Bike rack, scooter, February 14, 2025/Photo: Ray Pride
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ART
Theaster Gates’ “A Circle Within A Square” In Abu Dhabi
Theaster Gates is the latest artist to collaborate with Italian label Prada “on an installation that captures the magic of being in-person,” relays W. “The setting chosen for this iteration of Prada Mode was MiZa, an old port area in Abu Dhabi littered with disused boats, which is being converted into a cultural district with galleries, creative exchange hubs and an arthouse cinema. In a nondescript warehouse, Gates started out with a simple concept: ‘a circle within a square.’ The artist designed a welcoming, carpeted, intimate cylindrical gathering space, open from above to encourage introspection and contemplation.
“Everything that took place outside of the cylinder—in a conventionally square room—was boisterous and energetic, with live DJ sets and a thumping dance atmosphere. There, Gates projected images related to the cultural legacy of the Middle East, sourced from his personal trove of 60,000 slides of historic artworks and architectural plans.”
Could Japan Dominate The Art Market Again?
“Japanese collectors spent billions on European paintings during the bubble economy of the 1980s. Officials today hope to inspire a new generation of art lovers,” reports the New York Times. “Record-high numbers of tourists and programs like Art Collaboration Kyoto and Art Week Tokyo have raised the profile of the Japanese art world. And the arrival of Pace Gallery, a luxury art dealer from the United States, has signaled that the Japanese art market may be on the rise.”
DESIGN
Camp Wandawega Builds On Chicago
“To celebrate our hundred-year anniversary, we’ve found a second home for Wandawega, in Chicago,” the group announces on Instagram. They’re opening a West Town storefront called Wandawega Bureau of Tourism. “We’ve been dreaming of having our own urban brick & mortar for years.” Updates will be posted here.
Chicago Stock Exchange Fragment Bound For Texas
“There was a time in Chicago when the city’s stock exchange was brawny enough to occupy a building that spanned a major downtown thoroughfare,” reports the Sun-Times. Soon, what remains of the 143-year-old Chicago Stock Exchange “will be history. The New York Stock Exchange owns what’s left of the equities marketplace. The NYSE has announced it will move it to Dallas and reincorporate it as the NYSE Texas.”
The Problem With Building Classical-Style Buildings By Edict
Trump has revived “an old hobbyhorse from his previous term: ‘traditional’ architecture,” writes Kate Wagner at The Nation. “In a brief memo, he declared that the General Services Administration… and other federal agencies have sixty days to submit ‘recommendations to advance the policy that Federal public buildings should be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage in order to uplift and beautify public spaces and ennoble the United States and our system of self-government.’”
World Architecture Festival Launches US Edition
The World Architecture Festival is coming to the United States for the first time in its eighteen-year history. WAF 2025 will take place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from November 12-14, “uniting leading architects, designers, interiors specialists and industry professionals from around the globe.” More here
DINING & DRINKING
Exchequer And Green Mill Make Cut Of American Mobster Eateries
“Restaurants have played an integral role throughout the history of organized crime. Dining venues since the tail end of the 1800s have served as go-to spots to discreetly negotiate nefarious activity in slinky back booths,” charts Chowhound. “In the 1930s and forties Chicago was mafia central.” Al Capone “frequented various Chicago clubs and eateries along with an iconic restaurant down Route 66. The roaring twenties Moroccan-themed speakeasy, 226 Club, was one of Capone’s favorite spots to indulge.”
Also: The Green Mill was “among his top frequented locations. The venue is arguably the oldest jazz club in the country that’s still up and running… Capone transformed the club into a speakeasy but didn’t stop at the hidden bar. The slick mobster also built underground tunnels for two reasons—to keep the liquor flowing and to sneak out on the fly in case unwanted visitors showed up.”
Surveying Three Chicago Black Vegan Establishments
“Three vegan restaurants are participating in this year’s Black Restaurant Week, as more Black-owned vegan and vegan-friendly eateries pop up in the Chicago area,” writes the Sun-Times: The Black Vegan in Little Village, Your Organic Inner G in Ashburn and Native Foods in the Loop. “But there are many more Black-owned vegan and vegan-friendly eateries in the Chicago area. Last year, Chicago food blogger Tamika Price listed fifteen restaurants on her blog, Plant-based Tamika; that’s about double the number since she started tracking in 2019.”
Logan Square’s El Habanero Done For Now
“El Habanero, a beloved Mexican restaurant in Logan Square, is closing this weekend after eleven years in the neighborhood—but it may not be the final chapter for the business,” writes Block Club. Among issues: higher prices for ingredients, post-pandemic.
MEDIA
CNN Hires Rahm
Former Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel takes to the airwaves as a new hire at CNN. He’ll be a “senior political and global affairs commentator,” the network alerts. “During his time as Mayor, Emanuel focused on educational gains, quality of life, and Chicago’s economic competitiveness on the global stage.”
The Reader On Arts Coverage Cutbacks
The Reader’s Culture editor Kerry Cardoza on the cutbacks in the paper’s arts coverage: “In the past month, the paper has had to cut costs dramatically; [we had] to slash our freelance budget, which is where so much of our reporting and criticism comes from… So for the time being, forgive us if our arts coverage looks a little slimmer than I’d like it to be, as I work to fill the holes that our phenomenal freelancers would usually cover.”
Behind The Murdoch Family’s “Succession” Melee
“More than 3,000 pages of documents reveal how years of betrayals led to a messy court battle that threatens the future of Rupert’s empire,” reports the New York Times (gift link) in an almost-14,000-word report. In a sidebar with six takeaways, the reporters summarize: “The evidence presented at trial shows that—in his twilight years, at least—his ideological legacy is paramount. ‘Fox and our papers are the only faintly conservative voices against the monolithic liberal media,’ he wrote… ‘I believe maintaining this is vital to the future of the English-speaking world.’ He also testified that keeping his news outlets on their conservative course long after his death—by giving Lachlan full control—was more important to him than any profit he could realize by selling them to others.”
Latest TV-Radio Cutback: New England Public Media
The public radio and television station based in Springfield, Massachusetts laid off thirteen percent of its employees last week, reports WBUR.
MUSIC
Styx’s “The Grand Illusion” And REO Speedwagon’s “Hi Infidelity” Albums To Be Performed Live
The “Brotherhood of Rock” tour, along with guest Don Felder (a former lead guitarist of the Eagles), will kick off May 28. “It wouldn’t be summer without a live celebration of some of the greatest rock anthems of all time from each of these multi-platinum albums, including ‘Come Sail Away,’ ‘Keep On Loving You,’ ‘Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man),’ ‘Take It on the Run,’ along with ‘Hotel California’ and other classics by the Eagles,” Live Nation announces. Tickets for the August 3 Tinley Park show are here.
President Of Music Institute Steps Down
After fifteen years, Dr. Mark George is stepping down as president and CEO of The Music Institute of Chicago. More here.
STAGE
Collaboraction Breaks Ground In Humboldt Park
Collaboraction Theatre Company has begun work on the House of Belonging inside the Kimball Arts Center, “its new home that will serve as an arts anchor and community hub in Humboldt Park,” reports the Sun-Times. The project is supported “by a $3 million capital campaign that’s underway… The campaign is also an endowment for Collaboraction and will support the hiring of ten to fifteen new employees at the location.” The gut rehab in a former pet store could be done in time to open in June and move toward the company’s thirtieth anniversary next year. Jack Helbig wrote an extended profile of Collaboraction and its plans for the future last September.
Chicago Shakespeare Will Host 20,000 Students For Abbreviated “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
A seventy-five-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy completes its five-week matinee run March 8, reports Broadway World. It’s adapted and directed by artistic director Edward Hall.
Casting About In Steppenwolf’s Extended “Fool For Love”
“Confused Martin, the character played by Cliff Chamberlain, shows up to the motel planning to take May on a movie date but first must confront the couple’s growing tensions and tormented twisted and intertwined lives from their pasts,” posts the Tribune. “Chamberlain is an actor who lives in Munster with his wife and family, and though he’s been familiar with Shepard’s plays for the past decades, ‘Fool for Love’ was one of the works he hadn’t read until he was considering joining the production.”
US “Nutcracker” Choreography Almost Entirely By Men
Dance Data Project “has released its first report analyzing gender representation in choreography for ‘The Nutcracker’ and other holiday productions… The findings reveal an overwhelming dominance of male choreographers, particularly in the largest fifty ballet companies, despite some growth in opportunities for female choreographers in mid-sized and smaller companies.” The full twenty-page report (pdf) is here.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Pritzker Awards 2025 Order Of Lincoln To Bonnie Blair, Sandra Cisneros, Jeanne Gang, Janice K. Jackson, Carol Marin, Julieanna L. Richardson
Governor Pritzker has announced the 2025 recipients of the Order of Lincoln, the state’s highest honor for professional achievement and public service. “Established in 1964, the Order of Lincoln recognizes individuals who have made remarkable contributions to the betterment of humanity in or on behalf of the State of Illinois. The six recipients join more than 350 distinguished Illinois residents who have joined the Order of Lincoln over the last five decades.” Bios and event details here.
Steve Carell Set As Northwestern’s Commencement Speaker
Steve Carell will address Northwestern’s Class of 2025 at the University’s 167th annual Commencement at the United Center on Sunday, June 15, relays Northwestern. Carell also will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts.
1933 Chicago World’s Fair Incubator Baby Was Ninety-One
Born premature, an incubator saved Gerald M. “Jerry” Gordon’s life “even as thousands would pay to come gawk at the tiny babies on display as a sideshow located next to the burlesque show” at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. “He’d tell us, ‘I’m a lucky boy,’” his daughter said. Gordon, an Evanston resident, had worked in the baking business,” chronicles the Sun-Times.
“A Week Of Chaos” At Kennedy Center
The purge of Kennedy Center leadership continues “as the center’s staff worried about the storied arts institution and shows began to disappear from its lineup,” reports the Washington Post (free link). Kennedy Center staffers describe “a week of chaos, fear and confusion under the new leadership. Trump’s comments ‘collapsed all the nuance of what we do,’ said one staffer, who described the work as more than a job or a passion.” The Post dug out a Reagan-era worker, who said, “It doesn’t all have to be bow tie and chardonnay and cheese. Maybe the blue-collar crowd with a Budweiser could appear once in a while.”
New NEA Rules Could Lock Out Arts Organizations
As the National Endowment for the Arts “adjusts to comply with Trump’s executive orders, ‘gender ideology’ is out and works that ‘honor the nation’s rich artistic heritage’ are in,” reports the New York Times. “Black Girls Dance, a Chicago-based nonprofit that trains and mentors young dancers, was recently approved for a $10,000 grant to help finance an annual holiday show called ‘Mary.’ Now the small company is wondering if it still qualifies for the money… It is unclear what the new rules will mean for groups seeking grants, or for those that already have them in the pipeline. Many arts organizations have pledged to support diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and several groups that have received funding in the past have presented works about transgender and nonbinary people.”
Stories Of Los Angeles Wildfire Survivors
“They built their lives in Los Angeles, then watched them go up in smoke,” writes former Newcity staff writer Stephen Rodrick at Rolling Stone. “It’s easy to shorthand Los Angeles as a dream factory, a place populated solely by movie stars, award shows, influencers, and surfers. It has become so prevalent that writers declaring ‘The Death of the California Dream’ has become its own ecosystem… The people I talked to after January’s wildfires had dreams. In twenty-four hours, they ignited, flashed, and then vanished into the toxic darkness. New dreams can be conjured, but first the nightmares have to fade.”
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