Community Calendar

The Calendar returns!

This week, the Elmhurst Independent returns the Community Calendar to its readers who enjoy keeping up with what is going on around town. It has been decided to publish upcoming events, even if they are virtual and only available online. Please remember to be safe when attending live events by wearing mask, using hand sanitizer and maintaining the proper social distance.

If your club or organization is gathering during this time and you would like your meeting or event listed here, please send it to [email protected] and put “Community Calendar” in the Subject line.

Saturday Sept. 26

Beginning at 1 p.m., the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art offers a 60-minute virtual lecture and activity about Mysterious Geodes, the spherical hollow nodules that usually contain crystals. Learn more about the theories on how geodes form and where they are found. This virtual lecture will include a how-to guide for cracking your own geodes. Purchase geodes from the Museum Shop online or in store. Recommended for ages 6 to adult. Make reservations online at lizzadro-museum.ticketleap.com/mysterious-geodes. Info: 630-833-1616 or lizzadromuseum.org.

Saturday, Sept. 26

Sunday, Sept. 27

From 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. both days, the Elmhurst Art Museum presents Family Chalk the Lot, a socially-distanced community chalk event in the parking lot shared by Elmhurst Art Museum and Elmhurst Public Library. Local artists will bring the lot to life with chalk art inspired by the architectural drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright. Guests of all ages are welcome to create their own. Co-presented with Elmhurst Public Library. Free to the public. Parking space reservations are available via Museum website. Limit one parking spot per group, no more than six people per group.

Sunday, Sept. 27

The Elmhurst History Museum presents first-person presenter and historian Leslie Goddard who will give a virtual dramatic portrayal of Alice Paul (1885-1977), the dynamic suffragist leader who used radical techniques and strategies to help win American women the right to vote in 1920. This online program starts on Sept. 27 and will be available through Oct. 11 at elmhusthistory.org (in the Programs section).

Thursday, Oct. 1

Beginning at 7 p.m., Olympic gold and silver medalist Laurie Hernandez will deliver this year’s Roland Queset lecture at Elmhurst University.  Hernandez will talk about her Latin heritage and social equality, her Olympic experience and mental health awareness during “I Got This: To Gold and Beyond.”

Admission to this virtual event is $5 for the general public and free for Elmhurst University students, faculty, staff and alumni. Tickets are available by visiting elmhurst.edu/cultural. For more information, call (630) 617-5186 or email [email protected].

Saturday, Oct. 3

The Elmhurst Art Museum (EAM) invites residents to join in a S.I.P. (Shelter In Place) virtual fundraiser from 7 to 8:30 p.m. featuring a wine tasting, online auction, raffle and a telethon with celebrity board members to raise critical funds for the EAM. To participate, you’ll need to order your own wine-tasting kit by Monday, Sept. 21 at dakotashywine.com or visit the EAM web site where there is a link. Info: email [email protected] or call (630) 834-0202, ext. 12.

Ongoing programs:

• Now through Nov. 9, Edward-Elmhurst Health presents the Healthy Driven Take a Hike! Challenge, which will feature weekly hiking challenges and tips. At the web site, eehealth.org/healthy-driven/take-a-hike/, you’ll find an interactive map highlighting popular trails in the western suburbs. Participants are invited to post photos from their hikes on Facebook or Instagram (posting instructions provided on the landing page) to be entered into a weekly raffle for outdoor games.

• Now through Feb. 14, 2021, the Elmhurst Art Museum presents a socially-distanced self-guided, outdoor walking tour of Elmhurst’s modern architecture. Purchase admission ticket at the web site, however, admission is free during Wright Before the “Lloyd” exhibition currently on display through Feb. 14. Pre-recorded audio insights by architect Robert Bunda provide historic context and fun facts about architectural gems by Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Burley Griffin, and other greats. Link to guided audio tour expires five days after activating custom code. Advanced purchase recommended. Free to members. Visit elmhurstartmuseum.org.

Current exhibitions:

Elmhurst Art Museum

NOTE: Exhibition run dates recently changed due to new Museum hours

          Wright Before the “Lloyd,” open now through February 14, 2021, features images and artifacts that portray the eclectic, early explorations of one of the world’s greatest architects and is curated by Chicago’s official cultural historian Tim Samuelson.

          Art in the Post, open now through November 22, 2020, displays postcard artwork created and submitted by community members reflecting on COVID-19, racial injustices and other current events

Elmhurst History Museum

The Elmhurst History Museum celebrates the Centennial of the 19th Amendment with two new pop-up exhibits: “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence,” is a poster exhibition from the Smithsonian, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment by exploring the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans’ lives today. Outside on the lawn near the front entrance of the Elmhurst History Museum, view a display entitled “Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote,” which highlights the relentless struggle of diverse activists throughout U.S. history to secure voting rights for all American women. This four-panel display is a smaller version of the full-scale exhibition on display this year at the National Archives Museum.

Lizzadro Museum

Now until January 2021, a Special Exhibit is on display called “Re-carving the Past: The Art of Chinese Bronze and Jades,” focusing on the shapes and decorations of the two most prominent art forms in China. The exhibition features 11 bronzes from the MacLean Collection and 16 Jade carvings from the Lizzadro Museum illustrating the enduring importance of antiquity in Chinese art and culture. Formerly located in Wilder Park, the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art can now be found at 1220 Kensington Road in Oak Brook.