Blog Fri Sep 06 2013
Are you crazy about comedy? An admirer of art? Got a thing for theater?
Gapers Block is looking for writers to contribute at least two posts (interviews, previews, reviews, etc.) a week about Chicago's diverse and vibrant arts and culture scene. Including the aforementioned, topics could feature other arts-related subjects such as dance, photography, sculpture, fashion, spoken word and more.
NOTE: Gapers Block is a volunteer entity; while the position is unpaid, writers benefit from building clips, having press access to performances and events, and receiving comp tickets from time to time.
If you are interested, please send us a note telling us a little about yourself, along with 2-3 current writing samples to ldw@gapersblock.com.
— LaShawn Williams /
Event Thu Sep 16 2010
Former Gapers Block writer and photographer extraordinare, Brian Leli, has started a website called Noun/Verb where he posts his interviews with and profiles of interesting artists of all sorts, among other things. "Noun/Verb is devoted to artists and their actions," he explains. "Those driven to look further inside and out, to inspire and to be inspired--Noun/Verb explores boldly passionate individuals and the things that they do."
A substantial part of this project will be the "Live Talks" series, which is what it sounds like-- live interviews with artists in public places. The first of the series, an interview with Matt Shaw of The Spend, will take place tomorrow evening at The Hideout. Click here for details on that event. Whether or not you're not able to make it out to that, definitely keep an eye on Noun/Verb and keep your ears peeled for future Live Talks events.
— Kelly Reaves
Art Thu Apr 01 2010
Facebook isn't just a way to keep up with friends' breakups, makeups and favorite 30 Rock quotes anymore--many businesses and organizations are finding this ever-changing social network to be a great way to more intimately and conversationally connect with their devotees.
If art galleries were looking for a closer way to connect with the public, a Facebook page is like placing their own personal cork board in every coffee shop in the city.
Here are some examples of that connection and why you should be their "friends."
The Art Institute of Chicago (35,271 fans)
Interviews with various curators leading fans through new collections; updates to their ARTicle blog; schedules of guest speakers; travel arrangements for out-of-towners and photo uploads from patrons are just a few of the features the Art Institute will have pop-up on your feed, sporadically of course. If you delve deeper in their profile you'll find their most recent hours, various social media sites (from Flickr to YouTube), links to new exhibits and a pretty phenomenal photo gallery.
Continue reading this entry »
— John Lendman /
J.M. Colberg, the author of the contemporary photography blog Conscientious, spent the last few weeks exploring issues of similarity and plagiarism in art. In what appears to be Colberg's final post on the matter for now, Chicago-based photographer Brian Ulrich submitted an interesting exploration of his thoughts on the matter as it relates to his artistic practice. [You'll need to scroll down a bit to see Ulrich's material.]
— David Schalliol /
Art Tue Feb 16 2010
Chicago Art Magazine asked Claudine Ise from Bad at Sports to reveal all the art blogs on her RSS feed. Her list of 115 blogs can be seen here.
— Whitney Stoepel /
Blog Wed Feb 03 2010
Image Courtesy of dailyradar.com
Jennifer Hudson's meteoric rise from Chicago's South side to Hollywood really is the stuff dreams are made of. From her days as a contestant on "American Idol" to her Academy Award-winning turn in 2006 in Dreamgirls, Hudson has continued on the road to a burgeoning career in movies.
But even rising starlets have to hit a bump in the road; for Hudson, the "bump" comes via Winnie Mandela, ex-wife of former South African president, Nelson Mandela.
Continue reading this entry »
— LaShawn Williams /
Wednesday, November 11 at 4:30 in the Sullivan Galleries (7th floor, 33 S. State St.), F Newsmagazine and the Art Institutes's MFA Writing Department are hosting a roundtable discussion about Chicago's burgeoning new literary community. Featuring novelist Kyle Beachy, playwright Chris Bower, blogger Jac Jemc, Assistant Director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance Mairead Case, Quickies! founder Lindsay Hunter and Featherproof Books founder Zach Dodson. Moderated by MFAW Department head Sara Levine.
— Whitney Stoepel
Blog Mon Mar 23 2009
Over at the WBEZ Chicago Public Radio Blog, local radio host and improv superstar Jimmy Carrane interviews Andy Dick on his show "Studio 312."
— Dyan Flores
Photographer Daniel Shea recently moved to Chicago from Baltimore and would like to learn more about the city by checking out Chicagoans' photography. If you have something you'd like to send him, let him know.
— David Schalliol
Art Fri Dec 05 2008
This painting was created and contributed by MartinJon.
Join the A/C Flickr Pool!
— Jamie Smith
Art Tue Nov 11 2008
The Trubble Club is a group of local artists -- Al Burian, Lilli Carre, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Anya Davidson, Lucy Knisley, Rachel Niffennegger, Burnie McGovern, Onsmith, Laura Park, Aaron Renier, Grant Reynolds, Becca Taylor, Jeremy Tinder, Marco Torres and others -- who get together once a week to create collaborative comics, with each one contributing one panel. The result is often beautiful and almost always utterly surreal.
The Trubble Club recently produced a comic book collecting a bunch of their strips. It's available at Quimby's for just $3.
— Andrew Huff
Blog Tue Sep 09 2008
As sad as we are to see The Bastion go, it brought a wonderful opportunity to Gapers Block's doorstep: Bastion co-editor Elizabeth McQuern has joined the staff of A/C, covering -- what else? -- Chicago's comedy scene. Her first post is below.
"Trying to cover all of Chicago comedy for the Bastion became too big a job before long, and now I just want to write here and there about stand-up shows from my insider's perspective -- and by 'here and there' I mean 'less frequently,' not 'all over the internet,'" she says. We're glad to give her a place to do it.
— Andrew Huff
Sad news for the comedy and improv community: The Bastion is closing down due to the overwhelming schedules of its primary writers, Elizabeth McQuern and Kristy Mangel. McQuern shares more of the backstory as to why it's shutting down rather than switching to a new editor here.
Here at A/C, we'll do what we can to cover the scene, but it will pale, at least in the short term, in comparison to what the Bastion has done. It will certainly be missed.
— Andrew Huff
Blog Tue May 13 2008
Dawoud Bey, Chicago-based photographer and professor, has a new blog, What's Going On," covering photography as well whatever other topics strike him; his most recent post about the city's racial segregation and its effects on the local art scene puts an interesting perspective on a long-simmering issue.
(Found via Brian Ulrich's blog, which is well worth reading in its own right.)
— Andrew Huff
Blog Tue Apr 01 2008
You may have noticed that A/C has been a little thin on content. That's because it's running on a bit of a skeleton staff. We'd like to change that. Interested in helping out?
We're looking for writers to submit a minimum of two posts a week on arts & culture topics. Subjects could range from theatre and dance to art and photography, film and fashion and more. We aren't able to pay, but you'll have access to press performances and comp tickets from time to time. If you're interested, please email Andrew at ah@gapersblock.com.
— Andrew Huff
