WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30, starting at 8:00 PM at the Op Shop (1613 E 55th ST) Op-Shop Announces “Shrine of Art”: The Forgotten Jackson Park Art Colony featuring Pocket Guide to Hell Tour, film screenings “Nothing is proved, all is permitted” – Theodore Dreiser “The Opportunity Shop is a marvel, a feat, and a unicorn” – Laura Shaeffer CHICAGO: The Opportunity Shop, an experimental art space in Hyde Park, announces a night of original film and secret histories inspired by the dead bohemians of the Jackson Park Art Colony – a group of writers, painters, sculptors, and musicians who kept studios and salons in a row of Chicago storefronts circa 1910. Big names include Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, Carl Sagan, Poetry, and The Little Review. The night starts with a virtual tour by Pocket Guide to Hell’s Paul Durica (8pm), followed up with 4 new 16mm films by Ivan Ross (9pm). The night is free and open to the public – neighborhood residents are invited to share their stories! – however donations are accepted. BYOB/snacks. The Opportunity Shop, located at 1613 E 55^th Street, is an easy hop from Lakeshore Drive or the #6 bus. IVAN ROSS has showcased his surprising, beautiful films (bathtub processing, optical printing) across the country. Tonight’s new work features bookbinders taking bullets, Walt Whitman spying on Parisians, and banjo soundtracks. www.ivanross.com PAUL DURICA, founder of Pocket Guide to Hell Tours (“Quirky” – TimeOut Chicago, “Informative … intimate” – Chicago Weekly), leads guerilla walking tours across the city. He uses everything from peanuts and beer to overhead projectors to tell Chicago’s hidden history. Topics include Leopold and Loeb, the World’s Columbian Exposition, the University of Chicago, and more. (Note that tonight’s is a virtual tour, so folks won’t leave the Opportunity Shop.) http://tiny.cc/hell628 The Opportunity Shop (“Op-Shop”) is a dedicated to creating alternative sites of exchange around art in vacant urban spaces. This space, made available by Mac Properties for a token fee, is its first location; a new one will be unveiled in early 2010. For more information or to showcase your art in 2010, contact Lara Shaeffer through www.theopshop.org. CONTACT: Paul Durica, pgdurica@hotmail.com