When life is chaos, make art

Flip a Beat Club Chicago (FABC) chapter participant and artist Ace makes beats using an MPC (or "beat machine") at the bar and art space Nighthawk in Chicago on May 15.According to FABC Chicago founder Cory Morrison, participants make beats using samples provided by the club.

The event is livestreamed.Olivia Obineme for NPR hide caption On a bright, warm Saturday afternoon in Chicago, two community hubs on opposite sides of the city were bursting with artistic activity.Nighthawk is located in Albany Park, on Chicago's North Side.

Once upon a time, it was just a local bar."We've been coming here for the last 10 years, practically since they opened," said David Chavez, who by day plans programs and cultural events for the city of Chicago.Back then, he and three members of his family — Ana Bermudez, Samantha Bermudez and Juan Bermudez — were just patrons at this cozy neighborhood hang.

But since then, they've reimagined Nighthawk into something else altogether.At the beginning of 2025, the four of them became managing partners in this local joint — and they've turned it into one of the most interesting small arts venues in the city.They present live music and DJs, visual art exhibitions, live drawing and painting evenings; you don't have to buy anything to attend.On this sunny Saturday afternoon, they're hosting a discussion on documentary films on their backyard patio."It meant creating activities that were beyond just consuming alcohol.

It meant creating a third space and meant having things that other — maybe that folks don't have access to otherwise, like art-making, drawing, painting, conversations about current events," Chavez said.Chavez said that they want this space to operate at the nexus of the arts and local activism.Flip a Beat Club Chicago (FABC) chapter founder Cory Morrison.

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