ARTNews takes a look at how a career and a show came to be, with reflections from Nick Cave: “I’m not sure I would be where I am in my career, had I landed in New York… Chicago nurtures artists in a very different way. Somehow, they are not tainted here. The level of saturation in New York is so much. Here you don’t really have that. Chicago allows me consistency and clarity.”
DESIGN
Council Members Discuss Pilot Program For Public Toilets
“Alderpeople are sharing more details of what a public restroom pilot program could look like in Chicago,” reports Block Club Chicago. “Introduced last year by Alds. Daniel La Spata (1st) and Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd), the initiative aims to develop a program that would provide free, easily-accessible restrooms for people across Chicago. That would include unhoused individuals who don’t have easy access to clean, reliable bathrooms, but also anyone who has to go.” At least nineteen council members have signed on.
Sale Of Illinois Maker Of Overhead Garage Doors Nets Massive Payouts For Hundreds Of Workers
Private equity firm KKR is selling C.H.I. Overhead Doors, an Arthur, Illinois.-based garage-door maker, to Nucor Corp. for $3 billion, reports Axios. (Arthur is thirty miles from Champaign.) But “C.H.I. isn’t just a massive payout for KKR, which calls it one of the firm’s ‘largest returns in recent history,’ but it’s also life-changing for more than 600 C.H.I. factory workers, distribution center workers and truck drivers… The average C.H.I. hourly worker or driver will receive $175,000 via this sale, with some earning more than $400,000. And there’s even cash for recent hires, with those joining in 2022 getting around $20,000 and those joining last year receiving $40,000.” Reports Robert Channick at the Trib: “The program has been rolled out by New York-based KKR at twenty-five companies in its portfolio since 2011. The garage door manufacturer, which generated KKR’s highest return on investment in more than thirty years, proved the value of the equity plan for both ownership and employees. ‘We do it because obviously it’s good for the workers,’ said Pete Stavros, co-head of private equity at KKR and chairman of C.H.I. Overhead Doors. ‘And it turns out, it’s also smart business. It leads to a more engaged, stable, financially resilient, less likely to quit workforce, which yields better outcomes for companies and investors.'”
Chicago’s Oldest Church Develops Artists’ Space to Build Community
“The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago is building upon its legacy of artistic patronage by creating a new space for South Side artists,” reports Kayla Rubenstein at the Chicago Maroon. “Our vision for this church is to be a hub for Woodlawn’s culture,” Pastor David Black tells the paper. “That means that we really want to invite people in and allow people in this community to take ownership of the church, to say what they think, what they want to bring into this space, how they envision it being used.”
Merz Apothecary Moving KOBO Candle Production To Chicago
“Merz Apothecary will start making hand-poured soy candles and other luxury products as it expands its business with a new production facility in Avondale,” reports Block Club Chicago. “Merz acquired KOBO Candles this year and plans to move its manufacturing operations from Saratoga Springs, New York to a warehouse about two miles south of Merz’s flagship Lincoln Square location.”
Entire West Woodlawn Block To Be Redeveloped With New Housing
“Eleven vacant lots in the West Woodlawn community will get new life through Buy Back the Block initiative,” reports WGN-TV. “Five South Side natives are coming together to redevelop [the 6300 block of South Evans Avenue] with new 3-flat buildings. Bonita Harrison, Sean Jones, DaJuan Robinson, Keith Lindsey and Derrick Walker all met through the Cook County Land Bank.”
Bridgeport Library Reopens After Months Of Renovations
Bridgeport’s Daley Branch Library has reopened “after being closed for nearly nine months of renovations,” reports Block Club Chicago. “Improvements at the 3400 South Halsted branch include new light fixtures, computers and upgraded wiring for internet connectivity.”
DINING & DRINKING
Inside From Here On Food Hall In The Old Post Office
“From Here On is intended to serve as an office kitchen for 11,000 workers,” reports Eater Chicago. “A new food hall from 16” On Center, the team behind the Revival Food Hall in the Loop… will be an expansive space in the building’s first-floor lobby, with views of the Chicago River, hosting eleven vendors… ‘Chicago is filled with some of the best culinary minds in the world,’ says Bruce Finkelman, the managing partner of 16” On Center. ‘We’re able to take the headaches out of owning a brick-and-mortar and allow them to do what they do best: cooking.'”
Buona Giving Away Free Beef Sandwiches For Four Days
Italian beef chain Buona is celebrating National Italian Beef Day by giving away free sandwiches for four days beginning May 27, which is “National Italian Beef Day,” reports WGN-TV. A free beef, with one or two toppings, is available to those who download the company’s “MyBuona” app.
MEDIA
The Reader Is Nonprofit
The price, for accounting reasons, was $100. “Outgoing owners Elzie Higginbottom and Leonard Goodman sold the Reader, a survivor from the heyday of alternative newspapers, to the Reader Institute for Community Journalism,” reports David Roeder at the Sun-Times. “Goodman had blocked the long-planned sale to RICJ for months. Angry over the Reader’s attempted fact-checking of a column he wrote for it dealing with COVID-19 vaccinations, Goodman made demands that could have killed the sale and forced the Reader to close. The dispute put about thirty-five jobs at stake, including those of eighteen writers and editors in the Chicago News Guild labor union.” The Reader press release: “Sale documents were signed May 16, to transfer ownership of the Chicago Reader to the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.”
MUSIC
How To Buy Music So Musicians Get The Most Money
“Rule number one for buying records is: If you can buy what you’re looking for straight from the artist—whether on their website, Bandcamp, or via their label—do it that way. That’s how they get the highest cut. Still, many records that become the objects of your desire might not be available from musicians or original labels for various reasons. That’s why I’ve pooled together some other alternatives to help you on your vinyl hunt,” writes Parker Hall at WIRED.
STAGE
Jackalope Theatre Announces Thirteenth Annual Living Newspaper Festival
Jackalope Theatre returns to live performance with the Thirteenth Annual Living Newspaper Festival, writes Broadway World. “In homage to the 1930’s Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project, Jackalope has assembled a line-up of six world premiere one-act plays inspired by news headlines. Each play will be followed by a supplemental program to further engage with the news that inspired the play.” Jackalope presents a new pair of twenty-minute plays each weekend from May 27-June 12 on the company’s mainstage in The Broadway Armory Park. Tickets are $15 per performance. Festival Passes are on sale for $30 to see all six plays over three performances. Ticket options here.
Opera Festival Of Chicago Presents Second Season
The Opera Festival of Chicago will present its second season July 8-July 24. The three-week festival will feature fully staged productions of Gioachino Rossini’s “L’inganno felice” and Giuseppe Verdi’s “Il Corsaro,” as well as a recital honoring the hundredth anniversary of the birth of legendary soprano Renata Tebaldi. “Following the resounding success of our inaugural season last summer, we’re thrilled to return to Chicago-area stages for an exciting second season,” general director Robert Massey says in a release. “In keeping with our mission of presenting fully staged productions of Italian opera masterworks rarely performed in the United States, we’ll showcase a pair of operas that despite being penned by two of the art forms most renowned composers, have not been performed professionally in Chicago in modern history.” Tickets and more here.
Goodman Announces Next Future Lab Reading
“Playwright Charlie Oh’s absurdist, high-stakes tale of global hijinks with grave consequences, ‘White Monkey,’ appears as the next reading in Goodman Theatre’s Future Labs series, now in its second season. Mikael Burke directs the reading—the Goodman’s fourth in a line-up of six anticipated offerings—of Oh’s sweeping epic that takes audiences from the streets, factories and slums of Shenzhen all the way up to the penthouses of the political elite. Future Labs develops works authored and directed by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander), SWANA (Southwest Asian-North African) and other artists of color; the series is curated by associate director of education and engagement Quenna L. Barrett, director of new works Jonathan L. Green, video producer Alberto Mendoza, producer Malkia Stampley and a cross-departmental team of Goodman staff holding intersectional identities.” The reading of “White Monkey” is Saturday, May 28 at 7pm at Goodman Theatre. Tickets are free with registration here.
ARTS & CULTURE
A Further Round Of Free, At-Home COVID Tests
U.S. households can order an additional eight free, at-home tests that will be shipped by the U.S. Postal Service, the White House announced. Link here.
Illinois Humanities’ 2022 Public Humanities Awards Announced
Illinois Humanities will be celebrating this year’s Public Humanities Awards honorees: Chicago poet, museum educator and teaching artist Nicole Bond; executive director and co-founder of I Am East St. Louis Lorenzo Savage; and director of the Western Illinois Museum in Macomb, Sue Scott. Illinois Humanities will also present the Beacon Award to the Art for Justice Fund, “a national organization disrupting mass incarceration by funding artists and advocates working together to transform our criminal legal system.” This year’s awardees join other leaders recognized by Illinois Humanities since 1984 including Eve Ewing, Dawoud Bey, Jeanne Gang, and Tonika Lewis Johnson.
“I am so thrilled to have the chance to celebrate partners whose work in the humanities strengthens their communities and, in turn, makes our state stronger and more resilient,” Gabrielle Lyon, executive director of Illinois Humanities says in a release. “As our most important fundraiser and largest free public event, I can’t think of a better way than the Public Humanities Awards to bring our diverse community of supporters and champions together.” All contributions support Illinois Humanities’ mission to provide free, high-quality humanities experiences throughout Illinois, particularly for communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration. Streams Thursday May 19, noon. Registration is free, and donations are encouraged here.
