Hyde Park Art Center Will Be Nation’s First Tuition-Free Art School
The board of directors of Hyde Park Art Center has announced that effective spring 2022, the non-profit hub for contemporary art will shift to a tuition-free model in its core curriculum education programs, making it the nation’s first contribute-what-you-can visual art school for all ages. “This radical move culminates Hyde Park Art Center’s ambitious five-year strategic plan dedicated to ensuring more equitable access to artmaking, education, and community engagement for years to come,” HPAC says in a release. “In 2018, the Art Center board initiated the $16 million ART MAKES capital campaign, the largest in its eighty-two-year history, to secure a tuition-free education model, establish an endowment, and increase funding for general operations and artist investment in coming years. The ART MAKES campaign has raised $13.8 million to date, thanks in large part to three generous lead gifts: over $2 million provided from Builders Initiative, $1 million from the Chicago-based Guida Family Foundation and $500,000 from the Chicago-based David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation. More here.
Home Comforts Returns To Comfort Station
Logan Square’s Comfort Station has set the second annual Home Comforts, an auction to raise funds in support of Comfort Station’s programming and working artists in Chicago. “In our inaugural auction in 2020, we raised $32,000, with $20,000 going to participating artists and $12,000 supporting Comfort Station’s operations,” the group reports in a release, “featuring one-of-a-kind commissioned works by Edra Soto, Jacqueline Surdell, Luftwerk, Norman Teague, Studio Herron, Cody Hudson and The Weaving Mill. Rather than auctioning pre-made works, this model allowed buyers to bid on unique commissions that were responsive to the collector and their home. In this year’s edition of Home Comforts we are repeating this successful approach plus adding a second category, Deep Cuts, featuring a selection of existing works.” More, including auction dates, here.
DESIGN
Chicago A High-Speed Rail Hub Via Metra and Fed Infra Funds?
“The infrastructure bill just passed by Congress puts Metra in a prime position to reinvent itself as a world-class commuter-rail system,” reports Crain’s. The infrastructure bill “contains $66 billion in funding for passenger rail and $39 billion for transit, [putting] Metra in a prime position to reinvent itself as a world-class commuter-rail system. In doing so, it could also revitalize the Midwest by facilitating and integrating with a high-speed rail network radiating out of Chicago.”
Control Tower Beams Installed At O’Hare Terminal 5 Expansion
Structural pieces for the new air traffic control tower are undergoing installation at O’Hare’s $1.2 billion Terminal 5 expansion, reports YIMBY.
Five Quick Tim Samuelson Tours Of Lost Adler & Sullivan Structures
Wrightwood659 released five short video tours of lost Adler & Sullivan structures by Tim Samuelson: “‘Exploring the Lost Works of Louis Sullivan’ is a virtual tour broken into five parts. Produced by architectural filmmakers [Spirit] of Space and narrated by Chicago cultural historian emeritus Tim Samuelson, the tour features five Sullivan buildings formerly located within three square blocks in downtown Chicago. Broken into one-minute videos, these vignettes can be viewed in succession or used as a self-guided tour to reimagine a community of buildings that once surrounded the Garrick Theater and defined Chicago’s skyline.” Find them here.
DINING & DRINKING
Nights & Weekends Comes To West Loop
“When the owners of Sportsman’s Club, Lone Wolf and Estereo began planning their latest bar three years ago, they were not anticipating that construction would be stalled for nearly a year because of supply chain issues caused by a worldwide pandemic,” writes Eater Chicago. “Heisler Hospitality’s newest venue, Nights & Weekends, is near the northwest corner of Lake and Morgan streets inside a space that co-owners Kevin Heisner and Matt Eisler once hinted would be the site of a revival of Bar DeVille, Heisler’s beloved West Town bar that closed four years ago. When they started planning Nights & Weekends, Heisner and Eisler were not anticipating the dance floor would be filled with people wearing face masks. And so, in the final days before the bar opens, they eliminated all of their more complicated plans and decided to concentrate on the basics. ‘It doesn’t feel like the right time for overly fussy or indulgent kind of stuff right now,’ Eisler says. ‘We’ve decided to keep the focus simply on having fun and providing a good time and enjoyable drinks.'”
FILM & TELEVISION
Librarian of Congress Appoints Forty-Four Experts To National Film Preservation Board
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced the latest appointments to the forty-four-member National Film Preservation Board. The board advises Hayden on annual selections to the National Film Registry as well as national film preservation policy. The National Film Preservation Board began work when President Ronald Reagan signed the National Film Preservation Act of 1988. The board represents many parts of the film community, including film studios, artist guilds, nonprofit archives, educators and technical experts. “Film preservation is complicated and faces daunting challenges, so board members work collaboratively to forge creative partnerships to save the nation’s motion picture heritage.” “We are proud to welcome the new members of the National Film Preservation Board, a congressional advisory body that must reflect the diversity of America in our ongoing work to preserve America’s film heritage in our national collections,” Hayden says in a release. “We are grateful to the new and returning board members, who represent the broad film community, for their collaboration with the Library of Congress.” The board is chaired by Jacqueline Stewart [Newcity Film 50], chief artistic and programming director of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, who is also a noted film scholar, curator, archivist and educator. More about the NFPB here, including appointees.
Chicago Underground Film Festival Announces Awards
After twelve programs—six features and six programs of short films—over a three-day weekend, the 28th Chicago Underground Film Festival’s Awards were presented Sunday at the Logan Theatre. The jurors presented six awards and three honorable mentions for “achievements in global underground and experimental filmmaking.” The works selected run the gamut from documentary, experimental animation and narrative films. This year’s jurors were Shayna Connelly, Emily Eddy and Anuradha Rana. Honorable Mentions: “Feast,” Tim Leyendekker; “Cycle One,” Serge Garcia; “I’ve Been Afraid,” Cecelia Condit; “When the Sea Sends Forth a Forest,” Guangli Liu; “The Truth About Hastings,” Dan Schneidkraut. The Eco/System Award to “A Machine To Live In,” Yoni Goldstein & Meredith Zielke; The Learned by Time Award to “Space Lady,” Sophia P Feuer; The City So Real Award to “Make A Distinction,” Andrew Mausert-Mooney & Kera MacKenzie; The Right To Belong Award to “Letters From Your Far Off Country,” Suneil Sanzgiri; The Geological Anxiety Award to “Fracture,” Laura Kraning; The Decolonize This Award to “.srt,” Africanus Okokon; and The Made in Chicago Award to “Pharmakosis,” SL Pang. The Audience Award voted on by festivalgoers went to “Other, Like Me: The Coum Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle Story,” Marcus Werner Hed and Daniel Fox.
Producer William Horberg Headlines Chicago Filmmakers Masterwork: Industry Conversations
Chicago Filmmakers’ next “Masterwork: Industry Conversations” is with producer William Horberg (“The Queen’s Gambit,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Milk”), who was also co-owner of Chicago art-house the Sandburg Theatre until its early-1980s demolition. Horberg will be interviewed by his sister, Marguerite Horberg from Hothouse, and Chicago Filmmakers board president Gaylon Emerzian, followed by a Q&A with attendees. The virtual conversation is on Zoom, Tuesday, November 16 at 7pm. Tickets here.
“MoviePass, the movie theater ticket subscription service that became a sensation in the summer of 2017 before collapsing in epic fashion, is coming back,” reports Jason Guerrasio at Business Insider. “MoviePass cofounder Stacy Spikes was granted ownership of the company by a Southern District of New York bankruptcy court judge who approved the sale.” “I can confirm that we acquired MoviePass out of bankruptcy on Wednesday,” Spikes said in a statement to Insider. “We are thrilled to have it back and are exploring the possibility of relaunching soon. Our pursuit to reclaim the brand was encouraged by the continued interest from the moviegoing community. We believe, if done properly, theatrical subscription can play an instrumental role in lifting moviegoing attendance to new heights.”
Victory Gardens Theater has launched a search for its next executive director, and its dedicated search committee has partnered with ALJP Consulting. The search committee is chaired by Sidney Lee, Victory Gardens board vice-president, who co-chaired the artistic director search earlier this year. He will be joined by his colleagues on the board, Susan Weiss and Judith Gethner, Victory Gardens Playwrights ensemble member Marisa Carr, Victory Gardens acting managing director Roxanna Conner, former board member and longtime Victory Gardens supporter Steven H. Adelman and Jose Wilson, director of facilitation and organizational learning at North Lawndale Employment Network. “As part of the search process, this committee will undergo bias awareness training to ensure equitable consideration of all interested candidates. ALJP Consulting employs planning and search services to address the contemporary challenges of nonprofit organizations in the arts and culture sector. The firm strives to create more diverse and inclusive environments for artists, administrators and patrons. ALJP Consulting is a Black-owned firm that centers the values of antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion in its work with organizations and candidates,” Victory Gardens relays in a release. Upon hiring the company’s new executive director, interim managing director Roxanna Conner will move into the role of producing director of engagement. A detailed job description is here.
Saudia Davis Named Collaboraction Executive Director
“Collaboraction, a social justice theater company that uses theater and digital media to incite change, named Saudia Davis as its new executive director,” the group announces in a release. “A multi-entrepreneur, producer, developer, creative entrepreneur, and creative strategist, Davis comes to Collaboraction with over twenty-five years of experience in the creative sector focused on the business of entertainment. As a non-profit leader, the combination of her corporate background, passion for ideation, connectivity, problem solving and resource development enable her to generate impact. Davis was the Founding Director for The Center for Creative Entrepreneurship based out of the 2112 Incubator and is recognized for leading the development of a 1,000-seat theater development, Kehrein Center for the Arts in the Austin neighborhood, where she also created the vision for how the venue operates, focused on community engagement. ‘I have been a fan and supporter of Collaboraction and their ability to cultivate change for over ten years,’ Davis says in the release. ‘Collaboraction was the theater company that inspired the development for the Kehrein Center for the Arts. In my position as executive director, I am thrilled to affectionately enhance an already amazing organization.'” Artistic director Anthony Moseley: “Collaboraction is delighted to welcome Saudia Davis to our team as executive director at a perfect time for her to contribute her incredible attributes of leadership, vision-building and development as we manifest our mission to use theater, film and crucial conversations to cultivate social change.”
ARTS & CULTURE
America’s Largest Evening Holiday Parade Returns During Magnificent Mile Lights Festival
The thirtieth annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, produced by The Magnificent Mile Association, returns to a live parade format on Saturday, November 20. “The festive, free weekend filled with family-friendly fun culminates with the memory-making parade as Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse from Walt Disney World Resort magically illuminate more than one million lights on 200 trees adorning Chicago’s famed boulevard,” the Festival advises in a release. “In addition to celebrating the parade’s historic anniversary, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse mark the fiftieth anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort with their appearance and The Wrigley Building celebrates its centennial. ‘Thirty years ago, we came together to create an event to make the Saturday before Thanksgiving a major day for shopping, dining and hotels on The Magnificent Mile,’ says founder Eli’s Cheesecake executive Marc Schulman. ‘We are thrilled to have the support of so many key sponsors and officials who are helping us return. Together, we will begin the holidays with light and happiness, and I’m proud to have seen this event grow into one of the nation’s premiere ways to celebrate the holidays.'”
