This summer, enjoy Julia Huff in the Smart Museum of Art’s sun-dappled sculpture garden. Free and open to the public, the Smart Museum of Art is home to acclaimed special exhibitions and a permanent collection that spans five thousand years of artistic creation. Visit smartmuseum.uchicago.edu to learn more.

The Smart Museum of Art’s outdoor sculpture garden, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave., Chicago. Sunday, July 18 at 2:00pm.  This event is free and open to the public.

Think night on the town meets playing in the mud. Every 2nd Friday of the month, join us for a late night clay-making, dance-partying, gallery-hopping good time. We’ve got 45 minute clay sessions back in our studios, a live DJ and drink specials all night. This month we welcome a special guest. Jazz bassist Frank Russell will provide us with a back beat to our clay play.

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago. Friday, June 11, 2010. 8:00pm-12:00am (midnight). This event is free. For more information, please call 773-324-5520 or visit www.hydeparkart.org.

Hanah Jon Taylor is a veteran member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM).  In 1990, he was commissioned by the University of Chicago to organize and direct its first improvisational jazz orchestra.

Willie Pickens is one of Chicago’s most in-demand pianists for visiting artists.  He has performed several times at the famed Chicago Jazz Festival and has been the featured pianist on impresario Joe Segal’s Jazz Cruises, where he has shared the stage with Clark Terry, Louie Bellson, and Red Holloway, among others.  Learn more »

International House, 1414 East 59th Street, Chicago. Assembly Hall. Saturday, June 5, 8:00-10:00pm. General admission tickets are $10 (an additional $2 discount for Passport holders), $5 for students with ID, and free to I-House residents.

Lauded for its boldness in showcasing cutting-edge compositions, the Jazz X-tet is a versatile collection of 12-18 musicians, frequently joined in performance by noted Chicago-area professionals.  The X-tet’s three-concert season offers a variety of pieces, from jazz standards to hip-hop, often in arrangements that are custom-designed for the ensemble by its own members.  In rehearsal and performance, the X-tet focuses on developing the improvisational skills of its musicians, as well as on deepening their understanding of the wide-ranging jazz idiom.  The group has issued two CDs, and frequently performs for University of Chicago events on campus and elsewhere in the city.  In addition to the Jazz X-tet itself, several small jazz combo groups are set up each year to provide training and experience to interested musicians.

Fulton Recital Hall, Goodspeed Hall, 4th Floor. 1010 E. 59th St., Chicago. Thursday, June 3 at 8:00pm. This event is free to the public.

Experimental Station, 6100 S. Blackstone Ave., Chicago. Wednesday, May 19, 6:00pm-7:30pm.  This event is free. For more information go: www.jot.org.

Adventure Stage Chicago at the Vittum Theater , 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago. Friday, June 4, 8:00pm; Saturday, June 5, 2:00pm and 7:30pm (pre-show cocktail hour to begin at 6:00pm); Sunday, June 6, 2:00pm. General ticket pricing: Adventure Stage Box Office, 773.342.4141.  For Gala ticket reservations, please contact Corrie at Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, 773.847.0305 or corrie@cerquarivera.org.

Little Black Pearl is having an indoor out door art sale and show to continue to help combat violence amongst our youth. We’ll have both in house and local artist, talents, and vendors who will represent their community’s beauty. We’re looking forward to seeing you there. Remember Your Block Your Pride.

Little Black Pearl Art and Design Center, 1060 E. 47th St. Chicago. Friday, July 16th from 5:00pm-9:00pm.  For more information call 773-285-1211 ext 304 or visit www.blackpearl.org.

Be a curator for a day! Join Nicholas Lowe, artist and curator of Roger Brown Calif, USA, invites a member from the public to be a guest curator! From 2-6pm, participants will be invited to choose and arrange objects from Roger Brown’s “La Conchita Collection”. The object display will inhabit a case in Study Area of the Roger Brown: Calif USA exhibition for one week.

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago. Wednesday, July 14, from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. This event is free. For more information, please call 773-324-5520 or visit www.hydeparkart.org.

The Neighborhood Writing Alliance provokes dialogue and promotes change by creating opportunities for adults in Chicago to write, publish, and perform works about their lives. Come join us for the Release Reading of our newest Issue of JOT, “Into the Banks.”

The reading will be taking place at The King Branch Library, 3436 S. King Dr., Chicago. Tuesday, July 6th from 6:00-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public.  For more information contact the Neighborhood Writing Alliance at 773-684-2742 located at 1313 E. 60th St., Chicago.

Artist Hui Min Tsen leads us on a series of tours through Chicago’s pedway system.  “On the Trail of a Disorderly Future: Tours of the Chicago Pedway” is presented as part of the current exhibition Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism.

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S. Cornell Ave., Chicago. Tuesday, July 6th from 3:00-4:30pm. Please RSVP to this free event at exhibitions@hydeparkart.org in order to attend. For more information call (773) 324-5520.