Sala Diaz Chili Cook-off

Known to blur boundaries between the art and culinary worlds, Wisconsin-born artist and curator John Riepenhoff has crafted beers based on works of art and once served New York gallery-goers Every Bean Chili (an ambitious concoction combining all 104 of the world’s edible beans) garnished with Double Cream Colby, a cheese he created in collaboration with Clock Shadow Creamery. Inspired by both Riepenhoff’s edible art projects and “Hold My Beer,” his local exhibition with Milwaukee transplant Nicholas Frank, Sala Diaz invited a dozen artists, chefs and home cooks — from FL!GHT Gallery founder Justin Parr and Contemporary Art Month co-chair Chris Sauter to chef Brooke Smith of The Esquire Tavern and restaurateur Chad Carey — to face off in a good old-fashioned chili cook-off benefiting the beloved Southtown gallery’s programming. Furthering the cross-cultural pollination, current Artpace residents Carlos Rosales-Silva (Austin), Rafa Esparza (Los Angeles) and Kapwani Kiwanga (Paris) will judge the dishes, which can be topped with Riepenhoff’s decadent Double Cream Colby.