Triangle Square, rendering by Lamar Johnson Collaborative
ART
Art Institute Employees Rally In Support Of Unionization
“If successful, the Art Institute of Chicago Workers United would be the first major museum union formed in Chicago… About 200 employees of the renowned art museum and associated school gathered along South Michigan Avenue to rally in support of a unionization movement at the iconic cultural institution,” reports the Trib.
Fairy Houses Celebrating Chicago Parks’ Natural Areas and Stewards Extended
Visitors can view the twenty Fairy Houses at Big Marsh Park, a centralized location, after spending the summer months at Chicago Park District Natural Areas across Chicago. The Chicago Park District, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy of Illinois, is showcasing the Fairy Houses to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Chicago Park District’s Natural Areas and the establishment of the Community Stewardship Program. “These mystical wooden structures were created by local volunteers, and dazzle with creativity, combining natural items such as branches, plants, feathers, rocks and more with unique special touches,” reports the CPD. The showing of the Fairy Houses is extended through October 29. More here.
Kemper Art Museum Presents “The Outwin: American Portraiture Today”
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis is presenting “The Outwin: American Portraiture Today,” an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery featuring the finalists of the Portrait Gallery’s fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Every three years, artists living and working in the United States are invited to submit a recent portrait to a panel of experts chosen by the Portrait Gallery. In 2019, forty-six works were selected from over 2,600 entries in media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, time-based media and performance art. “Artists were asked explicitly to submit works that respond to the current political and social context; the resulting presentation offers perspectives on a range of themes of sociopolitical relevance, including immigration, the status of American workers, mass incarceration, gun violence and LGBTQ+ rights.” More here.
DESIGN
RAISIN Occupies 6018|North
RAISIN, an exhibition exploring themes from the play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, opens this fall at 6018North, a three-story house on a residential block in a formerly all-white, now-integrated neighborhood. “RAISIN explores themes from first-time homeownership, gender dynamics within communities of color, to generational dreams, and more. Public programming includes conversations with visual artists, theater scholars, fair-housing advocates, global migration advocates, as well as live performances.” Curated by Asha Iman Veal, the production’s contributing artists include Kioto Aoki, Coletivo Anastácia Berlin, Jared Brown, Marina Viola Cavadini, Amy Sanchez Arteaga + Misael Diaz of Cog•nate Collective, Max Guy, Kyle Bellucci Johanson, Kierah “Kiki” King, Diya Khurana, Kat Liu, AJ McClenon, Ilja Clemens Melzer, Joelle Mercedes, Chip Moody, Joseph Mora, zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, Delilah Salgado, Brett Swinney, Maryam Taghavi, Gloria Talamantes, Tran Tran, Unyimeabasi Udoh, Nayeli Vega, Amanda Williams, Tintin Wulia, Zhiyuan Yang and Nushin Yazdani. Discover the wide-ranging offering of exhibits and activities here.
Study Hotel Opens In Hyde Park
The Study Hotel, a 167-room hotel on 60th Street has opened and includes a British-inspired gastropub and a lounge with a bar, as well as conference and event spaces, reports the Hyde Park Herald. A vote on a liquor license comes up this week.
First Phase of Triangle Square Readied In Bucktown
Work is nearly done on the first phase of construction at Belgravia Group and LMC’s Triangle Square along the North Branch Corridor in Bucktown, reports YIMBY Chicago. “The three-building masterplan designed by Lamar Johnson Collaborative, is bound by North Elston, West Webster and the Metra tracks.” The development “will yield a total of 370 residences, 56,000 square feet of commercial space, and 343 parking spaces.”
DINING & DRINKING
¿Dónde están todas las tortillas de El Milagro?
El Milagro won’t comment, but Block Club Chicago observes that tortilla shelves in Chicago once more lack the brand’s delicious staple.
Seattle Goes Further Than Chicago In Challenging Third-Party Dining Delivery Apps
Seattle restaurant owners salute one of the nation’s strictest laws that takes effect September 15, which will require third-party delivery apps such as Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats to get their consent before listing their menus, reports the Seattle Times.
Lost Lake Cuts Back Its Tiki Drinks
Logan Square’s Lost Lake has reopened, but has diminished its emphasis on innovative variations of tropical drinks, reports Block Club Chicago. “The Lost Lake team is moving away from traditional tiki drinks and instead focusing on ‘tropically minded’ rum cocktails, bar manager Shannon Grant said… The new food menu draws influence from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean.” Before the pandemic, Lost Lake “mostly served snacks to pair with cocktails. Now, Lost Lake’s chefs are offering entrees and small plates, including everything from crinkle-cut fries ($7) to a strip steak ($32) and double-fried catfish ($23). ‘We’re hoping guests start thinking of us as a dining destination with tropical drinks rather than just a bar,'” co-executive chef Fred Noinaj told Block Club. Reservations open one month ahead and can be made online; the bar takes walk-ins after 10pm.
FILM & TELEVISION
A Very Special Episode Of “Mulholland Drive” At The Music Box
Majordomo Of Music Box Matters Of David Lynch Daniel Knox is contributing to the second David Lynch affair within a month at the Music Box on September 29-30, with a 35mm projection of “Mulholland Drive,” twenty years after its festival premiere in September 2001, accompanied by a performance by Rebekah Del Rio, a Q&A and signing and the customary deliquescent Lynchian accoutrements. Tickets here.
Chicago Filmmakers Reopens With U.S. Premiere Of “Lee Godie: Chicago French Impressionist”
Chicago Filmmakers’ theater will reopen the weekend of October 15-17 with the U. S. premiere of Kapra Fleming’s “Lee Godie: Chicago French Impressionist” a feature-length documentary on the legendary Chicago artist who, at the age of sixty, reinvented herself as a French Impressionist and survived selling her artwork on the streets of Chicago for the next two decades. (Tom Palazzolo [Newcity Film 50] is co-producer. Fleming’s documentary, reports Filmmakers, “reveals an artist, whose outward demeanor and appearance often concealed her inner fortitude and belief in her beauty.” More here.
LIT
Frontline Books In Hyde Park Set To Shutter
Frontline Books and Crafts, a seventeen-year storefront focused on Black liberation and community education, will close its Hyde Park location, reports Block Club Chicago, unless sales pick up. The store “has only a week or two to sell enough inventory and raise funds to remain at 5206 South Harper on a month-to-month basis,” founder Sekou Tafari told Block Club. “With business slowing and costs increasing, the store has fallen… behind on rent and could be evicted. Tafari wants to sustain the Harper Avenue storefront through sales rather than donations, a fundraiser or other ‘handouts.'” There is a fifteen-percent sale “and staff will prepare book bundles to be sold at a discount. ‘If the community wants to offer to help or donations, we’re not going to say no,’ Tafari said. ‘But because we believe in independence, we want to get them something in exchange for their money.'”
Anita Hill At Women & Children First To Discuss “Believing”
Women & Children First will present Anita Hill discussing her new book, “Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence.” Hill uses decades of experience and breadth of knowledge to show the impact of gender-based violence and what needs to change. Hill’s virtual event is on Wednesday, September 29 at 7pm. More here.
MEDIA
Washington Post On The Case Of Imprisoned Journalist Danny Fenster
After more than a hundred days in captivity by the Myanmar military regime, Washington Post contributor Jason Rezaian. says the case of American journalist Danny Fenster, whose Chicago connections include studying at Columbia College, is a test for President Biden.
Remembering The Life Of WGN Former Anchor Allison Payne
“WGN-TV is mourning the loss of longtime former news anchor Allison Payne, who died at the age of 57,” reports the station. “Payne was a twenty-one-year veteran of WGN-TV, who was hired in 1990 as a 25-year-old out of Saginaw, Michigan. She went on to cover numerous important stories across the globe, including tracing former President Barack Obama’s roots in Kenya and traveling to the Ivory Coast alongside the Rev. Jesse Jackson.” More, including video, here.
Digitized Eintracht German Newspaper Archive Online
“The shift to digital provided the perfect opportunity for the DANK Haus to take the plunge and digitize our historic newspaper archive, the Eintracht, so people across the globe will be able to access over sixty years of German-American history,” the organization says in a release. “The Eintracht is fully digitized and accessible online with Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections at the University of Illinois.” Find the archive here.
MUSIC
Rat-A-Tat With Liz Phair
“With the success of ‘Exile in Guyville’ everything changed. It felt overnight, and I was not prepared.” Chicago has a bullet-point exchange with Liz Phair: “I had performed two shows when it came out. Sixteen months later, I’m on the cover of Rolling Stone. My recognition far outstripped my ability. One of my earliest gigs was at Metro. I was so scared and so inexperienced. Joe Shanahan had to push me out onto the stage. He literally had his hand on my back easing me out.”
STAGE
ComEd Powering the Arts Grant Awarded To Sixteen Organizations
To support accessibility to the arts in northern Illinois in the face of challenges due to the ongoing pandemic, ComEd and the League of Chicago Theatres announced grants of up to $10,000 each to sixteen nonprofit organizations through the annual ComEd Powering the Arts Program. Since its inception, the program has supported initiatives and workshops that boost public awareness, community programming, engagement and enjoyment of the arts. This year’s grants place special emphasis on arts organizations’ efforts to reach new and diverse audiences. This is the fourth year ComEd has partnered with the League of Chicago Theatres, an alliance of more than 200 Chicago theatres. The program has awarded more than $450,000 in grants in support of 58 local theaters, arts programs and cultural institutions throughout northern Illinois. The sixteen ComEd Powering the Arts Program grant recipients for the year are Aguijón Theatre Company (Belmont-Cragin); Alma Dance Theatre (Glen Ellyn); Architreasures (Douglas);Arts of Life (West Town); Barrington Dance Ensemble (Barrington); Court Theatre (Hyde Park); Crossroads Blues Society (Byron); Crystal Lake Strikers Drum Line (Crystal Lake); Free Street Theatre (Back of the Yards); Her Story Theater (Horner Park); Homewood Science Center (Homewood); Jazz Institute of Chicago (South Loop); Playmakers Lab (North Lawndale-Englewood); Snow City Arts (Illinois Medical District); Water People Theatre (Hyde Park); and Windy City Performing Arts (Northalsted).
Wardell Julius Clark To Direct Raven Theatre’s “The Last Pair Of Earlies”
Raven Theatre, Chicago’s newest Equity-affiliated theater, welcomes audiences back with the world premiere of Joshua Allen’s “The Last Pair of Earlies,” directed by Wardell Julius Clark. A new drama, “Earlies” follows the hardships and hopes of Wayland and Della Rose Early as they chase a Southern dream on the South Side of Chicago. The run is from October 27–December 12 on Raven’s eighty-five-seat East Stage at 6157 North Clark.The production features Tarina Bradshaw, Demetra Dee, Keith Illidge, Marcus D. Moore, Jonny Morrison and Shadana Patterson. Tickets and more here.
ARTS & CULTURE
Worldwide Time Out Readers Call Chicago Only Twelfth-Best Out Of Thirty-Seven Cities
Chicago ranks only as the twelfth-best city in the world, reports Time Out. Still, 27,000 readers ranked the City in a Garden the second most beautiful as well as second-funniest.
Gambling Investors Look Toward Waukegan And Cities South Of Slow-To-Commit Chicago
“Bidders for two new suburban casinos will get one last chance [to land] the lucrative, long-sought gambling licenses,” reports Mitchell Armentrout at the Sun-Times. “More than two years after casinos were authorized for Waukegan and the south suburbs as part of a sprawling gaming expansion, state regulators on Thursday laid out the clearest timeline yet for issuing those coveted licenses… The winning bidders could receive initial approvals in January, about two and a half years after the new casino licenses were created—’a snail’s pace,’ one state legislator said.”
