Not so Hot
Bad news, culture hounds: Beloved South Loop performance space HotHouse is closing--temporarily. At least, we hope it's temporary. The popular art and music venue, founded in 1987 and known for eclectic bands, intimate art exhibitions, theater workshops and much more, will leave East Balbo Drive at the end of July, with plans to move to an as- yet undetermined location. Signature events--such as the Jazz En Clave Festival--that are held by the non-profit organization will be moved to other Chicago venues in the meantime, and regular programming will be reduced in the short term to prepare for the move. Business director Marc Harris sounds confident that this is the best thing for Hothouse, but we just hope that it will find a new home sooner than the Jazz Showcase, the historic downtown jazz club that closed in January and has yet to find a new location. After all, when HotHouse departed its Wicker Park location in 1995, it didn't officially reopen until 1998. Will you head to HotHouse before it closes? Where else do you go to whet your cultural appetite? When a venue says they're moving, do you worry that they're kaput?