Today In The Culture, September 27, 2021: Kerry James Marshall To Design Stained-Glass Windows | El Milagro Workers Locked Out | Ernie Souchak Forty Years Later

“Continental Divide” (1981)

ART

Kerry James Marshall To Design Stained-Glass Windows In National Cathedral To Replace Those That Honored Confederates

“Four years after removing stained-glass windows honoring two Confederate generals, Washington National Cathedral officials [have] chosen an acclaimed Black artist, Kerry James Marshall, to design their replacements,” reports the New York Times. “The artist visited the cathedral for the first time on Wednesday after being given the task of healing a small wound in the country’s second-largest cathedral. Together with the poet and author Elizabeth Alexander, Mr. Marshall will design two stained-glass windows addressing themes of racial justice to replace those that paid tribute to [Confederate] Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. ‘Right now I don’t have a clear concept of what I think I will do,’ he said. ‘It will have to be work that is able to synthesize a multiplicity of ideas and sentiments about what the country represents for all of us.'”

ARTnews: “In 2018, Marshall vowed to never make public artwork again after the city of Chicago attempted to sell his mural ‘Knowledge and Power’ (1995), which he had painted for the Chicago Public Library. Though the city reversed its choice to sell the work, Marshall remained disillusioned… This project represents the first time Marshall has worked with stained glass. He is collaborating with the poet Elizabeth Alexander, who will write a poem to be installed in stone tablets alongside the windows. The new windows are expected to be unveiled in 2023.”

Hannah Levy’s Sensual Sculptures In Surplus Tension Exhibition

In her first solo institutional exhibition, New York-based sculptor Hannah Levy brings to The Arts Club new works fashioned of carved steel and silicone “to reflect upon the underside of mid-century modern. Paying attention to points of contact with the building, Levy suspends and balances suggestive forms that point at once to corporeality and design. Each work relates to familiar objects, but subverts or exaggerates their qualities to bring a new reading.” The exhibit opens Thursday, September 30. More here.

Public Art At UChicago Showcases W.J.T. Mitchell Exhibition

“Metapictures” at The University of Chicago is a public art exhibition created by professor W. J. T. Mitchell that “shows the way visual images reflect on themselves, and on the very process of seeing itself.” “Comprised of over a hundred posters, videos, and an interactive display, the exhibition is divided into eleven topical ‘clouds’ of images and texts that have been critical to the understanding of pictorial representation in philosophy, art history, and media theory. Reflecting on the role of images from Plato to Deleuze, on media from Aristotle to McLuhan, on exhibition practices from Cabinets of Curiosity to Aby Warburg to André Malraux, ‘Metapictures‘ might be seen as a game that leads the spectator into a labyrinth of concepts from fields of knowledge that have attempted to understand the role of images in human affairs.” The exhibition is in the Media Arts, Data, and Design Center on the first floor of the John Crerar Library, 5730 South Ellis, on the UChicago campus and is open to the public Monday-Friday, 10am–5pm, from September 27–December 8. More about Mitchell here.

DESIGN

Does Guinness Taproom Demonstrate West Loop Ascendancy Over “Magnificent Mile”?

“Although initial news reports called the endeavor a brewery, it’s more accurately described as a kind of adult, indoor theme park, where you can taste some microbrews on site, sure, but also eat bread baked with Guinness, buy Guinness apparel and tchotchkes, and generally immerse yourself in one of the world’s great brands,” writes the Trib editorial board, taking a quaff of historical change.

“Let’s start with this hard truth. Downtown long has been a source of envy for those who advocate for the neighborhoods. In the days of new parks, stunning beds of flowers on Michigan Avenue and no empty storefronts, that was understandable. But only a fool can’t see downtown is in trouble… It’s not so much a source of envy as a snapshot of a crisis. It’s not just a pandemic issue… [A]ffluent suburbanites and other visitors to the city won’t be strolling Boul Mich, they’ll be headed to max out their credit cards in the Magnificent Fulton Market District, breakfasting at Beatrix, lunching at the Girl and the Goat, making some deals at Soho House Chicago, shopping for mattresses at Casper, drinking at the Aviary, eating dinner at Nobu then heading up to their rooms or back to the suburbs without ever crossing the expressway… All of the momentum has moved west. And jobs are following.”

Obamas Return For Groundbreaking Of Obama Presidential Center

On Tuesday, the Obamas return to Chicago for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the Obama Presidential Center with Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker, the Obama Foundation announced. “This is not your parents’ or your grandparents’ presidential library,” Valerie Jarrett tells the Chicago Tribune of her friends’ project. “This is a library of pointing really towards the future, that stands on the shoulders of our past… I spent my entire childhood and adulthood seeing the South Side overlooked… For generations now, the South Side of Chicago hasn’t seen the kind of investment and attention that I think it deserves. So, long overdue, and I couldn’t be more proud that it is President and Mrs. Obama who decided to make this major investment in the South Side of Chicago.”

Lynn Sweet at the Sun-Times: “Obama, whose political career was launched on the South Side, and Michelle, who grew up on the South Side, believe their center will spark a South Side economic renewal. Construction is starting even as federal litigation opposing locating the project in Jackson Park is still pending… The Obama Center, on 19.3 acres, will take about four years to build. The latest price tag is $830 million… The most striking structure will be a chunky 235-foot-high, mostly windowless museum tower. The complex also includes an athletic and event center, a forum with a restaurant, an auditorium, recording studios, garage and a Chicago Public Library branch.”

Architecture writer-observer Lynn Becker: “Former President coming to Chicago to dance on the grave of Jackson Park and cut ribbon for half-billion dollar monument to himself. PR onslaught and fawning bureaucrats already in full sway.”

Edward McClelland at Chicago magazine: “Was Obama ever a Chicago creature, or was the city simply a stepping stone for his ambitions? Few modern presidents have less connection to the state they represented politically. Obama was neither born nor raised in Chicago, and didn’t return here after his presidency. Still, he couldn’t have made it to the White House from any other city, and he’s the only Chicago politician who could have been elected president. I mean no disrespect to Obama when I say he’s the most calculating person I’ve ever met. I say that with all the respect in the world. No one becomes president by accident. His first calculating move was his move to Chicago. One reason he was attracted to the city: Harold Washington, whose election as mayor demonstrated that Chicago was a place where a politically ambitious young Black man could make it to the top. (In fact, when Obama first ran for office, he hoped to follow Washington’s path from the state legislature to Congress to City Hall.)”

Clybourn Warehouse Near Lincoln Yards Sells For $15 Million; Will Convert To Housing

“The nonprofit Anixter Center has sold one of the largest available parcels near the planned Lincoln Yards megadevelopment for $15 million,” reports the Sun-Times. “The property at 2032 North Clybourn includes a 150,000-square-foot warehouse.” The buyer “plans to convert the building to housing. Jon Morgan, managing principal at Interra, said the proximity of Lincoln Yards was important to the transaction, but added, ‘This is already a great neighborhood. This is Lincoln Park and Bucktown to us.'”

Owners Of Defaced Deli Family Mural Ask Tagger’s Help

“A mural depicting the owner of a Ukrainian Village Jewish deli and her parents was badly defaced… and needs to be repainted,” reports Block Club Chicago. “Jeff and Judes, 1024 North Western, is named after owner Ursula Siker’s parents. The now-defaced mural on the front garage door is based off a childhood photo of Siker with her mom and dad… ‘It’s just a big bummer,’ Siker said… Siker doesn’t plan on reporting the incident to the police. Instead, she’s hoping the tagger reaches out, accepts responsibility for the defacement and offers to help fix it.”

DINING & DRINKING

Cause Of El Milagro Tortilla Shortage Revealed As Company Locks Out Workers

“Workers at Chicago’s two El Milagro tortilla plants say low pay and poor working conditions have led to a low employee retention rate which are the culprits behind the city’s tortilla shortage,” reports Eater Chicago. Supported by labor organizers, employees staged “a walkout and a march down 26th Street toward El Milagro’s Little Village tortilleria, followed by a news conference… Later in the evening, fourteen workers waited outside the plant for an hour-and-a-half chanting ‘queremos trabajar!’ (‘we want to work!’) before five police officers… intervened and escorted them back inside the factory, one by one, to retrieve personal items such as wallets, car keys and medicine… They were not permitted to return to the production line. Labor organizers say this qualifies as an illegal employer lockout.”

Block Club Chicago: “A notice taped to the door instructed workers to report to Human Resources… Leaders from Arise Chicago, which is helping the workers organize, were present. They told workers what was happening was illegal and began contacting the factory’s management.”

In These Times: “Along with picket signs, the workers carried a giant burrito and tortilla chips made of cardboard. They led chants changing the company’s name from El Milagro to ‘El Maltrato,’ which translates to ‘mistreatment.’ … Laura Garza, director of Arise Chicago worker center – which has been helping the non-unionized El Milagro workers organize… said that eighty-five workers contracted COVID-19 on the job last year, and five died. With employees getting sick or resigning, the company has been understaffed, leading to a widely reported scarcity of El Milagro products at grocery stores across the Chicago area… with eager customers lining up outside the company’s facilities to get their hands on however many tortillas they could.” Here’s video coverage from Univision.

The City’s Got A Food Delivery Survey For You

“The City of Chicago is seeking information from restaurants about your experiences with meal delivery companies, including but not limited to: DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, Postmates and their affiliates. If you have a concern or suggestion to improve the practices of one or more of these companies, we would like to hear from you.” The survey form is here.

Study Shows Paying Workers More Money Could Be Good

“Grueling, ‘essential’ service work was deadly for many, remains dangerous, and has been done for too long on subminimum wage, or a minimum wage that isn’t actually a livable one… A new study from One Fair Wage shows that things might be trending positively. The organization has documented 1,621 restaurants ‘that have raised wages to pay the full minimum wage with tips on top, with an average wage of about $13.50—across forty-one states in which the vast majority of restaurants were paying a sub-minimum wage of $5 or less earlier this year,'” reports Eater.

FILM & TELEVISION

Roeper Crosses Forty Years To Belushi And “Continental Divide”

“Even in 1981, Chicago Sun-Times news columnist Ernie Souchak was something of a throwback — a pavement-pounding, notebook-wielding investigative journalist who wore a terrible porkpie hat, almost always had a cigarette dangling from his lips, could throw down drinks with the best and worst of ’em at the Billy Goat Tavern and was constantly at odds with his gruff managing editor, who also happened to be his best friend,” Richard Roeper writes in the Sun-Times.

“‘Continental Divide’ holds a special place in my heart, as it would only be a half-dozen years before I would be walking into the same Sun-Times newsroom (in the old, squatty building at 401 North Wabash)… learning the ropes from some of the great reporters and editors… pounding the Flintstones-looking keyboard and learning the Atex computer system with its green-on-black lettering and its station-to-station Messaging capabilities, which we thought was pretty damn futuristic at the time.”

Evanston Century 12 Will Return in 2022

Evanston’s former Century 12 movie theater will reopen in a planned revitalization of the downtown area’s Church Street Plaza. “The plaza is set to be sold to Chicago-based development firm GW Properties,” reports The Daily Northwestern. “‘A year ago, it was very uncertain whether movie theaters were going to make it back,’ Mitch Goltz, co-founder of GW Properties, said. ‘But as we’ve seen, people are back in the theaters. They want to get back to their daily routines.’… The theater—one of the largest in Illinois before it closed in 2020—was well-known in Evanston for its $5 Tuesday ticket deals and lobby cocktail bar.”

MEDIA

Cultural Reporter Evan F. Moore Exits Sun-Times

Chicago Sun-Times cultural reporter Evan F. Moore, whose forthcoming “Game Misconduct: Hockey’s Toxic Culture and How to Fix It” (co-written with Jashvina Shah) announced a move out of daily ink-and-pixels, moving to a gig as a Chicago Public Schools spokesman.

Did Ebony’s Former CEO Commit Fraud To Keep It Alive?

“The former head of Ebony who was ousted last year amid allegations of financial impropriety, is among a group of people charged by the SEC with raising money for marijuana businesses but illegally using the cash for other things—including keeping the magazine afloat,” reports Marketwatch. “Willard Jackson, 57, is accused of taking part in a scheme that crowdfunded nearly $2 million for a series of marijuana-related real estate ventures, but whose principals kept the money for themselves, according to civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

MUSIC

Muti Signs On For Another Year At CSO

The CSO has announced that Ricardo Muti, who has led the orchestra since 2010, agreed to extend his contract by a year, with the 2022-23 season his last, reports the Trib. “After such a challenging time without the opportunity to connect to the joy of live music, we are grateful that Maestro Muti has accepted our invitation to stay with us,” CSOA board chair Helen Zell wrote in a news release.

Netflix Teases Kanye Doc “jeen-yuhs”

During its extend “TUDUM” promotion for a tsunami of forthcoming product, Netflix dropped a clip from “jeen-yuhs,” which is described as “a landmark documentary event presented in three acts from Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah. Filmed over two decades, ‘jeen-yuhs’ is an intimate and revealing portrait of Kanye’s experience, showcasing both his formative days trying to break through and his life as a global brand.”

STAGE

Joffrey Nutcracker Returns For Holidays

The Joffrey Ballet’s reimagined holiday classic, ‘The Nutcracker,” by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, returns to Chicago during the Joffrey’s first season at the Lyric Opera House in twenty-eight performances from December 4–26. “Wheeldon’s American tale relocates Marie and her immigrant family to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and opens as young Marie and her mother, a sculptress creating the Fair’s iconic Statue of the Republic, host a festive Christmas Eve celebration. After a surprise visit from the mysterious Great Impresario, creator of the Fair, Marie embarks on a whirlwind adventure with the Nutcracker Prince through a dreamlike World’s Fair.” More here.

TimeLine Theatre Company Sets Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Season

TimeLine Theatre Company celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary season with a return to live productions, starting in January. The company’s subscription season will feature two previously announced productions that were postponed but that continue to reflect on today’s social and political issues: the world premiere of a play developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective plus an award-winning Chicago premiere. Details here.

ARTS & CULTURE

City Halloween Parades And Parties Are Back

The City of Chicago’s “Chicago Halloweek” will be October 23-30 with two parades as well as events in the neighborhoods. Block Club Chicago has details.

Chicago Academy of Sciences-Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum President To Retire

Chicago’s oldest museum, founded in 1857, seeks new leadership as longtime president and CEO Deborah Lahey prepares for a June 2022 retirement. “Lahey joined the staff in 2009 as the COO, and immediately helped create a strategic and financial roadmap for the future growth of the institution. When she was named President & CEO in 2010, Lahey used that plan as her guide, and the Nature Museum became the sixth-most-visited museum in Chicago; strengthened its visitor engagement; expanded programming and outreach; and created self-curated exhibits including ‘Weather to Climate: Our Changing World.’ She built a strong leadership team and assured that the Museum provided more direct hours of educational outreach, primarily in underserved schools, than any other museum in the city.” More on the museum here.

Forty-Seven-Year-Old Dolphin Returns Home To Brookfield Zoo After Cancer Treatment

The Chicago Zoological Society (CZS), which manages Brookfield Zoo, welcomes back Lucky, a male bottlenose dolphin who lived at the zoo’s Seven Seas. “The 47-year-old marine mammal was diagnosed in June by veterinarians at an accredited facility, where he has lived since leaving Brookfield Zoo in 2008. With test results confirming that Lucky is in otherwise great health for his age, CZS veterinary and animal care staff began making plans to bring him back to the zoo for further diagnostics and treatment.”

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