HAIRSPRAY's John Waters, Caitlyn Jenner and More Slated for Chicago Humanities Festival's SPRINGFEST/17: STUFF

By: Mar. 02, 2017
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After finding that the inaugural Springfest sparked joy across Chicago, the Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) has revealed its full line-up for its second annual Springfest, Stuff.

Springfest/17: Stuff will run from Friday, April 28 to Sunday, April 30 and feature Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Wharton School professor Adam Grant in conversation with Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobson, KonMari Method inventor and international tidying sensation Marie Kondo, Olympic gold medal winner and transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner, and Pulitzer-Prize winning oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee.

John Waters, the pop culture icon and director of Pink Flamingos and Hairspray, will join Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones in conversation to close out Springfest/17: Stuff on Sunday, April 30.

"This Springfest looks at the things we have and hold-whether those things are valued or discarded, and whether we keep them for ourselves or hold them in common," says Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director Jonathan Elmer.

"Our relation to stuff is not just a personal one, it's political as well. We live in a world of haves and have-nots," Elmer continues. "So, in addition to tracking attitudes to clutter and recycling and so on, we shine a light on resources that we all share, that are problems held in common: access to clean water, healthcare, and more. We hope to reorient people's thinking about how we relate to the material world, and ultimately how we relate to each other."

In particular, two sets of presenters will speak to the gap between the haves and have nots. Lauren Greenfield, director of the critically acclaimed documentary, The Queen of Versailles, will discuss her upcoming new monograph Lauren Greenfield: Generation Wealth, a photographic narrative exploring wealth and materialism over the last 25 years. Journalist Sarah Smarsh, who recently contributed to a new anthology, Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided State, will join the anthology's editor, John Freeman, for a conversation about poverty in America.

Springfest/17 will also see the annual Helen B. and Ira E. Graham Family Concert move from its autumn timeslot to a Saturday evening showcase. This year's Graham concert will feature the talents of vocalist Joan Curto as she delves into the American Songbook. There will also be the debut of CHF's first digital-exclusive programming initiative, "The People's Pop Up: Show and Tell" a participatory, temporary digital exhibition that invites CHF's online community and the public to participate in shared digital storytelling around objects. The People's Pop Up will take place across CHF's social media channels throughout the month of April and can tracked using the #CHFShowandTell.

The Springfest line-up also includes a robust roster of Chicago area presenters including Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute and author of How to Bake PiEugenia Cheng, Michael E. Kelly Professor of Medicine at Rush University Medical Center and author of County Dr. David Ansell, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and author of the forthcoming Sex and the Constitution Geoffrey Stone, visual artist and adjunct professor at the Center for Community Arts Partnership at Columbia College Chicago Cecil McDonald, Jr, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization executive director Kim Wasserman-Nieto, National Museum of Mexican Art President and founder Carlos Tortolero, and many more.

Tickets to Springfest/17: Stuff will go on sale to CHF members at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8 and to the general public on Wednesday, March 15. For a complete list of Springfest/17 presenters, visit tickets.chicagohumanities.org. For additional information about Springfest/17: Stuff, visit chicagohumanities.org/stuff. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling the box office at (312) 494-9505. Tickets range from $10-$38.

Friday, April 28 | Harris Theater

Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant in conversation with Mellody Hobson

Facebook Chief Operating Officer and Lean In author Sheryl Sandberg and Wharton's top-rated professor and author of Originals, Adam Grant will tackle the topic of building resilience and moving forward after life's inevitable setbacks in their new book, Option B. Ariel Investments President Mellody Hobsonjoins Sandberg and Grant in conversation.

Marie Kondo

Marie Kondo, the master organizer and author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy, will come to Chicago to discuss how she created the KonMari Method, which advocates for holding onto objects which "spark joy" and winnowing possessions which do not.

Saturday, April 29

Joan Curto | Helen B. and Ira E. Graham Family Concert

Joan Curto is Chicago-based vocalist and performer. For her upcoming performance during Springfest/17: Stuff, Curto has fashioned a charming tour through the American Songbook, with special attention to the things, both tangible and intangible, that are part and parcel of some of the most beloved songs of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, the Gershwins, and more.

Cecil McDonald Jr. | Richard Gray Visual Arts Series | Art Institute of Chicago

An acclaimed photographer, Cecil McDonald Jr. is an adjunct professor at the Center for Community Arts Partnership at Columbia College Chicago. His debut monograph, In the Company of Black, will release later this spring. McDonald will be joined in conversation by Columbia College Chicago photography professor Dawoud Bey.

Elias Sime | Richard Gray Visual Art Series | Art Institute of Chicago

Elias Sime is a multi-disciplinary artist working in relief sculpture, performance art, and architecture. For more than twenty-five years, Sime has made collage and sculptural assemblage from found objects such as thread, buttons, plastic, animal skins, horn, and discarded electronic materials. Sime's art has been featured in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Delinda Collier of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago will join him in conversation.

Geoffrey Stone | Karla Scherer Endowed Lecture Series for the University of Chicago | First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple

Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Geoffrey Stone returns to CHF to discuss what he sees as a "constitutional revolution" - how the Supreme Court has previously and continues to interpret sex and the Constitution. Stone will speak to what will undoubtedly remain controversial topics under the new administration and the current-and future-line-up on the Supreme Court.

Sarah Smarsh and John Freeman | First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple

Sarah Smarsh is a journalist best known for her reporting on socioeconomic class in America. Her reporting and essays have been featured in Harper's, McSweeney's, and NewYorker.com. Her book In the Red is forthcoming from Scribner's. John Freeman is the executive editor of LitHub, the former editor of Granta, and a Writer in Residence at New York University. His is the editor of the anthology, Tales of Two Americas, to which Smarsh contributed.

Sunday, April 30

Caitlyn Jenner | Fine Arts Building, Studebaker Theater

Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner, is an American television personality and retired Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete. Jenner will speak to her memoir, The Secrets of My Life, and appear in conversation with her Pulitzer-Prize winning co-author Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights), and CHF Associate Artistic Director Alison Cuddy.

Siddhartha Mukherjee | Anita and Prabha Sinha Program | Art Institute of Chicago

Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. An assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University and a cancer physician, he graduated from Stanford University, University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. He will speak to his latest work, The Gene, a history of the gene and a response to the defining question of the future: what becomes of being human when we learn to "read" and "write" our own genetic information.

John Waters in conversation with Chris Jones | Fine Arts Building, Studebaker Theater

John Waters, the director of Pink Flamingos and Hairspray comes to Chicago to discuss his latest book, Make Trouble, where he uses his sly wisdom to advise a younger generation to embrace chaos and outrage our critics. Chicago Tribune theater critic Chris Jones joins Waters in conversation as he shares his guidelines and reveals the truths of a subversive life as few others can.

Lauren Greenfield | Fine Arts Building, Studebaker Theater

Lauren Greenfield is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and photographer. Time has called Greenfield "one of the most acclaimed chroniclers of youth culture and the affluent." Her documentary, The Queen of Versailles, won the Best Director Award at Sundance in 2012. Greenfield comes to CHF to discuss her new monograph, Lauren Greenfield: Generation Wealth.

Stephen Walt | Bill and Penny Obenshain Program on Global Affairs | Venue Six10

Foreign Policy columnist and Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor Stephen Walt comes to CHF to discuss the shape of the global order in the early months of President Trump's administration. Steve Edwards of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics joins Walt in conversation.

SAVE THE DATES:

March 8 - Springfest/17: Stuff on-sale to CHF members

March 15 - Springfest/17: Stuff on-sale to General Public

March 23 - CHF Now: An Evening with Misty Copeland

April 28-April 30 - Springfest/17: Stuff

At Chicago Humanities Festival, we believe that humanity thrives when people gather, connect and open themselves to ideas that go beyond their individual experience. That's why for more than 27 years, CHF has been curating live events that allow audiences to connect with thinkers--both established and emerging--and see the world differently. Under the leadership of Executive Director Phillip Bahar, Thoma Artistic Director Jonathan Elmer, and Associate Artistic Director Alison Cuddy, CHF is one of Chicago's most vibrant civic institutions. Join us and celebrate the social life of ideas. For more, visit chicagohumanities.org.



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