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Read the press release here.

Notebaert Museum's 'Our House' Exhibit Leads Things To Do

By Ted Cox | March 24, 2017 8:25am
 The Notebaert Nature Museum opens the climate-change exhibit
The Notebaert Nature Museum opens the climate-change exhibit "Our House" this weekend.
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Notebaert Nature Museum

LINCOLN PARK — Climate change comes home to roost in a big way in a new exhibit at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum.

"Our House: Rethinking Home In a Changing Climate" opens Saturday at the museum, 2430 N. Cannon Drive.

"Climate change is already here," said Kristen Pratt, sustainability manager at the museum. Told the president of the United States might beg to differ on that, Pratt said she had "160 years of science" at the Chicago Academy of Sciences to back her up.

The exhibit is very hands-on, and encourages kids to consider how homes must change to deal with the effects of global warming, from ways to discourage wildfires in droughts to methods of preserving dunes as waters rise.

 Kelly Hogan heads back to her old stomping grounds at the Hideout with the Flat Five for a pair of shows this weekend.
Kelly Hogan heads back to her old stomping grounds at the Hideout with the Flat Five for a pair of shows this weekend.
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kellyhogan.com

Pratt says it shows "how our seasons are less predictable now," prone to extremes not only such as the string of record temperatures the city enjoyed in February, but the dreaded polar vortex, with those extremes producing stronger storms to boot.

Segments of the exhibit are set apart in the form of different model homes, with one advising to "Suppress Pests by Supporting Predators," such as owls and hawks.

While clearly aimed at kids, the exhibit will also generate a forum, "Thriving in a Changing Climate," April 6 at the museum, with experts weighing in.

Created here at the Notebaert, it's expected to become a touring exhibit, a la "Weather to Climate," now in Boston.

The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, with admission $9 for adults, $7 for students and seniors over 60, $6 for kids 3-12 and free for kids under 3.

Climate change or not, if you think summer can't get here soon enough, so do the people at Green City Market, who have already put tickets on sale for the hotly anticipated annual Chef BBQ event set for July 20 at the south end of Lincoln Park, around 1817 N. Clark St. More than 100 chefs and beverage providers will be on site with tasting portions. Tickets are $125 for general admission from 5:30-8 p.m., $275 for early VIP admission at 4:30 p.m. Money raised goes to the nonprofit's various programs.

Straying into the neighborhood borderland at the Hideout, 1354 W. Wabansia Ave., the Flat Five return for a pair of shows in the intimate venue at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It's one of the regular homecomings for Kelly Hogan and Scott Ligon, who years ago held down a weekly residency there performing for a group that became loosely known as the "Thursday night enablers." It's sold out, but you might find a ticket online if not from someone determined to prove who your true friends are.

Lincoln Park High School has an online fundraising auction going, with bids taken until 10 p.m. Sunday. Among the items available are Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks, Bulls and Bears tickets, a night at the Hotel Lincoln and personalized voice-mail greetings recorded by Principal Michael Boraz. Almost $18,000 has been raised as of Friday morning, with a goal set for $40,000.

Finally, keep in mind that the days are running short for the "Art AIDS America" exhibit at the Alphawood Gallery, 2401 N. Halsted St., which closes April 2. It examines the way artists dealt with the AIDS epidemic in the '80s. Some of it is overtly political, like Roger Brown's "Peach Light," while other works snuck their messages about the epidemic into museums. The museum is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Fridays-Sundays, 11-8 Wednesdays and Thursdays, and admission is free, although you might want to avoid any crush in the final days by setting up a timed admission pass on the exhibit website.

Roger Brown's "Peach Light" is part of "Art AIDS America." [Alphawood Gallery]