Art on theMART has announced two acclaimed artists for 2023 presentations: a commissioned piece by Brooklyn-based multidisciplinary artist Derrick Adams, as a part of spring programming, and a projection by South Korean artist Dr. Yiyun Kang’s, which will premiere in the fall. A guest curator program will be launched, a platform for digital curators to commission artists and contribute to Art on theMART’s curatorial vision for 2024. More here.
Art Basel’s Marc Spiegler Steps Down
“Marc Spiegler will step down as the global director of Art Basel next month after fifteen years at the helm of the world’s leading art fair brand,” The Art Newspaper relays. “Spiegler will remain at Art Basel’s parent company MCH Group in an advisory role for seven months before leaving to ‘explore the next phase of his art world career.'” Spiegler’s “final stretch as global director coincided with tumult both within MCH and the wider industry as the pandemic hit live events hard, forcing Art Basel to cancel or reduce in size a number of its fair editions. A huge $46 million investment from James Murdoch in 2020 through his private investment company Lupa Systems, which saw him become anchor shareholder, helped steady the brand following COVID losses while also prompting a major restructure.” Says Spiegler in a release, “I am leaving Art Basel on a high note. Leading the next stage of Art Basel’s evolution will take many years and a different set of skills. It has come time to pass the baton.” (Spiegler began his career as a staff writer, then senior editor of Newcity.) More from MCH Group here.
DESIGN
Navy Pier’s Sable Hotel Put On Market
Navy Pier’s first-ever inn, the 223-room Sable Hotel, which opened last year, “is up for sale as downtown leisure travel makes a major comeback. Will industry headwinds scare off investors?” asks Crain’s.
Historic Sunken Mississippi Riverboat Casino Exposed By Drought
“The drought-receded Mississippi River has exposed an historic riverboat casino. The Diamond Lady officially launched modern gambling in not one, but two U.S. cities after it first set sail thirty-one years ago. It sank last year during a freeze in the Mississippi River near Memphis, where it had been stored since 2008,” reports Casino.org. “The Diamond Lady, built by scrap-metal magnate Bernie Goldstein, was the first legal gambling boat launched into Iowa’s portion of the Mississippi River since the nineteenth century. A replica of the old paddlewheel boats that once regularly cruised the waterway, it featured multiple decks with slot machines dinging on each floor and low ceilings you could reach up and touch.”
Uptown’s Preston Bradley Center Sold To Chicago Slim, The Bone Doc
The historic building at 941 West Lawrence, once home to Preston Bradley’s Peoples Church, “has been sold to orthopedic surgeon, blues enthusiast and philanthropist Dr. Daniel Ivankovich,” reports Uptown Update. A dream of Dr. Ivankovich’s “is coming true with the purchase, which will become a home for his philanthropic activities as well as a music and cultural arts center. He envisions hosting ‘concerts, plays, educational seminars, fundraisers for charitable organizations’ and other cultural events. Dr. Ivankovich is an imposing man (almost seven foot tall) known as ‘Chicago Slim,’ co-leader of the Chicago Blues All-Stars… He is also a blues DJ (Right Reverend Dr. D) and member of the board for the Chicago Blues Society.” And Dr. Ivankovich “is known as the ‘Bone Doc’ in his most important role as an orthopedic surgeon.”
DINING & DRINKING
Annual Pilot Light Gala Virtual This Friday
Chicago-based Pilot Light hosts its Feed Your Mind Gala at The Arbory on November 4, with all proceeds going to the group’s support of students with experiential food education. “The Gala features Pilot Light founding chefs Jason Hammel, Paul Kahan, Justin Large and Matthias Merges. Joining them will be other Chicago chefs including Jonathan Zaragoza (Birrieria Zaragoza), Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark (Wherewithall and Parachute), James Martin (Bocadillo Market), Joe Flamm (Rose Mary and BLVD Steakhouse) and Genie Kwon and Tim Flores (Kasama). The gala’s silent auction will feature food, wine and experiences, from a seven-day culinary voyage through Switzerland to throwing out the first pitch at a Cubs game. The in-person dinner is sold out. Pilot Light encourages those wishing to join in the fun to tune in to the live webcast from home. Viewers will learn more about Pilot Light’s mission and bid on live and silent auctions. Pilot Light has partnered with One Off Hospitality to offer at-home catering options from avec River North and Big Star. For those who sign up for a virtual ticket, there will be the opportunity to pair it with everything needed for an at-home viewing party. Since 2010, Pilot Light has partnered with chefs and educators to support food education. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.” The free virtual ticket is here.
Albertsons Encouraged Not To Hand Four Billion Dollars To Its Stockholders Right Now
“A bipartisan group of attorneys general is asking Albertsons to delay a $4 billion payout to its shareholders until they can complete a review of Kroger’s planned acquisition of the grocery chain,” reports AP (via the Trib). “Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the parent company of Chicago-area grocery chain Jewel-Osco should hold off on taking action… Six attorneys general said the dividend—which equals nearly one-third of Albertsons’ $11 billion market value—would deprive the company of the cash it needs to operate while regulators review the merger.”
Ending The Celeb Steakhouse Era Of Tavern On Rush
“Replicating Tavern on Rush’s formula won’t be about just finding the right space,” reports Ashok Selvam at Eater Chicago. “Business was supposedly booming on the corner of Rush and Bellevue, even after new construction reshaped the feel of the area… What was once a destination for a post-frat crowd has mellowed after bars like Hunt Club and Melvin B’s shut down across Mariano Park. Tavern, Gibsons, and Carmine’s were anchors. Carmine’s will soon close before crews raze the building. A new location should open in 2024.”
Restaurants As Distillation Of “The Vibe”?
“By any concrete rubric, restaurants in New York City are the same as they’ve always been. All the pieces are intact–there are new, exciting restaurants; there are old, exciting restaurants,” writes Rachel Sugar at the Guardian. “Things are normal. Better than normal… It is incredible, I keep reminding myself, to talk and laugh inside a room of talking, laughing strangers, eating food I did not–probably could not–cook. So then why doesn’t it feel the same? There doesn’t seem to be any single thing that’s wrong, so much as the overarching sense that it used to be better and more fun… It’s largely a confluence of two factors–inflation and the ongoing labor shortage, two unsexy forces that are felt in all kinds of industries. But in restaurants, they are so distinctly visible: prices are high, service is strapped. It is all almost normal. Fine. Good, even. It could go on like this forever! … For chefs and servers, there is a sense of suspended animation. ‘We just don’t know where we’re at,’ says Leah Cohen, a chef with two Manhattan restaurants… ‘We’re in this weird limbo phase.’… ‘I feel like anxiety is at a real high,’ says a server named Sophie. ‘And it’s resulting in people being wild, getting fucked up, getting aggressive,’ and while it’s everywhere, ‘It feels heightened in the restaurant space. What is a restaurant if not a distillation of the vibe?'”
Avondale’s Con Todo Cantina Y Cocina Doesn’t Make It A Year
Con Todo, the Mexican restaurant started by members of two successful food families, abruptly closed, reports Block Club. “Jonathan Zaragoza and brothers JC and Edgar Castañeda were behind the restaurant. The Castañeda brothers helped their father run fifty-year-old Mexican restaurant chain Lalo’s, while Zaragoza helps his family run acclaimed hole-in-the-wall Birrieria Zaragoza in Archer Heights.” “Regrettably, as of today, Con Todo has closed its doors,” the former restaurant posted on Instagram. “We’re grateful for all the love and support from our amazing community! It was truly a pleasure serving you. We’re… looking at new opportunities for the space.”
FILM & TELEVISION
Former Steppenwolf Artistic Director Anna Shapiro Sets Series With Both Chris Rock And Jane Lynch
Former Steppenwolf Artistic Director Anna Shapiro heads Highwire Media, which announced a raft of projects across series, stage and screen, reports the Sun-Times. Comedy series for Chris Rock and Jane Lynch, at least one Broadway production and multiple movies are on the roster.
DOCNYC Documentary New Leaders Includes KTQ’s Amir George
In its third year, DOC NYC’s 2022 Documentary New Leaders program honors figures in the American documentary industry whose work and potential for leadership brings greater inclusion and equity to the field. Among the honorees: Kartemquin’s new artistic director Amir George. More here.
MEDIA
What’s The Fate Of The Printing Presses At Freedom Center?
“Bally’s is moving forward with its plans to build a casino by buying the Tribune’s Freedom Center production plant along the Chicago River… The sprawling thirty-acre site will house the new casino, a hotel and an entertainment district by its expected opening in 2026… Alden Global Capital, owners of Tribune Publishing and the Chicago Tribune, quietly purchased a shuttered printing plant in West Milwaukee, but Alden isn’t saying what the company plans to do with it… The Trib’s lease at the Freedom Center ends next summer, so even though the plant could be torn down quickly, Alden could still sign a lease and get relocation funds when that happens,” reports Axios Chicago. “If Alden does relocate printing to Milwaukee, it would become the first time that neither the Tribune nor Sun-Times is printed locally.”
So how’s this deal going to ever work? Nilay Patel sums it up in a few words at the Verge: “You fucked up real good, kiddo. Twitter is a disaster clown car company that is successful despite itself, and there is no possible way to grow users and revenue without making a series of enormous compromises that will ultimately destroy your reputation and possibly cause grievous damage to your other companies. I say this with utter confidence because the problems with Twitter are not engineering problems. They are political problems. Twitter, the company, makes very little interesting technology; the tech stack is not the valuable asset. The asset is the user base: hopelessly addicted politicians, reporters, celebrities, and other people who should know better but keep posting anyway. You! You, Elon Musk, are addicted to Twitter. You’re the asset. You just bought yourself for $44 billion.”
The New York Times: “Mr. Musk also appears unlikely to pay the golden parachutes that the fired top executives of Twitter were set to receive. Under the merger agreement, those executives—including Parag Agrawal, the chief executive—had been set to receive compensation of $20 million to $60 million if they were fired. But Mr. Musk terminated the executives ‘for cause,’ meaning he did it with justification, which may void that agreement.”
The Intercept: “Musk’s deal to buy Twitter involved taking out $12.5 billion in loans. This means that Twitter will have to come up with an additional $1 billion a year to service this debt.” If “Twitter simply continues on its current path, it will lose huge amounts of money indefinitely. But if advertisers get nervous about Musk’s management and flee the platform, it could see losses every year in the multiple billions of dollars.” Mikki Kendall at MIT Technology Review: “For those who used Twitter to build a career, to sustain their careers, or simply to connect, the real question is: Where do we go from here?”
On The End Of Newspaper Political Endorsements
Crain’s joins the exodus of Chicago publications that will no longer endorse politicos. Publisher and executive editor Jim Kirk: “Given the plethora of political information that’s readily available now, continuing an endorsement tradition rooted in the days when such information was scarce is unnecessary.” Counters former Daily Herald editor of twenty years John Lampinen at columnist Eric Zorn’s Substack: “Combined with the journalism we do, editorials and endorsements are an integral part of saying who we are. They say who we are to our readers, to our community, to those with influence, to those who pass and enforce laws, to those who need a hand, to those who wish to prosper, to those who would subvert, to those who would seek our endorsement. Combined with the journalism we do, these positions say who we are. As importantly, they say it also to ourselves. Not just to the editorial writers or to the newsroom, but to every corner of the newspaper. It is not just a source of pride, but a reminder to all of us including the business side that there is a greater good, that this is who we are… I view it mainly and sadly as the latest slope in the long, terrible decline of mattering.”
Measuring Public Radio’s Reach
“Part of NPR and NPR stations’ popularity stems from the popularity of commuting-time listening,” reports Current. “In May 2022, NPR-affiliated stations were the number one news stations during morning and/or evening drive times in thirty-one of the top fifty media markets… NPR-affiliated stations were the number one news stations during morning and/or evening drive times in the top ten media markets. In fall 2021, ‘All Things Considered’ reached 11.4 million people each week, and ‘Morning Edition’ reached 11.8 million… The next largest audience for a non-NPR news radio program, ‘The Sean Hannity Show,’ clocked in at less than half that size with an audience of just over five million in fall 2021.” The piece has a lot of numbers on how radio and digital audiences are measured. Among them: “In fall 2021, the top three stations in average quarter-hour listening were in New York, with an AQH of 26,600 people, followed by San Francisco with 23,300 and Chicago with 21,800.”
MUSIC
Jessica Hopper On Scene, Sexism And Sobriety
“Director, producer, acclaimed music writer and normal suburban mom” Jessica Hopper talks with Mary Nisi on the “All Up In My Lady Business” podcast. “Together we tour through the Chicago music scene and Jessica’s storied career. We talk about how we met, Jessica’s twenty-seven years of sobriety, facing sexism in the music scene, why she’s working on a new project about Lilith Fair, and more.”
The Daily Ye
And the Ye beat goes on. Ye held an impromptu press conference with a scrum of paparazzi, reports Consequence Of Sound. “I understand that when we got to say Black Lives Matter, the idea of it made us feel good together as a people. Now, afterwards there was some things where the money went in order to push us to the Democratic vote,” the provocateur claimed. “So when I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt my people. I want to apologize. Because God has showed me by what Adidas is doing, by what the media is doing, I know what it feels to have a knee on my neck right now. So thank you God for humbling me and letting me know how it really felt. Because how could the richest Black men ever be humbled other than to be made to not be a billionaire in front of everyone off a comment?” Ye returned to Twitter after its purchase by Elon Musk; Musk claims ignorance.
In a brief interview video, Ye speaks of being a “samurai” and “philosopher” and his exchanges with God. At the Washington Post, columnist Karen Attiah writes, “At the end of the day, all I want is for us is to end hate and intolerance. In that spirit, I wish we didn’t defend White men’s hate speech as legitimate ‘open debate.’ I only wish we could cancel the rabidly racist White men in our culture and politics, just as we’ve done for an ignorant Black rapper who makes really ugly shoes.”
STAGE
Steppenwolf Names Director Of Marketing And Communications
Steppenwolf Theatre Company has appointed PennyMaria Jackson as director of marketing and communications. Jackson joins Steppenwolf after serving as marketing director of The Apollo Theater in New York City and marketing manager of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Luminarts Ballet Fellow Named
Sterling Waterfield is the 2022 Luminarts Fellow in Ballet, in partnership with The Joffrey, sponsored by Myrna W. Kaplan. “Waterfield attended and was a scholarship recipient for summer programs including Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre in New York City, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Nutmeg Conservatory. Waterfield has performed several parts in ‘The Nutcracker’ and has performed multiple works during his time with the American Ballet Theatre, Gillespie School. Waterfield was excited and honored to attend Joffrey Ballet Academy’s Conservatory program in 2021. Starting in fall 2022, he will be part of the Ballet Trainee Program on a one hundred percent tuition scholarship.”
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Hallowscening And Doing Dia De Los Muertos With Block Club
Block Club Chicago offers a selective guide to Halloween night and Day Of The Dead events across the neighborhoods here.
