Neighborhood
Floats Your Boat
Three types of people turned out last Sunday for the Chicago Boat, Sports & RV Show: boat people, family people, and conventioneers. The boat people flocked to McCormick Place for the boats. They bought boats (last year’s floor models), sold boats (“Rock-bottom boat show prices!”), and complained about things that were not boats (“Starbucks... »
Paradise Lost
For an Englishman living in Australia, artist Kit Wise has a lot to say about ecology and sprawl in America. In his new piece “Arcadia,” which is on display at the Hyde Park Art Center through April 8, he uses dynamic high-definition digital collages of aerial photos to explore the relationship between ecology and... »
Keeping it Simple, in an Ornate World
Sandwiched between a residential area and the section of the Chicago River called Bubbly Creek (so-named from the bubbles created by the blood and other byproducts of the meat-slaughtering process), Decorators Supply Corporation is easy to miss. The business may fly under the radar of many Chicagoans, but to industry insiders—including those in upscale... »
Good Grammar
“Did you bring anything to read?” author Brendan Detzner asked as guests walk into Bad Grammar Theater, which also happens to be his home. Detzner and fellow author Mike Penkas were standing behind a table where their books and T-shirts are displayed for sale. Behind them was an unmade futon with a partially eaten... »
Stitch in Time
“These two are my favorite,” artist Courtney Weber says, pointing to the back right corner of the small room at ACRE Projects. “I started drawing the pattern for this one at the Residency and to me the symmetry and colors are really beautiful.” The piece in question is untitled, as are all of the... »
Open Air
Several years ago in Viroqua, Wisconsin (pop. 5,079), a group of serious radio-heads started a community station. The station, Radio Driftless, is now on FM and broadcasts full-time, and since they hit the airwaves, Viroqua has had the radio bug. This Wisconsin town sounds like a sound guy’s fairy tale, but the story doesn’t... »
Sacred Spaces
On Thursday morning, Father Elijah Mueller arrived at the UofC’s New Graduate Residence Hall with a wooden bowl full of holy water, an incense stick, and a small bottle of oil. He was wearing a long black cassock and ornate shawl. Mueller, a priest from the UofC’s Orthodox Christian Fellowship, came to bless rooms... »
Sticking Up for Lacrosse
Paul looked on appreciatively from the sidelines as his son came off the bench for the first time in the game. Two years younger and a head shorter than the other players around him, Paul Jr. chased down stray balls with his netted stick and an outsized passion that more than compensated for his... »
