<div dir="ltr"><div>Hello writers and editors!</div><div><br></div><div>I'm sharing an updated press release for local multidisciplinary artist <b>Edra Soto'</b>s forthcoming installation for Comfort Station,<b> <i>La Casa de Todos/"Everyone's Home." <br></i></b><br>Edra and her team have been hard at work hand-forging this incredible installation, and sometimes the process takes longer than imagined!</div><div><br></div><div><b>The new opening date is Saturday June 15, 2024</b>, featuring celebratory music and dancing from Afro-Puerto Rican <a href="https://www.3arts.org/artist/ivelisse-diaz/" target="_blank">Ivelisse Diaz</a> & band at 5pm sharp.</div><div><br></div><div>Thereafter, we have a *whole season* of related programming happening in our space and on our lawn throughout the summer, before the exhibition closes on Dia de Muertos.</div><div><br></div><div>Full details pasted & attached below. The opening event is also <a href="https://comfortstationlogansquare.org/calendar/2024/6/1/la-casa-de-todos" target="_blank">linked on our calendar</a>.</div><div><br>Thank you for considering coverage of this milestone exhibition at Comfort Station!</div><div><div><b><br>Lauren Viera (she/her)<br></b><b>Marketing Director, Comfort Station<br></b><b><a href="http://www.comfortstationlogansquare.org/" target="_blank">www.comfortstationlogansquare.org</a><br></b><b><br></b></div><div><br></div><br><b><font size="4">Comfort Station Presents: <br>Edra Soto’s <i>La Casa de Todos / Everyone’s Home </i><br></font></b>Edra Soto’s lawn installation opens Comfort Station’s summer season on <b>June 15, 2024</b><div><div><span id="m_817404411750987232gmail-docs-internal-guid-94fd7405-7fff-9d65-f035-c4ca93abc001"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">CHICAGO, IL — Comfort Station is pleased to announce </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">La Casa de Todos / Everyone’s Home</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, an exhibition by Edra Soto that will reimagine the existing installation SCAFFOLD.  </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">With an updated opening date of June 15, 2024</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, the </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">exhibition will be accompanied by various programs throughout the summer and fall. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Soto’s practice draws from her Puerto Rican roots to instigate conversations about history, diasporic identity, and constructed social orders.</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> La Casa de Todos</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> builds on her ongoing project “Graft,” which integrates architectural intervention and social practice.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">With this public installation, Soto invites the community to celebrate a shared home together. </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">La Casa de Todos</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">, or “Everyone's Home,” reconfigures Via Chicago Architects + Disenadores’ work titled SCAFFOLD, transforming its structure by overlapping abstract carved panels, delineating safe zones destined to house public gatherings and moments for celebration.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The decorative motifs carved to the panels are directly sourced from representations of Puerto Rican </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">rejas</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> (wrought iron screens) commonly found throughout the archipelago. The introduction to a structure painted with a multicolored palette, a new approach to Soto’s work, was sourced from the archipelago's residential architecture. Her representations of </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">rejas </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">propose and celebrate the cultural value of Puerto Rico's lower- and middle-class communities. Soto’s works investigate and make visible the relationships between Puerto Rican cultural memory, its African and Black heritage, and the threads of colonial historical lineage of the United States.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;padding:0pt 0pt 17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">"It's such an honor to work with Edra Soto on this project,” says Kitty Rauth, Comfort Station’s artistic director. “I deeply admire her unwavering warmth and penchant for connecting people, bringing them together and giving artists a space to present their work within her own. Her practice is one of gift giving and reciprocity, and </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">La Casa de Todos</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> is an exciting backdrop for my hope of relationship building and mutual support this summer and fall."</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Beginning with the opening of </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">La Casa de Todos</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> in mid-June, Comfort Station will be hosting a series of related performances and programming, many of which are co-produced by the Palenque LSNA neighborhood association of Logan Square. The first of these performances will be presented by </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Ivelisse Diaz and band BomPleneras</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> at 5PM on the evening of the opening, June 15. Events occurring throughout the summer and fall include: a series of </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">“Drag Me To Life” performances hosted by Cindy Nero</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">; a time-based projection installation with</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> Kat</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Bawden</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> curated by </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Inés Arango-Guingue</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> on July 13; a </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">dinner hosted by Txa Txa Club</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> on July 26; a special iteration of improvisational performance project </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Freedom From, Freedom To</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> on September 6; and a closing Dia de Muertos celebration organized by </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Opera-Matic youth</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:italic;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">La Casa de Todos</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Terra Foundation for American Art, and is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.26818;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">For more information, contact:</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Kitty Rauth </span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Artistic Director, Comfort Station</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.26818;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><a href="mailto:kitty@comfortstationlogansquare.org" target="_blank">kitty@comfortstationlogansquare.org</a></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><a href="http://comfortstationlogansquare.org/TBD" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">comfortstationlogansquare.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.26818;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br></p><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">ABOUT COMFORT STATION</span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><br></span><span style="font-family:Lato,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Comfort Station activates a historic building with public, community-driven programs that foster vibrant connections at the intersection of art and life. Since 2011, it has operated out of a 1920s city-owned building that was once intended to be a space for travelers to stay warm while waiting for public transportation. That legacy fuels its mission to act as a porous and public gathering space for a variety of creative communities.</span></span><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><span><br></span></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><font color="#000000"><b>Comfort Station<br></b>2579 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago IL 60647<br></font><a href="http://www.comfortstationlogansquare.org/" target="_blank">comfortstationlogansquare.org</a><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div><font color="#000000"><a href="mailto:marketing@comfortstationlogansquare.org" target="_blank">marketing@comfortstationlogansquare.org</a><br><br>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/comfort_station/" target="_blank">@comfort_station</a><br>Facebook: <a href="http://facebook.com/comfortstationlogansquare" target="_blank">comfortstationlogansquare</a><br>LinkedIn: <a href="http://linkedin.com/company/comfortstationlogansquare" target="_blank">comfortstationlogansquare</a><br><br></font><div><font color="#000000"><img src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xn4frfh_fhLuWstZhzUC8ASN4r_SWLB4d45eZkY4ow6PpNcB8Do-_lgTKVpg8DSY3UkjqqVxk" width="200" height="61"></font></div></div></div></div></div></div>