Meet us at the Irving Park entrance at 2pm!

Bring a pen and a sketchbook if you’re interested in doing some art together :)

Artistic Alphabet Mafia is an affordable, sober, queer-led art group. They’re a safe space for members of the lgbtqia+ community to gather and sketch subjects from around Chicago. The subjects this time will be lichenized headstones, fungi, and maybe coyotes? (if they sit still?)

CMC has partnered with Graceland Cemetery in conducting a longform fungal diversity study on their grounds. We have been granted permission to collect specimens for further examination in this study. So, when we find something cool, we can collect it to perform microscopy and possibly DNA sequencing.

(huge shoutout to Graceland for prioritizing community science in the city and contributing to an important research study)

If you are curious about joining our club, all you have to do is show up! We will welcome you, walk with you, and learn together with you. We are all about open-access to education for all.

If you’re shy, quiet, outgoing, anxious, whatever; we have no expectations, and just hope to see you enjoy the nature around us. And hopefully you can learn something along the way!

Please keep in mind that we will be stopping frequently during our walk, which may be obnoxious to younger folks. When we find something, we stop to discuss our find. It is best if the group all stays together so everyone can see and hear!

Our meetups are family friendly, queer friendly, relaxed, and free!

In our Graceland walks, please be mindful of gravesites and be respectful of the property. We are able to harvest mushrooms for study, but we should maintain our ethics and be aware that some people may be on the grounds mourning.