Open Mike Eagle: Artist as Instigator Residency Launch
Interview and Performance with Open Mike Eagle
Open Mike Eagle
-
National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada Street, Chicago, IL 60607
- Free
- Register
Join us for an interview and performance with Open Mike Eagle, the museum’s newest Artist as Instigator, to celebrate and launch his 2026 residency!
As the National Public Housing Museum’s seventh Artist as Instigator, Open Mike Eagle will leverage his residency to capture and preserve the stories of artists and musicians raised in housing communities that have been erased.
Over the next year, Eagle will develop an immersive audio-visual experience, conduct one on one interviews, and present intimate performances, exploring the lives and music of artists that lived in public housing to honor and celebrate the unheralded generations of families that lived, loved, laughed and died in these spaces.
FREE. Light bites and refreshments included. Space is limited.
LIVESTREAM will also be available beginning at 6 pm CT (7 pm ET / 5 pm MT / 4 pm PT). Please register to attend or for the livestream link.
About the Artist
Open Mike Eagle spent the 2010s finding comedy in rap music and American nightmares. On albums like Brick Body Kids Still Daydream and Dark Comedy, he delivered hilarious socio-political insights via half-sung verses laid atop progressive production. Acclaim from publications like Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and NPR coincided with headlining solo tours and top-billing at events like Adult Swim Festival. Between studio sessions, Eagle co-founded The New Negroes, a standup-meets-music variety show that explores perceptions of blackness. He and co-founder Baron Vaughn brought the show to Upright Citizens Brigade, Comedy Central, and venues around the U.S. Since founding his record label Auto Reverse Records, though, Eagle has scaled back the jokes. He’s finally unpacking his traumas and acknowledging their impact.
Generous support for the 2026 Artist as Instigator residency at the National Public Housing Museum is provided by the Mellon Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council.
Photos from the event
Photos by Joe Nolasco.