For Jessica Mlinaric it all started in her grandma’s backyard. “My cousin and I spent hours drawing scavenger hunts and treasure maps to the patch of trees between her lawn and a neighboring grocery store parking lot,” writes Mlinaric in the introduction to her new book Chicago Scavenger: The Ultimate Search for Chicago’s Hidden Treasures. […]
Category: Feature
Posted inArts & Culture
A “creative coalition” of BIPOC talent
The New Vanguard is a creative coalition that seeks to unite Black and other POC creatives who currently work as separate entities under one banner. The coalition was recently launched by Eric “Phero” Lopez, who acts as chief creative officer, and his cofounders—chief of legal counsel, Eddie Sanders; chief of strategy and operations, Pilar McQuirter; […]
Posted inArts & Culture
A bigger and more colorful world
There’s an expectation for most contestants on the drag reality competition show RuPaul’s Drag Race that the gigs will come a’callin’—and for those who have been lucky enough to appear in the big money, Emmy-nominated seasons, this can mean constant and sometimes worldwide travel for a while after their TV appearance. Denali is one such […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Susan Nussbaum, 1953-2022
Editor’s note: Chicago playwright, novelist, actor, director, and disability rights activist Susan Nussbaum died April 28 of pneumonia at 68. Playwright Mike Ervin, who collaborated with Nussbaum as cowriter on the comedy revue The Plucky and Spunky Show and whose 1999 play, The History of Bowling, was directed by Nussbaum, remembers his friend and mentor. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Buscando el tren navideño de la CTA
Esto no es la historia navideña que te hará sentir bien
Posted inArts & Culture
Archiving the city’s past
Cities change. As Chicago is a city and most certainly not exempt from this immutable law, I can tell you that Chicago will change in some fashion by the time you finish reading this piece. By the time you finish this sentence a family might have packed up their belongings in Chatham to relocate to […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Archive Dive
A daily dip into the stacks, leading up to our 50th anniversary in October
Posted inArts & Culture
Cultural Asset Mapping Project creates a ‘braided web’
The city’s Cultural Asset Mapping Project (C.A.M.P.) uses creative storytelling, data visualization, and many other collaborative tools to build arts engagement on the south and west sides.
Posted inArts & Culture
Contretemps beats against the time
Contretemps Contemporary Ballet challenges the stereotypes of the form in Heat Lightning.
Posted inArts & Culture
Remembering Sally Nemeth
A playwright’s playwright, Sally Nemeth planted seeds of encouragement and collaboration.
Posted inNews & Politics
Reasonable doubt
James Allen is serving three life sentences for murder. No one ever said he killed anyone.
Posted inArts & Culture
A tsunami of news and a new path for Actors’ Equity membership
Changes in faces, places, and union rules might carry harbingers of a shifting landscape in Chicago theater.
Posted inNews & Politics
A silence louder than words
How allegations of sexual abuse exposed cracks in the foundation of Young Chicago Authors, Free Write Arts & Literacy, and the city’s spoken word community