Lee Godie, “Untitled, Portrait with Photo” circa 1975
ART
Lee Godie Acquisitions By Carl Hammer Gallery
Carl Hammer Gallery has acquired a newly consigned collection of Lee Godie drawings for sale. “Godie’s distilled impressions and perception have captivated countless collectors, artists, and the casual public in general since her memorable ‘hawking’ of her own artwork on Michigan Avenue more than two decades ago. Nothing can be more gratifying to Carl Hammer Gallery than acquiring and thus revisiting the work by this legendary Chicago artist. Proclaiming herself a French Impressionist, and declaring her superiority to Monet, Manet, Degas and Cezanne, she established a ubiquitous presence throughout downtown Chicago.” More here. (A trailer for Kapra Fleming and Tom Palazzolo’s 2021 documentary “Lee Godie: Chicago’s French Impressionist” is here.)
DESIGN
Chicago Transit Board Clears Way For Land Acquisitions For Red Line Extension
“The Chicago Transit Board approved two new measures that will allow the CTA to begin the process of acquiring previously identified properties needed as part of the… Red Line Extension project,” reports Mass Transit. “The planned $3.6 billion RLE project will extend the Red Line 5.6 miles from the existing southern terminal at 95th Street to 130th Street.” Funding will have to be secured, but the board action allows the CTA to begin “the process of negotiating and purchasing up to 216 previously identified property parcels, of which 103 are privately owned. Of the privately owned parcels, sixty-four are occupied and either commercial or residential. CTA informed property owners approximately six years ago of the possible acquisitions.”
Two Thousand Barges Stalled On The Mississippi
“The Mississippi River, which is America’s superhighway for freight, grain and raw materials, is so low on water due to drought that 2,000 barges are stalled and going nowhere,” reports Poynter. “Tows have had to lighten their loads or find new routes. And nothing is expected to change for a month, maybe more, when winter rain usually makes the river rise.”
DINING & DRINKING
After Opens Next To Ever
After, the cocktail lounge by Ever Restaurant group, opens Thursday in Fulton Market. Created by Chef Curtis Duffy and his business partner Michael Muser, After offers high-quality spirits, agaves, whiskeys, wines and cocktails in “a gorgeous, relaxing lounge that is as breathtaking as twilight.” A limited number of walk-ins will be seated each evening on a first-come, first-served basis, but reservations are strongly recommended. After is located next door to Ever, “conveniently located for guests of Ever who wish to extend their experience, and it’s also an option for neighbors and visitors in West Fulton Market.” Lawton Stanley Architects designed After as a continuation of Ever, which LSA also designed. The room is designed around the theater of cocktail creation. The back bar is a modern, abstracted take on a classic Chicago bar, with a back-lit walnut liquor display. “Everything from the lighting to the acoustics to the Eero Saarinen-designed chairs was chosen with guests’ relaxation in mind.” After is open Tuesday-Thursday, 4pm-midnight; Friday-Saturday, 4pm-2am. Reserve at Tock here.
FILM & TELEVISION
Kartemquin Names Amir George As Its Second Artistic Director Ever
Kartemquin Films has named award-winning filmmaker, curator and programmer Amir George as its artistic director “to lead the artistic vision of the organization and to work collaboratively in strategic planning, advocacy and organizational decision making. He becomes the second artistic director in Kartemquin’s storied history and the first person of color to hold one of two top leadership positions at the organization. George will also serve as executive producer on all of Kartemquin’s documentaries. He will replace Gordon Quinn, the current and founding Artistic Director, who moves into a new part-time role as senior advisor.” “With his cross-disciplinary background and generous spirit of collaboration, Amir is the right person to take the creative leadership mantle at Kartemquin as we strive to fulfill our evolving mission,” Quinn says in a release. “He has a strong history and deep roots in the Midwest and new approaches to storytelling that will propel the organization into the future.” George: “I’m absolutely thrilled and humbled at the honor of becoming Artistic Director of Kartemquin Films. I’m excited to collaborate with a brilliant team and to carry on Kartemquin’s long standing legacy of making insightful and thought provoking documentaries. I look forward to Kartemquin making a larger impact in the community, creating opportunities for new voices and expanding on the possibilities of what documentaries can be.” More here.
MEDIA
Chicago Journalists Association Names Finalists
Chicago-based columnists Rummana Hussain, Ismael Pérez and Lynn Sweet are finalists for the Chicago Journalists Association’s Dorothy Storck Award, the organization announced. Columns by the three were considered the best of this year’s entries by judges with the USA Today network. All three are recognized for columns published in the Chicago Sun-Times from 2021 and 2022. Hussain and Pérez are editorial board members while Sweet is the paper’s Washington Bureau Chief. “The Dorothy Storck Award is unique in that unlike other award competitions, it annually honors two second-place winners, as the work of these journalists is too critical to judge slight differences in style.” The CJA’s Eighty-Third Anniversary Awards Ceremony will be held Friday, November 11 in Rettinger Hall of the Newberry Library. Tickets are $100 for non-journalists and $75 for journalists here.
Eric Zorn On Trump Advocating Prison Violence For Journalists
At a rally in Texas, former president Trump joked to audience laughter that the journalist who received the Supreme Court leak be imprisoned and raped if they don’t reveal their sources, writes Eric Zorn at his Substack. “Republican President George W. Bush signed The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 to ‘provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendation and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.’ Studies show it didn’t do much to reduce the incidence of the crime few people seem to care about, but at least Bush made an effort. Trump just jokes about it… And of course the idea of implicitly threatening journalists with rape to get them divulge sources is horrifying and unconstitutional.”
MUSIC
The Daily Ye
The end is near for corporate connections to Ye, the former Kanye West. Adidas severed its ties with the billionaire. The New York Times: “Ending the long-running partnership is expected to put a big dent in profit at Adidas.” Says Adidas’ release: “Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.” Adidas “said the move would cost it 250 million euros ($246 million) this year…The company, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany, said it would terminate the partnership immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop payments to Ye and his companies… The founder of Adidas, Adi Dassler, belonged to the Nazi Party, and his factory was forced to produce munitions in the final years of the war. It was only thanks to the sworn statement of a Jewish friend that he was allowed to found the present-day company after World War II ended. Antisemitic statements made online can lead to prosecution in Germany and companies with ties to the Nazi era are expected to act to prevent the return of such sentiment.” “His Yeezy branded products accounted for an estimated ten percent of the company’s annual revenue,” writes the Washington Post. “After weeks of silence and mounting public pressure, the German sportswear giantannounced it would ‘end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies,’ effective immediately.” (The latest Yeezy products are still featured on the Adidas website.)
Financier-producer MRC has shelved a completed documentary on his life. “MRC was in talks with distributors before this latest decision. When asked if the film was sent to any film festivals, an MRC representative responded that ‘all activities are being pulled.'” The company wrote in an open letter, “The silence from leaders and corporations when it comes to Kanye or antisemitism, in general, is dismaying but not surprising. What is new and sad, is the fear Jews have about speaking out in their own defense.” MRC’s full statement is here. (“jeen-yuhs,” the documentary purchased from its filmmakers by Netflix for $30 million, has also been pulled; the link here displays the film’s listing then jumps to an error page.)
Talent agency conglomerate CAA has dropped the musician as a client, reports the Los Angeles Times. “CAA ended its relationship with Ye this month following his recent antisemitic outbursts” in interviews. Ari Emanuel, head of talent agency Endeavor CEO “called for Apple and Spotify to stop streaming Ye’s music and for Parler not to sell to him.” Emanuel wrote at the FT: “Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience.” Tweets Danny Trejo: “Danny Trejo stands with the Jewish community. Los Angeles is a place that people should come together. L’chaim!” The educational consultant for Donda Academy, his unaccredited K-8 private Christian music school, “who holds a prominent position at two Jewish educational institutions, has resigned.”
Writes Richard Rushfield at the Ankler: “It must be pointed out that this isn’t the first detour into racial hatred for Kanye West, and the Jews aren’t his first target… The handbook on what sparks a revolt and what doesn’t is nearly impossible to make sense of. Clearly in the Kanye case, there’s a discount added for the very public mental health issues that he’s so amply demonstrated over the years, people have stopped reacting to his outbursts; out of pity, or just wanting to look away from something very awful, that should be very private, playing itself out in the public square.” The New York Times’ Brent Staples: “How free speech works: You are free to make racist or antisemitic statements as you choose. Your corporate sponsors are free to cut you loose—because you are hazard to the brand.”
Vic Mensa On Caring About Life
“Vic Mensa has been through some dark times, fueled by depression and drug addiction,” profiles Mike Thomas at Chicago magazine. Now “he is sober, he says, has found solace in meditation and a new religion, and is determined to stop being his own worst enemy. He’s also working on his second studio album, a sonically upbeat departure from his last one, which he hopes to release by year’s end. But music isn’t his only venture. This summer, he curated an art exhibition at Kavi Gupta Gallery called Skin + Masks. Mensa has described the show as an expression of ‘identity and experience that transcend the proximity to the white gaze.’ And he recently launched his own cannabis line, 93 Boyz, which he claims is the city’s first Black-owned brand. It will help fund Save Money Save Life, his nonprofit that aims to uplift people of color in Chicago and elsewhere, largely through the arts.”
STAGE
Chicago Fringe Opera Launches “La Jetée”
Chicago Fringe Opera has announced its seventh season with a return to live performance, but also with projects featuring an eclectic mix of virtual and in-person productions. CFO joins with Access Contemporary Music and Lux Cantorum for a world-premiere concert performance of Seth Boustead and J. Robert Lennon’s chamber opera adaptation of “La Jetée” (1962), Chris Marker’s twenty-eight-minute science fiction film, adapted as “12 Monkeys” (1995) for Terry Gilliam. The seventy-five-minute shows are Tuesday, November 8 and Thursday, November 10, at Constellation. More here.
16th Street Theater Shutters After Fifteen Years
“The 16th Street Theater, a Berwyn-based Equity company with a fifteen-year history, has begun its last show,” reports Chris Jones at the Tribune. “Its future had been uncertain since founding artistic director Ann Filmer stepped down last year.”
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Girl Scouts Of Chicago Granted $4.2 Million By MacKenzie Scott
“A recent $4.2 million donation from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott will help the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana become more accessible to girls across the region, said council CEO Nancy Wright, with plans to update facilities, expand science and technology education, hire new staff and create more equitable membership opportunities,” reports the Trib. “The investment is part of an $84.5 million gift awarded to Girl Scouts of the USA and twenty-nine local councils, marking the largest individual donation the organization has ever received.” Wright “is optimistic that Scott’s donation will help boost recruitment, describing the funds as ‘rocket fuel’ to accelerate the group’s programs.”
3Arts Sets $500,000 In Grants To Women Artists, Artists Of Color And Deaf And Disabled Artists
3Arts, the Chicago-based nonprofit grant-making organization, honors the fifteenth anniversary of its 3Arts Awards with nearly $500,000 in unrestricted grants to Chicago artists. 3Arts has supported more than 1,800 artists across all program areas, representing approximately seventy-percent women artists, seventy-percent artists of color, and twenty-percent deaf and disabled artists working in the six-county metropolitan area, and distributed $5.8 million in direct grants. Through cash awards, project funding, residency fellowships, professional development and promotion, 3Arts cultivates and sustains Chicago’s art community by allowing artists to take risks, experiment, and build momentum in their careers. This year’s recipients include dance artists Winifred Haun and Sarita Smith Childs; musicians Akenya and Nashon Holloway; teaching artists Peregrine Bermas and Simone Reynolds; theater artists Miranda Gonzalez and Omer Abbas Salem; and visual artists Rozalinda Borcila and zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal. The free event livestreams Monday, November 7 and features commissioned performances by 3Arts artists, including Aram Han Sifuentes, Bethany Thomas, Robby Lee Williams, and Santiago X. Registration is required here. More on 3Arts here.
City Colleges “Strike-Ready”
“Faculty and staff of City Colleges of Chicago will walk off the job next week if they don’t secure a new contract,” reports the Trib. “Leaders of the union representing almost 1,500 instructors and other employees of the community colleges [have] set a November 2 strike date amid ongoing negotiations for a new labor agreement.” It’s not just in Chicago: “NYU adjuncts just voted by ninety-five-percent to authorize a strike.”
