Clik here to view.
Brazilian sculptor at play in the MCA’s plaza
The plaza of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art can be a rather gray and forbidding space — the entryway to the austere if elegant building designed by Josef Paul Kleihues, the late German architect....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Artworks in “Confronting Truths: Wake Up!” heighten conversation about race
True to its title and intent, “Confronting Truths: Wake Up!” – an exhibition of work by Ti-Rock Moore, a white artist based in New Orleans – has stirred the pot. Now on view at Chicago’s Gallery...
View ArticleFamed Art Institute Caillebotte work at center of artist’s D.C. show
Gustavo Caillebotte’s Paris Street, Rainy Day, 1877, is an iconic image in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection. A new show featuring more of Gustavo Caillebotte’s work in Washington, D.C., will...
View ArticleIt’s Christmas in July on TV, at the park, in the bar
Saturday marks the halfway point between last Dec. 25 and the next one, and the weekend will present a few options for Chicagoans who need a little Christmas right this very minute. • Comedy Central is...
View ArticleE.L. Doctorow, author of ‘Ragtime,’ dies in New York at 84
BY VERENA DOBNIK | ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Writer E.L. Doctorow, who wryly reimagined the American experience in such novels as “Ragtime” and “The March” and applied its lessons to the past and the...
View ArticleChicago Opera Theater receives $1.5 million gift
It has been quite a season of giving for Chicago arts philanthropists Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson. In April, the couple bestowed a “landmark gift” of 42 works from their collection, including pieces...
View ArticleMemorial set for arts leader Abena Joan Brown
Plans have been announced for a memorial service for Abena Joan Brown, the pioneering force in the arts, who focused her energy and zeal on nurturing Chicago’s black artists – founding, and for decades...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix: Van Halen (and 7 more cool things to do in and around Chicago this...
DANCING WITH THE STARS Brother/sister pro dancers Julianne and Derek Hough bring their “Move Live on Tour” show to the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State, at 8 p.m. July 25. The extravaganza features...
View Articleeighth blackbird named 2015-2016 artists-in-residence at MCA
The Museum of Contemporary Art has named eighth blackbird, the virtuosic Chicago-based contemporary music ensemble, as its 2015-2016 artists-in-residence. The museum has had a long and rich history of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix — Kevin Hart (and 7 more cool things to do around Chicago this weekend)
1. GIRL POWER The “Invincible” gal herself, Kelly Clarkson, brings her Piece by Piece tour to the Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim, Rosemont. The show kicks off at 7 p.m. Aug. 1 with 18-year-old...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago’s iconic public statues ready to ‘talk’ to you
Chicago’s public sculptures lead difficult lives — buffeted by snowstorms, dumped on by flocks of pigeons, and surrounded by hordes of tourists and kids eager to climb them. Perhaps even worse, many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios” a wondrous flight of imagination
Wondrous. Hypnotic. An unparalleled flight of the imagination, and a glorious exploration of the physical limits of the human body. Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities,” the 35th...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix – Chris Brown (and 7 more cool things to check out in Chicago this...
The Chicago Air and Water Show will be filling the skies along the lakefront on Saturday and Sunday. But if that’s not your cup of tea, here are some more cool things to check out this weekend in and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, Nigella Lawson, Elvis Costello join Chicago Humanities...
The Chicago Humanities Festival today announced the full schedule for its 26th annual extravaganza, running Oct. 24-Nov. 8 at various venues across the area. Some of the notables heading to town for...
View ArticleZac Efron worked hard to be convincing as DJ in new film
As Zac Efron walked the red carpet for a Chicago sneak preview of “We Are Your Friends” last week, the actor laughed when asked how good a DJ he’d be in real life — since that’s what he plays in the...
View ArticleHerb Alpert thrives after 50 years of hit-making
Editor’s note: It was announced today by the Field Museum in Chicago that massive bronze totems sculpted by musician Herb Alpert will be installed on the museums South steps beginning Sept. 17, 2015,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix — The Foo Fighters (and 7 more cool things to do in and around...
1. ROCKIN’ WRIGLEY The Foo Fighters headline Wrigley Field on Aug. 29. Cheap Trick, Naked Raygun and Urge Overkill also are on the bill. Show time is 5:30 p.m. Visit ticketmaster.com for ticket resale...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fall Arts Preview 2015 – Classical Music
BY KYLE MACMILLAN | FOR THE SUN-TIMES The Chicago Symphony Orchestra stands at the pinnacle of the symphonic world because of a nearly unparalleled legacy of artistic excellence guided by such...
View ArticleIllinois Holocaust Museum looks at “Exiles and Emigres in Hollywood, 1933-1950″
Many of the writers, directors, composers and other artists who fled Nazi Germany ended up in Hollywood, where they changed the nature of American cinema and helped shape its “Golden Age.” Their impact...
View Article‘Truth Booth’ should draw huge crowd at Expo Chicago
It should be interesting to see what Chicagoans add to what is being called the “Truth Booth” on Navy Pier as part of a collaboration between Project& and the huge Expo Chicago art show this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix — Farm Aid 30 (and 6 other cool things to do in Chicago this weekend)
1. RAISE A STEIN OR TWO! Chicago’s legendary Berghoff restaurant celebrates Oktoberfest with its 30th annual Bavarian-style extravaganza, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 18 at the Kluczynski Federal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Musician Herb Alpert’s ‘Spirit Totems’ greet Field Museum visitors
Musician Herb Alpert just delivered his love letter to the city of Chicago. It arrived today in the form of eight massive bronze Spirit Totems, installed on the south steps of the Field Museum, where...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Steven Spielberg still excited about ‘Chicago 7′ film possibility
A movie based on the “Chicago 7″ trial has been on Steven Spielberg’s to-do list for at least eight years, and the Oscar winner says he still hopes to get it made. While Spielberg told me Sunday in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago Architecture Biennial aims to build a vast global audience for the city
Architecture is about far more than any single building, no matter how beautiful, functional or innovative that structure might be. It is about history. And landscape. And urban planning. It is about...
View ArticleDouglas Druick announces retirement as Art Institute president
Douglas Druick is stepping down as president of the Art Institute of Chicago, a position he has held since 2011. Museum officials said he announced his plans at a meeting of the board on Tuesday....
View ArticleMCA art auction features top artists’ donated works
It’s very likely some of Chicago’s major collectors will be checking out the Museum of Contemporary Art’s highly anticipated Benefit Art Auction coming up later this month. Set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 —...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Elizabeth Schuch moves from stage to screen with prize-winning film, “The...
For her 2003 Jeff Award-winning set design for director David Cromer’s Seanachai Theatre production of “Journey’s End,” Elizabeth Schuch created a World War I trench environment so real it made you...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wabash Arts Crawl paints South Loop as new creative district
By Selena Fragassi | For the Sun-Times Creating an arts district in Chicago has been no small feat. Wicker Park has attempted to do so, unifying the assembly of galleries along Milwaukee Avenue. And...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix: A Halloween gathering (and 6 more cool things to check out in...
Now that baseball season is REALLY over in Chicago, here are some other cool events to check out this weekend around town: 1. BACKSTAGE PASS Get a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes world of the Chicago...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Art, craft and innovative structures to meet at 2015 SOFA CHICAGO
What is art, and what differentiates it from craft? That is the question that has come into stark relief each year since 1994, when SOFA CHICAGO, the Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design Fair,...
View ArticleLucas Museum names first deputy director
Judy Kim has been named the first deputy director of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Kim brings more than 20 years of experience in museum management to the post. Her duties will include initial...
View ArticleOliver Platt loves really getting to know Chicago
Oliver Platt has worked in Chicago a number of times over the years, but the actor says one reason he’s delighted to be starring in the new “Chicago Med” series (premiering at 8 p.m. Tuesday,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Field Museum exhibit traces evolution of ancient Greece with artistic treasures
If time, money and logistics were no issue, you could conceivably fly to Greece, visit 21 different museums in Athens, Thessaloniki, Pella, Mycenae, Vergina, Delos, Sparta and Herakleion, and see 500...
View ArticleMCA, Minneapolis museum to host dual-city exhibit/tribute to Merce Cunningham
The MCA today announced a dual-city exhibition/celebration of the late choreographer Merce Cunningham between the Chicago museum and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. The multi-disciplinary...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix – Wreathing of the Lions and 6 other cool things to do in Chicago...
1. ROARING HOLIDAY FUN The 24th annual “Wreathing of the Lions” takes place Friday at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan, starting at 10 a.m. Also part of the fun are a musical performance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Swimming through the Pedway via Joffrey Ballet artists
In the coming weeks, you will be able to catch Joffrey Ballet dancer Fabrice Calmels on stage in performances of “The Nutcracker” running Dec. 4-27 at the Auditorium Theatre. But from now through late...
View ArticleGrant will fund large-scale art installation at Chicago Children’s Museum
Local artist Juan Angel Chávez will create a large-scale installation enveloping much of the Chicago Children’s Museum, thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation. The foundation said Monday...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Top of the Pop Art: MCA brings out its own pieces to pair with German exhibition
By Kyle MacMillan | For the Sun-Times Campbell’s soup cans, marshmallow- and heart-shaped chairs, cow wallpaper, Superman comics and silkscreened portraits of Jackie Kennedy. Just in time for the...
View ArticleMCA exhibit chosen best art show in the U.S.
The Guardian has selected a Chicago exhibit as the best American art show of 2015. In selecting “The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now,” the Guardian said on it its website:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Abstract artist Ellsworth Kelly dies at 92; Art Institute home to collection...
SPENCERTOWN, N.Y. — Ellsworth Kelly, a painter, sculptor and printmaker whose work over seven decades made him one of America’s leading abstract artists, has died. He was 92. Mr. Kelly’s Manhattan...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall set for major three-city retrospective
In many ways, Chicago-based artist Kerry James Marshall has depicted the African American experience on canvas much as playwright August Wilson chronicled it for the theater. And beginning this spring,...
View ArticleArt Institute announces its largest bequest ever: $35 million
Less than a year after receiving a record-setting donation of art estimated to be worth $400 million, the Art Institute of Chicago announced Tuesday it has received another windfall, this one in liquid...
View ArticleJames Rondeau named new president, director of Art Institute
The board of the Art Institute of Chicago has named James Rondeau, a curator and scholar who has led two of the museum’s 11 curatorial departments during his 18-year tenure with the institution, as the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Art Institute explores Van Gogh’s bedroom and a sense of home
Vincent Van Gogh painted dozens of self-portraits. But perhaps the most telling portrait of them all – the one that captured the heart and soul and yearnings of this Dutch-born artist best of all – is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Monster Roster’ exhibit revisits long-forgotten Chicago movement
By Kyle MacMillan | For the Sun-Times Prescribed by a group of influential critics, curators and museums beginning in the 1930s and ‘40s, a linear, New York-centric continuum long has dominated...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix – Tracy Morgan (and more cool things to check out this weekend in...
Welcome back! Comedian and “SNL” and “30 Rock” alum Tracy Morgan kicks off his new standup tour on Feb. 5 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Ind. This marks Morgan’s return to touring...
View ArticleLarger-than-life frog sculptures exhibit set for Morton Arboretum
There will be plenty of whimsy on display this summer at the Morton Arboretum when “Ribbit! The Exhibit” debuts. The exhibit, featuring 23 five-to-seven-foot tall copper frog sculptures, will run April...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The hand-tooled poetry of artist Martin Puryear
I don’t often dig back into the archives, but when I first heard the news of the Art Institute of Chicago’s new exhibit, “Martin Puryear: Multiple Dimensions,” which will be on view in the museum’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Mix — The Chicago Auto Show (and 5 more cool things to check out this...
Still haven’t locked down your plans for the weekend? Here are some suggestions sure to fill the bill: Big wheels! The nation’s largest auto show, that would be the Chicago Auto Show, runs Feb. 13-21...
View ArticleArt Institute ‘s Conservation Department receives windfall
Without doubt, Douglas Druick, retiring president and Eloise W. Martin director of the Art Institute of Chicago is leaving the museum in strong financial shape. On Tuesday, less than a year after he...
View Article
