For one admission, explore three activated rooms in the South Shore Cultural Center.

601 | South Side Home Movie Project
Solarium
5:30-7:15pm - Looping home movies
6:30-7:15pm - Talk with Jacqueline Stewart

Got a box of 8mm, Super-8, or 16mm reel-to-reel gathering dust in a basement, garage, or Granny’s attic? The South Side Home Movie Project would like a word with you. Founded in 2005 by University of Chicago Cinema and Media Studies professor Jacqueline Stewart, the SSHMP spends a good deal of time reaching out to residents, simply to convince them of the value of their old family films. Although “home movies” have typically been kept private, Stewart’s hope is that bringing these materials into public light will ensure that the diverse experiences and perspectives of South Siders will be available for study and appreciation by larger audiences and for generations to come. Join Stewart as she shares some of her most valuable learning experiences leading the project, and some of her favorite bits of footage.

602 | The Folded Map Project
Dining Room
6:00-7:15pm

At first, Tonika Johnson’s plan for the Folded Map project was simply to photograph “mirror points”—corresponding addresses in the North and South Side neighborhoods of the city—and set them side-by-side to reveal the disparities caused by Chicago’s history of systemic segregation. Then, something unexpected happened. While Lewis Johnson was taking photos, residents started coming out of their houses, asking questions, and expressing interest in what she was doing. And so, Johnson began bringing “map twins” together, encouraging them to visit one another’s homes and neighborhoods, and documented the ensuing exchanges "where the map folds and touches.” Architectural and urban designer Paola Aguirre joins Johnson for an "interactive" conversation.

603 | ​Signs for Community
Paul Robeson Theatre
7:30-8:30pm

Jahmal Cole and Amanda Seligman team up to talk about the history and function of Chicago's neighborhood block clubs, and the power of block club signs as their visual signifiers. Seligman, a historian and author of Chicago’s Block Clubs: How Neighbors Shape the City, has studied the rich history of block clubs as community organizing forces. Cole, an education activist and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City, a youth-focused organization, recently led young Chicagoans to design new block club signs, in conversation with the current values and ambitions of their communities. A rich media presentation of those signs, along with their predecessors, will complement their conversation, moderated by Jen Sabella, Co-founder of hyper local news outlet, Block Club Chicago.

South Shore Night is presented with the support of The Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture at the University of Chicago; Chicago Park District; Leadership Greater Chicago; Metropolitan Planning Council and The Weinberg/Newton Gallery.