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ART
Ionit Behar Promoted To DePaul Art Museum Curator
DePaul Art Museum’s associate curator, Ionit Behar, has been promoted to curator of DPAM, the museum relays on Instagram. “Behar, who began as assistant curator in August 2020 has curated and organized nine exhibitions and countless public programs during her tenure, including the highly successful ‘Solo(s): Krista Franklin’ and ‘A Natural Turn: Maria Berrio, Joiri Minaya, Rosana Paulino, and Kelly Sinnapah Mary’ exhibitions last fall. Her external curatorial projects over the last year have included ‘Nelly Agassi: No Limestone, No Marble’ at the Chicago Cultural Center, curator for O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 5 renovation project, and curator of ’50 años’ in Montevideo, Uruguay.”
Barrett Keithley Mural Unveiled In Austin
The Kehrein Center for the Arts unveiled a new mural, “Everybody’s Welcome,” created by Chicago artist Barrett Keithley. “The mural shows two smiling Black creatives, holding up their arms as if they are ‘directing an orchestra, and also as if they are inviting people in,’ says Keithley. ‘In a lot of Black neighborhoods, you don’t get a chance to see your face on images or art that represents you, that is magnified. For me, it’s important for any ethnic people to see themselves in beauty. That awakens your brilliance. That’s what I have always wanted to do, to show people that you’re big and you’re beautiful.'”
“Poet Laureate of Chicago avery r. young wrote a poem based upon Keithley’s mural, and performed it at the press conference. Drawing on Keithley’s creation, young’s poem is also titled, ‘everybody’s welcome.’ The Kehrein Center opened in the spring of 2019, after the completion of a $5 million renovation project to the theater connected to Catalyst Circle Rock primary and middle school. In the summer of 2022, the Kehrein Center became an independent foundation, with core values dedicated to providing a place for community edification, entrepreneurial sustainability, human expression, and educational incubation to the Austin and greater West Side community.” More here.
DESIGN
Public Voting Open For AIA Chicago’s 2023 Lerch Bates People’s Choice Award
AIA Chicago has announced the 2023 People’s Choice Award Finalists and the opening of public voting for their favorite buildings designed by Chicago architects. Finalist list and vote here by Monday, September 18.
Society of Architectural Historians Presents Inaugural SAH | Places Prize Lecture
The Society of Architectural Historians, in partnership with Places Journal and the Graham Foundation, is presenting the inaugural SAH | Places Prize Lecture by architectural historian Ginger Nolan. Nolan is the recipient of the SAH | Places Prize on Race and the Built Environment, a collaboration between SAH and Places that supports the production of a major work of public scholarship that considers the history of race and the built environment through a contemporary perspective. Nolan’s talk, “Black Capitalism and the City: African American Insurance and the Actuarial Imagination,” explores how African American-owned insurance companies negotiated the (often vexed) aims of pursuing financial gain while also trying to create more equitable cities. More here. The talk is Friday, October 20, at the Graham Foundation in Chicago. Registration is free and open to the public here.
DePaul Practice Gym Will Demolish Five Lincoln Park Historical Buildings
“Four historical residential buildings on Sheffield will be demolished along with a courtyard apartment building around the corner on Belden,” reports Crain’s. The practice facility “is part of a $60 million athletics project… Demolition of the historical buildings—two greystones, two red brick multi-flat buildings… and a red brick courtyard apartment building… are scheduled to begin in mid-2025, as part of the project’s second phase. The demolitions will eliminate eighty student beds.”
When they are demolished, “We lose the character of the community, the historical street wall,” Ward Miller, executive director of Preservation Chicago told Crain’s. “The four on Sheffield appear to be from the late 1800s or early 1900s and are decorated with carved stone pillars and detailed cornices. The courtyard building on Belden, evidently built a couple of decades later, has handsome brick arches and terra cotta plaques.” Miller: “What we’ll get is another really bland building that resembles a parking lot and an office building.”
DINING & DRINKING
City In A Produce Section: Mayor Looks Toward City-Owned Grocery Stores
“Access to grocery stores is already a challenge for many residents, especially on the South and West sides. But all Chicagoans deserve to live near convenient, affordable, healthy grocery options,” posts Mayor Johnson on Twitter. “My administration is committed to advancing innovative, whole-of-government approaches to addressing inequities. I am proud to work alongside partners to take this step in envisioning what a municipally owned grocery store in Chicago could look like.”
A release from the Mayor’s office describes a partnership with the Economic Security Project, a national nonprofit, “to start on a pathway towards the opening of a municipally owned grocery store in Chicago… Historic disinvestment has led to inequitable access to food retail across Chicago, and these existing inequities have been exacerbated as at least six grocery stores closed on the South and West sides over the past two years.” Ameya Pawar, senior advisor at the Economic Security Project writes, “Not dissimilar from the way a library or the postal service operates, a public option offers economic choice and power to communities. A city-owned grocery store in the South or West side of Chicago would be a viable way to restore access to healthy food in areas that have suffered from historic and systemic disinvestment.” (Download here.)
Adds the Trib’s Gregory Pratt on Twitter: “Would it carry name brands? Would it be unionized? Would it be self-sustaining? Would it sell sin items? Lots of interesting operational and conceptual questions.”
Café Selmarie Closing After Four Decades
With the closing of Lincoln Square’s venerable Café Selmarie early next year, the space will be sold, but not the name or the recipes, reports Block Club Chicago. The press release is here.
Tzuco Celebrates Fourth Anniversary With Cuatro Años, Cuatro Manos
Chef-partner Carlos Gaytán welcomes three esteemed chefs from Mexico to Tzuco to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and the restaurant’s fourth anniversary tonight, Friday, September 15. The evening includes a four-course tasting menu designed by Gaytán alongside three renowned guest chefs from Mexico including Fer Prado (Çuina, Mexico City), Angel Vázquez (Intro & Augurio, Puebla), and Thierry Blouet (Café des Artistes, Puerto Vallarta). Reservations and more here.
Kitchen Fire Sears Le Bouchon
“So we had a kitchen fire today, and it did a decent amount of damage,” posts Le Bouchon on Instagram. “Good news is nobody is hurt and it could have been worse. [But] we will be closed for the foreseeable future. Thank you for understanding and [we hope] we’ll be back soon.”
Student Loan Repayment Restart Expected To Hit Restaurants
“Starbucks, Chipotle and Shake Shack could see same-store sales growth slow as high-income consumers may cut spending,” relays Restaurant Dive. An analysis offers: “While we don’t expect these consumers to significantly change their habits, we do believe that some could manage their check, trade down within the menu, or modestly reduce their visit frequency.”
Subway Introduces Stubway Sandwich In Inflation-Torn Pakistan
“Subway launched a three-inch sandwich in inflation-battered Pakistan, the first time the fast-food chain has launched a mini version globally,” snacks Bloomberg. “The bite-size sandwich, which appeared on Pakistani menus and social media posts with little fanfare last month, provides ‘value’ to Pakistani customers… The U.S.-based chain’s main offerings are six-inch and twelve-inch sandwiches.”
FILM & TELEVISION
Marvel VFX Techs Unionize
More reaction to the sustained intransigence of the studio members of the AMPTP: “Marvel VFX workers have won a historic first union in the visual effects industry. The workers who power the biggest superhero movies on the planet voted unanimously to unionize with VFX Union,” More Perfect Union posts on Twitter. “This is a major step for the industry, and Disney is next.”
AMC Theaters Raises Equity
Good turbulence in the film exhibition industry: AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron posts on Twitter: “AMC has successfully raised $325 million of new equity capital through the issuance of forty million shares… This material increase to our cash position means that any talk of immediate and imminent financial collapse right now by AMC is moot. We still have many challenges, including Hollywood must resolve the current actors and writers strikes. But regardless, AMC is now a much stronger company given our increased level of cash. Looking though to our clearly having extended AMC’s viability, it is comforting to know that AMC has strengthened our company by so significantly increasing our cash on hand.” Complete statement here.
LIT
Rushdie On Censorious America
“If you asked me ten or twenty years ago, I would probably have said that the main problems facing freedom of expression emanate from religious extremism,” Salman Rushdie said to the National First Amendment Summit in Philadelphia, the Guardian reports. “I think now we’re facing another old enemy, which is authoritarianism. I think there’s a real rise in authoritarian movements around the world, populist authoritarian demagoguery. Coupled with that, [there is] a willingness amongst at least some part of the population to cease to value the democratic values enshrined in the First Amendment. So I think the problem is, I would now say, political more than primarily religious.”
MUSIC
Riot Pop!! Sates Riot Fest
Riot Fest is this weekend and so is its soda: Riot Pop!! will introduce new flavors of seltzers, as well as CBD options, all with electrolytes. Riot Pop!! includes Cherry On!, Purple Nurple (trademark pending) and Nothing Rhymes With Orange. “Those looking for something with some CBD, check out Cherry Limeade + Super Lemon Haze Terpenes or Blood Orange + Pineapple Express Terpenes.” Riot Fest info here.
Uniting Voices Chicago Names Board Chair
Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir) has elected Ellen-Blair Chube as its board chair. Chube is managing director and client service officer at William Blair. With over two decades of strategic leadership across government and the private sector, Chube brings a perspective rooted in experience in public policy, operations, and client-oriented work. Says Chube, “We are providing unparalleled opportunities for young people of all backgrounds to come together on common ground and create something beautiful. I know this work has immense impact on community vitality and educational equity, and I look forward to contributing as chair.” More here.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Saturday Set For Viva Mexico! Parade
The 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade, Viva Mexico!, is set for noon on Mexican Independence Day, Saturday, September 16. “This will be the first time the Little Village Chamber of Commerce celebrates the annual parade on a Saturday and on the actual date of Mexican Independence Day. The parade’s theme ‘Tu Mexico, Tu Chicago’ highlights Mexican identity and culture with an emphasis on representing each state in Mexico. Parade participants and floats will represent the different states in Mexico, showcasing the many Mexican traditions and culture that reside not just in Little Village but all over the city of Chicago and beyond.” More here.
Penny Pritzker Tapped To Spark U.S. Drive On Ukraine Economic Recovery
President Biden named “former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, great-granddaughter of Ukrainian immigrants, as the new U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery,” reports Lynn Sweet at the Sun-Times. “Pritzker, who served as commerce secretary under former President Obama, will lead the U.S. drive to rebuild the Ukraine economy. The new post, which will come under the State Department, was set up as the Biden administration is meeting resistance from some Republicans in Congress over funding levels for Ukraine.”
First Racial Equity Report From Enrich Chicago
Enrich Chicago has released the findings of its first racial equity report “since the global health pandemic, social uprisings against state violence and the resurgence of labor organizing pressed upon the arts and culture industry to reflect on anti-racist commitments in the years following 2020.” The seventeen-page report can be downloaded here.
New Executive Director For Chicago’s Pro Bono Network
Pro Bono Network, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free legal services to underserved communities, has appointed Colleen Knight its new executive director. “Knight was chosen because of her extensive experience in scaling organizations and her unwavering commitment to social justice. Knight’s career has been marked by a deep dedication to nonprofit work and a proven track record of driving positive change. Her expertise in organizational growth and strategic leadership will be instrumental in advancing Pro Bono Network’s mission.” More here.
Companies Ban Sales Of Their IV Equipment For Lethal Injections
“Medical manufacturers say states can’t use their IV equipment to kill, a stance that could fuel new challenges to lethal injection,” reports The Intercept.
