history and how they can be part of such an influential creative arts community. This event is FREE! Join us this Friday!
Jim Baker, Steve Hunt, and Jakob Heinemann’s music moves between electroacoustic dialogues involving Baker’s ARP-2600 and free jazz-derived piano trio excursions.
Keefe Jackson Quartet features Jeb Bishop, Jason Roebke, and Quin Kirchner, with pieces by Keefe Jackson. Brent Burton of JazzTimes comments, "These guys do what seems to come naturally to Chicago-based outfits: They make freedom sound friendly.”
8:30 pm: Baker / Hunt / Heinemann
9:30 pm: Keefe Jackson Quartet
$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door
An assemblage of sonic vignettes sculpted from digital electronics, live improvisation, and studio manipulation, percussionist Lesley Mok presents a solo set where the music feels like a passage through affective zones—like a slow deliberate walk through a museum where its unknown sensorium unfolds itself to you.
Joining the bill will be a solo project from Chicago ex-pat percussionist Matt Carroll titled SloGlo. Opening the night will be Ishamel Ali performing new compositions with ensemble Ed Wilkerson Jr. and Bill Harris.
Chicago's most dynamic audio/visual series, Night School, presents an evening of experimental video and music for the first time here at Elastic Arts. Video artists are paired with improvising musicians, with each musician live-scoring the video for the first time. There are no aesthetic hierarchies at Night School, each show is about spontaneity and openness, you never know what you'll see and you won't believe what you hear!
Join us for the first of two Elastro series events this week, featuring Los Angeles musician Cate Kennan, Infrathin (Whitney Johnson + Lula Asplund), and Cleared (Michael Vallera + Steven Hess).
The air quality was a bit too harsh in Chicago for this show to go on outside as intended, so we’re happy to take on this wonderful night of music featuring road warrior folk hero Frank Hurricane. We’ll have sets from Chris Coleslaw Music Trio (ft. Jake Acosta + Mallory Linehan), Jessica Risker playing solo, and Timelife! Music will kick off a bit after 8pm.
Avreeayl Ra’s Dream Stuff is Avreeayl Ra (drums), Edward Wilkerson (reeds), Peter Maunu (strings), Jim Baker (keyboards), and Jason Roebke (bass). Dream Stuff exemplifies Spontaneous Composition and Arrangement.
Dream Stuff will perform two sets at 8:30 and 9:30.
$15 / $10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door
Tone Glow is excited to present Perceptual Ambiguity, a two-part screening highlighting four works on 16mm by Pat O’Neill (b. 1939). O’Neill is an American artist and pioneering figure in LA’s experimental film scene. As a teenager, he became enamored with the mechanic and pinstriper Von Dutch, eventually becoming involved with car culture himself through building automobiles.
The Festival of Sufi Arts grew out of a dhikr circle in Chicago. For those unfamiliar with dhikr, the word means "remembrance of God." Sufis around the world practice dhikr through devotional music, chanting, and whirling. Throughout history, many Sufis have also been poets, visual artists, and musicians. We realized this was true in our dhikr circle too. While not strictly devotional, much of the art we create is informed by our experiences as Sufis. The Festival of Sufi Arts emerged from the desire to share music, visual art, and poetry from Sufi artists with a broader community.
July’s CLEAT Series features a new duo from RXM Reality and Rin Peisert along with a solo set from guitarist Jake Leech.
THIS EVENT IS OFF-SITE
HASAN PARK
6855 S Oglesby Ave Chicago, IL
The Elastic Arts Outreach Program will be hosting our first event with Chicago Parks District’s Night Out In The Parks at Hassan park as a celebration of 250 years of BLACK MUSIC IN AMERICA! For our Blues event we will have the amazing Coco Elysses opening up for the incredible Patch of Blues from 5pm - 8pm!!! Bring your lawn chairs, and blankets, a cooler and everybody you know!! Enjoy a free night of Blues music with the park 6855 S Oglesby Ave!!
This July Pleiades is excited to welcome Minneapolis-based composer and performer May Klug. May works primarily with Casio CZ101 synthesizer, feedback, and voice. Her work centers on deeply felt relationships with electronic instruments and collaboration with their glitches. May will be joined by Chicago-based improvisors Emily Rach Beisel (woodwinds + electronics), Tyler Wagner (bass) and Abhilasha Figueroa (guitar) for a night of different improvised configurations.
Join us for the opening of quiet as its kept, the new group visual gallery exhibition curated by Harlem West!
We welcome Matt Blair from Madison, WI as he brings his trio. Erik Sowa and Robbie Lynn Hunsinger improvise as a duo.
Tone Glow is excited to announce "Hitching a Ride with the Devil," a showcase of four works on 16mm by filmmaker Michael Wallin (1948-2016).
At June’s Elastro series we’re excited to welcome Kristina Warren in from the east coast, along with solo performances from Elastic curator Ben Zucker and Nu A.M.!
Two trios paying homage to the legacies of 70s avant-garde jazz: The Tri-Centric Experiencer’s Unit plays a landmark Anthony Braxton composition; Lion’s Head, named after mentor Richard Davis, interpolates free improvisation with hard-swinging classic repertoire.
Vee, Julie, and David met through a School of Song workshop led by Brian Eno in January 2025. At the end of the workshop, the Chicago-based participants gathered to share one of the songs they had written that month. Fifteen people crammed into Julie’s living room, performing live or recorded Brian Eno–influenced work. The evening was deeply inspiring: songwriters from different
backgrounds and genres sharing vulnerability, talent, and generous support for one another. The group decided to continue meeting monthly to share new work and exchange feedback. Now, these three will bring their music to the stage at Elastic Arts, showcasing three distinct approaches to songwriting.
An immersive performance experience by poet Marty McConnell with film by Lindsey Dorr-Niro and music by Patrick Wojtak
Through language, music, and imagery, “Days of Wonder: it is time to be very tender with our grief” explores curiosity and interconnectedness as methods of moving into and through personal, societal, and global sorrow, survival, and co-evolution.
An immersive performance experience by poet Marty McConnell with film by Lindsey Dorr-Niro and music by Patrick Wojtak
Through language, music, and imagery, “Days of Wonder: it is time to be very tender with our grief” explores curiosity and interconnectedness as methods of moving into and through personal, societal, and global sorrow, survival, and co-evolution.
Tonight we welcome John O’Neill in from California for a solo performance, alongside Chicago artists GS70 and existence decay.
You will find yourself surrounded by moving accordions, creating a lush, vibrating soundscape. Seven clowns will guide 7 cycles of meditation, searching for the playful boundaries of mindfulness. Each cycle has its own foundational note, its own harmony and its own chakra taking you from the root at the base of your spine all the way to the crown connecting you to the universal consciousness, which, I'm told, also wears the clown nose. Bring accordions or yoga mats.
Free and open to the public. Donations accepted.