This week (and into the weekend), check out these events that are taking place in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco and Irvine, California.
New York City and Chicago: Open House – October 17 and 18
Get a taste of each city from locations not normally open to the general public on Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18.
Get a glimpse of NYC’s rarely seen spaces—from boardrooms to bedrooms, crypts to clubs, factories to firehouses, lighthouses to lookouts, monuments to mansions, skyscrapers to substations—with Open House New York, an event that will satisfy anyone’s inner snoop. Past tour spots have included the Four Seasons (the Phillip Johnson–designed restaurant, not the hotel), the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, the New York Academy of Medicine and even the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Plus, check out the talks, workshops and OHNY Kids tours.
The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago is a free public festival that offers behind-the-scenes access to 150 buildings across Chicago! Explore the hidden gems and architectural treasures of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods – all for free.
Click for more information on Chicago’s Open House and New York City’s Open House.
Chicago: 2015 Chicago International Film Festival – October 15-29
As the longest running international competitive film festival in North America, we proudly celebrated our 50th anniversary in 2014. Now in our 51st year, we continue to celebrate our past, present and future.
Film is a transformative medium, giving expression to different ways of thinking while confirming our shared stories and common humanity. Presenting more than 150 narrative feature, documentary and short films from over 50 countries, the 51st Chicago International Film Festival – held October 15-29, 2015 – will bring the world to Chicago.
For information and tickets, visit Chicago International Film Festival.
Los Angeles: CicLAvia – October 18, 2015
CicLAvia – Heart of LA will celebrate what has become a Los Angeles institution on October 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a fifth-year anniversary route. CicLAvia began as an idea with an uncertain outcome when it first removed cars from the streets of downtown Los Angeles on October 10, 2010. Now, five years, fourteen events and hundreds of thousands of participants later, CicLAvia is the largest open streets event in North America.
Heart of LA will have six miles for participants to explore by bike, foot, skateboard, wheelchair and other non-motorized traffic. The route will take people through Boyle Heights, the Arts District, Little Tokyo, Civic Center, Chinatown, Historic Core and as far west as Macarthur Park.
For more information, including the route map, visit CicLAvia.
San Francisco: Litquake Rumbles into the City – October 9-17
Litquake, October 9-17, 2015, is the largest independent book festival on the West Coast. The nine-day festival will feature more than 850 authors in 90-plus programs including Tracey Stewart (wife of Jon) reading from her new book, “Do Unto Animals”; chefs and authors dishing it out at Eat, Drink, and Be Literary in an entire day of food, wine, beer and chocolate; an evening of “twitterature” featuring drag queens; the poet laureate of Hawaii performing an epic poem; lunch with Paul Theroux; Pulitzer winners chatting; appearances by Daniel Handler, Amy Tan, Frank Portman, T Geronimo Johnson, Robert Haas and David Talbot among others; Romeo and Juliet performed by the African-American Shakespeare Company, Kidquake and Teenquake. The (perhaps infamous) Litcrawl on the final night of the event will wend its way through 80 venues in the Mission District.
Portland: Portland Open Studios – October 10-11, 17-18
In both a unique and educational setting, Portland Open Studios is an annual self-guided tour to visit studios of 96 artists throughout the Portland metro area. During the two weekends of the Tour, the public has the opportunity to witness art in the making and learn about the craft and business of the creative endeavor. These tours creates a platform for local Portland artists to thrive, engage and fosters a community that values the arts.
These artists in a myriad of disciplines will show you their work, their processes, their spaces, and a little of what it means to be an artist in this great city. Watch, learn, experience.
The Tour is composed of local artists who apply and are selected by an independent jury panel. Portland Open Studios prints a Tour Guide for visitors to purchase, as well as mobile apps. The printed map or mobile app contain the artists’ contact information, directions to their studios and serves as the entry ticket to the studio.
Each year, artists throughout the metro area open their studios during the second and third weekends of October to demonstrate their working life in their creative space. For information, visit https://www.portlandopenstudios.com/.
Irvine, CA : Solar Decathlon – October 8-18
The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.
The Solar Decathlon competition houses will be open to visitors from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily on eight days over two weekends: Thursday, October. 8–Sunday, October. 11 and Thursday, October 15–Sunday, October 18, 2015. The remaining dates, the Solar Decathlon village will be closed for competition activities.
Open to the public free of charge, the Solar Decathlon gives visitors the opportunity to tour solar-powered houses, gather ideas to use in their own homes, and learn how energy-saving features can help them save money.
For more information, visit the Solar Decathlon.
