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Screening | Scenes from the City in a Garden

March 28, 20262:00 pm - 3:30 pm

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Edlis Neeson Theater
A grainy image of a person interviewing two people
Bill Stamets, still from <em>Joan Jett Blakk: Queer Nation’s Candidate for President, 1992</em>, 1991. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/JJB-still-jpg.jpg
Still from Rumors Campaign, featuring Meryl Streep. Broadcast on ABC Network’s <em>The AIDS Connection: Hour V</em>, 1987. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/Meryl-Streep-1.png
Black and white close up of two dolls' heads framed in black
Stephanie Coleman, still from <em>Having a Ball! with the House of Avant Garde</em>, 1992. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/Having-a-Ball.png
A grainy image of a person interviewing two people
Bill Stamets, still from <em>Joan Jett Blakk: Queer Nation’s Candidate for President, 1992</em>, 1991. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/JJB-still-jpg.jpg
Still from Rumors Campaign, featuring Meryl Streep. Broadcast on ABC Network’s <em>The AIDS Connection: Hour V</em>, 1987. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/Meryl-Streep-1.png
Black and white close up of two dolls' heads framed in black
Stephanie Coleman, still from <em>Having a Ball! with the House of Avant Garde</em>, 1992. Courtesy of MediaBurn. 2026/03/Having-a-Ball.png

About the Event

Explore another facet of queer life with a collection of short films and national broadcasts, curated in conjunction with the exhibition City in a Garden. This screening highlights Chicago’s LGBTQ+ history, including the first queer zine fest in the United States, drag queen and activist Joan Jett Blakk, Chicago’s first ballroom house, and more.

Films include:

  • Joan Jett Blakk: Queer Nation’s Candidate for President, 1992 (1991), Bill Stamets
  • Much handled things are always soft (2019), Derrick Woods-Morrow
  • Hokey Sapp Does SPEW (2022), Mary Patten
  • Jollies (1990), Sadie Benning
  • The AIDS Connection: Hour V (1987), broadcasted on ABC
  • Kissing Doesn’t Kill (1990), Tom Kalin and Gran Fury
  • Having a Ball! with the House of Avant Garde (1992), Stephanie Coleman

Scenes from the City in a Garden is organized by Korina Hernandez, Curatorial Assistant.

Access Information

English CART captioning is provided at this event. To request additional accessibility services, please contact us at [email protected] or 312-397-4076.

Funding

Lead support for the 2025–26 season of MCA Talks is made possible by The Richard and Mary L. Gray Lecture Series through a generous gift to the Chicago Contemporary Campaign.

Generous support is provided by The Antje B. and John J. Jelinek Endowed Lecture and Symposium on Contemporary Art; the Kristina Barr Lectures, which were established through a generous gift by The Barr Fund to the Chicago Contemporary Campaign; The Gloria Brackstone Solow and Eugene A. Solow, MD, Memorial Lecture Series; and the Allen M. Turner Tribute Fund, honoring his past leadership as Chair of the Board of Trustees.