The Public Culture Lecture Series, co-organized by Randall Szott and InCUBATE, seeks to highlight examinations and enactments of public culture. Rather than following a preformed idea of what public culture actually is, the lecture series treats it as an open question and invites attendees to explore the question with us. A variety of people and practices will be drawn on to present the ways that the notion of “the public” emerges in their work and/or informs it.

The first Public Culture Lecture, “The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth Century United States,” was given in May 2009 by Angela Ray, a professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. Other presenters have included Claire Pentecost’s lecture on “Optimism and Everyday Life,” and tours by Robert Gardner of Maxwell Street Market and Hui-min Tsen of the Chicago’s underground pedway system.

The Public Culture Lecture series grew out of InCUBATE and Randall Szott’s event series, “In Search of the Mundane”at threewalls in October/November 2009. Its premise was to be a living exhibition: a series of public events that open up the space of the gallery to living and doing, calling attention to the wide spectrum of people interested in the beauty and political potential of the ‘everyday.’
The PCLS Series is ongoing at threewalls in Chicago, please see here for more details about upcoming lectures.

Past Presenters include:
Angela Ray’s “The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth Century United States”
Claire Pentecost’s lecture on “Optimism and Everyday Life”
Ryan Griffis lecture on Temporary Travel Office
Megan Stielstra on “Storytelling as an Everyday Art”
Robert Gardner’s tour of Maxwell Street Market
Hui-min Tsen’s tour of the Chicago’s underground pedway system
A tour with Public Collectors of Anthony Elm’s artist and exhibition ephemera
Mark Bazer’s live interview show with artists Tony Tassett, Kelly Kaczynski, and Bad at Sports’ Duncan Mackenzie and Richard Holland
Dr. Ben Reitman’s walking tour of Chicago’s hobohemia
Penelope Bingham, Who Cooks? American Cookbooks and Changes in Gender Roles
Chad Elias, How to Do Things With Words in Public Space
Sara Daleiden, Los Angeles Urban Rangers
Ericka Nelson, The Worlds Largest Collection of the Worlds Smallest Versions of the Worlds Largest Things
Katie Hargrave