Chicago Home Theater Festival to be Held Next Month

In 2015, our producers and curators programmed over 175 Chicago artists in 15 homes across Chicago from May 5th to 24th to reroute our city's segregated maps. From Uptown to Englewood, Little Village to Austin, the festival explores private homes as public forums for cross-cultural conversation, radical generosity and interdisciplinary collaboration.

CHTF seeks to foster radical generosity and privileges underrepresented artists working in nontraditional media, dynamic leaders at the crossroads of art, activism, and scholarship, and neighborhoods whose creative capital and community capacity can be overlooked. CHTF aims to reroute creative maps and cultivate brave spaces by blending the acts of breaking bread, engaging in deep inquiry and dialogue, and sharing vital artistic experience as a way to build connections across race, class, gender, and geography.

We invite press to join us for the entire festival and during our OPENING EVENING

CELEBRATION at the Museum of Contemporary Art on May 5th from 6:00pm to 7:30PM, presented in collaboration with Faheem Majeed's solo exhibition, Chicago Works. In Majeed's beautiful space enveloping the second floor gallery, we have curated spoken word artist Frankiem Mitchell? performance duo and renowned storytellers In The Spirit? a play presented by the Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health? and Chicago theater artist Michael Patrick Thornton who will be premiering a selection from an original performance work with Lindsey Barlag Thornton. The MCA event is free for the public!

Each night of CHTF is completely unique and includes a tour of the neighborhood, a meal provided by the host, and original, site-responsive work created for specific homes and neighborhoods. Because every night offers completely new artists, a rare vision of the city, and an exclusive night of engagement with strangers, audiences are encouraged to attend multiple nights.

Over 175 artists will offer a range of work from film, theater, dance, and alternative performance to interdisciplinary and multimedia art. For the first time we have commissioned original, site-responsive works from over twelve established and emerging playwrights, including longtime CHTF partner John Fisher, Calamity West (The Gacy Play), Martyna Majok (Ironbound), Zayd Dohrn (Outside People), and Kristiana Rae Colon (Octagon). The festival includes such dynamic acts as soul singer Avery R. Young? Celine Neon's Maggie Kubley? media artist Marina MiliouTheocharaki? Free Street Theater? youth arts group Yollocalli Arts Reach? performance artist Joshua Kent? performer and curator Baraka de Soleil? sound artist and performer Alejandro T. Acierto? poet Yolanda Nieves? theater and opera makers Black Thumb Ensemble? Haitian dancers Tamboula Ethnic Dance Company; audio and video artist Tavia David? solo artist and poet Fatimah Asghar? choreographer J'Sun Howard? postgender classical dancer Darling Squire? Miss Mister Junior, queen of boylesque? filmmaker Udita Upadhyaya? spoken word artist Luis Tubens and so much more!

CHTF 2015 hosts are leaders in Chicago's community based arts and activism, including educator and scholar Bill Ayers in Kenwood, founding organizer of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Alice Kim in Portage Park, WBEZ southside reporter Natalie Moore in Hyde Park, program coordinator at Access Living Carrie Kaufman in Lakeview, executive director of Free Street Theater Caroline O'Boyle in East Garfield Park, executive director of Restored Hope Tameka Walton in Englewood, and queer art and nightlife pioneers Latham Zearfoss and Aay PrestonMyint in Logan Square.

CHTF 2015 is organized, curated and produced by its founding members performer Blake Russell, cultural organizer Irina Zadov, and director Laley Lippard. They are joined this year by performance artist and artistic director Meida McNeal as well as media producer and scholar Aymar Jean Christian. CHTF curatorial collaborators are an integral part to the development of the performance lineup. They include Free Street Theater's Coya Paz, 96 ACRES' Maria Gaspar, Bomba Con Buya's Arif Smith, Columbia College's Kelsa Robinson, curatorial team J. Gibran Villalobos and Wil Ruggiero, Synapse Dance's Suzy Granite, Illinois Caucus of Adolescent Health's Michael Johnson, and 3rd Language's NIC Kay.

Founded in Berkeley, California in 2010 by Philip Huang and currently spanning 3 continents and 10 countries, the International Home Theater Festival launched in Chicago in May 2013. The inaugural year featured performances in 13 homes by over 100 artists throughout the north, west, and south sides of the city.

For a full collection of past reviews and coverage visit http://www.chicagohtf.org/press/

The Basic Schedule of Dates and Neighborhoods:

5/5 Opening Celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 5/6 Little Village, 5/7 Uptown, 5/8 West Loop, 5/9 Austin, 5/10 Englewood, 5/11 Humboldt Park, 5/14 Rogers Park, 5/15 Pilsen, 5/16 South Shore, 5/17 Portage Park, 5/18 Kenwood, 5/21 Woodlawn, 5/20 Lakeview, 5/22 East Garfield Park, 5/23 A three home tour of Logan Square, 5/24 Closing day Block Party in Washington Park and performance in Hyde Park

For a full lineup of this year's hosts, neighborhoods and artists, please visit www.chicagohtf.org/schedule.

You will also find full bios and images of participants at www.chicagohtf.org/artists

For tickets and more information about the festival, visit http://www.chicagohtf.org.

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