The Chicago Home Theater Festival redefines who art is for, who art is by, and where it all takes place by transforming homes throughout Chicago into venues for original and experimental performance, cinema and interdisciplinary art.

The event will include a few speakers and performances to link beastly themes to the Home Theater. Founded in Berkeley, California in 2010 and currently spanning 3 continents and 10 countries, the International Home Theater Festival launched in Chicago in May 2013. The inaugural year featured performances in 13 homes by over 100 artists throughout the north, west and south sides of the city. Intentionally extra-institutional, the festival explores the private domain as public forum for risk-taking, radical generosity and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Learn more about the Festival at http://www.chicagohtf.org.

Homecoming: Chicago Home Theater Festival 2014 is part of “The Beast” program series.

More on “The Beast” Exhibition and Artist John Preus:
“The Beast” is a new solo exhibition by Artist in Residence John Preus. “The Beast” structure will house a companion series of public events. Preus is best known for his work as the lead fabricator for Theaster Gates, and as the principal designer and builder of the Dorchester Projects’ Archive House. The exhibition features a two-story “architectural intervention,” designed with an open meeting space inside. Materials used in construction of The Beast were harvested from six recently closed Chicago Public Schools on the South Side. The structure will be used as a site for free public programming including storytelling, music, panel discussions, and lectures – aimed at rethinking public space for inquiry, public dialogue, and creative production.

For exhibit details and a complete schedule of companion programming, visit http://www.hydeparkart.org .