American Aid Society Independence Day Picnic

The American Aid Society of German Descendants will hold its annual Independence Day Picnic on Saturday, July 4 at their picnic ground area in Lake Villa, Illinois. Enjoy goulasch, sausages and chicken with all the trimmings. The picnic will include a cultural program featuring local youth groups and a 40 piece brass band from Fornach, Austria.

When: Saturday, July 4

Gathering starts at 9am; food served at 11:30am; afternoon program at 1:30pm

Where: Picnic Ground Area, Lake Villa

Route 132, 1 mile west of 83, in Lake Villa IL, 60046

Cost: $3/person

Maifest Chicago

Come enjoy the 10 year anniversary of Maifest in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood! As always, there will be good German food, dancing and, of course, the traditional keg tapping. The event runs all weekend, so there is plenty of time to connect with your German heritage, or pretend to have some German heritage! Be sure to patronize the DANK Bar & Kitchen, located on the Lincoln Avenue side of the fest. All proceeds support art, language, music, dance, museum and library programming.

The festival runs May 28th-31st at the intersection of Lincoln and Leland Ave.

Thursday: 5pm-9:30pm "Rock the May Fest" Preview Party

Friday: 5pm-11pm (8pm Official Opening Ceremony, Traditional Keg Tapping and May Queen Crowning)

Saturday: 12pm to 11pm (Live Music, Entertainment & Open Mic)

Sunday: 12pm tp 10pm (Maypole Dance, Ethnic Program)

For more information, visit http://www.mayfestchicago.com/

SUPERMATRIX

The DANK-Haus' Scharpenberg Gallery presents the works of Eva Castringius' Supermatrix. The exhibition runs through May 30th.

Castringius explores the relationship of painting to photography through the interaction of various spaces. "Landscapes emerge as a projection screen for my visual concepts", says Castringius. "I'm interested in the combination of architecture and landscape, in the sense of a fusion of interior and exterior space. I create depth in the visual field, interweave various pictorial elements and counter solidity with fluidity."

Castringius has lived in Berlin since the early 1990s and was awarded the Villa Aurora scholarship in 2001. This period as an artist in residence shed a new light on her way of seeing things and prompted a definitive shift from small to large formats. Setting her sights on urban space in two major metropolises, Los Angeles and Berlin, the artist photographed famous locations at sunrise and sunset, including the harbor at Long Beach and the International Congress Center, now known as Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures), in Berlin. A signature mark of Castringius' projects is to discreetly insert a familiar object in each picture. The intention is to let the viewer to come up with the story behind each image. While at 18th Street, Castringius developed a series of large-scale paintings that further explored notions of space and architecture.

Scharpenberg Gallery hours:
Wednesday 2-5pm
Friday 2-5pm
Saturday 11-3pm