Staying in town for Spring Break? An abundance of Chicago events can keep a student busy.
Before Spring Break arrives for Northwestern students, St. Patrick’s Day festivities come to Chicago. The holiday falls on a Tuesday this year, so celebrations will be held the preceding weekend.
March 14 marks the famed dyeing of the Chicago River. To the sound of bagpipes, the river goes shamrock-green at 10:45 a.m., just east of Columbus Drive and west of Lake Shore Drive. The Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade follows at noon.
More Irish revelry ensues March 15 with the South Side Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade, starting at 104th Street and Western Avenue at noon.
Skip the movie theater and head downtown for the 12th Annual European Union Film Festival, running from March 6 to April 2 at the Gene Siskel Film Center. Over the course of NU’s Spring Break, the center will screen 27 different films from all across Europe. Barbara Scharres, director of programming for the festival, hand picks the films with another colleague.
“We make use of contacts in European nations, like directors, and we keep our feelers out all year long for new production,” she said.
Chicago also offers a variety of music during the last week in March.
Headlining the Riviera Theatre’s lineup are Les Claypool, Devotchka and Saul Williams on March 21, for $31.50, and Bloc Party, March 28, for $27.50.
Techno fans can look to Metro, where electronic duo Ratatat plays March 23 for $20 in advance. Days later, more electro fills the program with the Berlin-based twosome Booka Shade playing March 26, tickets for $20.
Folk and bluegrass listeners will find Ray Benson’s Asleep at the Wheel with special guest The Del Moroccos playing the Old Town School of Music March 28 for $30.
Enjoy the music of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble’s “Art of the Composer” March 20 at the Millennium Park Harris Theater, tickets priced from $15 to $45. Continue the weekend of jazz with Chicago’s Ryan Cohan/Joe Locke quintet at Al Capone’s old haunt, the Green Mill, March 20 and 21 for $12.
The Art Institute of Chicago is showcasing several exhibitions. Becoming Edvard Munch: Influence, Anxiety, Myth includes about 150 works from the Norwegian artist, including The Scream. The collection chronicles his life, casting his art next to personal letters and diaries. Student tickets are $12 and should be bought in advance.
For the photographer, the Art Institute is displaying portraits of 20th century icons in Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes. Among these include photos of Ernest Hemingway, Albert Einstein and Georgia O’Keeffe. Student tickets are $7, and both exhibitions last through April 26.
Look to the Museum of Contemporary Art for Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe, a series of sketches, models and artifacts. The collection serves as “a testament to his fascinating mix of utopian vision and organic pragmatism,” MCA’s Web site said. The exhibit runs March 14 through June 21, and student tickets are $7.
Find more art on a smaller scale at the Chicago gallery Bowman. The gallery is showing Geometry as Image, by various artists, until March 21. Roger Brown: Early Work opens shortly after, on March 27. Russell Bowman, gallery owner, said his interests are in Chicago imagist artists and self-taught art.
“I try to recognize artists that are known well elsewhere in the art world, but not frequently shown in Chicago,” he said.
