Singles scoop

The last time you squished a cold hunk of gray clay though your fingers might have been middle school, but the folks revisiting this childhood pursuit at Clay & Cocktails night at the Hyde Park Art Center are all grown up—and looking for love.

The monthly singles party—which has steadily built attendance to about 100 people per event since its debut in October—draws an eclectic crowd. “We get people from all over the city, and all ages, from about 25 years old and up,” says Kate Lorenz, the Art Center’s associate director. At the last event, we spotted folks mostly in their twenties and thirties, with an even split of men and women—and lots of University of Chicago graduate students. One attendee, a 29-year-old marketing manager, was impressed with the male-to-female ratio and fun, laid-back conversation. Half-joking, she described the men she met as, “U. of C. law students that have fantasies about owning a yacht one day.”

A $15 suggested donation gets you access to all of the Art Center’s exhibits and unlimited clay instruction—60-minute classes begin at half-past the hour. You’ll sip beer, wine and mixed drinks from a cash bar while you get design tips from an instructor. But between the music, the cocktails and the crowd, no one is too intent on making a masterpiece. “Let’s just say it’s the kind of class where you don’t have to pay attention,” Lorenz says.

At the next singles night on Friday 8, Chris Hammes, the Art Center’s exhibit proprietor, is inviting artist friends plus attendees to hang up their work for the duration of the evening. “We’re calling it Chris’s Clothesline, and it’s a one-night-only exhibition,” Lorenz says.

If you make a love connection while you’re molding clay or checking out the art, one attendee notes that it’s a good idea to settle in at the nearby Checkerboard Lounge, an old-school jazz and blues club (5201 S Harper Ave, 773-684-1472). After a night of arts and crafts, you should have plenty of conversation fodder to keep the sparks flying.—Liz Plosser

Hyde Park Art Center, 5020 S Cornell Ave at 50th St (773-324-5520, hydeparkart.org). Clay & Cocktails is the second Friday of each month, 8pm–midnight. The next event is Fri 8. $15.