These (semi-)weekly DISPATCHES highlight artists and their work, promote upcoming events in the community, and address issues and news that impact the artists and audience of the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger.
Avondalia Art Show Opens Friday, October 3rd at the Art Colony
Avondalia: In Chorus and Cohesion, a community-curated storytelling art exhibition featuring more than 20 Avondale artists and in-studio visits with Art Colony artists, kicks off with a reception at the Art Colony (2630 W Fletcher Street) this Friday, October 3rd, at 5PM. Free tickets for the reception are available online here.
Avondalia: In Chorus and Cohesion, a community-curated storytelling art exhibition featuring more than 20 Avondale artists and in-studio visits with Art Colony artists, kicks off with a reception at the Art Colony (2630 W Fletcher Street) this Friday, October 3rd, at 5PM. Free tickets for the reception are available online here.
The show will feature multidisciplinary works from artists Winter Gale, Courtney Boatwright, Brenda Quetzali, Frank Joseph Zirbel, Alex Puryear, Shira Friedman-Parks, Adam Perschbacher, Jahadra Zaire, Laura Slota, Andrew The Rose Artist, Gabriela Almonte, Elaine Melko, Jocelyn Gray, Rebecca Wu, Kyler Sadkowski, Caiti Vincel, Todd Evans, Heather Barstow, Madi Fang, Kevin Michals, Shea Michals' Chicago Art Locker selections, Tanae B, Cory O'Brien, Laura Harper, Yolitzin Dominguez, Dan Pogorzelski, Casey Brown, Natalia Sustaita, and many more.
The event is organized for the second year in a row by Avondale community arts organizer Nikki Renée Frisinger (follow here substack here), and, in addition to the opening reception Friday, will feature the full slate of showings at the Art Colony on Saturday, October 4th from 11AM–5PM. A closing reception will be held on Sunday, October 5th, at Solidarity Studios (3323 N Pulaski Rd) from 6–9PM, and will feature live music from Bunny Dog and a film screening featuring work by Julia Pello.
Come on out this weekend and support local artists in your community. We hope to see you there!
Make sure to RSVP for the closing reception, space is limited and going fast!
“SPARK” popup concert series culminates at Unity Park Friday
The third and final event of the Logan Square Arts Foundation’s (LSAF) 2025 SPARK series of free pop-up concerts in neighborhood parks will take place in Unity Park (2636 N Kimball Avenue) this Friday, September 12, from 4PM–8PM.
The third and final event of the Logan Square Arts Foundation’s (LSAF) 2025 SPARK series of free pop-up concerts in neighborhood parks will take place in Unity Park (2636 N Kimball Avenue) this Friday, September 12, from 4PM–8PM. The event features live music from Bomberxs D’Cora of La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón, a collective dedicated to the preservation and practice of Bomba, Puerto Rico’s oldest surviving music and dance tradition created by the island’s African descendants. Visitors to the park can also expect to see booths with the work of 20 art and artisan vendors, including the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger.
Bomberxs D’Cora
The Milwaukee Avenue Messenger participated in the last two SPARK events in Koz and Mozart Parks, respectively, selling our summer issue (which is still for sale—get it Friday while supplies last!). It’s lovely to be outside in the community on a pleasant evening enjoying and supporting the arts. We highly recommend you come on out, bring a picnic, and soak it up before the cold, gray, indoor months come crashing down. You’ll be glad you did. We promise.
See you Friday!
–Matt McCarthy,
Publisher, Milwaukee Avenue Messenger
Dispatches: A new type of message
Now that we’re grizzled vets of the indie publishing scene, with one issue of the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger on the streets and another on the way, we’re already growing restless and looking for new ways to deliver our messages. Our journal, the backbone of this enterprise, is quarterly, but we yearn for more. We’ve got all this power at our fingertips—we’re plugged into the goddamn world wide web here—and it feels silly to crank it up just four times a year.
Hence, we’re excited to present, “Dispatches.”
Now that we’re grizzled vets of the indie publishing scene, with one issue of the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger on the streets and another on the way, we’re already growing restless and looking for new ways to deliver our messages. Our journal, the backbone of this enterprise, is quarterly, but we yearn for more. We’ve got all this power at our fingertips—we’re plugged into the goddamn world wide web here—and it feels silly to crank it up just four times a year.
Hence, we’re excited to present, “Dispatches.”
Each week, from here on out (in?), we’ll publish a short blog post on our website. These weekly dispatches will highlight artists and their work, promote upcoming events in the community, and address issues and news that impact the artists and audience of the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger.
These are strange, turbulent times, friends. For many of us, it feels like we’ve lost our way. But the arts can help guide us during times like these. Art can be a tool for resistance and also provide avenues for healing and hope. The arts can provide important social commentary that provokes dialogue and leads to meaningful change. Art connects us and helps promote empathy.
So, we encourage you all, when it feels bleak, look to artists and the arts. Support the arts. Take comfort in the arts. Be inspired by the arts. Allow yourself to be challenged by art. Make art and share it with the people in your community. We think it’s important. And, we promise: no matter how weird it gets out there, you can count on the Milwaukee Avenue Messenger to keep delivering.
–Matt McCarthy,
Publisher, Milwaukee Avenue Messenger