SOFA @ Navy Pier

Celebrating its 16th year, SOFA, the wildly popular sculpture objects & functional art fair, returns to Chicago to present work from 68 international galleries and dealers from 10 countries. As always, the fair will be at Navy Pier, Festival Hall: 600 E. Grand. It will continue through Sunday the 8th. Fair hours are as follows: Friday and Saturday: 11am - 8pm; Sunday 12-6pm. Tickets are $15 for single day general admission and $25 for a three-day pass. Discounted student, senior and group tickets are available. Catalogs are $15. For general information, visit SOFA's website, call 773-506-8860, or email info@sofaexpo.com.

A Taste of the Seasons @ Union League Club

Seven Generations Ahead holds its annual benefit tonight from 7-11pm at the Union League Club, 65 West Jackson. Food, entertainment and a silent auction are on the menu. Tickets start from $125.

Polish Film Festival Opens @ River East

The 21st annual Polish Film Festival starts today and runs through November 12. Opening night is tonight at AMC River East 21 (322 East Illinois Street) with a screening of the film General Nil. See the festival's website for a complete schedule and to purchase tickets.

Marwen Art Fair @ River North Gallery

Marwen's fourth annual Art Fair starts today (to raise funds for the art career-developing programs) at Marwen's gallery space in River North, 833 N. Orleans St.

The suggested donation on opening night is $20 and will be hosted with not only food, cocktails and music but a reflection with artists who will be present to discuss their work.

The Art Fair exhibition will continue until Nov. 13. Hours are Saturday, Nov. 7, 12- 6pm and Mon.-Fri., 9am-6pm. Prices of the art work range from $50 - $1000.

The Golem @ Chicago Cultural Center

The Golem is a classic 1915 silent film that adapts the ancient Jewish tale about a clay automaton built by the town's Rabbi to protect their village from evil forces. But when it's found again by an antique dealer and becomes a lowly servant, his immense power cannot be controlled. Screening at the Chicago Cultural Center, this film's score is being performed by five members of Fulcrum Point (a string quartet and a clarinet). Admission is free and the film starts at 7pm. Seating is first come first serve.

Jackie Tileston's Mesocosmos II Opens @ Zg Gallery

Jackie Tileston makes lush, colorful, celebratory paintings, photographs, and works on paper- feeding off the colors and customs of Eastern culture. An exhibition of her new work opens tonight at Zg Gallery, located at 300 W. Superior. Call the gallery at (312) 654-9900 for more information.

Hans Koch Performance @ Corbett vs. Dempsey

Corbett vs. Dempsey continues its series of unaccompanied instrumentalists with a visit from the brilliant Swiss reed player Hans Koch. Koch joins us during an American tour that brings him to Chicago to perform at the Umbrella Music Festival. The performance begins at 4pm. Corbett vs. Dempsey is located at 1120 N. Ashland, #3. Admission to this event is free. Call the gallery at 773-278-1664 for more information, or visit their website.

Austin Eddy Opening @ Golden Gallery

Austin Eddy creates paintings that borrow their imagery from a myriad of sources; this most recent work employs recurring visual vocabulary passed down through the history of painting. The compositional tools of Matisse, Picasso, and Avery act as a jumping off point for Eddyʼs renderings of colorfully patterned, melancholic interior spaces. Eddy experiments with the flattening of illusionary space, which at times the artist renders virtually abstract by building up layers of acrylic, enamel, oil, colored pencil, puffy paint, glue, nail polish, & spray paint.

The opening is from 6-9pm, and the show will be up through Dec. 12th. Golden Gallery: 816 W. Newport. Call (773) 209-8889 for more info.

Ghosting Opens @ Roots & Culture

Tonight, "Ghosting"-- works by Rob Doran and Ryan Fenchel opens at Roots & Culture Gallery: 1034 N. Milwaukee. The opening is from 6-9pm. The show will be up through December 6. Check out R&C's website for more information about the artists. Call the gallery at 773-235-8874 for more information.

Mrs. Gruber's Ding Dong School

Easily the best Robot vs. Dinosaur show to date, Mrs. Gruber's Ding Dong School takes the audience through a twisted, rollicking day at an academy run by a doddering but feisty schoolmarm with an age-addled brain and a passion for expanding young minds. Spot on casting, warped sensibilities and imaginative puppetry give it a Wonder Showzen feel, without a hint of a knock-off. Tickets are $15, and the show runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm through Nov. 21 at Gorilla Tango, 1919 N. Milwaukee (right under the Western Blue Line stop). For tickets, call 773-598-4549 or visit www.gorillatango.com.

Jim Edgar @ UIC

Join former governor Jim Edgar for his lecture, "The Future of Illinois," today from noon-1pm at UIC's Behavioral Science Building (1007 West Harrison Street), Room 140. Former Alderman and UIC Political Science Professor Dick Simpson will moderate. Lecture is part of UIC's "Future of Chicago" series. Free and open to the public.

Anthony Bourdain @ Genesee Theatre

Celebchef Anthony Bourdain will be at Waukegan's Genesee Theatre tonight at 8pm to talk about, well, Anthony Bourdain. Tickets start at $49.50.