Krista Franklin Archives - Chicago Reader

A sculpture sits on a wooden table with a wall outlet behind it. The base is a round black circle, and a golden rod extends up from the base, above which are two layers of acrylic with a gold animal head at the top.

The alchemy of everyday happiness

by Annette LePique June 12, 2023June 27, 2023

Do you possess a talisman, a lucky charm? Like the amulets of history and myth, these objects can be the beads you wore, the fragrance you sprayed, the ceramic shard you grasped during moments of triumph and survival: the alchemy of everyday happiness. It’s this shared history that imbues these items with their energy, their […]

In the work Library of Love, there are fresh flowers, comfortable furniture, and reading materials for visitors to peruse. The work is staged like a living room, with blue wallpaper, a record player, and framed art on the walls.

Arts & Culture

Excavating the unconscious

by Kaylen Ralph January 11, 2023January 10, 2023

Krista Franklin has a recurring fantasy in which she burns all her journals. “Watching the flames dance in a fire pit glowing from the kindling of my memories,” she writes in “On Time,” one of several lyrical essays included in Solo(s): Krista Franklin, a catalog of visual art and poetry by the Chicago-based artist. It […]

A collage of photos of performers at the 2022 Frequency Festival, clockwise from upper left: Jordan Dykstra, Matchess, Susan Alcorn, Tomeka Reid, Jeff Kimmel, Lia Kohl & Macie Stewart, Hanna Hartman, Ryan Packard, Bill Nace, Haley Fohr, and Ensemble dal Niente

Music

A concert-by-concert guide to the Frequency Festival

by Bill Meyer February 18, 2022February 18, 2022

After a COVID gap year, the Frequency Festival returns on February 22. The six-day event is an outgrowth of the Frequency Series, which is programmed by former Chicago Reader staff music critic Peter Margasak and hosted by Constellation. Founded in 2013, shortly after drummer and promoter Mike Reed opened the north-side venue, the series presents […]