Illinois Institute of Technology ( IIT ) Office of Community Affairs

09/11/2026

Opening September 24
Intentionality, 1960: Whose Dreams?
by Candace Hunter

What happens after a place is remade—and what gets lost when history is paved over?

In Intentionality, 1960: Whose Dreams?, Chicago artist Candace Hunter examines the construction of the Dan Ryan Expressway and the Black communities displaced in its path. Extending her project 50,831 +/– Dreams, Hunter looks beyond physical loss to trace the disrupted routes, relationships, and ordinary intimacies left behind.

Through photographic collage, installation, architectural fragments, sound, and oral histories—including first-person accounts gathered during her Memory Teas—Hunter brings recorded history into conversation with lived memory. The exhibition asks us to reconsider the landscape as it exists now, complicating official archives and staying with what persists in the wake of displacement.

Exhibition Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 24 | 6:00-8:00pm
Arts Incubator Gallery | 301 E. Garfield Blvd
Link in Bio to register

09/10/2026

🌳 Clean air starts with healthy trees! On International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, help us Restore the Canopy by planting a free native oak sapling from the MWRD. Trees help improve air quality, provide wildlife habitat and keep neighborhoods cooler.

There’s still time to pick up a free sapling at an MWRD water reclamation plant. Saplings are available every Wednesday through Oct. 28 from 9 a.m. to noon.

🪴 Calumet Water Reclamation Plant
400 E. 130th St.,

🪴 Egan Water Reclamation Plant
550 S. Meacham Road,

🪴 Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant
1220 Sycamore Ave.,

🪴 Kirie Water Reclamation Plant
701 West Oakton St.,

🪴 O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant
3500 Howard St.,

🪴 Stickney Water Reclamation Plant
6001 W. Pershing Road,

Learn more: https://mwrd.org/community-action/native-landscaping/restore-canopy

08/27/2026

Tonight! Our monthly Speakeasy set with Ryan Nyther has been moved to the P-Club in MTCC (located closest to the entrance along State Street, facing West). We hope to see you there!

Nyther has performed with Chicago Bebop/avant garde legends Fred Anderson, Von Freeman, and Willie Pickens, in addition to Lupe Fiasco, Buddy Guy, Roy Hargrove, R&B group Mint Condition, and more. Currently, Nyther is an artist in residence at Andy’s Jazz Club with his longstanding collaborative project and group, the Trumpet Summit, which is a collective made up of musicians playing in the tradition of instrumental Black American music of the 1950s and 1960s.

08/14/2026

08/14/2026

Our monthly Speakeasy set with Ryan Nyther on the 27th of this month has been moved to the P-Club in MTCC (located closest to the entrance along State Street, facing West). We hope to see you there!

07/31/2026

Important news for Illinoisans in need of food assistance! Illinois is launching the Families Receiving Emergency Support for Hunger (FRESH) program to help individuals who lost SNAP benefits due to recent federal work requirement changes.

Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) writes that beginning August 1, eligible individuals can automatically receive a one-time $400 benefit per eligible household member — no application required.

Approximately 100,000 Illinoisans will receive a one-time benefit beginning August 1, and IDHS will provide funding each month to additional individuals who lose coverage until funding is exhausted.

Learn more about eligibility, benefit timing, and available resources in this press release: https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/governor-pritzker-launches-fresh-program-to-support-up-to-175000-illinoisans-the-trump-administration-kicked-off-snap

07/29/2026

Join Bronzeville StoryWalks and step into the living history of Bronzeville through a weekly guided walking tour and community conversation hosted at the Forum Cafe!

Each Thursday, you’ll explore the streets, stories, landmarks, and legacies that shaped Bronzeville’s Black Metropolis” era. Together, you’ll uncover the people, places, and movements, and institutions that continue to influence Bronzeville - and Chicago as a whole - today

To register or for more information, click here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bronzeville-storywalks-black-cornerstones-project-x-the-forum-cafe-tickets-1992456219187?utm_experiment=test_share_listing&aff=ebdsshios&sg=8984185b5f23366b41227ae35dcb2c1f5fc9c48b4520077fb2b5a8d08cf9ad9d1cf1e37af554a29b5c85fe54eb86553fcfa80897086af82ca5f241cd8c35e552e9e511705d97e96f7d762bee35e2