Columnist Dawn Turner Trice tells a wonderful story in today's Chicago Tribune about Samuel Vega, a student who "found his muse in Shakespeare."
Trice's column tells the story of Vega, a high school student who auditioned for a spot in the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's CPS Shakespeare! -- not out of a love for acting, but because he needed "an after-school place where he could keep warm." The more he got into Shakespeare, the more he wanted to learn about him and his work.
This column is a must read; it is truly an inspiring story about how one can have a love for the arts--and not even know it.
Word of a colleague's success travels like wildfire through the comedy community, and this week all forms of social networking were burning up with news of Pat O'Brien's recent hire by Saturday Night Live. Pat currently performs on the Second City mainstage and also at iO with The Reckoning, but will be leaving for New York in a couple of weeks. Congrats to Pat, and may his move to New York yield many more funny videos with former Chicago comedy player, and current "Colbert Report" writer, Peter Grosz.
Ask the typical Chicagoan to explain what each star on the Chicago flag means and, if you're lucky, you'll hear the Columbian Exposition or the Great Chicago Fire. However, it would rare to find someone who can identify the event signified by the first star. This year marks the Bicentennial of the Battle of Fort Dearborn (Wikipedia uses the event's less conciliatory name the "Fort Dearborn Massacre") and its memorializing is expanding beyond a star the flag to the site of the actual battle. On Saturday, August 15th, South Loop dignitaries will dedicate the park at 18th Street and Calumet Avenue as "Battle of Fort Dearborn Park." While the footprint of Fort Dearborn is actually found at the mouth of the Chicago River, traced on Michigan Avenue by bronze medallions, the battle occurred when fort residents were being evacuated and were attacked by American Indians.
The myriad of groups appearing at the dedication, from National Guardsmen to American Indians, is representative of the effort that was made to place the battle within a larger context than a simple battle for young America's frontier. John N. Low of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi explains, "...rather than casting the parties as victims or victors, villains or heroes, it acknowledges that these were people first, often presented with difficult circumstances and choices. As much as this place was once a place of conflict, it now represents collaboration and reconciliation."
A history of the battle will be posted in the park on a bronze marker. The dedication begins at 10am and is open to the public.
It is hard enough to break into the acting scene without having to deal with searching for and deciphering audition requests. Now Chicago actors and actresses are getting some help from TheatreInChicago.com and its new Auditions Page. A comprehensive list provides Equity and Non-equity theater and film auditions throughout Chicago, making it easy for actors to find job opportunities.
The Auditions Page is updated frequently, and each listing shows all the information actors need such as audition material, time commitment, locations, play and character summary, and who to contact. Right now there are auditions separated into Equity, Non-equity, Dance, and Film, but another section for technicians, directors, etc. will be debuted soon. On top of auditions and job postings, there will be a Resources Page available to locate head-shot photographers, acting classes, and various other networking tools.
No sign-up or registration is necessary to use this web page, so actors can start using it today. For further questions, inquiries, or suggestions, please email auditions@theatreinchicago.com.
Ravenswood-based Fresh Films is teaming up with Funny or Die this summer to give teen filmmakers a chance to create a short comedy film starring Funny or Die talent. The winners of the Out of Control Comedies! competition will make a short film this summer with an all-teen crew, and Adam Mckay (writer/director of Anchorman,Talladega Nights, and a former iO and Second City performer) and Chris Henchy (producer of Land of the Lost and Entourage) will view the finished films.
If you're a funny teenager (or if you know of any funny teenagers), the deadline to enter is May 25th!
Actor's Equity Association, the union that represents stage actors and stage managers in the US, has purchased a four story building near the downtown theatre district to house the Central region's operations. Chris Jones in the Trib reports that AEA may even move some of the national office's activity to our fair city. Who would have guessed that an actor's pension might be safer than the UAW?
Among cultural centers dramatically affected by the economic downturn, the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) has been particularly affected. In anticipation of even rougher times, the Board of Directors has reduced its budget by 15% for 2009 and four employees -- a quarter of the staff -- have been laid off. In response, the HPAC is holding a public forum tonight in which they "want your questions, reactions and suggestions to changes at the Center." The event starts at 6pm in its 4833 rph space, 5020 S. Cornell.
Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Lakeview resident Amy Karatz.
Tuesday night a crowd packed the largest room at Ann Sather's on Belmont to hear the City of Chicago Curator of Public Art, Elizabeth Kelley, talk about the new permanent art installation at the renovated Belmont El stop. Ms. Kelley carefully explained the 11-step process for acquiring art for a public setting, from choosing the site, to picking participating artists, to installation. The CTA worked from a database of several hundred artists, then gave each of the six finalists $500 to develop a submission.
On-site requirements included filling a 6 feet tall by 20 feet wide wall space with a tile mosaic. Two columns several feet in front of the wall would be similarly tiled. The artists were asked to reference this work to an orange steel sculpture that will sit outside the station. They were also specifically asked not to create a baseball/Cubs theme.
The crowd, aged 7 to 70, enjoyed viewing large illustrations representing ideas from the six artist finalists. Each individual idea was carried through the room while Ms. Kelley read the artist's inspirations and intentions, so all present were easily able to see each idea. The audience were not given artist's names, and later, artists in the audience were asked not to comment.
It would be foolish to describe the art, because words would not do it justice. The six entries included sweet cartoons, fantasy images, abstract thoughts, and even classical references. More than one included samples of finished mosaic tiles.
When solicited for their opinions, various audience members spoke in favor of all but one of the six. The vast majority of comments, however, praised the work of David Csicsko, whose work had been seen in the old station. His mural presentation, showing wonderful characters on a train car, had a life and energy that wowed. Close up, his sample tile revealed multi-colored striped faces with raised eyes that seemed to pop. He also proposed a mosaic of three giant stylized eyes on each pillar -- a perfect image for their placement.
When the audience was asked for opinions, particular attention was paid to two small girls, each of whom spoke up in favor of Csiscko's ideas, because those were the citizens who would be using the station for the next 20 years. Noteworthy was the audience member who remarked that while all of the entries would work for several of the CTA stations, only Csiscko's was perfect for Belmont. A common audience theme was that his entry embodied the essence of the Lakeview neighborhood.
Chicago actor and "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven has dropped out of the current Broadway revival of Speed-the-Plow by David Mamet due to mercury poisoning, after missing the Tuesday night show and Wednesday matinee. Apparently Piven's regular sushi consumption has left the Emmy Award-winning actor too sick to fulfill his commitment to the run, for which he was scheduled until Feb. 2009.
In the Dec. 17th online version of Variety, playwright David Mamet was quoted saying, "I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury...So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer."
No word yet on celebrity replacements and whether or not he'll be recuperating at his mom's place in Evanston.
Pinup icon Bettie Page died on December 11th at the age of 85 from pneumonia after a heart attack eight days earlier.
Best known for the provocative pinup and fetish photos from the late '40s and '50s, Bettie Page was also one of the earlier Playboy centerfolds, posing in the January 1955 issue with nothing but a Santa hat and a suggestive wink. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner called her an American icon and considers her appearance a milestone for the magazine. Page spent time in Chicago after her departure from the pinup world, attending summer classes at Moody Bible College in 1961.
AREA Chicago's annual "Wants and Needs" auction this Saturday sells off some cheap, creative gift ideas:
--A 1-hour bodywork session, combining aspects of Thai bodywork, Shiatsu, deep tissue, and more, starting at $60.
--An "InAction Unit"; a backpack with a mat and pillow to deploy in any public location and loiter to your heart's content, starting at $35.
--A homemade 3-course Italian meal for 4, starting at $30.
--A hand drawn map of your neighborhood, starting at $20.
--Dinner for 4 from Bill Ayers at Bill and Bernadine's house, starting at $30.
Proceeds benefit AREA Chicago, a grassroots activist/research organization committed to social justice.
Second Annual "Wants and Needs" Auction to Benefit AREA Chicago
December 6th, 2008 7-11pm; 511 N. Noble St.
$10 donation, or $20 for admission and a T-shirt
To RSVP or pre-pay for admission, e-mail areachicago@gmail.com
(Cost of admission includes one complimentary drink.)
Collaboraction announces its call for submissions for their 9th Annual Sketchbook short play festival, this year to include a special Sketchbook Jr. component, highlighting works intended for young audiences. Collaboraction is also looking for directors, choreographers, and various other artists for the festival. The deadline for submissions for the 9th annual SKETCHBOOK Festival is Monday, Dec. 22, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. To submit your work, visit Collaboraction's website.
...and Monroe, and Michigan, as an unplanned parade of rainbows wove around busy downtown streets, earning supportive honks from stopped cars and applause and thumbs-up from shoppers and gawkers.
Thousands gathered in the same sense of hope and togetherness as Chicagoans felt two weeks ago at Grant Park when Obama delivered his acceptance speech.
Yours truly was there, and crafted this 4 minute video, featuring mini-interviews, bits of speeches from the presenters, and a marcher's-eye view of the spontaneous and joyful parade through downtown Chicago, shot by Daisy Mertzel.
A fter eight years, Stage Left Theatre's Artistic Director Kevin Heckman is now the Managing Director for Evanston's Next Theatre. Taking Heckman's place at Stage Left are "Interim Co-Artistic Directors" Drew Martin and David Alan Moore. Martin held the position for eight years prior to Heckman, who remains an active member of the Stage Left ensemble. At the same time, John Sanders, who served as Director of New Play Development, has moved on to focus on his own acting career, and Laura Blegen has been hired as the theatre's new full-time Managing Director in charge of all business operations. As Stage Left gears up for its 27th season with the Chicago premiere of After Ashley by Gina Gionfriddo on October 14, Moore and "After Ashley" director Greg Werstler spoke with Joe Stead of the website Theatre in Chicago about the artistic shakeup, the challenges and rewards of collaboration, and the mission of producing new and exciting work in Chicago. For the full scoop and other Chicago theatre news, add Theatre in Chicago to your daily web jaunts.
Metropolis was Lang's vision of the urban future, but architect and designer Daniel Burnham had a vision of his own. The Newberry Library is offering a five-week seminar beginning September 16 which will explore Burnham's civic vision for Chicago.
If you prefer to explore the city with the tip of a pen rather than through the lens, the the Art Institute's Intro to Landscape Drawing class may be for you. It also begins on October 2.
The complete program for this year's Chicago Humanities Festival was released yesterday and there's some great stuff in store. This year's theme is "Thinking Big" and the organizers certainly seem to be by tackling issues like cosmology, globalization, and the future of urban living. There will even be a few panels on the results of the presidential election that will take place just before the festival concludes.
The CHF technically begins in early October with a couple of big ticket fundraisers and gala events, but the good stuff really kicks off on October 11 and continues until November 16. Unless you're a CHF Member, you won't be able to buy tickets until September 15. But in the meantime you can browse the programs and set up an account on the CHF website to create an itinerary that will allow you to purchase multiple event tickets at once when the ticketing office opens to the general public.
The City of Chicago plans to turn The Strand Hotel building, in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side, into affordable artist lofts and live/work spaces. The 36 spaces are priced at $208,888, with subsidies available of up to $53,000 per qualified buyer, reducing the price to as low as a cool $155,000. The City is chipping in the vacant building and an adjacent parcel for parking, and the whole project is being spearheaded by The Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Housing. The project's backers say this will add some cultural vitality to the neighborhood and give artists an affordable place to practice their craft. You gotta submit an application, though, so your paint-by-numbers hobby may not get you in -- Candidates will be interviewed by a panel of arts and community representatives, and those who show "an active pursuit of the arts" will be given preference.
To find out more about getting a loft of one's own, interested artists can attend one of the upcoming community meetings: Sunday July 20, at 2:00 pm and Saturday July 26, at noon, at The Grand Ballroom; 6351 S. Cottage Grove Avenue (less than a block from The Strand). To RSVP, visit www.thestrandartistslofts.com or contact Noelia Vega at 773.784.7900 or noelia.vega@ameritech.net.
Starting this September, aspiring Dreisers and Dickinsons can earn a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree at Northwestern University, studying under the likes of Alex Kotlowitz and Stuart Dybek. The part-time, evening program, which complements Northwestern's existing Master of Arts program (begun in 2003), will enable students to write a nearly book-length thesis, and position graduates for creative writing teaching positions. Interested? You have until July 25 to turn in your application for the upcoming September quarter.
To update you on a story posted last month on A/C: The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies has decided to pull their exhibit "Imaginary Coordinates" permanently. In May Spertus closed down the exhibition to address some "maintenance" issues only to re-open it with several changes, including making it accessible solely on guided tours. The Chicago Reader quotes an announcement from Spertus acknowledging that the exhibit was cancelled before its September 7 end date due to criticism that it depicted Israel unfavorably. Hopefully you were able to see the exhibit before it closed as it received excellent reviews for, in the unintentionally ironic words of the Sun-Times, "mapping [Spertus'] independence."
The Art Institute of Chicago opens its newly christened Richard and Mary L. Gray Wing this Saturday, June 14. The wing is the north section of the museum's original Allerton Building on Michigan Avenue, and is named after major major donors to the Department of Prints and Drawings, which is housed in that part of the museum. Richard Gray is owner of Richard Gray Gallery in the Hancock Center and is a trustee of the museum. Mary Gray is the author of A Guide to Chicago's Public Sculpture and A Guide to Chicago's Murals, and is a member of the Friends of the Parks advisory board.
The wing opens with the inaugural exhibition "Collecting for Chicago: Prints, Drawings, and Patronage," featuring works acquired for the Art Institute by various Chicago families, many of which now have galleries named after them (the exhibition is mounted in the new Jean and Steven Goldman Prints and Drawings Galleries, for instance). The new galleries were designed by Kulapat Yantrasast of wHY Architecture in Los Angeles.
"Night Sky #2," a 18"x21½" painting by Vija Celmins owned by the Art institute of Chicago, was slashed by a contract security guard while on loan for a show at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh.
His alleged reason? He didn't like it. That's some pretty harsh art criticism.
Museum officials are now determining whether the painting, valued at $1.2 million, can be restored.
In AmericanStyle's poll of America's Top 25 Art Cities, that is. Their Chicago page highlights Millenium Park and the new Nichols Bridgeway to the Art Institute's Modern Wing as examples of the kind of public art that has helped Chicago maintain second place in the poll for four consecutive years.
The article also mentions that this summer the Department of Cultural Affairs will begin offering guided tours of public art installations throughout the city. The city's website has little information about these tours, however, and the site that promises more details (chicagoneighborhoodtours.com) is currently down.
Alderman Robert Fioretti has created a local Citizen Advisory Committee to weigh in on South Loop building proposals. The article, appearing in the Chicago Journal, states that as part of the Ald. Fioretti’s decision making process, he will now weigh the opinion of this collection of pseudo-randomly selected residents.
How does one join this committee?
According to the article emails were sent to all those in their database consisting of Fioretti campaign contributors, people who signed up for information about the campaign through its Web site and people who have given their email address to the alderman at one of his community meetings,…” (see note below) Hannah Jubeh, Fioretti’s campaign manager continues to assert that the CAC will “bring (developers) in and reeducate them on how the process is going to work." While some community oversight is important, the CAC seems to be little more than an instrument for Fioretti to play architect. A committee stacked with his supporters will allow him to feign local support or angst for whichever project he would like.
Just as music cannot be reviewed by looking at the sheet music alone, architecture suffers when its creation is stymied before its execution even begins. New ideas must be able to be constructed and suceed or fail on their own merit. Only then can meaningful criticism take place. Fioretti has already attempted to stop one of the most forward thinking designs to be proposed for the quasi-historicist South Loop. Thankfully, Lucien Lagrange’s XO condominium project will continue despite the objections of another “community” organization, the Prairie District Neighborhood Alliance.
(Note: I am 2nd ward resident who submitted an email and mailed several letters to the alderman's office over the past year. I was not on the email database, by mistake, I'm sure.)
The Chicago Children's Museum intends to find out. Or perhaps it's "how low do we have to go?"
The new design for the relocated museum was released on Friday and has done little to change the attitudes of any involved. Perhaps the only real change that has happened is that the museum design, by sinking even further into the ground, has robbed architecture firm Kruek & Sexton a real opportunity to design a dynamic piece of architecture.
Removed from the design were any skylights or elements that protruded above the current ground plain at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. The entrance has been reduced of some of its splendor to further tuck it into the underground museum.
This whole development is quite puzzling. Personally, I cannot really understand what the great value in this location is to the Chicago Children's Museum. Clearly, there are better locations abound, as somewhat demonstrated by the Chicago Tribune's continuing articles featuring alternative locations for the museum (Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Option 4, Option 5, Option 6). Normally, it can be difficult to side with certain "community" organizations that tend to be a place for people to massage their egos rather than provide meaningful activism. However, in this instance, there has not been one critque offered that has been untrue.
Mayor Daley's record at encouraging great architecture has been very strong up to this point, here's hoping that everyone can cooperate to create a new landmark public building for the City of Chicago.
The Art Institute of Chicago announced the retirement of David Travis, chair of the Department of Photography, effective at the end of June.
Travis began his career at the Art Institute as an assistant curator of photography in the Department of Prints and Drawings in 1972 and was a full curator in 1975, when the Department of Photography was officially established. "David Travis has had a long and extraordinarily productive career at the museum, and it is impossible to conceive of the department here without his imprint," said Art Institute President James Cuno.
Travis organized and presented more than 150 exhibitions of photography at the Art Institute, including exhibitions of the work of Walker Evans, André Kertész, Edward Weston, Paul Strand, and Brassaï, and has also guest curated exhibitions shown at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. For his special contributions to the advancement of awareness and understanding of French culture, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 1987. He has also been a guest scholar at the J. Paul Getty Museum and in 2002 he was named a "Chicagoan of the Year" by Chicago magazine. At the Edge of the Light: Thoughts on Photographers and Photography, on Talent and Genius, a collection of his lectures and essays, was published in 2003.
Co-opted by Madonna and popularized by Benny Ninja on America’s Next Top Model, voguing is a flamboyant and stylized form of modern dance with a rich history dating back to 1930’s Harlem. Gallery 37 is offering a free class on Tuesday the 15th that will teach you moves from three different schools of vogue.
Playing the saddest song on the world’s smallest guitar: something you won’t be able to do if you miss the Old Town School of Folk Music’s beginning ukelele class. The eight-week session starts on April 28 and no experience is necessary. Old Town’s other instrumental classes also begin that day if size matters to you.
But where the hell are you going to get a grass skirt? Maybe you should invest in some sewing lessons at The Needle Shop. Their Sewing 101 classes for absolute beginners fill up quickly, so be sure to register in advance. Once you have the basic skills down you can advance to things like tote bags, pajama pants, and even upholstery.
The “imagination constituency,” as the survey dubs them, is not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk: a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times noted that arts advocates have been successfully pressuring the Presidential candidates to make the arts a part of their policy platforms. Both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama offer their plans for the arts on their websites; Senator McCain has not yet followed suit, according to the Arts Action Fund’s Candidate Policy site.
If you’d like to do some pressuring of your own, the Americans for the Arts Action Center is an excellent place to start. It provides updates on important local and federal legislation and a simple interface for identifying and contacting your representatives and the media.
Like a phoenix emerging from the ashes, The Hothouse has risen again. The venue announced today that it's returning in April with a month of shows at the Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western. Exciting news for fans of world and avant garde music, but the fact that it's only a month worth of programming probably means the venue is not out of the woods yet.
From an email sent by the company:
"Gus Giordano, founder/director emeritus of the critically acclaimed GiordanoJazz Dance Chicago, author, legendary choreographer and one of the fathers of American jazz dance passed away quietly in Chicago on Sunday, March 9 from pneumonia. He was 84."
Once again, the Illinois Arts Council (IAC) gets shafted in the governor's proposed '09 budget, which was announced at the end of February. IAC funding was sliced by 23%in 2008 -- and the new budget would essentially maintain that funding level. It's bad news for all the theaters, museums, dance companies and schools that were hoping the '08 cuts would be temporary. The Illinois Arts Alliance reports that our state has now fallen behind much smaller states like Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in per capita spending on the arts. Interested in taking action? Write your representatives, or attend a budget hearing and make your voice heard.
In the American cultural landscape, tap dancing has fought hard to be regarded the same as other dance forms. Lane Alexander, founder and director of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project (CHRP), explains tap's global impact, and why it is finally... Read this feature »
On-site requirements included filling a 6 feet tall by 20 feet wide wall space with a tile mosaic. Two columns several feet in front of the wall would be similarly tiled. The artists were asked to reference this work to an orange steel sculpture that will sit outside the station. They were also specifically asked not to create a baseball/Cubs theme. 
