Among the throngs of artists, performers and on-lookers, a red-haired butterfly flitted about at the
Museum of Contemporary Art’s Summer Solstice celebration Saturday.
Speech sophomore Caitlin Stolley flashed shiny wings as she joined about 100 others for the grand finale of “Everybody Dance,” a community dance event for all ages and abilities. Sporting sunglasses and a smile in the bright sun, she leaped, slinked and somersaulted across the MCA’s front steps to the furious beat of African drums.
A few minutes later, a slow bluesy groove lifted off from a guitar in the museum’s terrace garden. A small crowd gathered to eat and lounge in this small haven surrounded by towering skyscrapers.
And this was just the beginning.
For the sixth year, the 24-hour celebration starting at 6 p.m. Friday took over the museum with art, dance, music and workshops. Saturday morning dawned with an all-ages Tai Chi workshop while a camp of pupeteers, including a theater group from Korea, set up shop in front of the main doors by 10 a.m.
Bea Rashid, artistic director of the Evanston Dance Ensemble, who performed at the celebration on Saturday, said the event was a challenge for dancers. Sound system problems plagued the performance, making it difficult for her eight dancers to hear the music.
Still, she said she would have the group participate in the future. Rashid said she particularly enjoyed the community atmosphere, noting that artists often feel isolated.
The ensemble was invited to dance at the event after a recent performance at the Harold Washington Library, Rashid said. They performed two pieces at the celebration: Saturn, in which dancers used huge rubber bands to represent the planet’s rings, and Mars, for which performers dressed in rust-colored costumes.
While families made up most of the audience on Saturday, a younger crowd filled the museum late Friday night. By midnight, when Speech junior Patrick Frank arrived, the lines waiting to experience bands, living sculpture and interactive video wrapped around the building.
Frank, who went for the first time last year, said he enjoyed people-watching the crowd almost as much as watching the art. He plans to go in the future and recommends it for everyone.
“It was absolutely packed,” Frank said. “It seemed like there were more people than last year. It’s the absolute epitome of artistic living. It’s the most Bohemian thing you could see. It’s just a big artsy party.”
The festival was also a time to take in the museum’s current exibits, Frank said. Current exibits include a tuba, horn and accordion arranged by New York-based artist Christian Marclay.
For the third year in a row, the MCA has teamed up with Philip Morris Companies to waive the $8 admission fee with the donation of two non-perishable food items. The “Arts Against Hunger” food drive brought in approximately 6,600 pounds of food, which was later donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, a non-profit food distribution center.
First-time attendee Colby Witherup took advantage of the free admission. The Weinberg junior enjoyed lying in the sun listening to music and the array of activities sponsored by the museum.
“The variety of art was very interesting,” she said. “You don’t expect to have gospel music and modern dance performed side-by-side.”
This is Chicago culture at its best,” Solstice co-chairs Lois and Steve Eisen said, calling it an “extraordinary community event” that all ages could enjoy.
MCA Pritzker Director Robert Fitzpatrick agreed, noting it was a way to celebrate the city’s heritage, “wrapped” in a day of art.
