Little Village
Contact sports
The camera wobbled as it zoomed in on two sets of hands rubbing Vaseline on a man’s cut eyelid. The man with the bloodied, swollen face was Mike Alvarado, and he was losing this boxing match. »
Waiting for the Bus
Today, there is no bus along 31st Street. In the neighborhoods the street cuts through, east-west bus service is lacking. Between Cermak Road and 47th Street, Chicago’s grid system of bus service breaks down, leaving large areas of white space on the CTA system map and roughly 200,000 people without a direct route. »
A New Song
The flashing disco lights signal that a musical performance is about to begin. An artist picks up the mic, singing one of his old Mexican favorites, barely even looking at the screen for the correct lyrics. And this tradition is part of a larger project, called the People’s Stage. »
Behind the bars
Usually hidden behind a wall of brick, steel, and barbed wire, the Cook County Jail and Courthouse was opened to the public for a short time this past Saturday, as part of the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago series. »
Parlor Games
This weekend, for the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago, the Martinez Funeral Home opened its doors for the first time to more than its usual coffins and mourners, showcasing its mid-20th century architecture and, the main attraction, its embalming room. »
Art in progress
This past weekend, though, the parlor instead became a gallery of photographs, each work by a local artist clothes-pinned to a line of string running along the white walls. It was the sixth-annual Little Village Arts Festival, an opportunity for appreciating art and the vibrant neighborhood that produced it. »
Pilsen & Little Village
Pilsen and Little Village are cousins—not only because families often extend across the neighborhood boundaries, nor simply because they are both port-of-entry regions for recent Mexican immigrants. These two are a pair, now more than ever, because of a growing exchange between the two. »
Words to the WYSE
For students all over the city, Friday, January 28 marked the start of a rare and coveted thing: a three-day weekend. But at 11:30am, a stream of preteen girls gathered happily at the entrance to Madero Middle School in Little Village. »
