

“Singin’ in the Rain” at debut of Lyric film series
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ART
Ukrainian Institute Of Modern Art Receives Andy Warhol Grant
UIMA is one of thirteen new grantees awarded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) has received an $80,000 two-year Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Grant. This represents a significant milestone for the Institute, acknowledging UIMA’s contributions to the arts “but also bolstering its capacity to address critical global challenges. This pivotal funding will enable UIMA to further its mission of safeguarding and celebrating Ukrainian and American art, culture, and artists amidst the ongoing challenges of war, displacement and cultural obliteration.” More here. More from the Warhol Foundation here.
DESIGN
Major Mosaics Renovation At The Chicago Cultural Center
“For the first time since the building’s opening in 1897, the Tiffany glass mosaics in Preston Bradley Hall will be renovated. Visitors can see a completed portion of the work after April 1,” reports the Sun-Times.
John Wayne Gacy Cell Recreated In Bucktown Backroom
In the back of Bucktown curiosity shop Graveface Records & Curiosities, reports Chicago magazine, “the unsavory gets its due… Visitors drawn into the modest shop move through the two front rooms, chock-full of old horror movie soundtracks and Blu-rays, taxidermy squirrels with middle fingers outstretched, and other esoteric objects for sale. But for the adventurous, $10 grants access behind the (literal) velvet rope, into a museum space in back… The most surreal part of this archive: a recreation of Gacy’s prison cell, overrun with his paintings, correspondence and court documents.”
World’s New Tallest Tower, Designed By Adrian Smith, Resumes Construction
“The developer behind Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia has announced that the long-stalled project, designed by Chicago studio Adrian Smith + Gill Gordon Architecture, will complete in 2028,” reports Dezeen. Smith also designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world’s tallest tower.
Goettsch-Designed Office Tower Proposed On Madison
“Longtime owners of a thirty-one-story office tower on the western edge of Chicago’s Loop business district are reviving plans to build a second tower on the site, betting that they can entice corporate tenants with brand-new space, even amid overall high vacancy,” reports CoStar. “Third Millennium Group, which leads a group of owners of the approximately 1.15 million-square-foot office building at 540 West Madison, has formed a joint venture with development giant Hines to kick off a long-planned second tower on the site.” Houston-based Hines has been promoting “a twenty-eight-story, 665,000-square-foot building with an address of 590 West Madison.” The design is by Goettsch Partners and Michael Hsu Architecture.
Public Supposedly Hates Brutalism; Architects Hate “The Brutalist”
“There is nothing more irritating to enthusiasts than when the mainstream tries to portray their niche world and gets it wrong. And ‘The Brutalist’ gets an awful lot wrong,” asserts The Guardian. “Brady Corbet riled the architecture world by playing fast and loose with his interpretation of brutalism, the Bauhaus, postwar immigration and the basic process of architecture itself.”
DINING & DRINKING
Dylan Trotter On Relighting The Stoves
“Thirty-three-year-old Dylan Trotter is helping temporarily revive his famous father’s shuttered restaurant in Lincoln Park. His ambitions are long-term,” writes Maggie Hennessy at WBEZ. “After sitting mostly dark since it closed in 2012, the restaurant and its custom-made French Bonnet stoves have roared to life once more… ‘People under the age of forty don’t know who Charlie Trotter was, and my goal is to change that,’ Dylan said. Charlie died of a stroke in 2013, less than a year after closing the restaurant. ‘This is a historic Chicago landmark that should be known by everyone, young and old. I think the younger generation should look back at history and see: How did we get to where we are now?’”
Tracing Chicago’s Long-Vacant Restaurant Spaces
“Abandoned storefronts are prevalent across the city and often remain vacant for years after a restaurant closes,” surveys the Reader. “Whether it’s Pick Me Up Cafe’s old Lakeview location, Leona’s in Rogers Park, or Marcello’s Father & Son in Logan Square, it seems like one is never more than a Malört bottle’s throw from a shuttered restaurant, cafe, or bar. Restaurants close for a variety of reasons, but what keeps the buildings vacant long after the tenant moves out?”
Hot ‘n Now Returns Via Gun Lake Tribe
Hot ‘n Now, a Kalamazoo-based fast-food drive-through chain, “spread across Michigan and beyond [but] was sold and resold,” reports MLive. “It dwindled from a hundred-plus restaurants across fifteen states down to a single location, in Sturgis, Michigan.” Now two locations will be opened in Michigan with expansion plans. Behind the move: an Alpena business owner and Grand Rapids’ Gun Lake Investments, “an economic development corporation owned by the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Potawatomi, also known as the Gun Lake Tribe.”
FILM & TELEVISION
Toward Tenth Anniversary, OTV Launches Post-Production Fund
Open Television (OTV) [Newcity Film 50] is rolling out a tenth-anniversary initiative, #OTVAtlas, as part of the nonprofit’s work with diverse voices and stories. Drawing on a decade of research and resources, OTV has also launched a six-figure post-production and exhibition fund to make grants of up to $15,000 to bring intersectional storytellers closer to completion. “OTV subscribers will get the exclusive chance to vote and greenlight which projects we invest in and each project selected will come with an unrestricted grant, ambassadorship and limited distribution via the #OTVApp. The fund is open to short-form media and film across all genres and formats.” Preferred subjects here. #OTVAtlas is live here.
Lyric Orchestra Performs “Singin’ In The Rain”
The Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra will perform “Singin’ in the Rain” as its first film-with-orchestra event, conducted by Nicholas Buc. Friday, February 7, 7pm. Tickets ($39-$219) here.
Seattle’s University District Loses Art Houses
Chicago hasn’t had any recent closures, and AMC will soon reopen the Roosevelt Collection multiplex. Other cities? “AMC Theatres has closed its Seattle 10 location,” reports Fox13 Seattle, as “part of AMC’s routine evaluation of its theater circuit to strengthen the company. Grand Illusion Cinema, also in the University District, also closed yesterday but plans to reopen… at a new location.”
LIT
Natasha Trethewey Enters Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Hall Of Fame
The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience inducted five new members into its Hall of Fame at a ceremony in downtown Meridian. Folklorist William “Bill” Ferris, historian and novelist Shelby Foote, poet Natasha Trethewey, and singer-songwriters Bobbie Gentry and Mac McAnally were inducted in front of 700-plus attendees. Trethewey, a former poet laureate for the United States and Mississippi, has used her poetry to explore issues of race and Deep South culture. Trethewey won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2007, and is a member of Northwestern University’s graduate faculty. More here.
MEDIA
Meta To Settle Suit With $25 Million Payment To Trump
Meta and Mark Zuckerberg will pay Trump a further $25 million, this time to settle a lawsuit that Trump was bound to lose, reports the Wall Street Journal (gift link). “Meta Platforms has agreed to pay roughly $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit that President Trump brought against the company and its CEO after the social-media platform suspended his accounts following the attack on the U.S. Capitol that year… Trump signed the settlement agreement Wednesday in the Oval Office. Writes Senator Elizabeth Warren, ‘It looks like a bribe and a signal to every company that corruption is the name of the game. After Meta pays to play, what does Mark Zuckerberg expect as a return on this investment?’”
The New York Times: “The move was a significant concession by a major tech company and a victory for Mr. Trump, who had previously criticized social media platforms for censoring him but has lately wooed tech titans including Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive.” NPR points out that Trump had threatened Zuckerberg with imprisonment: “In a book Trump published before he was elected, he lamented the more than $400 million Zuckerberg donated in 2020 to support local election offices during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump then wrote he is watching Zuckerberg closely, threatening to throw the tech billionaire in prison for ‘the rest of his life.’”
STAGE
On Teacher And Theater Critic Jack Helbig
“The great theater critic Jack Helbig, a guy I knew well, once edited and very much liked for decades,” has died, reported Chris Jones on Facebook. “What a lovely man and what a fantastically fun and talented writer. Such a loss for Chicago theater. The stranger and wilder the show, the more Jack loved it.” Reactions to Jones’ post: “News of Jack’s death is a kick to the stomach,” writes illustrator Tom Bachtell. Playwright Rick Cleveland: “I’m very sad to hear this.” Charna Halpern: “He was wonderful and such a help to improve theaters in Chg.” Actor Jim Ortlieb: “A true lovely man, Jack Helbig. Fine journey, Jack!” Tom Mula: “Oh hell. A lovely man.” Ayun Halliday: “Invictus, Jack. He was a very nice man.”
Holy Trinity High School, on Facebook: “We honor the life and legacy of Jack Helbig, a cherished former teacher and department chair at Holy Trinity. Jack’s love for literature and theater was infectious—he not only taught English but also brought stories to life through student-led productions. His work as a journalist extended beyond the classroom, but his greatest impact was on the students and colleagues who had the privilege of knowing him. His humor, kindness and passion will be dearly missed, but his legacy lives on in every student he inspired.”
Helbig’s bio from the Rochelle Zell Jewish High School is here. One of Jack’s last pieces, an ambitious, 7,700-word history of Collaboraction, appeared in Newcity in September here.
DePaul Theatre School Marks A Century
“Since 1925, the school has provided students with innovative, hands-on training,” chronicles Block Club. “Now part of DePaul University, the Theatre School is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year by honoring its history and impact on the entertainment industry.”
Cultural Center Sets New Play Residency
The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events has announced the four awardees of the Chicago Cultural Center New Play Residency. The selected works will be showcased with free public readings during Chicago Theatre Week, February 15-16, and February 22-23, at the Cultural Center’s Studio Theater. More here.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
Dilla Joins DuSable
Shermann “Dilla” Thomas, “a South Sider who’s built a following sharing the positive and surprising histories of Chicago’s neighborhoods, is the new face of the South Side Black history museum,” reports Block Club. He will be the museum’s brand ambassador and social media chief. Wrote Thomas in a statement, “As a lifetime Chicagoan and champion of all things South Side, it is a dream fulfilled for me to join the team at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. I am a storyteller at heart, and there are endless chapters to be curated and shared at the Du. I can’t wait to get started.”
United States Artists Announces USA Fellows
United States Artists has announced its 2025 grouping of USA Fellows, fifty artists and collectives from ten creative disciplines. Each awardee will receive a $50,000 unrestricted cash award as well as critical support. Among awardees in architecture & design, Borderless Studio, Paola Aguirre Serrano and Dennis Milam, architects and urban designers, San Antonio and Chicago. In music, Angel Bat Dawid, composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator, Chicago; and from Minneapolis, Tall Paul, rap artist and playwright-filmmaker Rhiana Yazzie. In dance, Anna Martine Whitehead, interdisciplinary performance, Chicago; and in visual art, Caroline Kent, expanded painting practice, Chicago.
Navy Pier Commemorates Black History Month
Navy Pier will celebrate Black History Month with programming showcasing the Black community in Chicago, with the month-long return of Navy Pier’s Black Makers Market and interactive workshops hosted by artists from Women’s Live Artist Studio. “Commemorating Black History Month with programming that’s meaningful and accessible speaks to Navy Pier’s mission,” writes Navy Pier president and CEO Marilynn Gardner. “As the People’s Pier, it is our opportunity and responsibility to provide access to diverse experiences, ensuring that guests of all communities and backgrounds see themselves reflected in the programs we present and the stories we tell.” More here.
Ruth Arts Announces Grants
The Ruth Foundation for the Arts has announced recipients for the second edition of the foundation’s annual prize of $100,000 to contemporary artists working across North America. “The awards acknowledge extraordinary, critically engaged artists who approach their practices with continuous inquiry, imagination, and rigor, and who are deserving of greater recognition for the fullness of their practice. The program echoes the ethos of Ruth Arts’ flagship grant program, Artist Choice, in which artists are asked to recommend organizations that have deeply affected their own creative practices and communities to receive unrestricted grants.” Ruth Arts awards this year go to Jennifer Harge (Michigan), Suzanne Jackson (Georgia), Carlos Motta (New York), Juan Sánchez (New York), and Theresa Secord (Maine). More here.
Cubs Offer $1,950 “Yard” Experience For Six With A Hot Dog And Bottomless Cooler
“A six-ticket ‘Yard’ experience at the Cubs home opener on April 4 is selling for $1,950—with additional seats running $325 each,” reports Block Club. The club is “offering luxury ticket packages in [an] ‘ultimate backyard’ section beyond the center field ivy… The offer comes with high-top seating and a fully stocked cooler [with] unlimited beer, seltzer, wine and soda… Everyone gets a hot dog or burger.”
Philadelphia Workers Seek First Whole Foods Union Under Increasing Pressures
“Whole Foods Workers United officially declared its intention to unionize with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 1776 and filed papers with the National Labor Relations Board,” reports In These Times. “Since Amazon bought the company in 2017, Whole Foods has undergone a litany of changes—many, workers say, for the worse.”
Pritzker Considers Bill To Protect Warehouse Workers
Legislation on Governor Pritzker’s desk “aims at providing protections for workers at large warehouses such as those run by Amazon by requiring employers to be more transparent about productivity expectations and ensure workloads don’t prevent employees from taking breaks for meals, rest or visits to the [washroom],” reports the Tribune.
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