Red Clay Dance Company, “Written on the Flesh,” Chicago Performs Showcase at MCA/Photo: M. Reid Photography
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ART
The Art-Filled Road From Chicago To Detroit
“To drive through Detroit is to move through a landscape shaped by both its storied industrial legacy and its long-standing creative community, where generations of artists have turned the city’s factories, urban prairies and waterfront into a living canvas,” traverses Elly Fishman at WBEZ. WBEZ and the Sun-Times head “east to Detroit and its smaller neighboring cities, where the materials of the past—steel, brick, salvaged wood—aren’t just inspiration but building blocks in a vibrant cultural landscape.”
DESIGN
House Speaker Insists There Will Be A Transit Plan
Speaking to Streetsblog Chicago, Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch promised that “We’re going to get [transit funding] done” during the fall veto session in October. Says Welch, “We’re going to see some serious reforms when it comes to structure, and then it’s when you should turn and talk money. But we’re not going to ask voters to pay for something, to keep doing the same thing… We don’t want to be talking about this again in five years, ten years, fifteen years. We don’t want to be Philadelphia. We want to be Chicago, the best big city in America for the eighth year in a row, and we want to make sure transit continues to be a big part.”
The B1M Tells The Story Of Chicago’s Lost Spire, And What Came Next
“Right where the expressway skirting Lake Michigan crosses the Chicago River, a huge, gaping hole has been sitting there, virtually unchanged, for well over a decade. It was supposed to be the start of America’s first megatall skyscraper, designed by one of the world’s leading architects,” posts The B1M. “But a decade and a half later, something has changed. The hole has been filled and in its place an actual building is taking shape.” A fifteen-minute video version of this story can be viewed here.
A Look At The New Grant Park Framework, Including Lake Shore Drive Plans
“DuSable Lake Shore Drive could be sunken and capped-over to improve pedestrian access between Buckingham Fountain and the Lake under the Grant Park Framework Plan being developed,” writes Sun-Times architecture columnist Lee Bey. “The last Grant Park Framework Plan was approved in 2002. The recommendations included a call for major improvements at Daley Bicentennial Park, which ultimately resulted in Maggie Daley Park.” The forty-five-page plan is here (pdf).
Merchandise Mart Owner Plans To Sell A New York Tower With A Design Pedigree, Too
Vornado Realty Trust, who’s owned the Merchandise Mart since 1998 and recently indicated they may sell it, just announced they may be also selling the A&D Building in New York, which has a notable presence in that city’s design world.
Why Do We Have Elevated Trains?
In a longer answer to why Chicago has the El, Edward McClelland writes at Chicago magazine, “Underground rail was… difficult to build here, says local historian Tim Samuelson. ‘Subway construction was problematic in Chicago given the soft clay-like nature of the substrate, and the nature of fragile “floating” building foundations in the downtown area.’ New York City, [where a] subway opened in 1904, was able to dig through rock, which supported buildings better than Chicago’s clay.”
Rockford Ready To Demolish Historic Elks Club
Rockford “is preparing to tear down a historic building in downtown after an unsuccessful yearslong legal battle to force the owner to make repairs,” reports Rock River Current. “The city is soliciting bids for the demolition of the 113-year-old former Elks Lodge No. 64… The lowest responsible bidder would be presented to the City Council to consider whether to move forward with demolition… Advocates for historic preservation say the city should continue to explore ways to save the structure, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and in the West Downtown Rockford Historic District. The building was placed on Landmark Illinois’ list of the most endangered historic places in the state in 2022.”
DINING & DRINKING
Mapping The “Dead Bars” Of McKinley Park
“Despite a growing cultural scene, McKinley Park lacks spaces for performance and spectacle, especially any built on commerce and entertainment for the adult over-twenty-one crowd,” charts McKinley Park News with a map of closed bars in the neighborhood. While there are a couple of taverns—Marz Community Brewing and the William McKinley American Legion Post 231—”the only neighborhood property with a Public Place of Amusement (PPA) license is the Cielo Dulce event venue—formerly the El Rey Ballroom—tucked away behind the Tupperware store at West 35th and South Western.” The paper charts all the obstacles that PPA requirements place “to produce, present, or conduct any type of amusement.”
FILM & TELEVISION
Chicago: Prop City
“From NBC’s ‘One Chicago’ franchise to Netflix’s ‘Monster’ series, locally filmed productions are relying on small businesses for props and set design,” reports the Sun-Times. “Prop masters and set designers have visited Chicago shops to rent and buy items for [shows such as] ‘Dark Matter’ on AppleTV+,” helping vintage shops and prop houses rebound. “The growth of the industry has helped the success of Zap Props, a 36,000-square-foot warehouse in McKinley Park. Owner William Rawski started his collection in 1989 with a single antique: a 1930s Marx Merry Makers Band of toy mice. A few years later, ‘A League of Their Own’ was borrowing a jukebox for the roadhouse scene. Then, ‘Home Alone 2’ rented a Ferris wheel featured in the Duncan’s Toy Chest scene.”
“Friend Socialism” Strikes Streaming Subscriptions
“The average U.S. consumer pays for about five video subscriptions a month,” writes Business Insider. “So people figure out all sorts of ways to game the system. They stop and start free trials and share passwords among loved ones. Or they go on—and stay on—family plans with their parents, children, etc. Some people are defining family in a broader sense to divvy up costs. They’re hopping onto family plans for their cellphones, music streaming, or video content with friends, acquaintances, and even strangers, sometimes bending the rules of the terms of service in the process, other times just being a little liberal in the interpretation of family.”
LIT
Protections For Illinois Libraries And Librarians Signed Into Law
Bipartisan legislation designed to improve security at libraries and enhance safety for librarians has been signed into law. The measure, which was approved in the General Assembly this spring, allows the Secretary of State’s office to issue funding grants to increase security measures at public, school and academic libraries, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias relays. The legislation, which takes effect January 1, “comes after several libraries across the state received bomb threats in recent years, including the Illinois State Library. There have been more than twenty-five bomb threats with multiple libraries responding to repeat threats during the past two years.”
MEDIA
What’s In Store For NPR Without Fed Funds
“Katherine Maher is leading the public radio organization and member stations through their biggest crisis in decades, but she thinks they’ll weather it,” reports the Washington Post (gift link). “Although the loss of federal funding is devastating for many people, certainly in terms of longer term impacts on universal access across the nation,” Maher says, “NPR itself is positioned to have runway to withstand operational changes and business model evolution.”
MUSIC
Access Contemporary Music’s The CheckOut Opens September 13
Access Contemporary Music (ACM), a Chicago nonprofit that champions contemporary classical music, will open its new venue and music school, The CheckOut at 4116 North Clark with a grand opening festival, running September 13-28. The 2,400 square foot building was designed by JDJ Architects and built by WW Custom Interiors “with optimized acoustics to enhance musical performances. The welcoming space includes a performance area with a pristine Yamaha concert grand piano and flexible seating for up to sixty audience members, four teaching rooms and a bar.
“Featuring a mix of ACM-sponsored events, rentals and private events, audiences at The CheckOut will be able to experience a range of offerings from classical music concerts with an emphasis on new music, plus cabaret, album listening parties and film screenings. The CheckOut takes its name from the building’s history as a 7-Eleven store and will feature 7-Eleven-themed touches such as adult slushies and bespoke lottery tickets.” More here.
STAGE
MCA Kicks Off Chicago Performs With Showcase
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago’s 2025 Chicago Performs showcase, “an intimate festival of live arts highlighting essential local artists on a national platform,” will run September 18-21. This fourth edition includes work by Robyn Mineko Williams & Artists, Helen Lee/Momentum Sensorium, and Red Clay Dance Company. Taking place in the MCA’s Commons and Edlis Neeson Theater, this year’s performances “delve into themes of memory, remembrance, grief and making space for joy and healing.” More here.
Citadel Theatre’s New Season Opens With A Stephen King Adaptation
Lake Forest-based Citadel Theatre has announced its new mainstage season. Composed of four productions, the new season begins in September with “William Goldman’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel ‘Misery.’ The three-hander about a novelist who is rescued from a car crash by an obsessed fan and held captive after she discovers he killed off her favorite character, will be performed by Scott and Ellen Phelps, co-founders of the theatre.” View the full season ahead here.
ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.
The Chicago River Hosts Its First Swimming Event In Ninety-Eight Years
“The City of Chicago has officially approved the 2025 Chicago River Swim (CRS), marking the first open water swim in the Chicago River in ninety-eight years. Set for Sunday, September 21, 2025, this landmark event will celebrate the city’s environmental progress and generate critical funds for ALS research and youth swim education programs,” a release announces. “Five hundred qualified swimmers from around the world will navigate beneath the city’s iconic bridges, beginning at the Dearborn Street Bridge, heading east to State Street, then west to Lake Street and concluding near the Clark Street Bridge.” Applications are open through Monday, August 11 here.
Adler Planetarium Announces New President-CEO
The Adler Planetarium has appointed Elizabeth C. Babcock, PhD, as its next president-CEO. Babcock joins the Adler with extensive experience in leadership roles, including as founding director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum in Washington, D.C., where she laid the groundwork for a landmark multimillion-dollar campaign. In Chicago, Babcock previously served as vice president of Education and Library Collections at the Field Museum of Natural History.”
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