About this Event
We invite you to join us on Friday, November 20, from 6 PM to 10 PM, for Gray Center's Queer Prom at The Land School
Serving as the official launch party for Gray Center's Portable Gray, Issue 16: "Costume and Collapse," the evening celebrates queerness, artistic experimentation, and the myriad ways we embody and express ourselves. The night will feature a reception, a catwalk of costumes designed during an earlier workshop facilitated by artist Uta Bekaia, and a dance party spun by DJ Duane Powell, alongside interstitial interview moments with journal contributors. Beverages and bites will be available throughout the night.
Tickets are free, with a suggested donation of $15. Donors who give at any amount will receive a copy of Portable Gray.
More on :
Guest-edited by Leah Feldman, our spring 2026 edition explores the continued life of the wearable art, as at once a record of the past—imprinted by the presence of the body—as it fashions forms of survival in its stitches, patterns, and silhouettes, generating armor to shelter fabulous possibilities for future-becoming. Featuring contributions by: Alia Ali, Uta Bekaia, Rikki Byrd, Nick Cave, Stephnie Cristello, Rachel Dedman, Thomas F. DeFrantz, Hoda El Shakry, Leah Feldman, Jonathan Flatley, Theaster Gates, Omar Kholeif, Dato Koridze, Catriona MacLeod, Matt Morris, Tim Nicholson, Duane Powell, Dieter Roelstraete, Slavs and Tatars, and Kris Trujillo. The issue also features our latest reviews in PGR by: Isaac Bjorke, Annette LePique, Nicky Ni, Pia Singh, Regina Victor, Erik Wenzel, and Ellen Wiese.
About Gray Center
The Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry is a forum at the University of Chicago for experimental collaborations between artists and scholars. The Center seeks to intervene in existing structures that keep scholarship and the arts separate from each other, and to help reimagine new relationships between them.
By providing a zone for serious play and genuine exploration, scholars and artists take risks not otherwise possible given their professional profiles. The experimental nature of the Gray Center’s work has yielded a wide variety of forms through which past, current, and prospective fellows share their work with diverse constituencies on campus, throughout Chicago and the US, and globally.
About The Land School
The Land School, a new pedagogical platform at the site of the former St. Laurence Elementary School, proposes a radical model of artistic experimentation and archival stewardship, providing space, time, access, collaborative inquiry, process-driven programming, and performance, all led by an intergenerational cohort of artists, archivists, scholars, craftspeople, cultural workers, and creative organizations invested in culture as a service.
The Land School Policies and Protocol:
In advance of the day, please take note of the policies below to help us care for one another and the space:
Drinks and water will be available for purchase on site. Outside alcohol and firearms on the premises are strictly prohibited.
Please be mindful of your neighbors by respecting their personal space and bodily autonomy.
No smoking, vaping, or incense is permitted on the school premises.
No pets are allowed.
No professional photo/video equipment allowed unless preapproved by Rebuild.
Ride sharing is encouraged as parking is limited. Please be sure to not block the entrances and exits of our neighbors. We feel uniquely grateful to offer these programs in an active, thriving residential community. If you are able, we encourage parking along Dorchester Avenue out of respect for our neighbors’ everyday parking needs.
No violence - verbal or physical - will be tolerated. Any attendee creating an unsafe environment will be removed from the premises immediately, at the discretion of the Rebuild security staff.
We take the safety our all of our guests seriously. If any guest is found violating these protocols, they will be escorted off of the property immediately and will not be welcome to return.
Notice of Photography and Videography
By entering the space, you acknowledge and consent to being photographed and/or videotaped. Images and recordings may be used for promotional, archival, or other purposes by the organizers. If you do not wish to be photographed or recorded, please notify a staff member upon arrival. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Agenda
🕑: 03:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Off-site Workshop with Uta Bekaia @ Gray Center
Info: Mask Portal is a multi-day collective workshop led by artist Uta Bekaia, exploring costume and mask-making as tools for transformation, embodiment, and self-discovery. For those interested in participating, please send a 1- to 2-sentence statement to [email protected]. Space is limited. Note: This workshop will be held at Gray Center.
🕑: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Welcome Reception at The Land School
🕑: 07:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Queer Prom!
Event venue & nearby stays
The Land School, 7200 South Dorchester Avenue, Chicago, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.