Chicago’s Legendary Club LaRay
One of the city’s most exciting, most creative Black queer dance clubs in the 1980s. Opened in 1986, Club LaRay was located at 3150 North Halsted in Chicago. The club, […]
Tag: chicago
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House
Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement. On Thursday, August 21, 2025, watch […]
House of Avant Garde Screening in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) will screen Having a Ball on Thursday, October 23, 2025. Having a Ball! profiles the supportive, hugely creative LGBTQ+ family that formed around Chicago’s House […]
City in a Garden Interview
City in a Garden: Queer Art and Activism in Chicago is an intergenerational group exhibition that highlights Chicago’s essential, yet often under-acknowledged, role in the story of queer art and […]
Reviews About THING the Book
These magazines are over the top about the release of THING magazine as a book. See for yourself!
WTTW Interviews Frankie Knuckles
Explore the origins of house music, which began in Chicago’s underground party scene.
Interview with Stephanie Coleman
Stephanie Coleman, a seasoned videographer and realtor in Chicago, has a unique and inspiring background in the arts. Her film, Having A Ball! With the House of Avant Garde, was […]
Aaron Pierre Brown and The House of Avant-Garde
The House of Avant-Garde was established in 1986 by Wardell Ford, Thomas Sampson, and DeRico “Tracy” Reed. Aaron Pierre Brown moved to Chicago from Michigan in the Fall of 1986. […]
Having A Ball!
With The House of Avant-Garde Filmed and directed by Stephanie Coleman in 1992 with The House of Avant-Garde, this 30 minute film immerses us in Chicago’s vibrant, Black, LGBTQ+ ballroom […]
Home of House at Navy Pier
Exhibition closes October 31, 2024 Chicago is the birthplace of House music. House evolved through the early 1980s and brought together Chicagoans of different races, ages, cultures, and orientations like […]