Evanston ASPA

10/12/2026

10/05/2026

In celebration of Filipino American History Month we are thrilled to host this exciting workshop!

Tracing Home: A Workshop about Researching & Documenting Local History

Every family carries a history that isn't written down anywhere — a grandparent's migration story, a recipe with no measurements, a name that got shortened or changed at a border crossing. This free workshop is an introduction to finding, collecting, and preserving that history before it's lost.

You'll learn how to do basic research using online tools and public records with Author and Historian Jenny Thompson, and hear about how Evanston ASPA and the Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago (FAHSC) are working to uncover lost history and document and preserve local Asian American stories.

No experience necessary!

In honor of Filipino American History Month this workshop will be using local Filipino American history as a study in how to research and record local history, but all are welcome and can learn about the resources, tools and how-to’s to uncover and preserve your own history and stories!

Free and open to all community members but please register in advance.

https://www.evanstonaspa.org/event-details-registration/tracing-home-a-workshop-about-researching-documenting-local-history

10/05/2026

Kitchen Table Talk with Geeta Maker-Clark

Free event open to everyone!

We are excited to host special guest Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark for our Fall 2026 Kitchen Table Talk! Geeta will talk about her book Medicine for all People: Science and Ancient Wisdom for Revolutionary Healing. The speaking portion will be followed by time for book signing and networking. Refreshments will be served.

Please be sure to rsvp as space is limited.

This event is free but we have a suggested donation of $25 to allow us to continue providing free events like this throughout the year!

https://www.evanstonaspa.org/event-details-registration/kitchen-table-talk-with-geeta-maker-clark

If you'd like to preorder Geeta's book you can do so and either pick it up at Booked prior to the event or pick it up at the event.

09/21/2026

We are excited to host special guest Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark for our Fall 2026 Kitchen Table Talk! Geeta will talk about her book Medicine for all People: Science and Ancient Wisdom for Revolutionary Healing.

Thursday, October 15, 2026
6-8p
Noyes Cultural Arts Center
927 Noyes St.
Evanston

The speaking portion will be followed by time for book signing and networking. Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served.

This event is free but we have a suggested donation of $25 to allow us to continue providing free events like this throughout the year!

Please be sure to rsvp as space is limited.

If you’d like to preorder Geeta’s book you can do so and either pick it up at Booked prior to the event or pick it up at the event.

Booked
506 Main St.
Evanston

Link for registration, donation and book order: https://www.evanstonaspa.org/event-details-registration/kitchen-table-talk-with-geeta-maker-clark

09/17/2026

So much fun hanging out with Northwestern’s newest Wildcats at the Downtown Summer Sounds-At Home in Evanston event in fountain square tonight! We were able to share what our org does with so many new students and make art in community with Funkadesi as our soundtrack. Love everything about this new collab! Shout out to Val Buchanan whose energy and brilliance shine through on nights like this. Excited for this to be a new annual tradition!

09/15/2026

Around 2012 and 2013, something unusual began appearing in parks, gardens, vacant lots, near sidewalks, and even beneath the L.

Huge white Buddha sculptures seemed to be rising straight out of the earth.

There were eventually 100 of them placed across nine Chicago neighborhoods and Evanston.

They were part of a public art project called Ten Thousand Ripples, created by Chicago-area artist Indira Freitas Johnson with the nonprofit Changing Worlds and local community groups.

And they weren't placed there just to look interesting.

Johnson wanted the sculptures to appear in places where people normally wouldn't expect to find public art.

Several were installed in neighborhoods dealing with violence and other serious challenges.

The idea was simple: put something peaceful in an unexpected place and see what kind of conversation it creates.

Each sculpture was made from fiberglass and resin and weighted with concrete.

Some weighed roughly 300 pounds, so moving one wasn't exactly easy.

Yet they were designed to look as though the Buddha was slowly emerging from the earth.

Johnson said the image represented the way people grow in their own understanding and spirituality.

The project quickly became more than just an art display.

People interacted with the sculptures.

In Rogers Park, one Buddha near the lake was repeatedly turned to face different directions.

Another sculpture was once decorated with makeup, only for someone else to later clean it off.

Some communities organized peace events, school activities, processions, and neighborhood programs around them.

The 100th sculpture was installed in Little Village in June 2013, completing the original project.

So Chicago didn't exactly bury 100 Buddha heads in the traditional sense. They were intentionally created to look like they were emerging from the ground.

And that strange sight was the whole point.

In a city where people can rush past the same corner every day without noticing much, these silent 300-pound faces gave people a reason to stop for a moment.

A strange piece of Chicago history where art wasn't meant to sit quietly inside a museum.

It was put right in the neighborhood.

09/12/2026

Look at our office view today! Come visit us at the lakefront Folk Festival. It’s a gorgeous day💙

Incredible bands all day long, food trucks and of course… art making at our booth! Shout out to Pink Poster Club, our neighbor for the day🩷

09/11/2026

Are you going to the Evanston Folk Festival this weekend? We'll be there Saturday 9/12 from 12-5p making wood mandalas! Come find our booth and hang out and make cool art, while listening to awesome music!