The Renaissance Society has exhibition posters, books, and limited edition objects by contemporary artists like Thomas Struth, Kara Walker, and Sol Lewitt. You can also shop online on their website.

The Renaissance Society
5811 South Ellis Avnue, 4^th floor
(The University of Chicago Cobb Hall)
Tuesday to Friday -  10am to 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday noon to 5pm.

The Oriental Institute has wonderful handmade crafts from the Middle East, such as a delicate handwoven scarves, and beautiful jewelry with semi-precious stones.

Oriental Institute Museum
1155 East 58th Street
Tuesday to Saturday -  10am to 6 pm, open until 8:30 on Wednesdays. Sundays noon to 6 pm.

The gift shop at the Smart Museum has great children’s books, beautiful stationary from India, and gorgeous handmade jewelry with woven gold and Murano glass beads, and the cafe has some of the best espresso in town.

The Smart Museum of Art
5550 S. Greenwood Avenue
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday -  8 am to 4 pm
Thursday -  8 am to 7:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday – 11 am to 4:30 pm

The Robie House has wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright designed items, like a silk scarf inspired by Machine Age Screen (c. 1934) and a bold mural design adapted in 1973 for use as wallpaper in the Biltmore Hotel (Phoenix, Arizona, 1927).

Robie House Museum Shop
5757 S. Woodlawn Avenue (enter through garage court on 58th street)
Thursday to Monday -  10 am to 5 pm.
Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays

The Little Black Pearl Art and Design Center has ceramics for sale. The glazes are beautiful, and each piece is unique. Bowls, mugs and plates in earth tones and brilliant reds are fabulous gifts.

Little Black Pearl Art and Design Center
1060 East 47th Street
Monday to Friday – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday Closed

And while you’re at the Little Black Pearl, step next door to enjoy a sandwich at Hyde Park’s newest gourmet deli, Zaleski & Horvath Market Cafe. (1126 East 47th Street.)

Over 20,000 jazz fans … 13 music venues … over 150 of Chicago’s great jazz artists … 15 non-stop hours of music.

Do you measure success by comments?

“This is an amazing day,” said a visitor from New York City. “There is great jazz music being played everywhere you turn in this neighborhood. It is like a musical wonderland.”

Do you measure success by smiles, toes tapping, kids from 2 to 92 dancing?

Any way you look at it the 3rd annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Saturday, September 26 celebrated music and the Hyde Park community, proving once again that Chicago’s south side is the home to the city’s great tradition of jazz. Over 300 volunteers worked throughout the day and night to ensure that the musicians and audience members all enjoyed the event. “This is one of the best festivals around because you have such great musicians in one place,” said percussionist Ernie Adams about performing at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival. “When you play with people in your ‘neighborhood,’ there’s a certain connection there. It’s Chicagoans playing with each other. There’s some special creating going on. ”

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival concluded at the Midnight Jam session with a standing room only crowd and lines around the block waiting to listen to Dee Alexander hosting over 30 performers at the International House until 2:00a.m. Following the Jam Session, performers, Festival organizers and audience members continued celebrating with breakfast at Mellow Yellow on 53rd Street to keep the magic going until almost sunrise.

What more could you ask for? You could specifically ask … WHEN ARE YOU DOING IT AGAIN? And the answer would be:

September 25, 2010
SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 4th Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival is produced by HyPa — the Hyde Park Alliance for Arts and Culture, Hyde Park Jazz Society, and the University of Chicago.

“The remarkable Hyde Park Jazz Festival took the next step in its swift evolution; transforming itself from a first-rate arts event into something of an institution … (Hyde Park) is a community celebrating its own artistic riches and doing so with obvious skill and finesse.” Read the complete Chicago Tribune Review.

Just seven miles south of downtown Chicago, the historic neighborhood of Hyde Park is home not only to President Obama and his family; it is also home to one of the nation’s greatest collections of cultural organizations. From museums and galleries to theater, music, dance, and architecture, Chicago’s mid-South Side buzzes with creative energy.

HyPa’s goals are simple. We want residents throughout the mid-South Side to know what’s happening in their own backyard. We plan to invite residents of the entire Chicago area to visit Hyde Park for a day or a weekend to enjoy the area’s rich variety of shows, exhibitions, tours, and classes. And we want tourists and art lovers from across the country to experience one of the nation’s finest cultural destinations.

More than 25 organizations and individuals worked hard to make HyPa a reality. With HyPa’s launch, arts and culture organizations at the University of Chicago and throughout the neighborhood can leverage our resources and enrich the visitor experience here in Hyde Park.

And that’s why we’re all hyped up about HyPa.

The Festival features performances by more than 100 jazz musicians, including Ari Brown, Von Freeman, Jon Faddis, Richie Cole, Ariyo Ariyoshi, Willie Pickens, Dee Alexander, and Orbert Davis. Performance settings range from ancient King Sargon’s palace reliefs at the Oriental Institute to Frank Lloyd Wright’s classic Robie House and the majestic Rockefeller Chapel.

The Festival kicks off at 11 a.m. with performances on the James Wagner Main Stage, located on the Midway Plaisance, and the DuSable Museum of African American History. The amazing Dee Alexander hosts a Midnight Jam at International House to close the festivities.

The Festival also features great food from Hyde Park restaurants and a wide variety of jazz-themed T-shirts, posters, maps, and many other jazzy treats.

Some venues have limited seating, so we recommend that you arrive early. And this year the Hyde Park Jazz Festival is excited to introduce the Jazz Pass. Jazz Festival contributors of $250 or more will receive a gift of two Jazz Passes that provide access to preferred seating areas at select venues.

The Jazz Festival is produced by HyPa, the Hyde Park Jazz Society and the University of Chicago. Learn more at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival’s website.