Photo: Todd Hieggelke
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ART
MCA Director Madeleine Grynsztejn’s Insider Guide To The City
Outgoing MCA Chicago director Madeleine Grynsztejn talks art and Chicago to ARTnews. “The art scene in Chicago overall is incredibly healthy and vibrant. Another way in which I describe the art scene is in the same way that I describe the MCA, which is that we are hyper-local and globally relevant, in that order. So when you think about the artists who practice here, when you think about Michael Rakowitz, for example, he is so resonant with what is happening here, and at the same time, he has extraordinary exhibitions worldwide, including in Athens as we speak. Or Kerry James Marshall’s traveling European retrospective, or Theaster Gates [who has a current exhibition at Gagosian in New York]. It starts here, and then it goes everywhere.”
Chicago Artists Coalition’s 2026 Residents Named
Chicago Artists Coalition has announced its Artist and Curatorial Residents for 2026. The artist residents are Alex Adkinson, Ellie Dale Anderson, Jess Bass, Kat Bawden, Kaichun Chiang, Bethany Cordero, Bintou Diallo, Molly English, Marylu E. Herrera, Gabriela Estrada Loochkartt, Anwar Mahdi, Pablo Monterrubio, Maya Nguyen, October Sharify, Katie Vota and Ryze Xu. The curatorial residents are Ian S. Brundige, Yeeseon Chae, Samiah Fulcher, Alexandria Knapik and Maya Ortiz Saucedo. More on the program here.
Hosoo And Theaster Gates Collaborate on “Glorious Robe”
Kyoto-based Nishijin textile house Hosoo has announced an exhibition in collaboration with artist Theaster Gates. “Theaster Gates: Glorious Robe” will open April 11 in Kyoto, reports Oui Speak Fashion. “The exhibition builds upon the ongoing dialogue between Hosoo and Gates, which began with the 2024 exhibition ‘Afro Mingei’ at the Mori Art Museum… ‘Glorious Robe’ presents a new body of work that reinterprets textiles and garments as artistic practice… At the core of the exhibition is ‘Dashikimono,’ a newly conceived garment that merges the West African traditional attire dashiki with the Japanese kimono.”
St. Louis’ Counterpublic Triennial Names Artists For “Coyote Time”
“Organizers of the Counterpublic Triennial have announced the forty-seven artists and collectives participating in the St. Louis event’s third iteration,” running from September 12-December 12. “Curated by the five-person team of Jordan Carter, Raphael Fonseca, Stefanie Hessler, Nora N. Khan and Wanda Nanibush, this year’s edition, ‘Coyote Time,’ is named after a commission by Alice Bucknell, a video game set within St.Louis’ City Museum. The phrase refers to the brief moment in gameplay when a player must decide whether to forge ahead or retreat to safety. In that spirit, participants will explore issues such as climate, technology, education and immigration,” accounts Artforum. Among the exhibiting artists: Rebecca Belmore, Carolina Caycedo, Tony Cokes, Nicholas Galanin, Petrit Halilaj, Max Hooper Schneider, Glenn Ligon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch.
DESIGN
Leica’s Chicago Store & Gallery Opens This Month
Leica Store & Gallery Chicago, “a new destination for photography, culture and craft,” opens later this month at 800 North Michigan. They’ll host an evening reception to “open our doors and welcome the creative community to experience Leica in a new light. The evening will feature a special gallery exhibition, ‘Life Unposed,’ by photographer Craig Semetko.” Thursday, April 30, 6pm. Free reservations here.
Reimagining Bloomingdale’s
“While the future of U.S. department stores is far from certain, customers have been returning to the storied emporiums in recent years–and the CEO of Bloomingdale’s is making sure they stay,” chronicles Monocle. CEO Olivier Bron “hopes to usher in a new era for the business by spearheading an ambitious renovation plan and implementing his ‘Dream Big’ strategy. ‘My dream is to build the next golden age of Bloomingdale’s. The last one was in the 1970s and 1980s, when 59th Street was the convergence point for all New Yorkers.'”
Making State Street “That Great Street” Again
“Retailers have been fleeing State Street in recent years, but that’s starting to change, business leaders say,” reports the Sun-Times. “City and business leaders gathered Tuesday at Macy’s Walnut Room for a sold-out summit on State Street. Panelists discussed multiple strategies for reinstating State Street as a vibrant retail and entertainment corridor, and they said the street is key to a thriving Downtown that attracts more visitors. Among the solutions discussed were leaning into the nearby universities, improving walkability and street safety, increasing density and offering more unique experiences for visitors.”
Candy Hall Of Fame Is Largest Lease On Michigan Avenue In Ten Years
The National Confectionery Sales Association has chosen Chicago as the permanent home of the Candy Hall of Fame Experience, “a 60,000-square-foot, multi-level destination coming to 830 North Michigan,” reports Candy & Snack Today. “David Korins, a Broadway set designer known for productions including ‘Hamilton’ and ‘Beetlejuice,'” will serve as creative director of the project, and “experience designer Janet T. Planet” will serve on the creative team as well. “Together, the team will develop the Candy Hall of Fame Experience as a public venue highlighting the products, brands and industry milestones that have shaped the confectionery world.” It’s Michigan Avenue’s “biggest lease in more than a decade,” adds Crain’s.
When Government Reports Were Works Of Art
“For the better part of the twentieth century, the covers of [governmental] reports were works of art,” writes Nina Metz at the Trib. “Rachel Cole is the curator at the Northwestern University Transportation Library and she has been scanning these report covers and then posting them in an ever-expanding Bluesky thread as a way to interest the general public in the library’s catalog.”
DINING & DRINKING
A Second Coming For Berlin Space
“For forty years, Berlin hosted a unique mix of LGBTQ and straight clubbers for late-night dance parties in an inclusive environment,” reports Axios Chicago. “After closing its doors in late 2023, the Berlin nightclub space will reopen… as The Belmont, a craft cocktail bar, and Decibel, a dance bar.” The managers say “they want to recreate that special scene… ‘The goal is for everyone to feel comfortable here, as long as they’re comfortable with everyone else,’ says Marcus Devin, one of the new club’s managers, who previously worked at Berlin.”
Chicago Two-Stars Petite Edith
“One can’t help but compare the new restaurant Petite Edith with the nearly four-year-old Obélix,” reviews John Kessler at Chicago magazine. “A few blocks from each other, both occupy ground floors of apartment buildings on the sleepy west end of the Near North Side. Both are sophomore projects from seasoned local restaurateurs. Both are French. Or maybe French-ish, because both take that cuisine’s techniques, ingredients and classic preparations and remix their beats for the house party that is today’s Chicago. At freewheeling Obélix, that means a whole lotta luxe, with foie gras showing up in tuna crispy rice, tacos and corn dogs. At Petite Edith, the menu calls out French gourmandise but then takes the flow in its own direction—less melting pot, more reimagined American-Continental.”
A Return For Lincoln Square’s Barba Yianni?
Could Lincoln Square mainstay Barba Yianni Grecian Taverna make a comeback? A sprucing of the front of the establishment suggests it’s possible, along with a poster for a little-used GoFundMe on the premises. Block Club’s August 2025 coverage, “Barba Yianni Grecian Taverna Evicted From Lincoln Square Home Of Thirty-Six Years,” is here.
Chicago’s Next Sourdough Moment
“While some people may have abandoned their sourdough projects” since the pandemic, others have not only continued to feed their starters but branched out with interesting flavors… using sourdough as a vehicle for experimentation and self-expression,” writes Lisa Shames at the Sun-Times. “Bread Cult is based out of [owner Mirela] Hukic’s Portage Park home, where she produces some 180 sourdough loaves a week. Varieties include cinnamon raisin, rosemary polenta and dark chocolate pumpkin, along with seasonal items like blueberry lemon (Hukic’s favorite).”
FILM & TELEVISION
Illinois Offers More Film Production Incentives Than Any Other State
While Dick Wolf’s Chicago shows were recently renewed en masse, other shows produced here, including “The Bear,” have come to an end. But Governor Pritzker “and industry leaders are working to stay competitive in the race for big-budget productions,” writes Justin Kaufmann at Axios Chicago. Pritzker signed a “film incentive program into law at the end of 2025, extending tax credits for productions shot in the state and increasing them from thirty-percent to thirty-five-percent.
“The package goes further, with additional incentives for hiring locally and a five-percent bonus for environmentally friendly productions… It also lowers the entry for productions to be eligible for credits from $100,000 to $50,000, which could attract more indie projects… Illinois now offers more aggressive incentives than any other state—even California… Production spending hit a record $703 million in 2025, up twenty-five-percent from pre-pandemic levels.”
MUSIC
10,000 Chicago Concert Recordings In The Wild
“A group of devoted volunteers is methodically researching, cataloging and digitizing more than 10,000 concerts that one Chicago music fan recorded over four decades,” catches up AP. “The growing Aadam Jacobs Collection is an internet treasure trove for music lovers, especially for fans of indie and punk rock during the 1980s through the early 2000s, when the scene blossomed and became mainstream.” The Reader’s Leor Galil knew Aadam Jacobs’ score last year: the Chicago music fanatic “began recording local shows in the early eighties and kept at it obsessively for more than thirty years. He’s never sought to monetize this work, though artists have occasionally incorporated his recordings into licensed releases.”
I Want My MTV, Video For Nothing
Nostalgia, bah, ba-da-boom! The new MTV Rewind site is catching on, as it provides dozens of channels of thousands of randomized music videos and bumpers from an era of your choice. Check it out here.
Radiohead’s Immersive Film Installation Comes To Cinespace In August
Radiohead’s immersive film installation, “Motion Picture House,” will debut at Coachella before touring, with plans for a stop at Chicago’s Cinespace, records Artnet. To commemorate the anniversaries of “Kid A” (2000) and its follow-up, “Amnesiac,” the band “dreamed up a wild and unsettling immersive experience… The seventy-five-minute film was directed by Sean Evans and features art created by Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood during the making of ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac.’ Donwood, who met Yorke while the pair were studying art at the University of Exeter in the 1980s, is responsible for all of the artwork of Radiohead. Visuals run to a soundtrack pulled from the band’s original studio recordings and will play out on surround sound. Beyond the screening room, galleries inside the Motion Picture House will display the source art.”
STAGE
Lyric Opera Announces The Season Ahead
Lyric Opera has announced its 2026-27 schedule, beginning with Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” Enrique Mazzola conducts as Christian Van Horn stars under Robert Falls’ direction. Other productions include “Omar,” by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, inspired by the life of Omar ibn Said; Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale,” conducted by Enrique Mazzola and directed by Mariame Clément; “Amadeus” onscreen with the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus; Haydn’s “The Creation”; and “Hérodiade: An Opera in Concert,” as Enrique Mazzola leads a concert performance of haunting choral chants and sultry dances, with soloists Clémentine Margaine and Federica Lombardi.
Plus: Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos,” as Oksana Lyniv conducts John Cox’s production, featuring Leah Hawkins, Russell Thomas and Erin Morley; Verdi’s “La traviata,” conducted by Enrique Mazzola and starring Yaritza Véliz, Liparit Avetisyan and Amartuvshin Enkhbat. Plus: Gabriella Reyes in Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” an Appalachian fable of innocence and accusation set in small-town Tennessee, conducted by Daniela Candillari; and “Guys & Dolls.” More here.
A Look At The Attempt To Revive Victory Gardens
“Edward Torres and Archana Vaidya take over as interim leaders of the embattled company as it seeks to reestablish itself in Chicago’s theatre scene,” expansively essays American Theatre. The Biograph Theater, “home of Victory Gardens Theater for the past two decades, has largely lain dormant since September 2022, when the remaining members of the company’s bare-bones staff were fired after years of high-profile disputes.” But Torres and Vaidya “aim to make Victory Gardens a fully active producing theater once again.”
Harry Lennix Says “Ma Rainey’s” New Production Is A “Revelation”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” “has been a constant in the artistry of Harry Lennix for decades. He’s blending his creative efforts with director Chuck Smith at the Goodman, just as they did back in 1997, when it was a massive hit,” reports ABC 7 News. “Lennix is the associate and music director this time. ‘We forged a brotherhood, a friendship, a camaraderie… August Wilson came to one of our preview performances, wrote Chuck Smith a note that “I’ve never seen a better production of this, thank you.” It brings back ghosts, so I think it’s haunted, it’s fraught with drama, it’s fraught with trauma, it’s fraught with great music, great humor and also great pain, kind of like life.'”
Playwright Caridad Svich On The Theatrical Edifice Complex
“Why are so many building based theaters still telling ppl that the only way to experience a play is to travel via air, car or train to see it?” asks playwright Caridad Svich. “Televised/broadcast and streaming drama… available to a general, wide audience has all but disappeared.” Harking back to the history of British and American broadcast series of yore, Svich asks, “Why is theater insistent on privileging an in-person audience as the only ‘real’ audience? Why is theater not building on its broadcast legacy using the tools it has had since the mid-1950s to beam new work into people’s homes and laptops?” Strawdog Theatre’s production of Svich’s “12 Ophelias” opens April 17.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Illinois Considers Human Composting
“Illinois could soon legalize human composting—a greener death option that’s currently illegal,” posts Axios Chicago. “People seeking ‘natural organic reduction’—turning remains into soil—must now travel to one of fourteen states that allow it… Legalizing the process here would reduce the economic and environmental costs of transportation… It would also allow a practice that avoids emissions associated with cremation and the leakage of embalming fluids from burial.”
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