In the News: ABC7 Highlights Neighborhood Memorial to Police Violence Victims

The PO Box Collective is proud of this beautiful report about our public memorial for victims of police violence, and so grateful to collaborating artist Matthias Regan — Cheap Art for Freedom (CAfF) — and PO Box Collective members Fabi Subia and Mariela Aranda for representing it so well. Begun on July 4th, the installation continues to grow with visits and contributions from community members at all times of the night and day.

Join us every Sunday 11am-1pm, under the El tracks at Glenwood and Farwell, to add a name to the wall, pick up a free poster, or just show your solidarity. Add your voice!

Tortas y Talento Juneteenth En la Web!2020 junio

This very special Juneteenth edition of Tortas y Talento will raise money for Black artists.

DetailsLINK: https://depaul.zoom.us/j/97015051146

Tortas familia:

Black + Brown solidarity ❤️

Celebrate Juneteenth with us! Join us at 7:30 pm on Friday, June 19th for another virtual Tortas session. We’ll be fundraising for black artists!
BLACK FOLK – Drop us your venmo/cashapp/etc, and DM to get on the list to perform!
NON-BLACK FOLK – Come support and DM to get on the list to perform!
Everyone is welcome. The more people come, the more money we can fundraise for our Black community! WE WANNA SEE YOU ALL THERE!

We’re having an online open mic where we can all hang out and share our talents from afar. Bring out those quarantine crafts! And the guitars! Photos you’ve taken! Poems you’ve written! And the pets! Bring your own booze (BYOB) to your own house, get your compadres to dial in, call your parents, and invite your roommates for an evening showcase. This event is totally FREE.

FEED THE PEOPLE! ~ Go Fund Me campaign

Feed your soul, feed your community!  Help Rogers Park Food Not Bombs and PO Box Collective remain community assets.

PO Box Collective feeds our soul and imagination through art and connection. Our neighborhood space for arts, community programming and resource sharing opened up just over a year ago. In that time we have welcomed hundreds of our neighbors for art exhibits, community meetings, teach-ins, art-builds, reading groups, clothing swaps, concerts, open mics and so much more.

Rogers Park Food Not Bombs feeds and nourishes our neighbors by reclaiming and redistributing wasted food, has been in Rogers Park for over a decade, and a PO Box partner since our founding, When the shutdown took place, PO Box shifted our space immediately into a hub for mutual aid. Now FNB has turned our space into a distribution site for safely packaging and delivering around 200 bags of groceries weekly to Rogers Park neighbors, and all of the PO Box programming has been moved online until it is safe for us to host in-person events once again.

We know our neighbors will continue to have a need for art, connection, and nourishment and we want to be there! Because we don’t have in-person events right now, we need your help to keep our doors open. If you are able, please chip in whatever you can!

LINK TO DONATE: gf.me/u/x3rw85

PO Box is Online-only for Now

Like all of you, we are sheltering in place. We are also working to create virtual opportunities to stay connected and support each other. Social distancing does not need to mean social isolation. Check our calendar and Facebook for online meetings and events.

In the meantime, please stay safe. You are important and we love you!

“70 Acres in Chicago” with Filmmaker Ronit Bezalel

Twenty years in the making, 70 Acres in Chicago tells the story of the Cabrini Green public housing development located on the hotly contested 70 Acres of land in Chicago. The film uses personal stories, expert commentary and informative history to celebrate the spirit of a unique community and to mourn its betrayal and destruction.

Director Ronit Bezalel will be at the screening!http://www.70acresinchicago.com

RADICAL Print Shop Project @ the PO Box with William Estrada

Respond to Injustice
Amplify Our Voices
Distribute to the People
Imagine future possibles
Create with the Community
Artists and radicals together
Learn from each other

PO Box Collective and artist-in-residence William Estrada will be running the RADICAL Print Shop for the months of December and January.

William will be holding studio hours during Dec/Jan for anyone in the community who is interested in learning how to screen print, and we’ll have screens, inks, and paper on hand. Stay tuned for special events but in the meantime, stop by and say hello during these open studio times:

TH – 12/12/19 – 12p-05p
FR – 12/13/19 – 11a-12:30p
SA – 12/14/19 – 04p-06p
TU – 12/17/19 – 09a-12p
TH – 12/19/19 – 09a-05p
TU – 01/07/20 – 09a-05p
TH – 01/09/20 – 09a-05p
FR – 01/10/20 – 12p-06p
SA – 01/11/20 – 09a-01p
FR – 01/17/20 – 12p-06p
SA – 01/18/20 – 12p-05p
SA – 01/25/20 – 12p-05p
FR – 01/31/20 – 12p-05p
SA – 02/01/20 – 12p-05p

Movie Night: Born in Flames

Born in Flames is a 1983 documentary-style feminist fiction film by Lizzie Borden that explores racism, classism, sexism, and heterosexism in an alternative United States socialist democracy. The title comes from the song “Born in Flames” written by a member of Art & Language, Mayo Thompson of the band Red Krayola.

See Richard Brody’s informative review in the New Yorker if you’re the type who likes to know what you’re getting into: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/the-political-science-fiction-of-born-in-flames

Popcorn, beverages, and animated conversation included! You want to see this movie with others!!!

Inheritance Quilting Circle w/Rachel Wallis

SUNDAY APRIL 14 @ 1-4pm

Join the PO Box Collective and artist Rachel Wallis for an Inheritance Community Quilting Circle. Inheritance: Quilting Across Prison Walls. Inheritance is a collaboration with a group of women in Cook County Jail. In class, they have been writing, drawing and telling stories about the idea of inheritance – what was passed down to them in their families and what they want to pass down to their children and grandchildren.

During this three hour quilting circle, we will gather together to sew and embroider their designs and writing, while discussing the impact of incarceration on millions of families across the country.

No experience necessary. Refreshments provided. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. For other accessibility needs contact Rachel at [email protected]

Inheritance Quilt is organized in collaboration with the Chicago Community Bond Fund and Love & Protect, and supported by funds from the Illinois Humanities Envisioning Justice program and the SAIC Nichols Tower Residency.