New City

On Saturday, we decided to take Divvy bikes up to Caffe Oliva on Ohio Street Beach for lunch, one of our favorite summer pastimes. It was a gorgeous June afternoon and the Lakefront seemed busier than ever.

Pedestrian crowds on the path to the Museum Campus were almost as thick as they are on days with home Bears games, making weaving around them on bicycles more challenging than normal.

When we reached the bike path, merging was like getting on the Dan Ryan at rush hour, as riders flew by in a constant stream. We finally found an opening to enter, only to have a careening Lance Armstrong-wannabe decked out in Spandex come out of nowhere, yelling at us to get out of the way. Because, you know, high-speed bicycling makes perfect sense on a Saturday at lunchtime in the busiest, most tourist-saturated part of the Lakefront.

Other than that, the gathering of humanity sharing a few hours of sun-drenched joy in our city was a marvel to behold and to be part of.

But I couldn't help but think about how unprepared our Lakefront design is for this kind of traffic growth, how inadequately narrow the bike path is, even with the five-year-old Navy Pier Flyover bridge, and how poorly marked wayfinding and pedestrian-bicycle signage is.

It's all very "accident-waiting-to-happen." But why wait?

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

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ART

Nyeema Morgan and Mike Cloud Turn the Neubauer Collegium Into a Riddle

The Chicago-based artist couple's "Story Structure, Pt. 2" makes the room itself a world to decipher. (Lucas Gomez-Doyle)

STAGE

"Brokeback Mountain" Brings Queer Intimacy to a Grand Wyoming Setting

Chicago Shakespeare Theater stages the U.S. premiere of Ashley Robinson’s adaptation, presenting Annie Proulx’s love story as a play with music. (Rob Silverman Ascher)

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LIT

In “Screen People,” You’re the Problem and Also the Solution

Megan Garber surveys the internet’s impact in the individual. (Joe Cothrel)

BRAZIL

Clara Nunes—I Am the Girl from Minas Gerais

Explore the late singer's love of fashion in "Clara Nunes: Eu sou a tal mineira" at the Museum of Fashion of Belo Horizonte. (Juan José Santos Mateo)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

David Hockney Was Eighty-Eight

David Hockney, "the English artist whose deftly designed and suavely colored paintings turned trans-Atlantic attention to figurative and narrative art beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s after decades in which abstraction had dominated, died on Thursday at his home in London," chronicles Holland Cotter in the New York Times (gift link). "A native of Yorkshire, Mr. Hockney lived for many years in Los Angeles, long enough to refer to himself as an 'English Los Angeleno' and to create images that, for many viewers, captured the sun-soaked atmosphere of that city as surely as Joan Didion did in prose. And although his art was conservative in an era that also gave rise to Conceptualism, he was progressive in at least one way: He was one of the first widely popular artists of his time to make work with undisguised gay content and one of the few to take a public stand against the censoring of homosexual imagery." (More.)

Hockney's Chicago Connections Include A Summer Show At Gray

Gray Chicago will exhibit "David Hockney: The Moon Room" from July 10-August 22, Hockney's sixteenth showing with Gray. "Created in 2020 at his Normandy studio in France, Hockney used his iPad to make daily paintings of the surrounding landscape, working en plein air to capture the changing seasons as illuminated by moonlight." The Art Institute's extensive Hockney holdings are catalogued here.

The Lubeznik Center's Summer Show Features Two Chicago Sculptors

Lubeznik Center for the Arts' “Kindred Spirits: Margaret Wharton and Betsy Odom” opens July 3, reports WIMS Radio Valparaiso. "Curated by Whitney Bradshaw, 'Kindred Spirits' brings together Margaret Wharton and Betsy Odom, two celebrated Chicago sculptors separated in age by nearly forty years yet strikingly aligned in spirit. Born in Virginia and Mississippi respectively, both artists arrived in Chicago carrying sensibilities shaped by Southern histories of making, repair and resourcefulness. Across generations, they share a fascination with everyday objects." July 3-October 25. More here.

Bringing Martin Wong's Chinatown To Chicago

"Martin Wong: Chinatown USA” at Wrightwood 659 "is an eye-opening show by beloved New York artist Martin Wong, a self-taught artist of Chinese American descent who recorded a bombed-out Lower East Side and 'heroized' his Asian and Latino contemporaries who lived there," writes ARTnews. The exhibition "also happens to include eleven never-before-exhibited paintings—a dozen if you include the never-before-seen back side of one large canvas. It’s a rare treat for lovers of the artist’s work. The first monographic Wong institutional show in almost a decade features over one hundred paintings, sculptures, drawings and photographs. It focuses on Wong’s investigations into the two Chinatowns he knew: San Francisco’s, where he was raised, and New York, where he lived from 1978 to 1994." Read Elisa Shoenberger's Newcity review of the exhibit.

Looking At The Obama Center Basketball Court Murals

"Dorian Sylvain of Hyde Park and Sam Kirk of Little Village say they can’t wait to see the public playing ball on Home Court," pictures the Sun-Times. The artists "were asked to team up on a mural in the center’s basketball court," though had to work on the art off-site. "Sylvain drew with colored pencil on tissue paper, Kirk digitized the drawings, added her own efforts and put the final work into a file that installers could blow up and reproduce to hang along the center’s Home Court gym floor. Then, they hoped for the best."

DESIGN

Eleven Takeaways From Chicago Design Week

The recent Chicago Design Week "saw a thread of spirited innovation across materials, design and technologies," records Dezeen. "Designers such as Yabu Pushelberg and Mark Grattan and architecture studios such as Foster + Partners and Fogarty Finger worked with contract furniture manufacturers across the world to debut collections of office seating and lounge furniture. An office chair by Foster + Partners Industrial Design made with reused fishing nets and lightweight aluminum benches designed by Naoto Fukasawa were among the objects." The piece includes eleven highlights of the week picked by Dezeen editors.

Ross Barney Designs For Auburn Gresham’s “Main Street”

"Two large parcels of land along Auburn Gresham’s 'Main Street' had sat vacant for nearly ten years. Working closely with the community, Ross Barney Architects designed two residential buildings," writes the Architect's Newspaper. "Not only does it add much-needed housing and amenities but it demonstrates what is possible when architects work closely with the community to craft a unique vision of what a Main Street can be—not trapped in the past but open to a younger and more dynamic future."

The State Of Transit-Oriented Development In Chicago

"Chicago has made substantial progress in encouraging more development near public transit in the South and West sides—five years after adopting a plan aimed to do just that," reports the Sun-Times. There's been progress "on more than half of the forty-two recommendations the city of Chicago laid out in its 2021 policy," which includes "hiring a full-time manager focused on ETOD, allowing for more small-scale housing near transit zones and creating architectural design templates to streamline the approval process." The city now has over one hundred transit-oriented projects in the pipeline, including "a growing number on the South and West sides, with many clustered around the Green Line and the Red Line Extension." (More.)

Graham Foundation Announces Individual Grants

The Graham Foundation has announced fifty-four new grants to individuals for projects "that contribute new interdisciplinary ideas on architecture and design to publics around the world." The Chicago-based grantees include Future Firm: Ann Lui and Craig Reschke for "The Stork's Stair" and Norman Teague and Bernard Williams for "If Architecture Could Dance." More on the grants here.

Nashville Entertainment Developer Has Eyes On Hard Rock

Nashville entertainment investor Josh Joseph has a contract to buy and redevelop the Hard Rock site in River North, reports CoStar. He's "an entrepreneur who has opened entertainment venues in partnership with musicians Jon Bon Jovi and Hank Williams Jr. in Nashville."

FILM & TELEVISION

Ninety Movies To See In Chicago Parks This Summer

"The Park District’s summer series brings free screenings to neighborhood parks through September 11," tallies Block Club. This year marks the program’s twenty-second season. While the programming leans on family-friendly fare, there are screenings like "Casablanca" in Bartelme Park scattered throughout the schedule as well. View the full schedule here.

LIT

The Novel That Brings Chicago's 2000s Music Scene To Life

"With 'The Come Apart,' Susannah Felts returns to the city where her writing career began," reads Chicago magazine. "The novel, set in 2009-2010 Chicago, follows working musician Maggie Corbin. Her band, which she fronts with her romantic partner Matt Turkish, releases a promising debut album, receives critical acclaim from the local alt-weekly, and scores an indie label record deal. But a sophomore slump hits, streaming services alter the traditional process, and other ordeals derail Maggie’s plans. In addition to referencing music that was popular during the story’s setting, Felts’ novel shares descriptions that pull from her memories of living in Chicago, including sunrises on a frozen Lake Michigan and visits to Rainbo Club."

MEDIA

Gawker Nemesis Peter Thiel Coming For Journalists Again?

"Prominent right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel," who recently relocated to Argentina, "has reteamed with the legal strategist who helped him bring down Gawker to start an AI-powered appeals court for the rich and aggrieved," writes journalist Gary Baum at the Hollywood Reporter. "Purdue Pharma heir Michael Sackler, a film financier and self-styled ethical investor, had paid a new tech startup—fittingly called Objection—to assess the legitimacy of a skeptical article I’d published about him and his business in The Hollywood Reporter five years earlier." The Hollywood Reporter describes the effort as the work of a "Thiel-backed tribunal."

STAGE

Why Megan Mullally Spent Twelve Years In The Embrace Of "Iceboy!"

"Although Megan Mullally has deep roots in musical comedies, the actress—best known for sitcoms such as 'Will & Grace,' 'Parks and Recreation' and 'Party Down'—says that theatrical roles she finds truly funny are few and far between," timelines Playbill. Now "she’s found the right fit with a new musical she’ll star in at the Goodman this summer: 'Iceboy! The Musical, or The Completely Untrue Story of How Eugene O’Neill Came to Write "The Iceman Cometh."' The world-premiere production, opening on June 20, marks Mullally’s return to the stage for the first time since 2014. 'I’ve actually been doing workshops of ['Iceboy'] for twelve years,' Mullally said. 'It’s really funny, but it’s also kind of weird, which is what I love. It’s just offbeat enough that it’s very different from anything else.'" At the Reader, Kerry Reid traces the Chicago storefront origins that led to this world-premiere production.

New Leadership At Chicago Dance History Project

Chicago Dance History Project executive director Michael McStraw has accepted the role as interim president and CEO of the Harris Theater. "With the institutional and historical knowledge of our talented staff, and the findings of the Advisory Council, the dedicated board of directors has assumed executive leadership during the transition," says the organization. "We will continue executing our current programs, while embarking on a strategic planning process to review our first ten years of community service and assess our resources in order to inform our future work."

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

The South Side, From Hyde Park Boulevard To The Midway Plaisance

"The Obama Presidential Center, opening on June 19, is poised to attract visitors to an often-overlooked area. Here’s what you’ll find in Hyde Park and beyond," maps the New York Times (gift link) in a guide to the South Side focused almost entirely on one neighborhood.

History Rhymes: Recalling The Historical Objections To Jackson Park's Creation

At the Sun-Times, Neil Steinberg recalls Frederick Law Olmsted's efforts and local battles in realizing Jackson Park, considering how they mirror the construction of the Obama Presidential Center: "The parkland on which the center sits also had to overcome many hurdles before coming into existence. From the start, it sparked debate and litigation. Even the park’s name was once subject to 'universal' outcry."

Pokémon Go’s Dark Military Secret

"A decade after the global craze for Pokémon Go peaked, an AI company has been using billions of real-world images captured by millions of players to develop navigation technologies for delivery robots and possibly military drones," reports Ars Technica. "That represents an intriguing but potentially discomfiting legacy for an augmented reality mobile game that has incentivized gamers to capture short smartphone videos of physical neighborhoods and landmarks." (More.)

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2026-06-15 New City

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:00:05 GMT

The boots are back in Chicago where Kinky Boots held its world premiere in 2012! Celebrated with six Tony Awards®, including Best Musical, a Grammy Award® for Best Musical Theatre Album, and London’s Olivier Award for Best Musical, this big-hearted musical hit will have you strutting out of the theater saying “Yeah!”

Kinky Boots captivates and entertains audiences around the world with the dazzling Tony-winning score by pop legend Cyndi Lauper, hilarious and uplifting book by four-time Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein, and original direction and Tony-winning choreography by Jerry Mitchell.

Now playing at the James M. Nederlander Theatre for a limited time only through June 21. Get your tickets today for a guaranteed great night out!

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2026-06-16 New City

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:00:06 GMT

Don't hate me, but I've never been part of the Ferris Bueller fan club even if, like Newcity, it's celebrating a fortieth birthday this year. Since it came out about four months after we launched, I was pretty nose down working on this new creation. Based on the tepid reviews at the time, I did not see it in the theater but rather on VHS much later. I remember it being kind of a shrug.

I was always more of a "Risky Business" person when it came to subversive youth stories set in Chicago's upper-class suburbs during the eighties. I mean, like Ferris, we all cut classes once in a while in high school to express our freedom, even if we did not have a friend's Ferrari to destroy like he did. But turning your parents’ house into a brothel like Joel Goodsen did in "Risky Business" after he crashed the family Porsche?

I did a lot of crazy things in my youth, but I did not do that.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

ART

An Archeologist Vision in Jeff Carter's "The Singer Pavilion Project" at Hyde Park Art Center

In his sculptural responses to the Singer Pavilion, the only remaining structure of the now-abandoned and mostly demolished Michael Reese Hospital, Carter holds a mirror to the systems that allowed the ballooning optimism of the modernists to be popped by neglect. (Ally Fouts)

MUSIC

Kim Gordon Is Still Trailblazing

On June 23, Gordon makes an appearance at the Metro, where she will write the next chapter for what artistic rebellion is. (Teddy Sandler)

JUNE 2026:
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NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of June 18, 2026

I suspect you are carrying navigational wisdom. (Rob Brezsny)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

A New Portrait In The Obama Center Features Both Michelle And Barack

Together at last: artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby has painted the first dual portrait of the Obamas. "This landmark commission will be on view in the main lobby of the museum at the Obama Presidential Center, which opens in Chicago this coming Friday on Juneteenth," posts David Zwirner Gallery. "The portrait weaves together archival imagery, family albums, historical ephemera, and cultural touchstones. Densely layered and rich with biographical detail, the work honors the Obamas’ legacy while connecting it to the many generations of artists, activists, citizens, and leaders whose collective journeys helped pave their way to the White House." Harper's Bazaar takes a look at the portrait here.

The MCA's Next Atrium Project Will Feature Celeste Rapone

The MCA’s Atrium Project "invites artists from all points in their careers to respond to the museum’s bright, two-story entrance through a new large-scale work," posts the MCA. The latest in the series is painter Celeste Rapone's "Sideline (After Ben Shahn)" (2025). The work "cites another painting, 'Men on a Bench' (1940) by the social realist painter Ben Shahn, an artist who depicted scenes of American life from the Great Depression on. Rapone’s revisiting of the painting features a languid, seated group of four women, their oversized limbs entwined and indistinguishable, their faces gazing out in plaintive resignation." June 27-April 11, 2027. More here.

Cleveland Museum of Art Plans A Major Fundraising Push

The Cleveland Museum of Art "has a $600 million fundraising campaign in the works. The goal is to support the institution’s long-term health—and it is nearly eighty-percent of the way there," reports ARTnews. The museum has announced "the public phase of the campaign, which it is calling 'For the Benefit of All the People.' It is the largest fundraising campaign in the museum’s history and the largest by a cultural organization in Ohio." The Cleveland Museum of Art "is one of the few major encyclopedic museums in the country to not charge for entry," which they intend to continue with the support of the campaign.

"Eight Proposals For A Better Art World"

"What would a more utopian art world look like?" asks the New York Times in a survey of nine artists with "visions both modest and lofty." Among them, painter, curator and critic Michelle Grabner says "Go against nature: An art world where we’re not trading on individual biographies or identities. That would put more work on the viewer, who’d have to do some interpretation. A problem with the professionalized art world is that it’s become overly transactional. Removing the author, the artist, the biography from the conversation may take us a long way. I think it goes against our egos and our nature, but it’d be interesting."

DESIGN

Former Milliner's Building Joins Loop Residential Conversions

"A Wacker Place building that once served as a hub for manufacturing women’s hats then the offices for Esquire magazine is close to taking on its next life as apartments," lists the Sun-Times. The developers of Wacker Place at 65 East Wacker have started pre-leasing, and the 252-unit building expects its first residents in August. "The building has had a colorful history over its nearly hundred years in Chicago—commonly recognized as the Millinery Mart Building. The terra cotta, limestone and brick-clad structure was designed to be the Merchandise Mart for the millinery, or hatmaking, industry. Wholesalers for women’s hats flocked to the building, with roughly one-third of the city’s millinery wholesalers occupying the space." It's one of twenty-five residential conversions underway downtown.

Driehaus Foundation Names Senior Program Director For The Built Environment

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation has announced that Cindy Chan Roubik, current deputy commissioner at the city's Department of Planning and Development, will join the foundation as its Senior Program Director for the Built Environment. Roubik "will play a key role in identifying, developing, supporting and evaluating potential grant recipients, partners and funding opportunities, and communicating potential grants and their impact to the directors and to the broader field. This senior leadership hiring follows the recent announcement that veteran arts executive Lori Dimun joins the Driehaus Foundation as its Senior Program Director, Arts and Culture this summer." More here.

The Tribune Editorial Board Shouts Out The Obama Center

"Even without the political baggage—all presidential libraries, now centers, are of most interest to those who believed in and miss the celebrant—a project as massive as the Obama Presidential Center, set to officially open Friday in the Chicago neighborhood of Woodlawn, would attract a variety of opinions," avers the Chicago Tribune editorial board (gift link). "Bold architecture is supposed to spark debate and there can be no question that the Center struggles to reconcile its desire for Apollonian, granite-clad gravitas, as befits the presidency of the United States, with grills, jump-shots and sledding hills... This will be a major new tourist attraction for Chicago, not unlike Millennium Park, a massive success, but drawing people to a part of the city they likely would not have otherwise visited. A city is not an amusement park, but it must learn from the likes of Disney or Universal that people always need reasons to return."

DINING & DRINKING

Chicago Magazine Names Fifty Top Restaurants

At Chicago magazine, John Kessler provides his list of Chicago's best boites. He leads with Maxwells Trading, where "chef and co-owner Erling Wu-Bower and executive chef Chris Jung take [elements from Asian cuisines] and root them in fertile Midwestern ground, creating chameleon dishes akin to Schrödinger’s cat." Also taking top spots are Oriole, Kyoten and Kyoten Next Door, Feld, Cellar Door Provisions, Smyth and Virtue. A newer restaurant featured is Mayfair's Noodles Party, which you can read about here.

Lou Mitchell's At The Mouth Of Route 66

Lou Mitchell's, "the 103-year-old Loop diner, continues to draw locals and tourists in droves, despite the city moving the historic route’s starting point to Navy Pier," writes Dave Hoekstra at Block Club. "William Mitchell opened the diner in 1923 in a railroad car across the street from its current location on Jackson Boulevard. Route 66’s original starting point was at Jackson and Michigan Avenue; it later moved to Adams and Michigan due to a change in street directions."

FILM & TELEVISION

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Consolidation: Fox Buys Roku For $22 Billion

While Paramount Global rushes its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, winning approval from the Justice Department late last week, Fox announced plans to buy Roku. The $22 billion "cash-and-stock deal, if approved, would be the biggest bet so far for Lachlan Murdoch, the media scion who took over for his father, Rupert Murdoch, in a succession drama that culminated in September after an operatic legal battle with his siblings," records the New York Times. "It would give Fox Corp. a foothold in more than one hundred million households that stream content using devices powered by Roku, whose distinctive black-and-purple remotes are common in living rooms around the world." (More.)

Finding Ferris: "McNally... McNally... Anyone?"

"John Hughes never said flatly that Ed McNally was the basis for the Ferris Bueller character, but McNally believes he was at least a major component in a thinly-veiled composite, and frankly, the evidence is compelling," writes Christopher Borrelli at the Trib (gift link). "McNally and Hughes grew up on the same street and attended Glenbrook North High School together. McNally’s best friend back then was a kid named A.C. Buehler, though it was McNally who had such a talent for skipping class that Glenbrook’s principal launched a crusade to catch him. In the film, Ferris skips nine days of school. McNally skipped twenty-seven days. On one of those days off, he 'borrowed' his father’s prized possession—a purple Cadillac—and put 113 miles on it, then, as the fictional Ferris does with a red Ferrari, McNally lifted the car onto jacks and ran it backwards, hoping to reverse the odometer."

Dimming The Gene Shalit Century

"Today" movie reviewer Gene Shalit, who died on Friday at one-hundred, "stood out from the broadcast television crowd with his colorful bowties, puffy hair and movie reviews studded with cheeky puns," reports former employer NBC News. He occupied his berth at the network for forty years, 1970-2010. Sample lingo: "'The Silence of the Lambs’ may be all wool and a yard wide, but it makes a terrific yarn"; and "Judd Apatow’s 'Funny People' is 'passable,' he said—'speaking colonically.'" Phil Rosenthal points to SCTV's "Gen Shalit Critics Special." An extended obituary from the Hollywood Reporter is here.

Motion Picture Academy Names Governors, Including Columbia Grad Michael Goi

The Motion Picture Academy has named its board in its nineteen branches, each represented by three governors. Columbia College grad Michael Goi has been named to the cinematographers branch. The list of current governors is here.

LIT

A Love Letter To Chicago Indie Music

"From waxing about Pitchfork Music Fest to late nights at Danny’s Tavern in Bucktown and Rainbo Club and [the character's] day job at Holfax Café (inspired by former West Town spot Bite Café), Susannah Felts pays incredible attention to detail in the 250-page 'The Come Apart,'" charts the Sun-Times. The book follows Maggie Corbin "and her up-and-coming band Spinning Birds from 2008-2010 as they struggle to get a sophomore record going during the Great Recession." Felts worked on the book "for more than a decade, finding mentorship in Chicago-based writers and teachers Megan Stielstra of Columbia College and Rebecca Makkai." (More.)

MUSIC

Ye Brings "Bully" To Soldier Field

"Rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is returning to Chicago for two performances at Soldier Field on September 3 and 4," records Block Club. "The twenty-four-time Grammy winner is headed to the home of the Chicago Bears and Chicago Fire Football Club as part of the tour for his album 'Bully,' which was released in March." The Chicago native "has generated numerous controversies in recent years by making deeply antisemitic and bigoted remarks. He took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal in January to apologize for past comments ahead of his album release and comeback tour."

Coming To A Blood Bank Near You: The CSO

"Abbott, the medical technology giant outside Chicago, and Blood Centers of America have devised a workaround for people [who are] prime donation candidates, but fearful of The Poke," reports the New York Times (gift link). "In thirty-two countries and at seventy-five sites in the United States, blood donors can put on a Samsung Galaxy XR headset and choose between two interactive, mixed-reality games: the soothing Zen Garden, whose sole objective is to plant trees, and Intergalactica, a minigame-rich side-scroller." For the games' soundtracks, "Abbott commissioned the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—widely considered one of the world’s great orchestras—to record them in a whirlwind, one-day recording session in the spring. It was the first time this august ensemble has ventured into music for video games or interactive media."

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2026-06-17 New City

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 08:00:10 GMT

One of the central tenets that guides us at Newcity is that the arts are intrinsically local but that, paradoxically, culture is something its most avid consumers will travel for, whether to Elmhurst or Ethiopia, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York or to the Modern Art Museum in São Paulo.

What about you? Do you go to other cities for art exhibitions, or performing arts events? Shakespeare at American Players or Broadway shows perhaps?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

STAGE

“Leopoldstadt” Is Writers Theatre’s Largest Production in Its History

The final play written by Tom Stoppard is a sweeping saga that follows a Jewish family in Vienna across generations. (Tristan Bruns)

ART

A Hot Topic in "Pleasure Puncture" at Ignition Project Space

Samuel Schwindt explores the many meanings of leather. (Teddy Sandler)

JUNE 2026:
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BRAZIL

Whither Biennales?

Plus Curitiba Biennale is now open and other news. (Brian Hieggelke)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

"Cautious Optimism" As Art Basel Begins

This year's edition of Art Basel, which begins this week, "is a particularly interesting edition to watch from a market perspective, because the industry is attempting to steer its way out of a roughly three-year correction period in the wake of the post-pandemic speculative burst," reports ARTnews. While "there are certainly positive indicators," like a strong auction season and a return to growth in global art sales, the art market is "increasingly split between the very high end, marked by museum-quality historical work, and everything else. Dealers consistently spoke of a certain 'shyness' toward ultra-contemporary art."

Obamas' Portrait Tells Their Life Stories In Hundreds Of Images

"The Obamas: Springing Forth," a new work featured in the lobby of the Obama Center, "is the first commissioned artwork of the former First Couple and weaves in images of significant moments, objects and places in their lives," writes Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bey. "The framed nine-by-ten foot work by artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby features Barack Obama clad in a dark suit and informally seated on a table. Michelle Obama, wearing a deep blue dress, sits in a chair next to him. The couple is surrounded—and their clothes partially covered—by a tapestry of at least 500 images from throughout their lives.

"The images include childhood and family photos and pictures that show details of the Obama Oval Office. Michelle Obama’s childhood South Shore home can be seen behind them in 'Springing Forth,' as is the cover of the first record album she received: Steve Wonder’s 1972 'Talking Book.'"

DESIGN

Sidley Austin To Anchor A New West Loop Office Tower

Law firm Sidley Austin is making a deal to anchor a new office skyscraper planned near the Fulton Market District, "jump-starting what will be the first new high-rise office building to kick off downtown since the early days of the pandemic," reports Crain’s. "The city’s second-largest law firm is close to signing a lease for more than half of a forty-five-story office building planned at 725 West Randolph, according to the firm and the project’s developer, Related Midwest. Related president Curt Bailey said his company is also nearing a deal to secure financing for the 968,000-square-foot tower." The design is by architecture firm KPF, which is also designing the Fulton Bond residential development west of this site. (More.)

DePaul Student Center Will Replace Vacated Whole Foods

The former grocery store at Fullerton and Sheffield that closed in 2022 "will be transformed into an admissions and student gathering space that university officials hope will become a 'front door' to DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus," reports Block Club. "The project is in the permitting and bidding phase. Construction is expected to begin this summer, with the center scheduled to open in late summer 2027." The design is by "Chicago-based Moody Nolan, the country’s largest African American-owned architecture firm."

Norman Teague Crafts Custom Benches For Obama Center Respite

"Angular slabbed walnut benches" by furniture designer Norman Teague "offer precious moments of respite in the eight-story museum tower and were designed with elders in mind," writes Alison Cuddy at WBEZ. Teague has "been working with the Center, first as a consultant then as a designer, for almost ten years...The Obama benches, however, involved another level of ambition. 'It was definitely one of the most precious projects we’ve ever had to care for.'"

Vintage On The Avenue Returns

Vintage on the Avenue returns for a three-day event at The Shops at North Bridge, where "shoppers are invited to explore a curated collection of high-end vintage clothing, jewelry, accessories and statement pieces—all selected from seven of Chicago’s premier vintage vendors." Friday, June 26-Sunday, June 28. More details here.

DINING & DRINKING

In A Feld By Himself: Jacob Potashnick Takes Chicago's Only Beard Award

"Chicago chef Jacob Potashnick took home the city’s sole James Beard Award at Monday night’s ceremony, held at Downtown’s Lyric Opera House, calling it a win for Chicago and a win for local farmers who supply him. Potashnick won in the regional Best Chef: Great Lakes category, in which fellow Chicagoan Norman Fenton of Cariño was also a finalist," reports the Sun-Times. It's like a childhood dream come true," Potashnick tells Axios. "I was such a little foodie nerd kid and to have this happen—I could never have imagined it in my wildest dreams, but we're just trying to make ourselves a little better everyday and the next day."

Atsumeru Launches Cocktails

Atsumeru, the West Town restaurant with a "revolutionary, boundary-blurring Nordic-Japanese identity," is no longer BYOB. A new cocktail menu "seamlessly mirrors the kitchen's philosophy by marrying Scandinavian botanicals with complex Japanese flavors. Guests looking for something crisp can grab the Skär Punch (gin, aperol, rhubarb, guava) or the vibrant Kiiro Sour (shochu, melon, ginger). For a true liquid bridge between the two regions, the Baltic Fog blends aquavit, shochu and yuzu kukicha, while the spirit-forward Daimyo anchors Japanese whisky with earthy hojicha and angostura." More Atsumeru here.

Route 66's Diners Radiate Outward From Chicago

"America’s Mother Road begins in downtown Chicago, so we begin a food tour of the first hundred miles the way any Route 66 journey should begin: with the kind of unfussy comfort food that has fueled roadside diners for generations," maps Food & Wine. "In Dwight, [Illinois], breakfast at Old Route 66 Family Restaurant arrives on a piping-hot ceramic dish," while "across the street, the restored Ambler’s Texaco Gas Station, once the longest continuously operating gas station on Route 66, serves as a small museum and a postcard-worthy photo op."

FILM & TELEVISION

The Obamas' Higher Ground Partners With Disney

Disney and President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions "are joining forces to greenlight music-driven, original animated fantasy series 'Journey' for Disney+," reports Deadline. "It marks the first major production partnership announcement for Higher Ground since President Obama announced in April that the company is winding down its eight-year first-look deal with Netflix to take a more independent approach."

States Skeptical Of Paramount-Warner Deal

"In a tough and rough election year for incumbents, Paramount’s $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery has become a political football in California and across the nation," tallies Deadline, with "some spikey obstacles to the merger from overseas and in state houses." Someone "close to power players in Sacramento told Deadline after the June 12 sign-off by the federal DOJ...'The Ellisons’ haste to get their deal done by Trump has a lot of enemies. They may think they’re home free, but that’s wishful thinking and not political reality.'" The report notes that "nearly a dozen state attorneys general are poised to launch a lawsuit in the next few weeks."

LIT

DC Comics Elevates Editor Who Expanded Queer Superhero Universe

Andrea Shea is the newest senior editor at DC Comics, reports the Pop Verse. "Shea has been a part of DC's increased focus on LGBTQIA+, including as part of its annual Pride Month publishing efforts...'We at DC exist at a midpoint of a road built by every courageous decision that's preceded our place on it,' Shea says. 'And we stand on the shoulders of publishers, editors, writers and artists who made those decisions long before we ever came along. It's an honor to continue their work.'"

MEDIA

Are Public Radio And TV Going To Be Part Of The Merger Wave Too?

"Three possible mergers have made consolidation the new dominant conversation among public media workers," reports Editor & Publisher. "One between WGBH and New England Public Media, another between WHYY and WPSU and another between KUNC (Community Radio for Northern Colorado) and Rocky Mountain Public Media" are in motion.

STAGE

Lyric To Present An Evening With Idina Menzel

The Lyric Opera will present Idina Menzel in concert on May 1, 2027. "The Tony Award–winning actress, singer and songwriter makes her highly anticipated Lyric debut for one extraordinary night," performing with the Lyric Opera Orchestra under the baton of conductor Edwin Outwater. Tickets for current subscribers and for those who purchase a new Create Your Own subscription series go on sale on June 24; tickets go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, July 8 at 10am. Fans can sign up by Monday, July 6 for a special, one-day presale on Tuesday, July 7.

Restoration Of Kennedy Center Name Applauded

"The removal of Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center is a much-needed 'act of iconoclasm,'" writes Judith Levine at The Guardian. "The revolutionary power of iconoclasm is also why Trump—who understands the manipulation of imagery as well as anyone on earth—has had a huge blue and white tarp draped across the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while the letters of his name are pried off under court order. Sooner or later, the tarp will fall—and with it, more of Trump’s already diminishing prestige." (More.)

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2026-06-17 New City

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:00:06 GMT

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2026-06-18 New City

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Newcity Today will be off tomorrow for the holiday and back on Monday.

Tomorrow's Juneteenth holiday is still relatively new and many of us are still figuring out how to celebrate it but, at least for this year, we have a plan. Let's call it Obama Day.

I expect the Obama Presidential Center will be at the heart of future celebrations in Chicago, too, and that would be a perfect outcome. Take a somber celebration of a moment in American history and acknowledge it with the message of hope and change that brought so many of us together back in 2008.

Maybe we'll see you there sooner or later.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

ART

Signs of Life: Artist Donnie Carter Loves Being a Chicago Tourist, Even After Living Here Seventy Years

Like an urban Morse code, Carter’s hand-painted signs punctuate the South Side, making the signs for places like Lee’s Unleaded Blues and the Johnny Twist Blues Museum. (Dave Hoekstra)

LIT

“My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein” Brings the World of the Lost Generation to the Near Present

Deborah Levy demonstrates that it is a joy to be hidden and a disaster not to be found. (Amanda Norton)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
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FILM

Talking Screens: Dour "Death Of Robin Hood" | Haifaa al Mansour's"Unidentified" | Poetic Icelandic Landscapes

Plus: "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy at the Music Box, the Oshkosh origins of "Backrooms" and more. (Ray Pride)

STAGE

The Opera Festival of Chicago Pairs "La Boheme" with a Rarer Paris-Set Masterwork

Sasha Gerritson, the festival's general director, shares their plans for the summer season, titled "Bohemian Tragedy," and discusses the strategy behind it. (Mark T. Ketterson)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Richard Hunt's "Book Bird" Takes Flight At Obama Center

The Richard Hunt Legacy Foundation has announced the installation of "Book Bird" (2023) at the Obama Presidential Center, "a breathtaking sculpture" by the late American sculptor Richard Hunt. President Barack Obama selected Richard Hunt as the first artist commissioned for the center on Chicago's South Side. The sculpture "depicts a bird taking wing from the pages of an open book, serving as a powerful visual metaphor for the freedom and social uplift that education provides." Hunt’s "Book Bird" is on view in the center's Chicago's Public Library Reading Garden, which opens to the public on June 19.

Tokyo Light Wizards Headed To Smart Museum

Tokyo-based digital-art collective teamLab "is taking over the University of Chicago's Smart Museum this fall, turning its galleries into fully immersive, reactive light worlds that track your every move and mood shift in the sky," reports hoodline. The show will include the North American premiere of "Massless Suns and Dark Suns," which features "darkened rooms with floating light spheres" and "shadowy 'dark' orbs that cameras cannot capture." "Everything exists in a long borderless continuity," says teamLab founder Toshiyuki Inoko. "teamLab: Everything Exists in Infinite Continuity" opens September 22.

Korean Art Scholars Gather at Art Institute For Lee Kun-Hee Collection

The Korean art symposium "The Path to Modernization: Korean Art in a Changing World" will be held at the Art Institute of Chicago on June 23-24, reports Seoul Economic Daily. The symposium will feature scholars and curators leading Korean art research, including Korean art scholar Joan Kee, dean of the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. "Under the theme of Korean art in a changing world, they will continue multifaceted academic presentations and discussions on topics including colonialism and national identity, Korean painting, Korean modern abstract art, postwar art by female artists and local color." The event is a related program to the "Lee Kun-Hee Collection" exhibition "Korean National Treasures: 2000 Years of Art" being held at the Art Institute.

DINING & DRINKING

Espresso Bar Café Pisolino Opens In Italian Village

"The Loop’s oldest Italian restaurant has opened an espresso bar to court morning commuters, downtown residents and workers," cups Block Club. "Café Pisolino is open on the ground floor of the sprawling Italian Village Restaurant," and features everything from shakeratos and gianduja-infused lattes to cornetti and tomato tarts. The café, "inspired by the Italian tradition of a pisolino—a short nap or moment of pause—invites customers to slow down and enjoy the everyday rituals of Italian life."

Good Ambler Bakery Opening Second Location Downtown

Fulton Market café and bakery Good Ambler will open a second location at Two North Riverside Plaza, also known as the Chicago Daily News building, on June 22. The new location from 16” on Center "aims to become an essential neighborhood spot for bustling commuters, high-rise office traffic and nearby residential buildings" and will feature a lunch menu. "Executive pastry chef Meg Galus, a DeKalb, [Illinois] native, will lead the new location, bringing a distinct Midwestern sensibility to her rigorous French-trained techniques...Chef Galus has led the pastry programs for some of Chicago's most acclaimed and Michelin-starred restaurants, including Tru and Boka, as well as led high-profile openings for Somerset, Momotaro, Swift and Sons and the Park Hyatt Chicago (NoMI)."

RPM Steak Sets Collaboration With Arkansas Pitmaster Jordan Wright

RPM Steak is hosting an exclusive collaboration with James Beard Award-nominated pitmaster Jordan Wright of Wright’s BBQ. "Wright, who famously grew from his authentic Texas-style barbecue food truck into an acclaimed Arkansas restaurant empire, is a featured headliner at this year's Windy City Smokeout." Menu highlights include Texas Twinkie Empanadas; Miso Hot Honey Pork Belly; Smoked Wagyu Ribeye and RPM Fried Chicken; Black Truffle Mac and Cheese and Honey Butter Green Beans. Tuesday, July 7, 7pm. Reservations ($125) and more here.

FILM & TELEVISION

Colbert's Use Of "Linus & Lucy" Costs CBS, With Proceeds Donated To World Kitchen

"CBS has agreed to a licensing agreement, which will be donated to charity, after Stephen Colbert purposefully played one of Vince Guaraldi’s famous 'Peanuts' tunes on the final episode of 'The Late Show' without permission," reports Rolling Stone. Lee Mendelson Film Productions, Inc., "which owns the rights to Guaraldi’s television and film catalog, will donate the proceeds from the agreement to the World Central Kitchen, the nonprofit founded by star chef José Andrés, which provides food relief in conflict zones and during humanitarian crises. It will be the second donation to the World Central Kitchen to emerge from the end of 'The Late Show': On the penultimate episode, Colbert presented the nonprofit with $2.5 million on behalf of the outgoing late-night institution."

BBC Firing 550, Cutting Millions From Budget

"The BBC, the U.K. public service broadcaster, will cut around 550 jobs, slash content spending by $107 million over two years and 'review' broadcast TV channels as part of a big cost savings push," tallies the Hollywood Reporter. The moves are part of an effort by new BBC director general Matt Brittin, "a former Google top executive, to slash costs across operations and functions. The staff reductions will hit the BBC’s Content, Nations and News teams, with the BBC also eyeing further job reductions in corporate and other areas to the tune of around 700, Brittin said in a staff memo, in which he highlighted that 'we live in very uncertain times.'"

LIT

Literary Travel Opens The Books

"Resort book clubs, tour companies, hotel libraries and a growing number of literary festivals are offering readers new ways to indulge their interests," surveys the New York Times (gift link). "The boom in bookish trips ranges from day-trips to weeklong vacations. Last fall, the Nickel Plate Express, a heritage railway in Noblesville, Ind., started Read and Rides: two-hour excursions that invite bookworms to read while enjoying the rural Indiana scenery. Expect the ride to be library-quiet in a pair of sixty-eight-seat cars."

MUSIC

All-Star Obama Center Opening Lineup Includes Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen

Today's opening ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center will feature a "star-studded lineup tasked with bringing 'music, performances and hope,'" reports the Sun-Times. Included in the lineup: Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder, the Roots, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Marc Anthony, Tems and actress and producer Marsai Martin. The invitation-only event begins at 11am and will be livestreamed on Obama.org, as well as on the Obama Foundation’s Facebook and other social media accounts. "There is also a ticketed watch party at Midway Plaisance Park with gates opening at 9am, featuring a live DJ and other activities," adds Axios Chicago.

Late-Night Jazz Returns To The Green Mill

Famed Uptown lounge The Green Mill will now feature late-night jazz performances until 4am on Fridays and 5am on Saturdays, reports Block Club. The updated schedule restores "pre-pandemic hours as owner Dave Jemilo hands over the reins to Jason Cole and Jill Skintges, both longtime employees. The historic watering hole at 4802 North Broadway—said to be the country’s longest-running jazz club—dates back to 1907. The club is celebrating forty years of Jemilo’s ownership on Friday before starting a new chapter under Cole and Skintges with the first night of late-night jazz since 2020."

Ravinia Concertgoers Ride Free On The Metra

For the sixth year in a row, a ticket "for a concert at the Highland Park venue will also cover your travel costs on Metra’s Union Pacific North Line. All concertgoers need to show the Metra conductor their concert ticket or e-ticket, and their rides to and from Ravinia Park on the UP North Line are free," reports WGN-TV. The festival will host its grand reopening concert on July 11 at the newly renovated Hunter Pavilion.

Riot Fest Charts Day-By-Day Lineups

Riot Fest has unveiled the official by-day lineups for its return to Douglass Park, September 18-20, bringing together over a hundred artists spanning generations. Daily headliners include Twenty One Pilots and Iggy Pop on Friday; Tool and Morrissey on Saturday; and Pierce The Veil and Alanis Morissette on Sunday. Single-day and two-day tickets, $100 and up plus fees, will go on sale Thursday, June 18 at 10am here.

STAGE

Raven Theatre's "Octet" Makes Move To The Goodman

Following an extended run at Raven Theatre, Dave Malloy’s a cappella musical "Octet" transfers to Goodman Theatre two weeks this summer. Directed by Keira Fromm, with music direction by Nick Sula and choreography by Laura Savage, the Goodman presentation will feature Raven's original cast—including Neala Barron, Elliot Esquivel, Joryhebel Ginorio, Jordan Golding, Teressa LaGamba, Ryder Dean McDaniel, Sam Shankman and Grace Steckler. The Goodman presentation will be presented in the 400-seat flexible Owen Theatre from July 15-26. Tickets ($44 and up) here. Read Newcity's review of the Raven Theatre production here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

The Obama Presidential Center's Opening Ceremony

Today's "grand opening ceremony marks the official dedication of the Obama Presidential Center. The event brings together global leaders, artists, changemakers and citizens for an inspiring celebration of the values that shaped the Obama presidency and continues to inspire people everywhere to believe in their power to create change," writes the Obama Foundation. The opening events begin at 11am on Thursday, June 18, and will be livestreamed here.

At WBEZ, Natalie Moore writes that the Obama Presidential Center "delivers a lesson in democracy, and what it means to be a country in progress." Louise Bernard, museum director, said "we’ve always had a very strong North Star in terms of our mission, which is to inspire, empower and connect people to change their world. One of the takeaways we often reference is this idea of what it means to bring change home. So the center is really a hub that draws people in and then sends them out.” Block Club offers an area dining guide here. On Instagram, Valerie Jarrett shares "beautiful shots of our Museum Tower at night."

CME Group's Terry Duffy To Leave CEO Post

"Terry Duffy, who has led CME Group since 2002, will step down as the exchange operator’s CEO in March," reports Crain's. "Lynne Fitzpatrick, currently president and chief financial officer at CME, will take over as CEO, with Duffy becoming executive chairman."

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2026-06-18 New City

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:00:05 GMT

Talking Screens: A Week In Chicago Film
June 19-25, 2026

by Ray Pride

A husk of a man, wreathed in years of gray hair and decades of regret, tumbles from death to death until a mission is found: preserving a redheaded girl child of a fresh generation while learning from Sister Brigid, a nun who embroiders existence with story, parable and recollection. "The Death Of Robin Hood"—he dies—legend and lore has caught up with grubby, blooded Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman). Writer-director Michael Sarnoski ("Pig," "A Quiet Place: Day One") finds light in the dark of Anno Domini 1247. It is an inclement age, a rage of barmy weather, weather of calmly disagreeable apocalypse. In the bed of its roar, assaults of plain squelch knife humours from victims.

“It’s my hope in retelling the Robin Hood story that we become more aware of the stories we tell ourselves and often come to take for granted in terms of what they mean, and why people told them in the first place,” Sarnoski says in the film's notes. “For those who might claim this isn’t their Robin Hood because he doesn’t conform to their worldview, I hope they can ask themselves, well, why not?”

His "Robin Hood" is bookended in barmy weather and brute violence: "No one protects the meek," the stick-man Robin says from beneath his carapace of rag and ruin, a bramble of a man walking against wind like in a Thomas Hart Benton painting. Sarnoski is film-stock proud: the lavish darkness embraces characters like still lifes, as in paintings from artists like Adriaen Coorte, wrappings for skulls to come.

Before the first of a succession of crunchy killings, he says, "Lies upon lies, he robbed and killed for profit." It's a whirl that moves upon us without preamble: devastating fire and viscid splat and spray are weary norm. It is everlasting night. Warming flame has terrible consequence. When Robin himself is injured and taken to recover on an island led by Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), a kind but talkative prioress, he, and the movie, moves toward light. It's tactile fable, at times as occluded and blurred as the perception of a man losing his vision. Sun of story overtakes muck and mist, dim and damp. The meteorological wretchedness is at first filth and finally all of a life revealed and becomes the world. The final passage of a brigand and murderer is fully felt. (Reviewed in 35mm.) The Death Of Robin Hood" opens Thursday.

"Time And Water"

National Geographic presents "Time And Water," Sara Dosa’s captivating measure of time against ancient Icelandic landscapes told through the urgency of poet-author Andri Snær Magnason. Trailer here. Opens Friday, June 19 at the Film Center.

Beyond beyond beyond beyond beyond infinity! Pixar releases "Toy Story 5." Opens Thursday, June 18.

Debut feature director Lilian T. Mehrel's "Honeyjoon" is described as "a layered dark comedy" and "surprisingly sexy, darkly funny emotional rollercoaster" as June (Ayden Mayeri) and her Persian-British mom Lela (Amira Casar) travel to the Azores islands for a grief anniversary; A "hot philosophical surfer" ensues. Trailer here. Opens Friday, June 19 at the Film Center. Also at the Film Center: Four shows of Bong Joon-ho's 1999 "Barking Dogs Don't Bite," an early sign of his precise-yet-woolly filmmaking skills.

Based on writer-director Hayley Kiyoko's hit single and best-selling novel of the same name and featuring all-new music from Kiyoko, "Girls Like Girls" is "a heartfelt coming-of-age story set over the course of one sun-drenched summer, where new-girl-in-town Coley falls in love for the first time while learning to accept herself along the way." Trailer here. Opens Friday, June 19.

"Unidentified"

From Saudi Arabia, Haifaa al Mansour's"Unidentified" finds a freshly divorced true-crime devotee becoming obsessed with the discovery in the desert of a teenage girl's body. Writes the director, "I see 'Unidentified' as the completion of my Saudi trilogy, which includes 'Wadjda' (the first film ever shot in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and 'The Perfect Candidate.' The three films are connected by female protagonists that step out of their expected roles and identities to challenge a system that is stacked against them (and they all share the same fictional surname—Al Safan). In crafting this story, I wanted to explore the layers of identity that define women, particularly in the Middle East, where our identities are predefined and laid out for us from a very early age.

"I wanted to confront the implicit violence at the heart of these predefined roles, and expose the dangerous consequences of gender inequality in every society. When our lives as women are valued at a disproportionately lesser status, it is so much easier to dismiss, conceal, trivialize or condone the violence perpetrated against us. In many cases, women feel so trapped within these patriarchal systems that they feel they have no choice but to engage in the same dehumanizing violence the society perpetuates against them." Trailer here. Opens Friday, June 19 at River East.

"The Fellowship of The Ring"

The Music Box showcases "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy in 35mm. Co-presented by the Morton Arboretum, who will have representatives in the lounge to talk trees. Showtimes here. Also on 35mm: Hitchcock's " Psycho." Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday.

In Neon's latest horror entry, Adrian Chiarella's "Leviticus," two teenage boys find a spirit that takes the form of the person they most desire—"each other!" Opens Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19 at the Music Box.

The Music Box has also announced the June 26 opening of its third screen to the public with a 4K restoration of Guy Maddin's pleasingly bizarre period piece, the Alpine-set Canuck-as-fuck "Careful" (1992). More here. And also Philip Hartman's black-and-white East Village street-level time capsule, "No Picnic" (1987). More here.

HOLDOVERS

"Amores Perros"

Look out for "Amores Perros" at the Film Center and "Yes" at Facets. (More about both films here.)

REPERTORY & REVIVAL

The Chicago Film Society presents René Clair's "I Married A Witch" (35mm) with Veronica Lake and introduced by Andrew Whitmore, archives technician at the Library of Congress. Film Center, Thursday, June 25, 6pm.

Doc Films kicks off an abbreviated summer slate with Howard Hawks' 1931 "The Criminal Code" (35mm) and Christopher Nolan's early journey "Memento" (2000). The Davis features Park Chan-wook's 2016 "The Handmaiden" and Steven Soderbergh's 2015 "Magic Mike XXL."

THE WEEK IN FILM

Motion Picture Academy Names Governors, Including Columbia Grad Michael Goi

The Media Burn Archive Expands

Independent nonprofit archive Media Burn, which “has been collecting, preserving and distributing documentary and experimental media” since 2003, has moved its collection of more than 15,000 videotapes across the city. “Over two decades, the collection size tripled as more and more documentarians, journalists and artists found a home for their work at Media Burn,” they relay.

Following the recent move to Ashland, “we received nearly 2,500 new tapes, increasing our collection by twenty-percent,” says executive director Sara Chapman. “And we’re not seeing a slowdown. I’m thrilled that our new office is going to allow us to be more public-facing than ever before, whether it’s screening exciting new tape finds or helping people learn to care for their own tapes.” To mark the new locale, Media Burn will have a public Picnic in the Archive at their new facility, 348 North Ashland, on Tuesday, June 23, from 5pm-7pm. Reservations to the free event here.

“Backrooms”‘ Origins Lie In An Oshkosh Snapshot

The photo that inspired “Backrooms” was taken at what is now John’s Hobbies in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, reports NBC 26. “The sickly yellow walls that defined the original photo are long gone inside John’s Hobbies, but owner John Hetzel said the idea of recreating them has come up. ‘Where the back rooms were, it’s our carpet racetrack, and there’s just no way I am going to disturb that. I suppose we could probably do something. We’ve been kicking it around. Sometimes this stuff fades pretty quick.'”

Ninety Movies To See In Chicago Parks This Summer

“The Park District’s summer series brings free screenings to neighborhood parks through September 11,” tallies Block Club. This year marks the program’s twenty-second season. While the programming leans on family-friendly fare, there are screenings like “Casablanca” in Bartelme Park scattered throughout the schedule as well. View the full schedule here.

Finding Ferris: “McNally… McNally… Anyone?”

“John Hughes never said flatly that Ed McNally was the basis for the Ferris Bueller character, but McNally believes he was at least a major component in a thinly-veiled composite, and frankly, the evidence is compelling,” writes Christopher Borrelli at the Trib (gift link).

“McNally and Hughes grew up on the same street and attended Glenbrook North High School together. McNally’s best friend back then was a kid named A.C. Buehler, though it was McNally who had such a talent for skipping class that Glenbrook’s principal launched a crusade to catch him. In the film, Ferris skips nine days of school. McNally skipped twenty-seven days. On one of those days off, he ‘borrowed’ his father’s prized possession—a purple Cadillac—and put 113 miles on it, then, as the fictional Ferris does with a red Ferrari, McNally lifted the car onto jacks and ran it backwards, hoping to reverse the odometer.”

Dimming The Gene Shalit Century

“Today” movie reviewer Gene Shalit, who died on Friday at one-hundred, “stood out from the broadcast television crowd with his colorful bowties, puffy hair and movie reviews studded with cheeky puns,” reports former employer NBC News. He occupied his berth at the network for forty years, 1970-2010. Sample lingo: “‘The Silence of the Lambs’ may be all wool and a yard wide, but it makes a terrific yarn”; and “Judd Apatow’s ‘Funny People’ is ‘passable,’ he said—’speaking colonically.'” Phil Rosenthal points to SCTV’s “Gene Shalit Critics Special.” An extended obituary from the Hollywood Reporter is here.

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2026-06-22 New City

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 08:00:05 GMT

I started thinking about my dad, who died in 2020, during Chuchito Valdés' set at the Jazz Showcase Friday night, and tears started flowing. Valdés was playing a long solo piece on the piano, more classically influenced than Latin jazz, and I started thinking about the time dad had wanted us all to go to this venue, his first and last time, to see Reginald Robinson, the Ragtime pianist and MacArthur genius he'd read about.

My dad was like that, with an insatiable curiosity that he passed on to me and my brothers. It's why I do what I do, I am sure.

Though I never learned to play music, I've long had a fondness for the piano. When I was in my early twenties, I bought a record I'd read about, "The Last Romantic" by Vladimir Horowitz, featuring performances by a virtuoso pianist four times my age at the time. It was the first and last album of his I bought, but I've listened to it over and over, a record infinitely quieter than any other I've ever owned, but mesmerizing in his transcendent piano playing, as he introduced me to works by Mozart, Bach and so many others.

While thinking about all this Friday night at the jazz club, I remembered this record, too, and later dug it out to listen to. It turns out that Horowitz had once performed, but not recorded, "Tea for Two" and had an encounter with the jazz piano legend Art Tatum that involved the song, linking the two in music history, and connecting the dots in my night at the Showcase.

Earlier that day, my brother Brent and I had visited the campus of the Obama Presidential Center. It was Juneteenth, and the vast number of ordinary folks displaying extraordinary joy was infectious. Brent and I talked about my dad, then, too, and how much he would have loved to see this. Raised in a sea of Republicans, my father somehow found another path and became a lifelong progressive Democrat. The 2008 election was an apotheosis for his passions.

I am told he cried when Obama was elected, so I like to think my tears on this Father's Day weekend were an echo from the universe.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

STAGE

The Invisible Costumes of "Catch as Catch Can"

In this production at Steppenwolf Theatre, three gifted ensemble members transition between genders and ages to tell a family story in a new way. (Mary Wisniewski)

ART

The Rest Is History

The work in Craig Semetko's show at the Leica Gallery give a glimpse of life all over the world, served up in wonderful images filled with humor and pathos. (Susan Aurinko)

LIT

Girls! Girls! Girls!: Allie Rowbottom’s "Lovers XXX" Is a Grand, Old-Fashioned American Love Story

Rowbottom gives her readers the forever off-tempo, neon true love of heroines Winnie and Jude over the span of several decades. (Annette LePique)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
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DESIGN

Chicago, 2126: Gensler's Five Speculative Visions for the City’s Next Century

Looking a hundred years ahead to imagine how the city might evolve in the face of shifting climates, aging demographics and rapid technological change. (Vasia Rigou)

BRAZIL

What Comets Do We See Below the Equator?

On "Surrealisms: Art Beyond Reason" at Pinakotheke São Paulo. (Luiz Armando Bagolin)

BRAZIL

What the Cié Uncovers

In “Memórias da Terra” (Memories of the Earth), Navegante Tremembé answers the question of what makes these paintings paintings. (Luiz Armando Bagolin)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

DESIGN

Mayor Proposes $425 Million TIF Subsidy For The 78

"Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto has been widely praised for bankrolling his own $750 million soccer stadium on the South Loop parcel known as The 78. But taxpayers would be subsidizing that development to the tune of $425 million, thanks to a plan proposed last week," reports the Sun-Times. "The roster of TIF-eligible infrastructure projects includes construction of a 1,200-space underground parking garage," with a breakdown that includes "$216 million for public structures, plazas and open space; $105 million for road infrastructure along LaSalle, 13th, 14th and 15th streets; $12 million for Clark Street improvements and another $12 million for a pedestrian connection on Clark; $34 million for river wall improvements along the south branch of the Chicago River; $8 million for Roosevelt Road improvements; and $36 million for Metra improvements."

Celebrating Architect Fazlur Rahman Khan

Illinois Humanities’ Community Conversations will celebrate the legacy of Fazlur Rahman Khan, the Bangladeshi American engineer "whose groundbreaking designs transformed modern skylines, including Chicago’s John Hancock Center and Willis Tower. The program features a short from filmmaker Laila Kazmi’s documentary on Khan, followed by a panel discussion and audience conversation exploring immigrant innovation and the South Asian impact on America’s story." South Asia Institute, Friday, June 26. Reserve here.

Kara Mann Brings Her Chicago Design Sensibility To Jackson Hole

"After more than two decades leading one of Chicago’s most respected commercial and residential interior design firms, Kara Mann has opened a new kind of space in Jackson Hole—one that is part retail and part studio," observes Surface magazine. "The Shop, an intimate 800-square-foot corner storefront in The Aspens, one of the area’s most coveted residential and resort neighborhoods, marks the expansion of her practice into one of her favorite destinations." Says Mann, "I approached the space much the same way I would a residence. The materials are warm and tactile, the palette is soft and restrained and the furnishings are arranged to create a sense of ease rather than display. There isn’t a hard distinction between decorative and functional objects."

Chicago's "Godfather Of Neon" Marks Forty Years

"At Neon Shop Fishtail, Tom Brickler and his team design and repair neon signs for movies, TV shows and countless Chicago taverns and other businesses," reports Block Club. "Bending glass tubes and lighting them up with neon and other gasses has always been an outlet for Brickler to exhibit his craftsmanship and artistry, and increasingly it’s meant offering a needed-yet-niche service: He’s one of the last neon specialists left in Chicago."

Contested Fulton Market High-Rise Plan Gets OK

"The Chicago City Council has approved a Fulton Market high-rise that city planners told it to reject, opening the door to Loop-scale density in the former meatpacking corridor," reports Crain's. "The council’s green light completes a major break from the zoning rules that have governed Fulton Market development over the past decade. Domus’ site now has a zoning designation of DX-16, the same level of density used for the tallest skyscrapers downtown."

DINING & DRINKING

The View From Oak Street's Arla

Hospitality Included "knows how to handle an impressive room," writes Chicago magazine about Arla, the Gold Coast rooftop restaurant from the team behind the Adalina restaurants. "Soo Ahn, who runs the culinary programs at all three restaurants, laughed when discussing the group’s desire to take over this particular restaurant. 'My partners get pretty gung ho and will do whatever it takes to get a space,' Ahn says. 'It’s been years in the making.' They gutted the [former Fred's] space to make room for Arla, which is 'not constricted by a lot of taller buildings nearby, you can see the lake and everything going on Oak Street and Rush Street. The night light that hits the dining room is amazing.'"

Jim's Original Could Stay On Maxwell Street For Years

Jim's Original still plans to move to Pilsen, "but a lease extension with UIC will allow Jim’s to stay in its current location 'until we want to leave,'" Jim Christopoulos, the stand’s third-generation owner tells Block Club. The university and Jim’s "agreed on a lease extension for the building at 1250 South Union Avenue that will allow the hot dog stand to stay put for the foreseeable future."

McDonald's Brings Back Antique Fried Apple Pie

"McDonald's Fried Apple Pie is returning nationwide on June 23 for a limited time to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S.," writes People magazine. "The dessert originated from a family recipe by East Tennessee owner-operator Litton Cochran in the 1960s and became a fan-favorite before leaving the menu in the 1990s...To commemorate the item's return, McDonald's also announced that it is building a thirty-five-foot version of the dessert, creating the McDonald's Largest Fried Apple Pie," which will be on view from June 23 to July 4. "The massive roadside attraction will be located off Route 66 just outside of Chicago, where the chain is headquartered."

Rogers Park Taco Crawl Returns

The nonprofit Rogers Park Business Alliance has announced the return of its annual Taco Crawl, as nineteen restaurants along Clark Street between Devon and Rogers "will offer their signature tacos to ticket buyers, rain or shine. Two taco routes, named Cilantro and Maíz, will be available for participants to choose from, each consisting of eleven restaurants." Thursday, July 16, 3pm-7pm. Advance online tickets are $25 per route here.

White House Confreres Turn To Sauerkraut

"Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Vice President JD Vance swear by a diet of grass-fed meat and fermented foods, even when the sulfurous odors cause friction at home," reports the Wall Street Journal. They have "embraced the diet, drawn by the promise of slimmer waistlines and glowing skin. 'Within thirty days I lost twenty pounds,' Kennedy said at an event in Michigan." (More.)

FILM & TELEVISION

"The Bear"'s Matty Matheson Goes Beyond "The Screaming Face"

"Prolifically profane" chef Matty Matheson "loves his sweet role on ‘The Bear’ and life on his Canadian farm, but he’s weary of playing the clown," profiles Kim Severson at the New York Times. "He’s the best-known chef in Toronto, selling smash burgers over the counter at one restaurant, $595 tins of caviar at another and takeout pizza with aged dough at five more...YouTube fans know him from the chaotic, deceptively sloppy stand-and-stir cooking shows that he presides over like John Belushi with a culinary degree. In 'Toy Story 5,' he gives voice to a daredevil peanut in a lucha libre mask. And, of course, there is 'The Bear,' the hit series that shot him to a level of celebrity that the self-described 'psychopathic party boy' from a big, working-class family in small-town Ontario could have never imagined." The fifth and final season debuts June 25.

LIT

New Owners Roxane Gay And Debbie Millman Relaunch The Rumpus

"Just over a year after they acquired online literary magazine the Rumpus from Alyson Sinclair," reports Publishers Weekly, "Roxane Gay and Debbie Millman are unveiling not simply a redesigned website and new logo, but also a publication intended to better serve today’s readers. 'We'll still be covering with the same rigor and integrity, fiction, essays, poetry, book reviews, author interviews,' said Millman, the host of the Design Matters podcast, who is a co-owner of Print magazine. She serves as the Rumpus' culture editor and creative director, while Gay serves as editor. 'But we're also going to include more design criticism, art criticism and overall cultural coverage.'"

MEDIA

Chicagoans Can Access The New York Times Through The Library

Anyone with a Chicago Public Library card can now access the New York Times, reports Block Club, including "the Times’ news coverage dating back to 1851, games like Wordle and daily crosswords, recipes, podcasts and its product recommendation site, Wirecutter." Along with access at local libraries and via their wifi, cardholders can "redeem twenty-four-hour codes to access the Times remotely by entering their library card number and PIN on the library’s website. After twenty-four hours, cardholders can redeem a new code to regain remote access."

Penske Buys Remainder Of Vox Media, Including Eater

"Penske Media Corporation, the news and events company behind Hollywood trade publications like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, is acquiring sites owned by Vox Media that were left over from a deal this year with the media scion James Murdoch," reports the New York Times. (More.)

MUSIC

Saxophonist Walter Parazaider, Eighty-One, Had "Vision" Behind Chicago's Sound

Chicago co-founder, Maywood native and DePaul graduate Walter Parazaider brought horns to a rock 'n' roll band, chronicles the Sun-Times. Parazaider "put the band together and they rehearsed in the basement of his mother’s home," wrote the band after his passing. "He is also the one who did the hard work to book shows for the young, unknown band, performing top forty covers at local bars in and around Chicago.” The band "was formed in the late 1960s originally as the Big Thing in its namesake city, formed out of several local bands. One of the bestselling bands in the world, Mr. Parazaider’s solos can be heard on the hit tracks 'Just You ‘n’ Me' and 'Colour My World.'"

Experimental Garage Sale At Experimental Sound Studio

The Experimental Garage Sale, an "annual convening of Midwest creators," is moving to the summer. The event will feature vendors from across the region selling synthesizers, "boutique noisemakers," records, "components and doodads to build your own weird stuff," vintage A/V equipment and much more. The sale will be hosted by Experimental Sound Studio at 5925 North Ravenswood on July 11 at noon. More here.

STAGE

Chicago Comic Tom Dreesen, Eighty-Six, Was Sinatra's Opening Act

Tom Dreesen, "the classy comedian who opened for Frank Sinatra for fourteen years, pushed for stand-ups to get paid at the Comedy Store and partnered in a pioneering interracial act with Tim Reid," chronicles the Hollywood Reporter. Dreesen "made more than 500 TV talk show appearances and was a favorite of late-night stars Johnny Carson and David Letterman, but his roots were humble," adds the Sun-Times. "He was raised one of eight kids in a Catholic family that was one of the only white families in a Black neighborhood in Harvey...He first made a mark in the comedy world alongside comedian Tim Reid, later known for his acting, as the duo Tim & Tom. They were one of the nation’s first multiracial comedy acts."

Aside from being Frank Sinatra's longtime opening act, he "mentored David Letterman and Jay Leno early in their stand-up careers at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, became a motivational speaker and also helped countless other comedians make it in the business. He also helped lead a comedians strike of the Comedy Store in 1979 to fight for compensation for the comedians who performed at the club."

The Joffrey Announces Call For Emerging Choreographers

The Grainger Academy of the Joffrey Ballet is seeking applicants for the seventeenth annual Winning Works, an annual choreographic competition for emerging artists. "Each year, five choreographers—including one Chicago-based emerging artist—are selected to create new works in collaboration with dancers from the Grainger Academy of the Joffrey Ballet. Selected artists receive a $5,000 stipend, a minimum of thirty rehearsal hours and travel and accommodations for the duration of their residency." Winning Works is "a mission-driven, access-oriented initiative" that "aims to broaden access for artists who have been historically excluded from the art form and empower them to help shape the future of dance." The deadline to apply is July 31, 2026. The application and more details are here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

City Parking Meter Fortune Still Disputed

As alders consider "the possibility of blocking a sale of Chicago’s parking meter system, its deep-pocketed owners are puffing out their own chests in return," reports the Trib. "The system’s ownership group, led by Morgan Stanley and in part owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, sent a letter to Mayor Johnson’s administration warning that the city could face 'financial catastrophe' if aldermen move ahead on their threats to reject a sale to a new owner." (More.)

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2026-06-22 New City

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:00:08 GMT

Subscribe by tomorrow night (6/23 at 10pm) to receive our July/August double issue as your first when it ships out early next month.

The issue includes an expansive guide to Art in Michigan, following similar recent guides to art in Chicago, Wisconsin and Brazil, with pieces on Mike Kelley's Mobile Homestead, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Anthony and JJ Curis, Wright's Usonian homes and much more. It also features an exploration of all the Midwest's presidential libraries, including Scoop Jackson on the new Obama Presidential Center and Mary Wisniewski on the new Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library in the North Dakota Badlands. Also in the issue: Summer reads from Chicago authors, Kenzi Shiokava at the MCA and much more.

Cover art by Tanner Woodford

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2026-06-23 New City

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:00:06 GMT

I am so deep in the deadline trenches for our upcoming double summer issue that I don't have the time right now to get into detail about what it includes, and we have not yet even finalized the page count.

All I can say is it will be one of a kind, with a series of in-depth and fascinating stories about all of the presidents who ever came from the Midwest, and a guide to Art in Michigan so compelling that I'd be warming up the Ford to head that way right now if not for: 1) I don't actually have a car and 2) the aforementioned deadline.

Today's the regular cutoff to subscribe and get this July/August beautiful monster as your first issue. Take my word for it, it's gonna be worth it. Sign up here.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

ART

The Sky's the Limit in "Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas"

Thomas makes the abstract tangible in her dazzling colorful strokes of paint. (Elisa Shoenberger)

STAGE

Dance Top 5: July/August 2026

It's the best time of year in Chicago with free, outdoor dance. (Sharon Hoyer)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

MUSIC

Widemouth Finds Meaning in the Quiet Details on “No Gasoline”

On their debut album, Chicago band Widemouth finds meaning in friendship, memory, and the unfinished business of growing older. (Elizabeth Jakaitis)

NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of June 25, 2026

Release your clenched feelings about people who have caused you pain. (Rob Brezsny)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

How Art Basel Fared This Year

Art Basel touted strong sales in a release about last week's fair, which featured 290 galleries from forty-three countries. Among the notable sales, it shared that Chicago-based GRAY "sold two works by David Hockney, whose death earlier this month prompted renewed international reflection on the artist’s legacy: 'Studio Interior #2' (2014) for $8.5 million and 'The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 31 May, No. 1' (2011) for $650,000." GRAY is opening a David Hockney show titled "The Moon Room" in its Chicago gallery on July 10. Also: "Gagosian sold Willem de Kooning's 'No title' (1984) for a high seven-figure sum to a private collection in Asia," as an exhibition of his drawings continues at the Art Institute.

Art Basel Alum: Art Galleries Are Not In The Clear

"I’ve spent nearly thirty years in the art world. For half that time I led Art Basel, the global art fair now staged five times a year—in Miami Beach; Paris; Hong Kong; Doha, Qatar; and this week, at its namesake original location in Basel, Switzerland," writes Marc Spiegler at the New York Times (gift link). "Auction sales get a lot of press, but galleries are the art world’s engine. And talking to gallerists, as they prepared to gather for the big fair this week, uncertainty abounded. Many are questioning the fundamentals of their business. It’s as if the art world they know has fallen off its axis." (Spiegler is also a former Newcity editor.)

Trellis Art Fund Milestone Grants Include Two Chicago Artists

The Trellis Art Fund has announced the twelve recipients of its Milestone Grants, who will each receive an unrestricted award of $100,000 distributed in two installments over a two-year period. The grant is intended to help artists sustain and advance their creative practices while fostering connection. Recipients include Chicago artists Michiko Itatani and Lisa Alvarado. More here.

DESIGN

Public Clocks As The Heartbeat Of The City

The city's public clocks "offer an invitation to disengage with our phones and re-engage with the physical world around us," surveys Nina Metz at the Tribune. "They no longer provide a vital public service, because time is always right there on our phones. 'If we could just get out of our phones and look up, we would learn so much about our surroundings and our history and appreciate that,' said Suzanne Dirks, who recently gave a talk about public clocks. 'These clocks speak to an older time and that just sparked this curiosity for me. At first, you might only be able to think of a few. But I can guarantee if you just look, you’re going to see them everywhere. Of course they have a purpose, but they’re decorative and beautiful. They’re works of art. How did it get there? Who put it there? Why is it there?'"

The Tattoo Artist Who Helps Chicago Women Erase Their Past

North Side tattoo artist Ben Wahhh transforms tattoos, writes Rick Kogan at the Trib (gift link). "The majority of his customers come in for tattoos of a conventional and artful sort. He is relatively new to this world, which began for him early in 2025 when he received a phone call from an organization called Salt & Light Coalition, a Chicago-based nonprofit. Wahhh was asked if he would be willing to transform a tattoo. He immediately said yes." He saw a “tremendous need” and, "with the help of an attorney friend, founded Ink Relief, a charity that supports 'survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence and gang markings by offering free cover-up tattoos to help remove the marks of their past…to help them reclaim their bodies and their stories.'"

Alo Headed To Former Double Door Space In Wicker Park

Athletic wear brand Alo will open a new store in Wicker Park at 1572 North Milwaukee. The space was formerly home to a Yeti store open from 2019-2025, relays B Talent, and before that was home to neighborhood venue the Double Door. It will be the second Chicago location of the yoga clothing store, which already has one on Michigan Avenue.

DINING & DRINKING

Lou Malnati's Loses Gold Coast Lease, But Plans Return To The Neighborhood

"Lou Malnati's said its Gold Coast location on State Street is permanently closed after the landlord decided not to renew the restaurant's lease," reports CBS News Chicago. "The landlord acquired the building at 1120 North State in 2025 and has plans to redevelop the site," as well as the neighboring building formerly home to Barnes & Noble. The pizzeria is "now working to find a new location in the area and is also exploring the possibility of being part of the new development in their old building."

North Side Bar Fixture Arnold Van Puymbroeck Was Ninety-Five

Arnold Van Puymbroeck "was called the 'glue' in the Belgian community and in retirement found community in the gatherings of young people at pubs who considered him family," chronicles Mitch Dudek at the Sun-Times. "He wore a permanent smile, spoke with a thick, Flemish accent from early years spent in Belgium and, at ninety-five, maintained his long-held tradition of watching 'Jeopardy!' at Toons, a bar around the corner from his Wrigleyville home." He peppered his days with many “Arnoldisms.” "'I would like my doctor’s prescription,' meant: Pour me a Jim Beam with ginger ale and club soda. 'There’s a hole in this glass' meant: My drink is empty, and I’d like another."

Cornered At The Beards, Jeremy Allen White Shouts Out Chicago Eateries

For Food & Wine, posting on Instagram, Jeremy Allen White works to remember some local spots he liked while shooting "The Bear" over the years. "The Bear"'s fifth and final season debuts on Thursday night.

FILM & TELEVISION

Where Does The Windfall From Breakouts Like "Obsession" Go?

As breakout horror hit "Obsession" "crosses $300 million at the global box office, its art director set off a debate about just compensation for crew members," reports the New York Times (gift link). Among those interviewed: the filmmakers behind 2000's "Blair Witch Project," which set off similar tumult. "When a film is catapulted to profitability, filmmaker Eduardo Sánchez said, those who worked on it are bound to feel they deserve a piece of the pie. He said that he had to 'lawyer up' to get what he was owed from the movie’s distributor, and that studios were prone to muddying profits to avoid paying. Sánchez added that while crew members could always collect their paychecks and go on to the next project, 'If "Blair Witch" hadn’t made any money, I would have been personally bankrupt.'"

AI24: Google Investing $75 Million In "Backrooms" Studio

“Google is investing in independent movie studio A24 as part of a new artificial-intelligence research partnership between the two companies,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “The search giant is putting around $75 million into A24. Though Google is a major player in online entertainment through YouTube, the deal marks the first time it has taken a stake in a studio. Google's DeepMind AI unit and A24 are aiming to create new tools for movie production and distribution. Their alliance is an unusual one between well-known names in industries that have eyed each other warily since the advent of models that can generate audio, images and video.”

LIT

Print Of The City: How Chicago Writers Shaped American Letters

At the Tribune, archival reporter Kori Rumore collates a compendium (gift link) of "the most influential things ever written in, or about, Chicago." The feature touches on works like "Henry B. Fuller’s great Chicago novel 'The Cliff-Dwellers' [which] was published in serial form by Harper’s Weekly in 1893, the year of the World’s Columbian Exposition. The story revolves around characters who use the fictional Clifton skyscraper as the center of their business and personal lives. It’s considered a great example of literary American realism."

Fuller is now the namesake of "the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame's Fuller Award for Lifetime Achievement," and his "contemporary Hamlin Garland founded The Cliff Dwellers, which overlooks Grant Park from the twenty-second floor at 200 South Michigan, as a meeting place for its members who support the arts."

Pulitzer Winner Daniel Kraus Is Ready To Make You Uncomfortable

"In a new-to-him genre, Evanston’s Daniel Kraus explores the meaning of agency, family and life with his sci-fi book 'The Sixth Nik,'" reports Chicago magazine. His twenty-eighth tome, Kraus "never really knows what genre any given book he writes is going to pursue—and that’s what makes him one of the most exciting writers of his generation." Says Kraus, "I don’t have a checklist of genres, but over time, I have managed to check off most of them. Naturally what I do gravitate to is something that’s very different, and often that will lead me to a new genre."

Judy Blume Says A Half-Century Suffices

"Though she says she is done writing, Judy Blume's books remain beloved; her readers numerous and devoted," reports NPR, condensing a lit fair conversation between Blume and Scott Simon. "You're living with [your characters] for months, sometimes years. And you're locked up in a little room all day with them. That's why fifty years is enough. I was ready to come out into the world. But I have found another career that I love dearly. I have a bookstore [in Key West] and I love that."

MEDIA

Chicago Native's NYC Dining Podcast Joins Obamas' Podcast Network

Chicago-native Jason Lee, who recently came home to attend the James Beard Awards, is the host of Expense Account, the newest podcast to join the Obamas' Higher Ground slate, announces the Hollywood Reporter. "The food and culture podcast is hosted by food critic Jason Lee, who co-created the show with Emily Sundberg, who runs the popular Substack Feed Me. The twice weekly show is entering into its second season, and has featured conversations with guests from food, media, business and hospitality, as well as conversations about stories from Feed Me’s reporting on the restaurant industry."

Quad City's News Anchor Quits On Air

"KWQC anchor Dustin Nolan gave an emotional on-air goodbye to his Quad City audience, announcing on Friday that he’s 'chosen to step away from the [news] industry,'" aggregates Variety. "He called out 'sanitized news' and declared that it is the responsibility of journalists to 'take people out of their bubbles and comfort zones and make them think about the world we all live in.'"

MUSIC

Grant Park Music Festival Sets Independence Day Salute

The Grant Park Music Festival's annual Independence Day Salute will celebrate the upcoming holiday with Christopher Bell conducting the Grant Park Orchestra in a show "full of rousing marches and patriotic anthems" like Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man." The evening will also feature "Gershwin’s 'Three Preludes' with principal clarinetist Dario Brignoli and Carlos Gardel’s 'Tango (Por Una Cabeza)' with concertmaster Jeremy Black." Millennium Park, Saturday, July 4, 7:30pm. More here.

Chicago Punk Band Decides Thirty-Five Years Between Records Is Long Enough

After Chicago band Sludgeworth "released their debut 'What’s This?' in 1991 and abruptly dissolved, the punk rock trailblazers are ready for the 'Second Time Around,' a new album out June 19 on Chicago label Red Scare Industries," reports the Sun-Times. “'I hadn’t talked to any of the guys for a long time,' said singer Dan Schafer aka Dan Vapid, who was just as surprised as everyone else by the turn of events. He’s kept busy with The Riverdales, The Methadones, Screeching Weasel and his own solo material. But the idea of reviving Sludgeworth started to pick up steam in 2022 when Red Scare Industries approached him about reissuing the band’s posthumous 1995 compilation 'Losers of the Year.'"

STAGE

Joffrey Opens Season With "Liliom," Set In A Depression-Era Amusement Park

The Joffrey Ballet opens its 2026-27 season with the Chicago premiere of John Neumeier’s narrative ballet "Liliom." Inspired by Ferenc Molnár’s 1909 play, and later the basis for the musical adaptation "Carousel," "Liliom" traces "a story of love and redemption set against the faded glamor of a Depression-era amusement park. One of the choreographer’s most profound artistic endeavors, Neumeier’s theatrical tour de force comes to life with an evocative score by composer Michel Legrand." The ballet company will stage ten performances at the Lyric from September 17-27. Tickets go on sale in July. More here.

CIC Sets Lincoln Square Stage For Improv

"Ask anyone in improv comedy and they will agree. On stage, there’s no such thing as mistakes, only opportunities for creation," reports the Trib (gift link). "For Farrell Walsh, artistic and managing director of CIC Theater, that philosophy applies not just to his time onstage, but to the theater he runs, as well. Every setback is a chance to assess what the theater is working towards and see where they may need to go next. Or, as Walsh puts it, tackling things, 'one disaster at a time.'"

"For the past three years, Walsh has been shepherding CIC to a new permanent home, after the company closed the doors on its longtime space at 1422 West Irving Park in 2022." He eventually discovered 4301 North Western and opened The Western Bar & Kitchen. "Formerly known as the Celtic Crown and closed since 2020, the location came with a kitchen and bar, a back bar and theater space underneath the main bar."

Shakes-Berthed "Paranormal Activity" Unlocks Broadway Engagement

"'Paranormal Activity,' the stage adaptation based on the hit horror film franchise, is coming to Broadway following sold-out runs in London’s West End, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco," reports Deadline. "Written by Levi Holloway ('Grey House') and directed by Felix Barrett ('Sleep No More'), the strictly limited twenty-week engagement of 'Paranormal Activity—A New Story Live on Broadway' will open at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre on Tuesday, September 15."

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2026-06-24 New City

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 08:00:06 GMT

After writing a complaint about deadline yesterday, today was out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Deadline, I knew about. A small crisis, I knew was coming as of the end of day on Monday.

But then another kerfuffle, entirely unnecessary but time-consuming nonetheless, and here I am, with too much to do, nothing to say and an addled brain.

How addled? I wrote "out of the fat and into the fire" at first and, knowing that was wrong, Googled it. Sigh.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

ART

"Palomar" Brings the Stars to The Renaissance Society

The Renaissance Society experiments with time and space in an installation featuring twenty-eight artists. (Annette LePique)

STAGE

Comedy and Catechism in “Nunsense” at Drury Lane Theatre

A dark comedy that runs on nostalgic references to pop culture and growing up Catholic. (Tristan Bruns)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

BRAZIL

Inhotim Turns Twenty

Plus Marcela Fleury Appointed Gomide&Co. Programming Director. (Brian Hieggelke)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

The Memphis Art Museum Will Open This December

The Memphis Art Museum has set an opening date of December 6 for the institution's new Herzog & de Meuron-designed mass timber home along the Mississippi River, reports The Art Newspaper. The location is "just a short walk upriver from the waterfront green space Tom Lee Park, which opened in 2023 and features public art installations by Theaster Gates and James Little." The new building "includes a 10,000-sq.-ft community courtyard and a 50,000-sq.-ft rooftop art garden. It is constructed from laminated mass timber, in part to honor Memphis’ historical title as the 'Hardwood Capital of the World.'" The institution also announced that admission will be free to local residents in perpetuity.

DESIGN

The Design Firm Behind The Obama Center Inscription

"Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the centerpiece of the nineteen-acre Obama Presidential Center is its 225-foot, eight-story Presidential Museum. [Pentagram partner] Michael Bierut and team collaborated closely with TWBTA and the Obama Foundation on the design of the inscription that wraps the tower’s upper south-and west-facing corners," posts Pentagram on Instagram. "Cast in concrete to match the tower’s New Hampshire granite, the text is an excerpt from President Obama’s 2015 speech commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, delivered at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where civil rights marchers were attacked by police in 1965." (More.)

The Transformation Of Logan Square's Traffic Circle

"After over a decade in the making and two years of construction, the $27 million project, which overhauled Logan Square’s infamous traffic circle, is complete," circumnavigates Block Club. The project "rerouted Milwaukee Avenue around the traffic circle, converting the former street into new public space near the monument" and added "two new plazas, almost an acre of park space, improved bike lanes, larger sidewalks and new lighting to the area near the Illinois Centennial Monument." The plaza space "provides a larger footprint for popular local events including the Logan Square farmers market, which moved to the plaza last month," as well as events like the upcoming Logan Square Arts Fest and the Mercaditos Craft Fair.

Alder Proposes Plan To Rescue Shuttered Ford City Mall

Alder Derrick Curtis (18th) has met with potential future developers for the now-padlocked Ford City Mall, reports CBS News Chicago. "My primary goal is to get this out of the current landlord's hands," he says, claiming that New York-based Namdar Realty has been neglecting the property since their 2019 purchase. "City inspectors found the fire suppression system doesn't work properly," says Curtis. "The ground could even cave in because there are hundreds of gallons of water that are running from the mall underground." One developer wants "to make it four warehouses, a green space, freshly paved streets, a new water system and to lease it to small manufacturers." (More.)

Big Trucks, Bigger Pedestrian Death Toll

Big trucks "are killing thousands of pedestrians who otherwise might have survived," the New York Times demonstrates in an illustrated report. "For decades, American roads were steadily getting safer for pedestrians. But around 2009, the trend reversed. Since then, the number of pedestrians killed each year has risen by about seventy-five percent...The trend toward ever-larger vehicles [shows] that the rise of large pickups and S.U.V.s is an important factor. Our estimate is that about 200 to 400 pedestrians a year would not have died if vehicles had remained approximately the same size over the past quarter-century. That represents about ten percent of the recent increase in pedestrian deaths." (More.)

DINING & DRINKING

Soccer Fans Find American Culture Scrumptious

"Soccer fans from around the world have poured into the United States for the World Cup, delighting Americans with giddy social media reviews of American culture, an exotic offering of big-box stores, sprawling rest stops and state-of-the-art stadiums," surveys the Washington Post (gift link). "No matter where they went, they engaged in the most America-circa-2026 pastime there is: looking for cheap food. For visitors who have plunked down thousands on travel, not to mention the most expensive tickets in World Cup history, food is one cost they can control. Bankers from Mexico City, who each paid $500 for a France-Senegal ticket, found salvation at Chick-fil-A and Joe’s Pizza. A father from Paris traveling with his two young kids raved about the fried rice at a New York City Chinese food joint. From street tacos to bodega burgers, ramen bowls to Times Square pizza, they’ve tried it all, so long as it’s all cheap and, hopefully, cheesy."

The World's First Dairy Queen Revived As Route 66 Landmark

"The world’s first Dairy Queen is being revived to be a Route 66 landmark in Joliet," spoons WGN-TV. "The Dairy Queen was opened up by J.C. McCullough and Sherb Noble on June 22, 1940," and the building has since "been home to a church, an insurance agency, a lawn mower shop and even a motorcycle dealership." The Joliet Area Historical Museum and the City of Joliet are leading the project, saying that "Dairy Queen helped to advise by providing staff with historical and archival documentation. The goal is for the restoration to serve as a stop on the 2026 Centennial of Route 66."

Bars And Restaurants Line Up For Video Gambling Machines

Six bars and restaurants across "Beverly, Lakeview, Mount Greenwood and Printers Row are at the front of the line for the city’s first state-sanctioned slot machines outside of Bally’s Chicago Casino," reports the Sun-Times, noting that "almost 300 more businesses are in line for machines too, if the city allows it." Mayor Johnson "is making a late push to block the machines from operation, which his finance team has warned could undercut business at the permanent Bally’s gambling mecca slated to open next year in River West."

FILM & TELEVISION

Big Survey Bears Out Independent Art House Growth

"Results of the Art House Convergence's first National Audience Survey were released Monday," Variety relays, showing that movie theaters "continue to be a vital asset to their communities, with a nine percent increase in business in 2025, an encouraging sign for the sector." A quarter of those surveyed "said they first began going to their preferred art house theaters within the last three years. These new art house moviegoers had an average age of forty, eleven years younger than the average age of all those surveyed, which is fifty-one. Of those recent attendees, sixty-eight percent were younger than forty-five." Not noted: arthouse tickets are consistently more reasonably priced at retail than those at chain multiplexes.

Says Music Box general manager Ryan Oestreich, "The Music Box attendance returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and has been growing by ten to fifteen percent every year since. Music Box has built a community through cinema, by doing what’s always worked, programming for multiple audiences with films they want to see on a consistent basis; plus we offer great customer service, presentation and a beautiful venue to watch movies in.”

The Success Of Rated Q

Since its first screening in December 2021, "Rated Q has become one of Music Box’s most popular programs," raves the Reader. "Founder Ramona Slick reflects on five years of the theater's monthly series celebrating drag and queer film."

LIT

Daniel Kraus' Next Book Is A Western

Atria Books has acquired "We Who Bend The Tall Grass," a new novel from Daniel Kraus, who was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for "Angel Down." Publishing in 2028, the book "follows three battle-worn POWs on a quest across the post-Civil War American West while being pursued by a self-embalming adversary and poisoned by the monstrous violence at the heart of the country itself." Says Kraus, "I’ve been preparing this book for a decade. There is no genre better positioned to dissect what America is—and what it could have been—than the Western. I hope this to be a horrifying, visceral and hallucinatory epic that is a culmination of everything I’ve done up until now."

Fantagraphics Celebrates A Half-Century

"Fantagraphics was founded in 1976 by Gary Groth and Michael Catron—Kim Thompson joined in 1977 and became co-owners in 1978 after Catron left for DC Comics in 1978," reports KUOW Seattle. "The company had a few homes after that humble start in Maryland, but it's been here in Seattle since 1989, giving Fantagraphics a definitive place in the city's grungy nineties counterculture. 'The nineties is when Fantagraphics really established itself as a publisher of progressive, provocative, good work,' Reynolds said. 'You can think back to, like, Nirvana wearing the "corporate magazines still suck" T-shirt on the cover of Rolling Stone. At that time, you kind of identified yourself as much by what you didn't like as what you really did like.'"

MEDIA

The Chicago Tribune Completes Its Purchase Of The Daily Herald

"The sale of the Daily Herald’s parent company to Tribune Publishing has officially closed, according to a memo sent to employees today, marking the end of employee ownership at one of the Chicago area’s largest suburban news organizations," reports Crain's. The Daily Herald shared a report as well: "After receiving a favorable vote from its shareholders, [parent company] Paddock finalized the sale of the newspaper Monday. In buying the Daily Herald, Tribune Publishing extended offers of employment to all Daily Herald employees."

WXRT Brings Back "Local Anesthetic"

"I swore I was done with radio. In hindsight, it was one of those half-hearted proclamations," posts James VanOsdol on Facebook. "The reality was I was done with radio as it behaves and sounds across most of the FM band. WXRT, on the contrary, isn't 'radio.' It's something wonderfully different. I’m back on the air to curate and host the relaunched 'Local Anesthetic' (9pm), a show I’ve always admired, listened to and learned from. Being on the air on XRT is an honor. Being able to showcase the musicians that provide the backbone to Chicago’s culture is a gift."

The Onion Relaunches Infowars On July 2

"The Onion doesn’t yet have permission to publish under the Infowars brand, and Jones is fighting the takeover in court. Nevertheless, The Onion plans to launch its new version of Infowars on July 2," reports MS NOW. "It’s been five years since Alex Jones lost Infowars to the Sandy Hook families," posts The Onion CEO Ben Collins. "As the verdict came down, he asked: 'Do these people actually believe they’re getting any money?' He hasn't paid them a penny. Well, The Onion is going [to] pay them anyway." According to a Wired report, comedian Tim Heidecker, who was named the media company's creative director, "wants to turn Infowars into Adult Swim for the internet."

MUSIC

Neo Reunion Returns To Celebrate Lost Club

More than a decade after closing, "a thousand former patrons, DJs, musicians and fans from every generation of Neo will return to Metro. The Neo reunion is a celebration of not just a nightclub, but an institution that remains one of Chicago’s most beloved incubators and refuges for groundbreaking music genres such as punk, new wave, industrial and goth," DJ Suzanne Shelton allows. "The event will feature original Neo DJs playing the music that defined nights down the alley for generations," including DJ Suzanne Shelton, Jeff Moyer, Glenn Russell, Rob Kokot, Bill Saveley and Goth DJ icon Scary Lady Sarah. "Joe Shanahan, owner of Metro, Smartbar and Gman Tavern and legendary Chicago patron of music, will join Suzanne Shelton in her vinyl DJ set," running 10pm-11:30pm, Saturday, July 11. Tickets ($28) here.

16” On Center Grows Its Presence In The North Suburbs

"Chicago’s never lacked a rich live music scene, but the 16” on Center group has brought a unique artist development philosophy to the mix nurturing acts from the tiny Empty Bottle to the huge Salt Shed," charts Pollstar News. "Director of Music Jake Samuels is in the midst of upping the ante of that funnel by amplifying the cosmopolitan suburbs as distinct destinations in the Chicago area." Between the recent Winnetka Music Festival, "September’s Evanston Folk Festival, and Samuels’ own home base at the club SPACE, he is working to put those North Shore towns beyond city limits 'on the map' in their own right." And "Samuels is looking to grow Evanston’s live-music footprint and 16” on Center’s Chicago-area pipeline even further with SPACE Presents’ focus on the 1,000-cap Cahn Auditorium at Northwestern University, looking to top the almost twenty-five shows they did there in 2025."

STAGE

Albany Park Theater Project Announces Leadership Changes

Miguel Angel Rodriguez steps into the role of executive artistic director of Albany Park Theater Project as the organization approaches its thirtieth anniversary, becoming the organization’s sole chief executive after five years of shared leadership with co-founder David Feiner. Feiner will take on a full-time role as founder and director of innovation and advancement, "focusing on organizational strategy, fundraising and the development of bold new artistic initiatives that expand how the company tells the stories of immigrant communities." Longtime staff leader Trina McGee will be managing director, "overseeing operations, finance, production and the structures and systems that keep the company running smoothly and sustainably." View more updates on the company here.

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2026-06-24 New City

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:00:05 GMT

June 27 – Lake Shore Park: Jeanne du Barry

Films on the Green Returns to Celebrate America at 250!

From June 27 to July 31, Films on the Green returns to parks across Chicago, inviting audiences to enjoy five French films under the stars. Presented by Villa Albertine, the French institute for Culture and Education, in partnership with the Chicago Park District’s Movies in the Parks, this 2026 edition brings a vibrant mélange of French and American flair to the city’s green spaces.

Make plans to join us for the following screenings:

July 10 – Welles (Gideon) Park: Arco

July 17 – Belmont Harbor Park: Breathless (A bout de souffle)

July 24 – Montgomery Ward Park: Mr. Blake at Your Service! (Complètement Cramé !)

July 31 – Lake Shore Park, La Vie en rose (La Môme)

Films are in French with English subtitles, except Arco, which will be shown in English.

This program is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks and Movies in the Parks. with the support of Divvy Lyft. Films on the Green in Chicago is made possible thanks to the generous support of our official sponsors JC Decaux, TV5MONDE and our local partner Alliance française de Chicago.

RESERVE A SPOT

SPONSORED

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2026-06-25 New City

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 08:00:06 GMT

We're putting the finishing touches on our summer issue, which will include lots of good stuff about Chicago, as well as a ton of information about possible road trips: to see art in Michigan or a presidential center in Iowa or North Dakota. Or another just a #10 bus ride away, on the South Side.

We can't escape the onslaught of Obama Presidential Center news and yet, no one here seems to mind. He loves cheeseburgers! Yes, how about a national story about how he likes his cheeseburgers! (Dang it, now I'm hungry.)

On a more substantial level is the remaking of the South Side before our eyes. The desire for equitable distribution of cultural resources has been a long-discussed but rarely acted upon civic goal, but this one seems to be catalytic. Best and most symbolic example? The plans for the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry to open its south-facing doors for the first time since the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Just as Obama experienced as president though, change brings turbulence. New residents and businesses will move in, while longtime South Siders might be pushed out.

Let's just hope that the aftermath is better than the one that our nation is experiencing.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Order the June issue here.

Digital memberships here.

Retail/Institutional subscriptions here.

FILM

Talking Screens: Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” | Mark Jenkin’s Lost Ship Tale | Summer Screenings From Chicago Film Society

Plus: The Music Box opens its third screen, and the Film Center showcases "Bouchra" and 2001 buddy-comedy "By Hook Or By Crook." (Ray Pride)

STAGE

Couch Penny Ensemble’s Solid “An Oak Tree” Plays With Our Mind While Stirring Our Feelings

Tim Crouch’s 2006 melancholic memory play about loss and healing features two outstanding performances, one of them unrehearsed. (Hugh Iglarsh)

ART

"Body Luminous" Explores Our Relationships to Ourselves

Woman Made Gallery’s newest show is a reminder of the power and joy we can and should feel in our bodies. (Elisa Shoenberger)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

MUSIC

Javier Reyes Gives Soft-Focus Indie Rock an Electronic Pulse on “Shark”

Old voice memos, impulsive collaborations and a willingness to follow hunches shape Javier Reyes’ new solo album. (Elizabeth Jakaitis)

LIT

In “New Skin,” a Daughter Contends With Her Mother’s Plastic Surgery Addiction

The book rhapsodically captures the psychological landscape of cosmetic enhancements in suburban Los Angeles. (Samuel Schwindt)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Chris Ware's "Life Is Complicated" Makes Only U.S. Stop In Columbus, Ohio

"After three years of touring European museums (including the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona) Chris Ware’s 'Life Is Complicated' makes its final and only U.S. appearance at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum on the campus of Ohio State." The show is a career retrospective of the Oak Park-based cartoonist "designed and lightly annotated by the artist" and "includes original drawings, notes and sketches as well as sculptures and paintings." Through January 3, 2027. Ware will celebrate the show and "Acme Novelty Library #21" on October 17 at an in-person event.

Chris Ware Talks Comics And de Kooning At The Art Institute

Ware will also join KAWS to discuss "Comics, Cartoons and Willem de Kooning" at the Art Institute on August 15. The artists will be in conversation with Mel Becker Solomon, curator of the Art Institute's "Willem de Kooning Drawing" exhibition, "as they explore the boundaries—or lack of boundaries—between comics and fine art, so-called 'high' and 'low' art forms, and the surprising ways de Kooning challenged tradition by channeling his love of cartoons and comics into his irreverent interpretations of classic art historical subjects." Details and registration here.

ArtPrize Expands To Four Weekends

Grand Rapids' ArtPrize, an international art competition and cultural festival, will expand to twenty-two days this fall. The festival will feature four themed weekends "dedicated to dance, music, visual art and fashion," with "hundreds of installations [that] fill parks, museums, storefronts, bars, and bridges across downtown Grand Rapids, all free and open to the public." Last year "the event distributed $500,000 in grants and awards directly to artists" and "welcomed more than 900,000 visitors to Grand Rapids," according to a release. September 12-October 3. More here.

Lightfoot-Era Art Missing From City Hall

"When a top aide to former Mayor Lightfoot left his job in 2023, a taxpayer-owned painting, created by artist Bill Cass in the 1980s, disappeared from his City Hall office," reports the Sun-Times. "Mayor Johnson’s aides say they have no idea where it is and what happened to it." The paper surveys emails about the unsuccessful quest, without resolution. "Asked for a list of any missing art, the cultural affairs department says it 'does not maintain a list of missing artworks.'"

DESIGN

The Museum Of Science And Industry Opens The Back Door

The Museum of Science and Industry will "break ground this year on a $22 million project that will reopen the 133-year-old edifice's south entry and add an indoor café with seating on the building's outdoor renovated terrace," writes Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bey. “That is the original entrance,” said Griffin Museum of Science and Industry CEO Chevy Humphrey. The work "is expected to be done in 2027 [and] would give the museum an active and ADA-accessible entrance. And the new terrace—overlooking picturesque Jackson Park, the basin and Wooded Isle, with its famed Osaka Garden—holds the promise of offering one of the best views of the city." (More.)

Metra Designer Unveils Year 250 Locomotive

“I wanted something that was—as it’s going down the track—easily recognizable, not too busy, but something a little bit unique,” Metra designer Falecia Woods says. “You rarely get a graphic designer, especially in-house, to design a train from start to finish by yourself.” Woods, reports the Sun-Times, "an artist with more than thirty years of experience, also designed Metra’s Veterans Day locomotive in 2024. Woods said that she was challenged by the America 250 project, to create something that would be instantly recognizable as it traveled throughout Chicago." (More.)

Grace's Furniture Building To Be Redeveloped With City Funding

"A redevelopment project for the historic Grace’s Furniture building in the heart of Logan Square is back on the table after getting city funding," reports Block Club. "Plans to redevelop the building at 2616 North Milwaukee into a mixed-use project with Logan Square Athletic Club as its anchor tenant are getting revived after receiving a $3 million Community Development Grant from the Department of Planning and Development." The building has been vacant for twenty years, and will see its vintage sign restored as part of the plan.

After School Program Will Redevelop Historic Altgeld Gardens Building

"Plans and renderings have been revealed for the redevelopment of the historic Up Top Building at 13100 South Ellis within Altgeld Gardens," locates Chicago YIMBY. "On the northeastern corner of the large housing complex and next to the neighborhood’s public library branch, the structure has sat vacant and deteriorating for years. The now-eighty-year-old curved structure consists of two buildings connected by a large overhanging roof and pass-through, designed by architecture firm Keck & Keck, which worked on the Century of Progress International Exposition. Originally built as a commercial center, it is better known for the community-led memorial within the pass-through to victims of gun violence."

DINING & DRINKING

Cheezborger, Cheezborger, Obama, Obama

At the new Obama Presidential Center, "the restaurants reflect the former first family’s longstanding interest in food and food policy," writes the New York Times. On devising a cheeseburger for the center, Obama told chef Cliff Rome, "I don’t want fancy, I want good." Obama told Rome "that the burger that would end up on the menu at the Obama Presidential Center was missing a few essential ingredients. Namely, it needed a smear of yellow mustard and the bite of a sharp Cheddar. 'He had a lot of opinions on what makes a good cheeseburger,' said Mr. Rome, who was tapped by the Obamas to conceptualize and run two restaurants, Tafari’s Kitchen and a casual cafe, on the center’s campus."

Former Feed Space Eyed After Warlord Fallout

"Feed, a diner known for its whole rotisserie chickens and comfort-food aura, closed after two decades last summer," but "the intended site of the Warlord team’s now-abandoned burger concept could still be revived as a restaurant after getting new interest by a separate hospitality team," reports Block Club. An unnamed owner of a "prospective concept lives in the neighborhood and operates three other restaurants in the city, making him a good fit for the space that’s better than Lords," building realtor Allan Perales of KAIN Real Estate says of the 1,100-square-foot, $2,700-per-month space.

Groundswell Coffee Roasters Opening Fine Arts Café Soon

Groundswell Coffee Roasters will open its café on the ground floor of the historic Fine Arts Building on Monday, July 13. "The architect is Brian Hammersley of Hammersley Architecture, with interior design by Gooch Design Studio. Both businesses are based in the Fine Arts Building." This is the first café at the Fine Arts Building since the Artists Cafe closed in February 2019. More here.

FILM & TELEVISION

Motion Picture Academy Invites 529 New Members, Including David Dastmalchian

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "is extending invitations to join the organization to 529 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures," they relay. "There are ninety-five Oscar nominees, including twenty-one winners and three Scientific and Technical Award recipients among the invitees. Membership selection is based on professional qualifications, with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity remaining a priority." View the list here.

LIT

American Writers Museum Opens Declarations Exhibit

The pop-up exhibit "Declarations: 250 Years of Writing Toward Independence" is open at American Writers Museum through Labor Day. "Visitors can explore an 1823 William Stone print of the Declaration of Independence, as commissioned by then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, as well as colonial-era legal documents signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Philip Livingston and Roger Sherman. At an interactive erasure poetry station, guests can edit the founding document into their own words, inspired by an erasure poem from Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith."

Why The Obama Center Is Not A Presidential Library

"Obama jettisoned the official presidential library in 2017 from the Jackson Park project to be free of the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) expensive endowment, saving himself the need to fundraise tens of millions more," defines the Sun-Times. "If the Obama Center included the NARA-operated Obama Library, the foundation would have to pay NARA an endowment that would be sixty-percent of the library cost. The whole campus is estimated to cost at least $850 million."

Plus, Obama "was very involved in designing the interior and exterior of the campus. He would have needed NARA approvals if the campus included a NARA-run library. NARA has strict, expensive architecture and design standards to make sure the building is secure for the ages, with highly regulated humidity levels to preserve everything. Getting rid of NARA gave Obama a totally free hand."

MEDIA

A New Place To Doomscroll

"Instagram is ramping up its efforts to attract more viewers on television," writes the Hollywood Reporter. "The Meta-owned social app will be testing out horizontal video on Instagram for TV, their preexisting feature that allows viewers to watch social videos on the big screen in their living room...The company will also be experimenting with longer-form storytelling and episodic series with creators, in addition to trying live TV creator experiences on for size."

MUSIC

Eric Williams Is Not Giving Up On His Block Party

"Eric Williams’ street festival nearly ruined him financially during its eighteen-year run. He’s bringing it back anyway," profiles Ben Austen at Chicago magazine in a lengthy history. On what motivated its return: "Eric described the feeling that overcame him during the final hour of each party, when he stood at the edge of the stage: He’d look out at the crowd lost in the spirit of dance, everyone jubilant as the day’s last performance drew to a close. 'I created something that people really love,' he told me. Eric got goose bumps just talking about it. He was still chasing that high."

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Arts Alliance Illinois Releases Study On Creative Economy

Arts Alliance Illinois has released a landmark study, "The Creative Economy of Chicago & Illinois: Impact and Assets," which examines the economic, workforce and community contributions of the creative sector across Chicago and Illinois. The research includes two reports—one focused on Chicago and one statewide—as well as a new Asset Map documenting cultural institutions, organizations and creative resources throughout Illinois. The findings "provide policymakers, economic development leaders, workforce agencies and cultural stakeholders with new data to inform future investment and planning." Chicago Loop Alliance will also release an updated analysis of the arts' economic impact in the Loop, providing a neighborhood-level complement to the citywide and statewide findings. The full reports and Asset Map are here.

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2026-06-25 New City

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 15:00:05 GMT

Talking Screens: A Week In Chicago Film
June 26-July 9, 2026

by Ray Pride

New reviews for the coming two weeks: "The Invite," "Rose Of Nevada" and "By Hook Or By Crook." Also opening: "Supergirl"; "Jackass: Best and Last" and "Maddie's Secret."

In "Supergirl," DC's comedy-adventure follow-on to "Superman," directed by Craig Gillespie ("I, Tonya," "Lars And The Real Girl," "Cruella"), charismatic Australian actress Milly Alcock plays Kara Zor-El in what trailers and her appearance in "Superman" promise to be a rambunctious coming-of-age. While early viewers have sussed an impasto of same-sex characterization in the script by Ana Nogueira, there's likely not that much in a film brought to you by Ulta Beauty, OPI, Joico and Kentucky Fried Chicken. With Krypto the Superdog. Jason Momoa, David Corenswet. "Supergirl" takes flight Thursday, June 25.

"The Invite"

Cooled and chiseled from comedy lava, Olivia Wilde's "The Invite" is a four-hander of boredom in middle-aged relationships told with cutting precision. Two San Francisco couples, in apartments above and below finally meet after weeks of neighborly annoyance. In unlikely fashion, "The Invite" becomes, among many things, a comedy of the inadvertent first date.

The couples are Wilde and Seth Rogen, and Edward Norton and Penélope Cruz. Wilde, Rogen and Norton are all actor-writer-directors, which makes for a wealth of inspiration. The source material, Spanish filmmaker Cesc Gay’s "Sentimental" (2020), has been adapted by Will McCormack and Rashida Jones (2012's "Celeste and Jesse Forever").

The appeal of smashing norms in a confined space on a small scale, that’s chamber drama, that’s Dogma 95, that’s A24 in 2026. Pitch-perfect provocations of passion peccadilloes and polymorphous possibilities rise. Once their tongues are liquored, interpersonal obscenity flows freely, blunt intimacy knows no hesitation. They are high and they have mixed their liquors. They are also all so horny as fuck.

"The Invite" isn’t apocalyptic. It’s a basket of knives tossed into the dishwasher. Wilde's cutting is nonpareil: the situations, the surprises, expressions, line delivery—it's a hoot and a holler with a crowd, but its details, its brute honesty, eddy in memory. The astute performances are unrelenting. There are antecedents, to be sure: Paul Mazursky’s "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969); Thomas Vinterberg and Mogens Rukov's 1998 "Festen" ("The Celebration"); cold comedies of a half-century ago like Jules Feiffer's "Carnal Knowledge" (1971); the plays of Wallace Shawn; Tom Noonan's "What Happened Was..." ( 1994); and particularly, Ingmar Bergman's 1974 "Scenes From A Marriage." Also: Wilde does not besmirch Mike Nichols' "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). The film is dedicated to Diane Keaton. "The Invite" opens the door Thursday, July 2.

"By Hook Or By Crook"

Writer-directors Silas Howard and Harry Dodge's 2001 buddy-comedy "By Hook Or By Crook" follows the trail of crime of small-time grifters, buddies Shy (Silas Howard) and Valentine (Harry Dodge). On its twenty-fifth anniversary, the charisma of its characters and trans-butch capers remains fresh and charismatic. "By Hook Or By Crook" opens at the Film Center, Friday, June 26.

"Rose Of Nevada"

With "Rose Of Nevada" (35mm), his fable-like third feature, Cornwall filmmaker Mark Jenkin casts known actors George McKay and Callum Turner in the story of a lost ship that one day hoves into harbor, returning with a freight of mystery. Jenkin's work (including 2022 horror "Enys Men") are supremely tactile. His work is artisanal to an extreme—he writes and directs, but also shoots them with a 16mm Bolex, allowing imperfections to seep into the finished work. He then himself edits and layers sound design that includes post synchronization of dialogue. So many filmmakers could take such a tack, but would the work be as otherworldly, unearthly, dream-draped? It’s not just one signature mark, it’s a dozen things at once.

Jenkin stays close to sensation, to his character faces, too. Actors, when they see finished work, often express surprise at what a filmmaker has captured from the pages they were handed. Conversations with the actors in Jenkin's work express glee as much as surprise. How the stories must dance in his head in anticipation of arriving at his fingertips! There is a fragmentary story, a whisper of story, suggests of fairytale and time travel, but what makes Mark Jenkin's films adhesive is exacting technique. Story is elusive, but the fragments, the instants are concrete. Filmmaker Mark Jenkin will appear opening night. "Rose of Nevada" open Friday, June 26 at the Music Box.

In "Jackass: Best and Last," the middle-aged masochists prank their way once more—one last time?—into the heart of John Waters and America. Opens Thursday, June 25.

Comedian-writer-actor John Early makes his directorial debut with the comedy-melodrama "Maddie's Secret," playing "a plucky dishwasher who leaps to viral superstardom" at Gourmaybe, "a trendy food content creation company." With Kate Berlant, Eric Rahill, Kristen Johnston. Early will appear on opening night. Trailer here. "Maddie's Sccret" opens Thursday, July 2 at the Music Box.

REPERTORY & REVIVAL

"Two Or Three Things I Know About Her"

The Chicago Film Society presents Jean-Luc Godard's widescreen eyeful, "Two or Three Things I Know About Her" (35mm). During production, said Godard, "I want to include everything, sport, politics, even groceries." Chicago Film Society at the Music Box, Monday, June 29. 7pm.

"You Never Know Women"

Also from CFS: William A. Wellman's 1926 "You Never Know Women" (35mm): "The show business love triangle was a standard setup in silent-era Hollywood, but have you ever seen that story unfold among the cosmopolitan artistes of the Imperial Vaudeville of Moscow, who nonchalantly tour America as if the Czar were still ensconced at the Winter Palace?" asks Kyle Westphal. Live musical accompaniment by Robbie Ellis and Nicholas White. Music Box, Sunday, July 5, 11:30am.

Filmspotting Fest presents a twenty-fifth anniversary screening of Wes Anderson's breakthrough "The Royal Tenenbaums" (35mm), with former Tribune critic Michael Phillips and Filmspotting hosts Adam Kempenaar and Josh Larsen talking afterwards. Music Box , Sunday, June 28, 11am.

"No Picnic"

More at the Music Box: "Rope" and "Marnie," the last two titles in "Fond of His Mother: Queer-Coded Hitchcock." Also: John Cameron Mitchell appears with an acoustic set at two sold-out twenty-fifth anniversary showings of "Hedwig And The Angry Inch." Tuesday, July 7-Wednesday July 8.

Plus, christening Theater 3 for public audiences: a fresh 4K restoration of Guy Maddin's 1992 Alpine majesty, "Careful," opening Friday alongside Philip Hartman's 1987 artifact of the pre-gentrification East Village, "No Picnic."

"Trouble Every Day"

The Film Center showcases "Bouchra," the animated story of "a queer Moroccan jackal living in NYC"; a restoration of Katsuhito Ishii's 2004 "The Taste of Tea"; four showings of Vittorio De Sica's essential 1958 "Bicycle Thieves"; Trent Harris' "Off Center: Beaver Trilogy" (2000); and Claire Denis' "there will be blood and agnès b. vampire feast" "Trouble Every Day"(2001). “Trouble Every Day” is bittersweet vampire splatter, co-starring Vincent Gallo, almost blasphemous in its bloody zeal and pictorial ferocity. The pacing is exquisite, the moods mysterious but ultimately malevolent.

Facets features Michael Haneke's "Piano Teacher" (2001); Takashi Miike's 1999 "Audition"; and Satayajit Ray's essential humanist masterpiece, "Pather Panchali" (1955).

Among other Chicago venues, remember Drafthouse has attractions that often sell out days or weeks in advance, which we then don't often list.

THE WEEK IN FILM

"The Bear" fifth season, Matty Matheson, left

"The Bear”‘s Matty Matheson Goes Beyond “The Screaming Face”

“Prolifically profane” chef Matty Matheson “loves his sweet role on ‘The Bear’ and life on his Canadian farm, but he’s weary of playing the clown,” profiles Kim Severson at the New York Times. “He’s the best-known chef in Toronto, selling smash burgers over the counter at one restaurant, $595 tins of caviar at another and takeout pizza with aged dough at five more…YouTube fans know him from the chaotic, deceptively sloppy stand-and-stir cooking shows that he presides over like John Belushi with a culinary degree. In ‘Toy Story 5,’ he gives voice to a daredevil peanut in a lucha libre mask. And, of course, there is ‘The Bear,’ the hit series that shot him to a level of celebrity that the self-described ‘psychopathic party boy’ from a big, working-class family in small-town Ontario could have never imagined.” The fifth and final season debuts June 25.

Terry Gilliam Airs The Expected Laundry

"For all the luck I had at the start of my life, I paid for it near the end": Eighty-five-year-old artist Terry Gilliam sits down to lunch and roast with A Rabbit's Foot.

"Rex Reed Hated Everything"

The late Rex Reed's final editor writes at the Hollywood Reporter about working with the legendary curmudgeon: "During his final years at The New York Observer, the late legendary film critic was often his own worst enemy. A then-twenty-four-year-old staffer recalls how he became Reed's unlikely handler, confidant and—on more than one occasion—last line of defense." Writes Matthew Kassel, "Rex seemed to interpret the glut of mediocre films he was forced to endure in an unending series of soporific screenings as a highly personal affront to strict standards of taste, decency and class—cultivated in his peregrinations through an Old Hollywood that had long gone extinct."

"The week I asked him to review 'Blue is the Warmest Colour,' meanwhile, he ignored my request and filed, instead, a pan of a forgettable horror film called 'Big Ass Spider!' Rex later told me that he had no interest in watching nearly 'three hours of lesbian sex.' There was no arguing with him."

Big Survey Bears Out Independent Art House Growth

“Results of the Art House Convergence’s eleventh National Audience Survey were released Monday,” Variety relays, showing that movie theaters “continue to be a vital asset to their communities, with a nine percent increase in business in 2025, an encouraging sign for the sector.” A quarter of those surveyed “said they first began going to their preferred art house theaters within the last three years. These new art house moviegoers had an average age of forty, eleven years younger than the average age of all those surveyed, which is fifty-one. Of those recent attendees, sixty-eight percent were younger than forty-five.” Not noted: arthouse tickets are consistently more reasonably priced at retail than those at chain multiplexes.

Says Music Box general manager Ryan Oestreich, “The Music Box attendance returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2023 and has been growing by ten to fifteen percent every year since. Music Box has built a community through cinema, by doing what’s always worked, programming for multiple audiences with films they want to see on a consistent basis; plus we offer great customer service, presentation and a beautiful venue to watch movies in.”

The Success Of Rated Q

Since its first screening in December 2021, “Rated Q has become one of Music Box’s most popular programs,” raves the Reader. “Founder Ramona Slick reflects on five years of the theater’s monthly series celebrating drag and queer film.”

The Obamas’ Higher Ground Partners With Disney

Disney and President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions “are joining forces to greenlight music-driven, original animated fantasy series ‘Journey’ for Disney+,” reports Deadline. “It marks the first major production partnership announcement for Higher Ground since President Obama announced in April that the company is winding down its eight-year first-look deal with Netflix to take a more independent approach.”

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2026-06-26 New City

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:00:12 GMT

Newcity Today will be on holiday break next week, so the next edition of this newsletter will arrive on July 6. Have a great Fourth of July, but be careful with those sparklers, bottle rockets and bomb pops.

We've just put our double summer issue on pre-sale. You can read through its table of contents and order it here.

We've also extended our cutoff date for subscriptions, so you can still get this as your first issue, which means you'll pay about half the single-issue price. Order a subscription here.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

DESIGN

Design Top 5: July/August 2026

A guide to a design-filled summer. (Vasia Rigou)

ART

Towering Totems: The Found-Object Conceptual Art of Kenzi Shiokava Finally Gets Its Due at the MCA

Shiokava's retrospective details an overview of his extensive career through groupings of boxes, totems, wall works and studio artifacts. (Teddy Sandler)

JUNE 2026:
DESIGN 50
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STAGE

“Water for Elephants” Refreshingly Quenches the Urge to Run Off to the Circus

The musical adaptation presented by Broadway in Chicago is a spectacle of movement. (Dennis Polkow)

BRAZIL

An Unlikely Encounter at “Eu Chorei Os Rios” at FGV Arte in Rio de Janeiro

"I cried rivers: Art from the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas" is a collection of associations, of works speaking of a similar struggle. (Ekaterina Mastyukova)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Jordan Martins Paints On The Forest Floor

Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago presents "On the Forest Floor," "a solo exhibition of new paintings by Chicago-based artist Jordan Martins. Co-curated by Jaclyn Jacunski and Teresa Silva, the exhibition brings together a body of work that spans Martins' ongoing series of Sottobosco paintings, large-scale collaged canvases unfolding across the gallery as a sustained meditation on perception, abundance and what it means to be immersed rather than oriented. The sottobosco, Italian for 'undergrowth,' was a minor genre of seventeenth-century Dutch still life painting in which the forest floor replaced the table: mossy ground, fallen branches, fungi, nesting birds and creeping insects arranged with the same loving attention previously reserved for fruit and flowers in still lifes." Opening June 27, 1-4pm. More here.

The Ren Receives Climate-Oriented Grant For Facilities

The Renaissance Society has received an award from the "Frankenthaler Climate Initiative, a grantmaking program established by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation in collaboration with Environment & Culture Partners to catalyze climate action in the visual arts. The grant supports 'A Sustainable Future for the Renaissance Society: Assessing Energy and Building Performance at Historic Cobb Hall,' a scoping study that will investigate HVAC system performance, building envelope integrity and humidity control in [their] gallery space." More here.

DESIGN

A Rare Unit In The Art Moderne Theophil Studios Is For Sale

"Owners of twenty-five years are selling a one-bedroom unit that has many of its 1940 finishes intact, including stained glass in a rare modern style," reports Crain's. The residential building is part of the West Burton Place Historic District, which also features the nearby Carl Street Studios, which artist Edgar Miller collaborated on with developer Sol Kogen. Theophil Studios was "heavily influenced by Miller’s design work, especially the stained glass windows," writes the Edgar Miller Legacy. "Even some of Edgar Miller’s relief sculptures and painted tiles were incorporated into sections of its front wall. This likely happened by Kogen selling pieces of Edgar’s work that had been left at the Studios." View the listing here.

Neglected Frank Lloyd Wright House Sold To Neighborhood Nonprofit

Nonprofit community group Austin Coming Together has purchased the vacant Wright-designed J.J. Walser Jr. House and intends to restore the building, writes Lee Bey at the Sun-Times. "Built in 1903, the buff-colored wood-and-stucco Prairie School design is among a set of circa 1900 residences along Central Avenue that mark the Austin’s early years as a Chicago neighborhood." While they purchased the building for $125,000, the group expects it could take at least $3 million to rehab the home, which is a city landmark.

Chicago Designers' Home Bedecked With Contemporary Art

A red brick and limestone structure in Lakeview "cuts a stately, purposely demure profile," writes Robb Report, but "from the moment you step inside, the residence opens into a welcoming, modern mix of rich color and pattern, anchored by the owners’ contemporary art collection. To highlight the artwork, which includes works by Banksy, Damien Hirst and Roy Lichtenstein, James Dolenc and Tom Riker, co-founder of the interiors firm James Thomas, designed a comfortable and refined family home that allows it to stand out. The firm had worked with the clients on several other properties, and for this one they pursued a layered aesthetic focused on textured materials, contemporary forms and soft colors."

DINING & DRINKING

Behind The Reopening Of Beaumont's

"Opened in late May, Beaumont's, at 2020 North Halsted, is a 200-seat tavern-driven American restaurant. Upstairs is The Bull Moose, a boutique steakhouse that will debut on July 1," writes Lisa Shames at The Hunger. "Heading up the kitchen for both restaurants is executive chef Johnny Besch, who most recently was at the Loop’s Bistro Monadnock and the West Loop’s BLVD Steakhouse before that."

Among the dishes, "there’s the coal-roasted rainbow trout paired with an absinthe cream sauce and topped with shaved fennel and herbs. The shrimp and grits features a Spence Farms grits cake paired with smoked ham hock, prawns and creamed sherry and topped with caramelized raclette cheese. 'It eats very Southern and French Creole, so there’s that through-line back to my cooking pedigree of mostly French cuisine,' says Besch."

Tzuco And Ummo Collaborate With The MCA On "Dancing The Revolution" Dishes

The MCA and Somos Hospitality have announced a "new collaboration in celebration of the MCA’s exhibition 'Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón.' As a part of the collaboration, made in consultation with Chef Carlos Gaytán, Somos restaurants Tzuco and Ummo will present signature dishes and cocktails inspired by dancehall, reggaetón and the Caribbean. At Tzuco, guests can enjoy a lobster tostada and The Old Cuban cocktail. At Ummo, visitors can order the Tamarind Martini. After purchasing signature collaboration items, guests will receive two-for-one admission to 'Dancing the Revolution.'" The special cocktails and dishes will be available beginning July 1.

"The Bear" Leaves Its Mark On Chicago Dining

"From Mr. Beef to Avec and Kasama, tourists 'make a pilgrimage' to spots seen in 'The Bear,'" surveys the Sun-Times. “It’s just become a part of the food culture,” Publican Quality Meats chef and butcher Rob Levitt said. “People are constantly talking about, is it a good representation of the industry? But I think the one thing that I love is that everybody agrees that it is a love letter to Chicago.” Donnie Madia, the Chicago restaurateur behind One Off Hospitality, "which owns the Publican brand of restaurants, plus Avec and other concepts, has also appeared in the show, playing himself...'All the actors have put another spotlight on this city, letting everyone know that this city is the culinary destination, not of the universe, but in the nation. There’s a heightened awareness, and also a spotlight.'"

FILM & TELEVISION

The Music Box Shows Off Its New Theater

The latest Instagram post from the Music Box shows off Theater 3, opening today: "Featuring ninety-eight European-style seats, a design and color scheme inspired by our original auditorium (plus replicas of our inner lobby columns!), a new NEC Laser Digital projector, state-of-the-art ribbon-based sound system by Alcons Audio, accessibility devices for the hearing and vision impaired and coming soon—two Norelco 35mm projectors rebuilt and installed by Kinora."

AI24 Knows You're Disappointed With Their Google Deal

"Indie movie fans are upset about Google DeepMind’s $75 million investment in A24, which comes as AI companies are deepening their influence in Hollywood," writes Wired. Google "is teaming up with A24 to create new filmmaking 'tools,' as part of A24’s technology startup, A24 Labs, overseen by cofounder Scott Belsky." "This is a research partnership,” Sophia Shin, who handles communications at A24, writes. “We're working side-by-side with DeepMind's researchers to learn, iterate and build, having an active hand in shaping new tools and workflows."

STAGE

Steppenwolf Will Open Its Season With "Topdog/Underdog"

Steppenwolf Theatre Company will launch its fifty-first season with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize-winning drama "Topdog/Underdog," directed by Tony Award-winning director Kenny Leon, who returns to Steppenwolf after his production of "King James." Ensemble members Glenn Davis and Namir Smallwood go head-to-head in this revival, more than two decades after the company’s 2003 production. "Topdog/Underdog" will play a limited engagement September 17-November 1 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater. Single tickets go on sale Thursday, July 9, 2026 here.

Ari Emanuel In Talks To Acquire Broadway-West End Theater Giant

Ari Emanuel's live events group is exploring a $6 billion takeover of the theater owner and operator ATG, writes the Hollywood Reporter. "ATG has ten theaters on the West End, including the Lyceum, home to long-running hit 'The Lion King' and the Savoy Theatre, where the box office hit 'Paddington the Musical' is playing. It has seven Broadway theaters, after acquiring a majority stake in Jujamcyn Theaters in 2023, as well as the Lyric Theatre, which is home to 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.' The company owns, operates or programs seventy venues across Britain, the U.S., Germany, Austria and Spain." The Chicago-area native and brother of the former mayor also owns Frieze, the parent company of Expo Chicago.

Remy Bumppo Announces The Season Ahead

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company has announced its next season, which will feature the return of founding artistic director James Bohnen. Productions planned for the season include Dominique Morisseau's "Mud Row," running October 15-November 15, directed by Malkia Stampley; "Marjorie Prime," by Jordan Harrison, directed by Bohnen, running April 29-May 30, 2027; and the fourth edition of its reading series, "Readings on Ravenswood" in winter 2027. Subscriptions ($55-$115) here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

The Arts Are Chicago's Third-Largest Industry

The new report from Arts Alliance Illinois "measures the sector’s economic impact in a moment when the creative field has faced funding cuts across levels of government," reports the Sun-Times. "The creative sector is Chicago’s third-largest industry and accounts for nearly 213,000 jobs, according to a new economic impact study released by Arts Alliance Illinois, a statewide advocacy organization." That makes it "a larger workforce than educational services, retail or manufacturing." The Arts Alliance's report and asset map is here.

Tourism Grows, But Still Below Pre-Pandemic Totals

Choose Chicago announced that "visitation to the city grew by 2.6 percent last year to 56.8 million people. The total still trails the record-high 61.6 million tourists the city welcomed in 2019," reports Crain's. "At about ninety-two percent of its pre-pandemic tourism activity, Chicago isn’t the only major U.S. city still trying to recover lost business," with New York and San Francisco still trailing their 2019 visitor totals. In Chicago, "domestic leisure travelers grew by 4.8 percent last year to 40.7 million visitors," which was "largely offset by an eight percent drop in international travelers to a total of 1.9 million, the agency said. That decrease aligned with reduced foreign tourism nationwide, a trend fueled by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown efforts, trade wars and moves to block tourists from several countries."

Nine Key LGBTQ+ Chicago Historical Sites

"Chicago has played a critical role in LGBTQ+ history," tallies Block Club. The Illinois Office of Tourism has highlighted landmarks in Chicago "that many queer Chicagoans enjoy. These buildings, parks and places, found all across the city, represent important chapters of queer history."

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2026-07-06 New City

Mon, 06 Jul 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Two-hundred-and-fifty-years ago, our Founding Fathers risked their lives, liberty and livelihoods to declare America's independence from Great Britain. This past weekend, England finally got its revenge, when the sport it created and spread around the world, soccer, conquered America.

Rooting for the United States team in the World Cup has been (so far) a refreshingly Trump-free way to feel patriotic on this occasion, and if you watch the game in a sports bar, you'll also experience the "brotherhood" of "America the Beautiful" in real time.

Trump showed up to one NBA finals game, most likely to cheer on the Knicks. It was the only game in the entire playoffs that they lost. Let's hope he stays far away from the pitch when USMNT is playing "the beautiful game."

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Our double summer issue is on pre-sale here.

Get the double summer issue as your first when you order a subscription here.

STAGE

“Iceboy!” Keeps Things Cool at the Goodman

Goodman concludes their centennial with a star-studded musical comedy headlining real-life couple Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. (Christine Trevino)

ART

Art Top 5: July/August 2026

Gray hosts a show of the late Hockney's moonscape paintings. (Brian Hieggelke)

LIT

“The Man” Is an Aperture Into Mid-Life Uncertainties

Laura Sims examines the oscillation between darkness and light in a novel about art and the effects of trauma. (Amanda Norton)

NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of July 2, 2026

Shower yourself with gifts, treats and blessings. (Rob Brezsny)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
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LIT

Lit Top 5: July/August 2026

Chicago writers on islands and cruise ships, plus two newer festivals to the literary ecosystem. (Todd Hieggelke)

BRAZIL

The Photo Prankster Vik Muniz at Rio’s Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil

A Muniz retrospective offers a comprehensive overview of the artist's work to date. (Cynthia Garcia)

BRAZIL

The Green at the Bottom of Cícero Dias' Abyss

"Cícero Dias: Pioneer of Abstract Art in Brazil" examines the geometric identity of Dias' work. (Luiz Armando Bagolin)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

DePaul Art Collection To Remain After Museum Closure

Following the DePaul Art Museum's recent closure, director Laura-Caroline de Lara "will remain on staff to help the university manage and care for the collections, which are stored in the museum building," notes WBEZ. "The nearly 4,000 pieces of the collection can be browsed online. De Lara became director in January of 2022. 'I know it like the back of my hand,' de Lara told a reporter. 'I’m really glad to be able to care for the collection in a way that is an extension of caring for those artists, too.'"

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Appoints Senior Curator

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City has appointed Dr. Carrie Rebora Barratt, Ph.D, as senior curator-at-large of American art. "Dr. Barratt will serve as a scholarly and strategic advisor on the museum’s significant American art collections, guiding their growth, interpretation and institutional positioning as the museum advances its renovation and expansion plans. Dr. Barratt is an art historian, author, and accomplished museum and public garden leader with a distinguished record of transformative institutional impact. At The Metropolitan Museum of Art, she rose from curator of American art to deputy director."

DESIGN

The Ruins Of A Louis Sullivan Building Hidden On The Lakefront

"After hiding in plain sight on the south Lakefront for seven decades, carved stone fragments of a significant nineteenth century building by architect Louis Sullivan have burst into public view," reports Crain's. "Largely forgotten for decades, the scraps still show the botanical and geometrical patterns that Sullivan specified for the Walker Warehouse, built in 1889 across the street from where the Willis Tower stands now and demolished in 1953."

Cultural historian Tim Samuelson "said during Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration he hoped to get the pieces moved to the Riverwalk downtown, but it proved impractical. Together they weigh several tons, and getting a crane to the site either by land or by water would be too costly, 'even if you could do it,' he said." Preservationist Eric Nordstrom "said he believes because of the weight and logistical issues, 'they’re there for all time.'"

A Lost Frank Lloyd Wright Office Design Revived

Visitors to Erie, Pennsylvania's Hagen History Center can step into Frank Lloyd Wright's former San Francisco field office "just as it would have been in the 1950s," spreads Architectural Digest. The history center is opening the Frank Lloyd Wright Field Office Museum, "a 3,000-square-foot immersive education center with Wright’s former field office, reconstructed in a purpose-built space designed by Kidder Architects, at the heart of the structure." The field office was the architect's "only formal workspace outside of his own homes, Taliesin, Taliesin West and his Chicago residence."

Could Chicago Courtyards Become National Historic Places?

An Illinois advisory council "will vote on a measure to make all of the city’s courtyard-style residential buildings eligible for national register consideration," writes Lee Bey at the Sun-Times. "It also would make it easier for owners and developers to later get national register listings for individual courtyard buildings. Individually listed structures can be eligible for state and federal tax breaks that could substantially offset the costs of a historically correct rehab or restoration."

Damen Silos Site Owner Charged For Unapproved Parking Lot

According to city officials, "a parking lot on the former Damen Silos site was built without authorization and in violation of city rules," reports Block Club. Owner Michael Tadin Jr. "could face fines of up to $1,000 a day if he doesn’t comply with the city’s request to stop using the lot and submit a plan for the necessary permits."

DINING & DRINKING

Chicago Restaurants' World Cup Runneth Over

"Though Chicago is not one of the host cities, a soccer craze has gripped its residents and visitors. And they do not want to stay home to spectate," reports Crain's. "Restaurants are opening early and staying open late to accommodate. They’ve brought in more staff, erected outdoor jumbotrons and rolled out World Cup-themed food and drink specials. Owners say revenues are skyrocketing, giving them a much-needed boost as operating costs continue to rise."

Chicago's Hello Kitty Cafe Is In The Pink

"The world’s largest Sanrio character-themed café pairs pastries and pastels with sweeping views of the Chicago River and Downtown," reports the Sun-Times. "Visitors and kids of all ages can enjoy two stories and 8,000 square feet not just of merchandise and photo ops, but a full-service afternoon tea in the exclusive Bow Room and a host of Instagram-worthy baked goods (after all, Kitty White, the character’s full name, was born with her twin sister Mimmy in the suburbs of London)." Reservations for afternoon tea and more here.

Ever Hails Michelin Stars For Dinner Series

Weeks after the Michelin Guide awarded third stars to Sonoma County’s Enclos and San Francisco’s Californios, chefs from those kitchens are part of a three-night Chef de Cuisine Dinner Series at Ever, bringing together six of North America’s most acclaimed chefs for one-night-only collaborative tasting menus. July 14, 21, 28. Reservations ($540-$625) and more here.

Avec Reopens After Refresh

Last week, the original Randolph Street location of avec got "a long-awaited refresh" after twenty-three years, the restaurant posts on Instagram. The establishment installed "a new cooking line, upgraded our flooring and improved our air-conditioning systems throughout the restaurant."

Kitty's Cosmopolitan Club Hosts Singapore's Cat Bite Club

On July 20, Kitty's Cosmopolitan Club, sister saloon to Gus’ Sip & Dip and Three Dots, will feature a guest shift with Jesse Vida, co-founder of Singapore's cocktail bar Cat Bite Club. On offer: a four-cocktail fixed menu created exclusively by Vida for the evening, "highlighting the curiosity, precision and playful spirit that have made Cat Bite Club an international destination for drinks enthusiasts." Reservations ($75) here.

Terri Hemmert's Ann Sather Days

On Facebook, Terri Hemmert reminisces about being a regular at Ann Sather on Belmont "since I was fresh out of school (Elmhurst College), new to my first radio job (answering the request line at WGLD), taking the L from Oak Park to Belmont to have dinner at Ann's and walk over to the Quiet Knight (on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield) to see artists like Bob Marley, Miles Davis, Richard Thompson, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, The Roches, Willie Dixon and others...I wasn't making much money but I was getting free records and concert tickets. That worked." (More.)

How Hot Dogs Became The American Food

The hot dog "didn’t start here, and it’s not ending here," though "across the country, there are regional variations, from the Mexican-originated Sonoran dog popular in Arizona to the reindeer dogs of Alaska," writes Jaya Saxena at Ravenous (link with free subscription). "Norwegians eat about 450 million hot dogs a year and are associated with the country’s independence day on May 17. 'South Americans and Scandinavians really love a hot dog, arguably more than Americans,' an expert says. Sure, American imperialism may have catalyzed this, but the hot dog is a requirement for Filipino spaghetti, Peruvian salchipapas, Korean corn dogs and Chinese flower buns. The symbol of American independence, of summer and vacation, and freedom, is also one of international innovation." (More.)

Prime & Provisions Reopens

After a full-scale reconstruction following a late 2025 kitchen fire, Prime & Provisions reopens. The restaurant, with its "beef program, luxurious steakhouse traditions and a grand dining experience inspired by the elegance and spectacle of Chicago’s nineteenth-century World’s Fair era," is the flagship restaurant of DineAmic Hospitality. Reservations and more here.

FILM & TELEVISION

The 400 Names Director Of Programming

Rogers Park resident Nicola McCafferty is now director of programming at the soon-to-be-reopened 400 Theater. McCafferty "also works as a programmer for the Chicago International Film Festival and teaches at Northwestern University, where she recently completed her Ph.D in Screen Cultures in the Department of Radio/Television/Film." Writes theater owner Jordan Stancil, "Nicola is an experienced programmer, teacher and scholar—our audiences will benefit from her leadership, expertise and commitment to independent cinema." The 400 will announce more hires, including programmers, closer to its reopening.

What Jeremy Allen White Knew About Ending "The Bear"

"It was hard to say goodbye," says Jeremy Allen White on the closing of "The Bear," according to the Hollywood Reporter. But he and the other key actors "found comfort in knowing the series’ ending in advance. 'We’re really lucky in that we had a buildup,' he said. 'I knew for about two years when it was going to end and how it was going to end, so there was a lot of time to prepare.'"

Tom Skilling Plays Himself During Severe Weather

Tom Skilling made a post-deluge cameo in "The Bear"'s final season as a patron of the restaurant, reports Block Club. The next-to-last episode, "which featured the restaurant’s stressful make-or-break service during a torrential rainstorm, played host to the man Chicagoans trusted with the weather for nearly fifty years: meteorologist Tom Skilling." Skilling had to "act like he was a wine connoisseur. In reality, though, Skilling is 'not an expert on wine at all.'" Says Skilling, "They would come up and lay some lines on me, and I’d think, ‘God, how am I supposed to respond to this?'"

Cinema/Chicago Soirée Honors Alex Thompson, Kelly O'Sullivan

Chicago filmmakers Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan will receive the Vanguard Award at the sixty-second anniversary Cinema/Chicago Soirée. The biannual fundraising event supports Cinema/Chicago’s year-round artistic, educational and industry programming. "Thompson and O’Sullivan exemplify the type of filmmakers that we celebrate: artists with a distinctive voice telling deeply human stories with heart, wit and a strong sense of place," says Cinema/Chicago artistic director Mimi Plauché. "Their uniquely collaborative work feels both immediate and enduring." Saturday, July 18 at The Geraghty. More here.

LIT

Chicago's Trans Authors Sustain Representation

Chicago's community of LGBTQ+ creators "are trying to make space for themselves and others in literature as Chicago becomes a haven for trans people being targeted by legislation in the U.S.," reports the Sun-Times, profiling a range of local writers.

The Year Ahead In Chicago Books

"From your perfect beach read to captivating books that will carry you into the New Year, our Chicago writing community is bringing you something to enjoy through the rest of 2026 and beyond," writes the Chicago Review Of Books. The piece lists new titles by Chicago authors from now through late November, including upcoming summer releases like Kathleen Rooney's "Man Overboard!," Rowan Beaird's "Tenderness" and Dawn Turner's "Majestic Hills."

MUSIC

Bob Dylan Plucks Chicago's Joel Paterson As Guitarist

Bob Dylan "was joined onstage by Chicago jazz and blues musician Joel Paterson" at an Austin gig last week, profiles Stereogum. If Paterson hadn't joined the Long Hot Summer Tour that night, he "would've played the 150-seat Green Mill Cocktail Lounge in Chicago—he has (had) a weekly residency on Mondays." "You haven't lived 'til you've seen Joel Patterson at the Green Mill," posts writer-director Justin Sherin. "He makes songs you've heard a million times sound brand new. No wonder Dylan hired him." Adds the Sun-Times, “Besides his longtime residency at the Green Mill on Monday nights with his quartet, [Paterson] performs regularly throughout the city and suburbs.” A June 22 snap of Paterson performing at the Green Mill is here. Newcity wrote about Paterson as a master of Christmas music here.

This Summer's Gospel Fest Lineup Announced

DCASE has announced the lineup for the free Chicago Gospel Music Festival, which returns to Millennium Park later this month. This year’s festival features headline performances from Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship Choir, Ricky Dillard and New G and Tasha Cobbs Leonard. Friday, July 24-Saturday, July 25. View the full details here.

Alex Ross Leaving New Yorker Music Berth After Thirty Years, But Staying On Staff

"For thirty years, I’ve had the high honor of serving as the music critic of The New Yorker," posts Alex Ross. "My archive of writing contains nearly four hundred iterations of the column known as Musical Events, as well as eighty or so longer essays about composers, performers and attendant issues. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to vacate the aisle seat. My latest column is my last. Although the musical scene exhilarates me more than ever—contemporary composition is eternally vital—I wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome." (More.)

STAGE

Tanya Saracho Plans New Series With Starz

"Starz is reteaming with 'Vida' creator Tanya Saracho" to develop a series based on "Lauren Palphreyman’s 'The Wolf King,' a steamy adult romance-fantasy that follow a princess who is kidnapped and held captive by a 'brooding werewolf alpha' amidst a war," writes the Hollywood Reporter. Saracho, who started her career in Chicago's theater scene, co-founding Teatro Luna, will be the show's showrunner and executive producer.

Can American Theaters Keep Up With Contemporary Playwrights?

"American playwrights, recognizing that identity is more complicated and slippery than ideology, have been shedding fresh light on what it means to be an American," writes Charles McNulty at the Los Angeles Times. "Writers such as Young Jean Lee, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Jeremy O. Harris, Ayad Akhtar and Bess Wohl have been creating drama from the multidimensional, intersectional realities of characters whose backgrounds refuse to be compartmentalized into a single category."

Nicholas Hytner’s Bridge Theatre Acquired By For-Profit Trafalgar

The London theater company founded in 2017 by star director Nicholas Hytner and former National Theatre colleague Nick Starr has been sold to Trafalgar, a company that owns more than twenty venues, charts the Guardian.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

A Brush-Up For The Chicago Leather Archives & Museum

"The Leather Archives & Museum broke ground June 1 on a $2.2 million renovation that will expand the museum’s gallery space and create an ADA-compliant entrance," reports Block Club. The renovations "include a community event space and upgrades to the museum’s archives with climate controls and additional storage."

Bally's Enlists Former Mayor Lightfoot to Combat Gambling Machines

"As the battle between Bally’s and the city heats up over the advent of video gambling terminals, the casino company has enlisted an unlikely ally—former Mayor Lightfoot—whose administration chose the Rhode Island-based company to build Chicago’s first casino," reports the Tribune. "Bally’s has hired Lightfoot’s law firm, RKF Global, to navigate the dispute, which the casino company says would violate its contract with the city and potentially void an annual $4 million payment requirement to Chicago as part of that host agreement."

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2026-07-07 New City

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

Half or more of America marked the nation's birthday this week with a deep sense of concern about the future of our democracy. And so did much of the world, which has long longed for the successful model of a stable, civil republic that we've represented to them for so long.

The prominent Brazilian artist Denise Milan is one of those who has been thinking a lot about this. She is the co-creator of the massive and magnificent public sculpture, "America's Courtyard," on the Lakefront, adjacent to the south side of the Adler Planetarium. I asked her to share her thoughts about how, now more than ever, the idea of America that inspired her sculpture—North, South and Central America—as a place that transcends national borders, is so, so relevant. She offered this poetic meditation:

An arena of stones. Through pieces of granite, the countries that make up America live.

America arises anew, in a structure of play. A structure made up of fragments that can be assembled, taken to pieces again, like a children's game with which we can play, run about, make up our theater and reinvent our dreams.

The metaphor is of an America where countries could be reintegrated through an awareness that relies in matter and in its interior order. The consciousness of earth in a precivilization context, when organization was not provided by economic values, but by values that come from earth's primordial order, by values that can unite America's different manifestations, ethnic groups, beliefs and cultures, through different fragments of soil, giving a sense of belonging, a sense of playing an active part in a larger process.

In "America's Courtyard," the earth soul speaks, the countries are boundary-free and mingle in constant mutation throughout time.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

Our double summer issue is on pre-sale here.

Get the double summer issue as your first when you order a subscription here.

ART

"On Wonder, Mind & Magic: Jeanette Andrews" Peeks Behind the Curtain

Andrews' magical medium investigates the human psyche, perception and the history of performance magic. (Elisa Shoenberger)

FILM

Film Top 5: July 2026

The Music Box hosts 70mm screenings of Christopher Nolan's 172-minute epic, plus one of the greatest and mostly unlikely of otherworldly romances. (Ray Pride)

STAGE

Exercises in Trust: "between us and everyone here" at the Neo-Futurists

Come to understand dance as a series of actions—actions that sit closer to everyday experience than you may have thought. (Eileen B. Fisher)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

MUSIC

Music Top 5: July/August 2026

Summertime music to see: block parties, Graceland, Midwest emo and more. (Todd Hieggelke)

NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of July 9, 2026

Whales value novelty even in their ancient rituals. (Rob Brezsny)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Bob Faust’s “Ways And Means” Reimagines The American Flag

Artist-designer Bob Faust’s “Ways and Means” is a “participatory public initiative that reclaims and reimagines the American flag through typographically-driven flag designs, transforming one of the nation’s most recognizable symbols into a platform for reflection, dialogue and civic participation. The series comprises twelve transparent, double-layered flags featuring rainbow-stitched stripes and twenty-four paired tenets that define and reflect patriotism.” Faust “created ‘Ways and Means’ as an environmentally adaptable, easily mobilized project as opposed to a singular, static installation.” The work debuted when it was carried by a local dance troupe at the Obama Presidential Center opening celebration as part of Nick Cave’s Soundsuit performance. (More.)

Chicago Artist Series Hits YouTube

Pentimenti Productions’ “4×4: Contemporary Art in Chicago” is a series of short documentaries about practicing local artists, directed by Chicago-based filmmakers. Each program profiles a working artist and their distinct neighborhood, and is a collaboration between the artist and the filmmaker. The debut season features Chicago artists Bernard Williams, Deb Sokolow, Errol Ortiz and Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop. The filmmakers are cai thomas; Erin Babbin and Michael Sullivan; Alex Morelli; and Kevin Shaw. Watch here.

The Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Groundbreaking Arrives

On Wednesday, the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation hosts “a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the construction of a memorial that honors the survivors of torture committed by the infamous former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and the men under his command at Area 2 and 3 Police Headquarters from 1972 to 1991,” a release advises. The memorial will be built at 5520 South King Drive, “a stone’s throw from the new Obama Presidential Center.” The groundbreaking will be livestreamed here.

Notre Dame’s Raclin Murphy Museum Receives Lilly Endowment Grant

“The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame has received a $5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support capacity-building projects and programs,” the museum reports. “The grant is one of twelve invitational grants that Lilly Endowment is making to help Indiana art museums strengthen and enhance their ability to contribute to cultural vibrancy in their communities and regions.” (More.)

A Southeast Side Testimony To Chainsaw Artist Milton Mizenburg

A summer afternoon is well spent wandering among artist Milton Mizenburg’s wood sculptures, “which his family and community members have sought to preserve and protect,” writes Alison Cuddy at WBEZ. “The Oakland Museum & Garden, a small green oasis on Chicago’s Southeast Side, [contains] four of Mizenburg’s squat, totemic-like wood sculptures [which] form a line west along the length of the park. Painted in shades, including blue, gold and purple, they are fastened together with simple bolts. Small branches and bark-covered logs intersect with openings carved out of sanded blocks of wood.”

DESIGN

Frank Gehry’s Striking Desk From The Lobby Of The Inland Steel Goes To Auction

On July 15, Freeman’s will present “Icehenge” at auction, “a monumental sculptural work by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.” The work was used as the security desk in the lobby of the Inland Steel building, which Gehry owned a small stake in. The “rare and expressive example of Gehry’s experimental design practice” is “composed of sculpted slabs of light green glass that catch and refract light with striking intensity. Weighing approximately 15,000 pounds, the work evokes a fractured glacier.”

LaSalle Street Conversion Plans Include A New Public Alley

“Envoi Partners is moving forward with plans for [19 South LaSalle], the sixteen-story building originally designed by the father of the skyscraper, William Le Baron Jenney,” reports Chicago YIMBY. “The structure long served as the central regional headquarters for the YMCA,” where basketball was promoted across the region. “Designed by local firm HPA, plans call for the reopening of the building’s ground-floor windows and entrances, creating 6,600 square feet of commercial space along the streetfront and the entire length of the adjacent alley. This will revive the alley as a public space.” Before the pandemic, the alley was home to Silk Road and its spicy chicken dish, a Loop lunch mainstay.

Dôen’s First Midwest Store Will Be In Wilmette’s Plaza Del Lago

Los Angeles-based brand Dôen, known for its feminine and vintage-inspired designs, will open its first Midwest outpost in Plaza del Lago in Wilmette, charts WWD. Plaza del Lago plays a supporting role in Thomas Pynchon’s most recent novel, period satirical thriller “Shadow Ticket.”

DINING & DRINKING

Loulou Sets “L’Soirée” With Damon Locks And Andres L. Hernandez

L’Soirée at Loulou is an artist series curated by Amalea Tshilds, which pairs “artists with one another, and with you.” The series features music, conversation and food by Lula Cafe, which opened nearby Loulou as an events venue. Visual artist, educator and vocalist-musician Damon Locks and conceptual artist and educator Andres L. Hernandez will present their work at the next edition. Loulou, 3057 West Logan Boulevard, July 10, 6pm. Reservations ($95) and more here.

Profiling Breakfast Queen Ina Pinkney

“Ina Pinkney will forever be known as the Breakfast Queen of Chicago,” writes Louisa Kung Liu Chu at the Tribune (gift link). “Ina’s, her last namesake restaurant, opened twenty-five years ago on a then-industrial stretch of Randolph Street in an area of warehouse wholesale markets and not much else. Her highness closed the house that pancakes built in 2013, where there’s now the highly desirable West Loop neighborhood. But that wasn’t the first Ina’s restaurant or her first foray in the food business. And Pinkney hasn’t quite retired. She remains a secret restaurant godmother, quietly advising restaurateurs around the city.”

Dear Margaret Continues Pop-Ups, Next At Ox Bar & Hearth

Dear Margaret continues a series of pop-ups as they search for a new space after a fire, next joining Ox Bar & Hearth for a five-course menu “celebrating the height of the season through two distinct culinary perspectives, brought together by a shared passion for ingredient-driven cooking and the warmth of the live fire hearth.” Expect dishes that honor each restaurant’s unique style while showcasing the creativity that comes from cooking side by side. 1578 North Clybourn. July 16. Tickets ($195 each) and more here.

Longman & Eagle’s New Head Chef Preserves Tavern Style

“I’ve always loved Longman & Eagle,” recently appointed executive chef Alex Swieton tells Resy. “I thought it was so cool and I loved the cooking style—something that was kind of bold, but still welcoming and approachable.” Starting as brunch chef in 2010, she “moved up the ranks to dinner, serving as chef de cuisine for three years, and when chef Brian Motyka left last fall, Swieton was promoted to executive chef.” Swieton describes herself as a “vegetable person through and through” but “couldn’t wait to get creative with offal—a hallmark of the restaurant.”

A Sky Ride To The Loop’s Last Dive

Kyriakos “Carl” Damianides “has run the Sky Ride Tap since 1972. While business has slowed and the building’s future is uncertain, he says ‘I’m still healthy,'” quaffs Block Club. Besides the shorter hours at 105 West Van Buren (now open weekdays from 10am-8pm), “not much else has changed about the bar since Damianides took over. It still doesn’t take credit cards. There’s no cocktail list. Renovations have been kept to an absolute minimum. He did add floor tile in 1974, but he learned early on not to make too many changes.”

Second Martini Expo Shakes Chicago

“After its debut in Brooklyn, the Martini Expo relocates to the Second City September 13-20 for a full week of all things shaken and stirred,” reports Chicago magazine. “One new event this year will be a martini tour of Chicago: [organizer Robert] Simonson will take a group of martini superfans on a journey around the city, learning about sites of historical importance to the martini.”

Cocktail Bar Bobo From Chef Zubair Mohajir Opens

Chef Zubair Mohajir’s new wood-fire-driven restaurant Muhajir has been joined by Bobo, “a high-energy sister cocktail bar hidden inside Muhajir, offering a bold contrast through Filipino street market-inspired drinks, late-night bites and an irreverent nightlife experience.” The beverage program is led by Richard Beltzer and David Mor. The cocktail menu will highlight Filipino and Southeast Asian ingredients such as calamansi, ube, pandan, coconut, rambutan, banana and lipote. 2630 North Clark, 5pm-midnight. More here.

Banchet Awards Pluck Cluck ‘N Bubble

The Banchet Awards will present fried chicken and champagne event Cluck ’N Bubble, the organization’s first event outside its annual awards ceremony. Nine Chicago chefs, including Art Smith and Andrew Lim, will compete for the Cluck ’N Bubble Fried Chicken Champion title, with guests tasting each dish and voting. Proceeds will support ongoing work to honor local chefs and restaurants and develop mentorship, education and job-training opportunities. The Alston, Sunday, August 23, noon. Tickets ($150) and more here.

FILM & TELEVISION

Pepe Vargas Talks Retirement

“After decades of leading the International Latino Cultural Center, executive director and founder Pepe Vargas, seventy-eight, has stepped down due to health reasons,” reports the Sun-Times. “The organization, which has been a steward of pan-Latino multidisciplinary art and artists in Chicago for over forty years, will continue under new leadership…Vargas helped shape the cultural center and, in many ways, the greater landscape of Latino cultural life in Chicago, from building the Latino Film Festival beyond its humble origins to the vast cultural programming it’s known for today.”

Tony Brown, Host of Public Affairs Show Aimed at Black Audiences, Was Ninety-Three

By the time his PBS show, “Tony Brown’s Journal,” “went off the air in 2008, Tony Brown estimated that, over the course of nearly four decades, he had interviewed more than a thousand guests, including Lena Horne, Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Bill Cosby and Sammy Davis Jr.,” chronicles the New York Times (gift link). Brown said he “made programming decisions by asking himself, ‘Will it help Black people?'”

LIT

Rowan Beaird Talks “Tenderness” At Next Literary Salon

“The Chicago Literary Salon returns for its ninth event with an evening devoted to one of the summer’s most captivating novels,” the series advises. The August 4 event “will welcome author Rowan Beaird to Le Sud (2301 West Roscoe) for an intimate gathering celebrating ‘Tenderness,’ a mesmerizing story of family secrets, cults, complicated loyalties, and the enduring question: How well can we ever know the people we love?” The evening will feature “a salon-style conversation with Rowan Beaird exploring themes of cults and belonging,” and guests will receive a signed hardcover copy of the book, courtesy of Three Avenues Bookshop and a welcome cocktail and curated menu from Le Sud. More here.

University of Chicago Press Workers Vote Union

“Members of the University of Chicago Press Workers Guild will find out on July 8 whether they have won their union election after a public campaign that began this spring,” reports South Side Weekly. “Either way, employees at the press, one of the largest university presses in the United States, feel more connected and ready to advocate for themselves.”

MUSIC

Moxie Lady: Cynthia Plaster Caster Gets Rolling Stone Profile

“She was famous for her statues of rock stars’ penises, but this groupie’s entire story has never been told—until now,” claims Rolling Stone in a strong profile of Chicago’s late Cynthia Albritton. (The issue is not yet online.) “Albritton had long talked about writing a memoir but never got past the first chapter. After she died in 2022 at the age of seventy-four, some of her friends got in touch with the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, Bloomington. Founded in 1947, the organization tasked with studying sex and relationships at the deepest level appreciated both the humor and the history in Albritton’s work. They looked past the titillating shtick and saw how, whether or not she intended to at first, her art had tipped the dynamic of rock-star groupie on its head and reclaimed power from those who might seek to take it from her.

“Kinsey gladly accepted her papers—years of diaries, casting notes, bindings of clippings and a carefully packaged collection of penis-themed memorabilia—as well as more than a hundred penis casts, some in plaster, others in bronze and all of the material she used to make them." (More.)

Remembering Touch And Go Records Co-Founder David Stimson

“Touch and Go co-founder Dave Stimson has passed away,” chronicles the label’s Corey Rusk on Instagram. “Back in the Touch and Go Fanzine days, Tesco was the master of verbose storytelling. Although Dave was his linguistically minimalist counterpart, Dave could convey as much with a dry, condensed sentence as Tesco could in a full page.”

Christopher Bell Reups With Grant Park Music Festival

Grant Park Music Festival chorus director Christopher Bell will follow up his twenty-fifth season with the chorus by renewing his contract through 2029. “To celebrate his twenty-fifth season with the festival, Christopher Bell will lead the orchestra and chorus on July 17 and 18, when he conducts one of the most cherished choral works in the world, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. He pairs that with Scottish composer James MacMillan’s deeply sacred ‘Cantos Sagrados,’ a work that Bell has conducted many times, including its world premiere for orchestra and chorus in 1998.” More Bell (before the announcement ) here.

A Million Records In The Middle Of Illinois

Mendota is the place, surveys Leor Galil at the Reader. “Horizons Music in Mendota, Illinois, has more vinyl for sale than you’ve ever seen in one place. How did that many records all end up in a tiny town an hour away from Rockford and even further from Peoria and Chicago?”

Prolific Musician John Rice, Known As “Johnny One-Take”

Tributes are pouring in for longtime Chicago musician John Rice, who recently passed away. “Besides his epic musical accomplishments in his beloved hometown of Chicago, he was just a spectacular brother to me,” writes his brother Bob on Facebook. “Every pursuit for him was a deep dive. He could argue the point that whatever artist he’d obsess over, you should be obsessing over.” Adds Mekons’ Jon Langford, “So many records.” “Met John Rice through Chicago’s incredible Sundowners and we collaborated on a million different projects,” Langford posts.

STAGE

Ida B. Wells Conversation With Great-Granddaughter And “Suffs” Actor

This Thursday, the Chicago Bee Branch will host a conversation between Michelle Duster, the great-granddaughter of trailblazing journalist Ida B. Wells, and Danyel Fulton, who plays Ida B. Wells in “Suffs,” currently on stage in a production hosted by Broadway in Chicago. The Bee Branch of the Chicago Public Library once housed the Chicago Bee, where Ida B. Wells was an editor. Chicago Bee Branch, Chicago Public Library, 3647 South State, Thursday, July 9, 10am.

The Driehaus Announces Fall Dates For “Brendan Fernandes: In the Round”

The Driehaus Museum announces fall performances for “Brendan Fernandes: In the Round,” where Fernandes “transforms the Museum’s 1926 Murphy Auditorium into a dynamic site for dance, movement, sound and sculptural installation.” Organized by guest curator Stephanie Cristello, the shows are part of the Museum’s “A Tale of Today” series “that places contemporary art in dialogue with the art, architecture and design of the Museum.” Read Newcity’s feature on “In the Round” here. September-November. Free. Reservations and more here.

Idle Muse’s “What’s Past Is Prologue” Marks Two Decades

Idle Muse Theatre Company celebrates its twentieth anniversary season with its anniversary gala, “What’s Past is Prologue.” “All tickets include food and drink from Tamale Spaceship, a silent auction with themed baskets, a wine pull, a giving tree and the opportunity to interact with characters from past Idle Muse productions.” The gala will be hosted at Lytle House in Edgewater on Sunday, July 12, from 6-9pm. Tickets and more here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

New York City Approves A Record-High Culture Budget

“Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council will provide the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) with its highest-ever yearly appropriation as part of the city’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget,” reports Hyperallergic. “The city government will give $323.8 million to the agency, which administers public funding to arts institutions throughout the city. The appropriation marks a nearly seven percent increase from last year’s then-record $299.6 million investment.”

The Deep Tunnel Is Nearly Full

“The massive system of tunnels and reservoirs built to contain Chicago’s floodwater, protect its rivers and Lake Michigan” faces “a risk that suburbs will flood and sewers will overflow into the Chicago River,” marks the Sun-Times. “Built over more than a half-century, Deep Tunnel sends floodwaters from Chicago and nearby suburbs through more than a hundred miles of tunnels into three reservoirs located just outside of the city. It was designed to help protect the river as well as Lake Michigan. The Thornton reservoir in South Holland was at ninety-four percent capacity around noon on Monday. The McCook reservoir in Bedford Park was at one hundred percent. Between the two, they are holding almost eleven billion gallons of water.”

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2026-07-07 New City

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:00:06 GMT

July 10 – Welles (Gideon) Park: Arco

Films on the Green Returns to Celebrate America at 250!

Make plans to join us for the following screenings:

July 17 – Belmont Harbor Park: Breathless (A bout de souffle)

July 24 – Montgomery Ward Park: Mr. Blake at Your Service! (Complètement Cramé !)

July 31 – Lake Shore Park, La Vie en rose (La Môme)

Films are in French with English subtitles, except Arco, which will be shown in English.

RESERVE A SPOT

SPONSORED

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2026-07-08 New City

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Our summer double issue arrives today, and if you order it here this morning, you'll be among the first to get it in the mail. Or get this issue as your first when you order a subscription here.

It's a big one, 156 pages in all, with a magnificent cover by the magnificent Edra Soto. And a mix of stories about Chicago, about the Midwest, that you've never seen anywhere else, and never will again.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

LIT

Booking at the Beach: Chicago Authors with New Novels Explore the City’s Formidable Reading Tastes

Four local authors with novels releasing this summer try to define the kind of books our city likes to read while lounging Lake-side. (Elizabeth Niarchos Neukirch)

ART

"Beyond the Black Rainbow" and Utopian Collapse

Twelve Ten's group exhibition investigates the skin-crawling vestiges of neoliberalism's failed perfectionist dream. (Teddy Sandler)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

STAGE

Isn’t It Rich To Experience Sondheim in the Round?

The Marriott Theatre's "A Little Night Music" is an optimistic operetta. (Dennis Polkow)

BRAZIL

Vast Contemporary Art Space and Cultural Park Opens in São Pedro

Plus Almeida & Dale expands south, La Samaritaine in Paris goes Brazilian, and more. (Daniela Cantu)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Hyde Park Art Center’s “Ground Floor” Showcases City’s Recent MFA Grads

Hyde Park Art Center’s ninth edition of “Ground Floor,” its biennial program showcasing select work by recent graduates from each of Chicago’s five MFA programs, will be on view from August 9-November 1. “The exhibition offers a single destination to view some of Chicago’s most promising emerging talent,” featuring twenty artists who recently graduated from the MFA programs of Columbia College Chicago, Northwestern University, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The exhibition is meant “to articulate conceptual and stylistic trends coming out of Chicago art schools right now. Their modes of making range the full spectrum in media, from painting and printmaking to film and sculpture.” More here.

Detroit Museum Director Attributes Portrait To Velázquez

Detroit Institute of Arts director Salvador Salort-Pons has published research that newly attributes a portrait to artist Diego Velázquez, relays ARTnews. The painting was “made during the artist’s earliest years as a court painter to King Philip IV. Salort-Pons, a specialist on Velázquez, published his findings (pdf here) in the current issue of ARS Magazine, run by the Museo Prado in Madrid.” The 1626 work, titled “The Count-Duke of Olivares in Armor,” “depicts Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimental, commonly known as the Count-Duke of Olivares, who served as prime minister of Spain from 1623 to 1643 and was a court favorite of Philip IV. The work currently belongs to a private collection, according to Salort-Pons, who does not provide recent provenance of the work.”

Betye Saar’s Work Gets It On

Los Angeles-based Roberts Projects will publish “Let’s Get It On: The Wearable Art of Betye Saar” as part of a centennial celebration of the artist, with a book launch planned on July 25. The book is meant to accompany the exhibition currently on view at Roberts Projects, which originated at Chicago’s Neubauer Collegium last year. The volume focuses on “Saar’s early work in costume and jewelry design during the 1960s and 1970s, exploring how this formative period profoundly shaped her pioneering work in assemblage and installation." (More.)

A Museum By Any Other Name…

“As arts institutions struggle to increase attendance, entertainment centers marketed as museums are wooing those who once might have gone to view art,” surveys the New York Times. Among them, “the Museum of Ice Cream, a for-profit amusement center, has more in common with Chuck E. Cheese than an educational institution; however, its adoption of museum branding and its emphasis on immersive experiences have blurred the lines in the cultural landscape, wooing tourists and families that might otherwise visit a traditional museum. The company said it received about a million visitors annually across its six locations, including in Chicago, New York and other big cities—higher attendance numbers than the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art.”

Sotheby’s Will Auction Virgil Abloh Prints To Benefit Scholarship

Proceeds from the sale of four signed limited-edition prints will benefit a scholarship at the late artist and designer Virgil Abloh’s alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, reports Axios Chicago. “The designs were part of Abloh’s 2015 #OffWisconsin collaboration that reinterpreted the school’s iconic ‘red shirt.'” The sale price is estimated at $7,000-$10,000. The listing is here.

DESIGN

City Says The Cost Of Restoring The Uptown Theatre Is Too Dear

Representative Mike Quigley announced his campaign for mayor at the Uptown Theatre, “drawing renewed attention to the long-vacant venue. But the venue’s owner wants more from the city than it can give,” reports Block Club. The Uptown “turned one hundred last year but has been closed since 1981. It was built as a fantastical destination for movie screenings before the advent of home televisions and was later refashioned as a concert venue.”

Restoration would depend on about $200 million in funding that would need to come from the city. Said building owner Jerry Mickelson, “So, what’s more important? An office building converted to a residential, or the Uptown Theatre, that’s gonna be amazing for the community and create a huge social impact?”

Measuring Studio Gang’s One Milestone West

Studio Gang’s One Milestone West, a new building on Harvard’s campus, “is defined by its curved form and expansive glazing,” the Architect’s Newspaper reports. “Bands on the elevations are meant to evoke earthen strata. Lower levels of the 245,000-square-foot building are for dining and socializing, and lab and workspaces are co-located throughout the upper floors.” The new complex is near the David Rubenstein Treehouse also designed by Studio Gang, which opened in October and is the university’s first mass timber building.

Maurice Cox’s Vision For The Future Of Woodlawn

“The handful of blocks immediately across Stony Island Avenue from the Obama Presidential Center in Woodlawn are a typical South Side hopscotch of vacant lots with elegant red brick and greystone two-and-three flats, courtyard apartments, community gardens and small churches,” publishes Harvard Design magazine. “Real estate brokerage signs common on the much more affluent North Side are sprouting up, and there are more vacant lots than vacant buildings—land primed for a flip. It is clear that Woodlawn is in the middle of a transition that will change it forever.”

Former planning commissioner and Harvard GSD professor Maurice Cox “is here to guide this change, through a unique studio collaboration between urban design and real estate students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD).” Read more about Cox’s project here.

Historic Place Designation Sought for Dwight Perkins-Designed High School

“State officials have asked the National Park Service to put the Dwight Perkins-designed South Chicago Bowen High School on the National Register of Historic Places,” writes Lee Bey at the Sun-Times. “Carl Schurz High School is an architectural marvel: An absolute Prairie School beauty at Milwaukee and Addison that rightfully earned city landmark status and a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1910, the building is among architect Dwight Perkins’ finest work. Meanwhile, its architectural doppelgänger, James H. Bowen High School in South Chicago, also designed by Perkins and opened the same year as its North Side counterpart, has received no such love—until now.”

Remembering Montgomery Ward’s Role In Preserving Grant Park

“Aaron Montgomery Ward was responsible for one of the city’s most drawn-out fights over public parkland,” records Curious City at WBEZ. He “spent twenty-two years and many thousands of dollars fighting to keep Chicago’s premier downtown park ‘forever open, clear and free’ from buildings. But why did he do it? And why isn’t he celebrated more for his crusade? The answer involves Ward’s personal aversion to publicity and his stated desire for accessible greenspace for all residents.”

Midtown Pfizer Skyscraper Under Residential Conversion At Risk Of Collapse

Mayor Mamdani “said a high-profile housing project under construction near Grand Central Terminal, and at risk of collapse, was still unstable Tuesday afternoon and warned New Yorkers to avoid the area,” reports the New York Times. The former headquarters of Pfizer “is being converted to a residential complex with more than 1,600 apartments. The project, which architects said would be the largest of its kind in New York City history, was scheduled to be completed in 2027.”

DINING & DRINKING

Coda di Volpe Celebrates Ten Years With Block Party

Southport Corridor restaurant Coda di Volpe (Italian for “tail of the fox”) will mark a decade in business with a block party on July 13. The restaurant is “one of only a handful of VPN-certified” pizzerias in the city, serving Southern Italian cuisine and Neapolitan pizzas “with authentic pizza shears in true Italian fashion.” Tickets ($25 here) include passed hors d’oeuvres, select beer, wine and cocktails. Proceeds will benefit Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Monday, July 13, 5pm-8pm.

The Getaway Closes After Explosion

Lincoln Square’s The Getaway is closed indefinitely, reports Block Club, after a gas stove caught fire and caused an explosion that injured one person at 5pm last Wednesday. A posted notice declares the entire building “off-limits.”

FILM & TELEVISION

Kartemquin Slates Summer Soirée

Kartemquin Films will celebrate sixty years at their annual fundraiser this summer, where attendees can join “fellow filmmakers, storytellers and democracy defenders for an intimate evening of music, film, drinks and fireworks!” Hosted in a Lakeshore penthouse overlooking Navy Pier, “this intimate fundraising event blends the spirit of documentary storytelling with the electricity of a Chicago summer night. Guests will arrive for a soulful House DJ-driven rooftop reception, sip activism-inspired cocktails, gather for docs under the stars and close the night with a spectacular private view of Chicago’s beautiful Lakefront.” More about the sixtieth anniversary here. Tickets ($300-$2,500) here.

FCC Succeeds: ABC’s “The View” Stifles Political Candidate Bookings

“The Federal Communications Commission has already changed the programming of one of television’s last remaining relevant daytime talk shows—before even making any formal demands,” reports Semafor. “FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced in February the agency was investigating whether ‘The View’ violated the ‘equal time’ rule, a 1930s regulation that requires broadcast programs to give equal airtime to opposing candidates if they permit a candidate for public office to appear on public airwaves. Since then, the ABC talk show hasn’t featured a single political candidate running in a competitive midterm race.” (More.)

Sony’s Alamo Drafthouse Okay With Certain Phone Use In Theaters

“In January, as reports trickled in that Alamo Drafthouse would be pivoting to an unthinkable QR-code phone-ordering system [for food], the company’s website was updated with a meticulous FAQ page designed to quell the growing flames of outrage,” reports Slate. “Going forward, anyone watching a movie in one of Alamo’s forty theaters across the country would be required to order food and beverages with their phones, even during the movie, but company leadership urged us not to despair…All of this represented a significant break from Alamo Drafthouse’s carefully manicured image. One of the few cathedrals of cinema—the antidote to the shabby state of the American movie house—had suddenly made the galling determination that a screen shining in a darkened theater is not nearly as annoying as everyone had thought.”

LIT

Horror Mini-Con Hosts Daniel Kraus, Christopher Golden And Christina Henry

Bucket O’ Blood will host a horror mini-con featuring contemporary horror writers Christopher Golden, Daniel Kraus, Jonathan Janz, S.A. Barnes, Gus Moreno, Maurice Broaddus, Christina Henry, Nick Medina and Theodore Van Alst Jr. The event is part of Golden’s “Carry Me To Your Bookshelf ” tour, with pop-up horror mini-conventions celebrating the horror genre and its community of readers and writers. Bucket O’ Blood, July 25, 4:30pm.

MUSIC

Metro Hosts A “Hometown Celebration” For The Lin Brehmer Scholars Fund

This August, the Metro will host “Hometown Celebration,” a benefit for The Lin Brehmer Scholars Fund. The evening features performances by The Linburgers (Matt Spiegel and Curt Morrison of Tributosaurus) with guests Dag Juhlin, Michael McDermott and Heather Lynne Horton. A portion of proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Lin Brehmer Scholars Fund, a scholarship “for young people overcoming tremendous obstacles to go to college and realize their dreams.” Sunday, August 16. The presale is Thursday, July 9, 9am (with code 93XRT). General tickets on sale Friday, July 10 at 10am here.

STAGE

Johnny Galecki Will Play Tennessee Williams At Lookingglass

“After taking a seven-year break from acting, ‘The Big Bang Theory’ star Johnny Galecki is set to portray renowned playwright Tennessee Williams in the Chicago stage presentation of ‘Kowalski,'” reports Variety. “Colin Hanlon is directing the new play written by Gregg Ostrin for Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre Company, with performances running September 19-October 25. The story takes place in 1947 Provincetown and, according to an official plot synopsis, imagines the ‘electrifying’ first meeting between Williams and Marlon Brando that led to ‘A Streetcar Named Desire.'”

Talking “Iceboy!” With Cedric Yarbrough

Actor Cedric Yarbrough talks to the Chicago Defender about his role in “Iceboy!” at the Goodman, including working alongside Megan Mullally and her husband, Nick Offerman. “Theater has always been my first love,” says Yarbrough. “I was raised in Minneapolis, studied theater at Minnesota State University and originally planned to move to either Chicago or New York before deciding on Los Angeles. My goal was always to build a career and eventually return to theater. Somehow that plan worked.”

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Pioneer George E. Johnson Sr. Was Ninety-Nine

George E. Johnson Sr. left behind an extraordinary legacy. In an obituary released by his family, they note that he “was a visionary business leader who built a haircare empire, broke barriers on Wall Street and helped fuel the fight for civil rights.” With a $250 loan in 1954 “and an unshakable belief that opportunity should exist for everyone, he and his late wife, Joan, founded Johnson Products Company on Chicago’s South Side. They created an industry and touched millions of lives serving an often overlooked market with excellence and innovation, creating iconic brands like Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen. Johnson Products became a fixture in homes and salons around the world and a source of pride throughout Black America.” (More.)

White House Assails Smithsonian’s “Extreme Political Activism”

“A scathing report released on the Fourth of July says the National Museum of American History downplays the role of the founders while emphasizing social justice,” reports The New York Times (gift link). The 162-page report, “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage,” “by the White House’s Domestic Policy Council, represents a sweeping attack on the museum’s presentation of American history." (More.)

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2026-07-09 New City

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Over the holiday week we took a break from publishing to get some critical but time-consuming projects done. One of those was to finish the final piece of our long-in-process evolution from our origins into the magazine that you see today, and that meant retooling our distribution model to set us up for growth and sustainability in the long run.

As I hope you've noticed, Newcity has changed dramatically over the last decade, evolving from a weekly, printed on less-expensive newsprint, to a monthly magazine with an extensive offering of stories and the best design in the world (at least we think so), all printed on better-quality paper than most magazines anywhere.

And we're not done yet, as we work toward our goal of being the best magazine in the world. Who says that can't be done from Chicago?

Starting with the issue hitting the streets and mailboxes today, the magazine is available via paid subscriptions, on sale at retail and, in a limited number of cases, made available on a complimentary basis by venues who support Newcity.

So how can you get a copy of the huge double summer issue that came out yesterday? If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

MUSIC

Kahil El’Zabar on the Nation’s Anniversary

In the wake of George Floyd, the author responded with an album titled "America the Beautiful." Now he revisits the theme as the nation marks 250 years. (Kahil El’Zabar)

ART

Unfiltered in Sophie Rivera's "Double Exposures"

The Museo del Barrio in New York highlights Rivera’s legacy as “an artist, a Latino and a feminist.” (Jonathan Bonfiglio)

FILM

Talking Screens: The Movies of Chicago's Alex Phillips | A Northbrook-Set Erotic Thriller | Mann's "Manhunter," The Final Cut

Plus: “A Matter of Life and Death” at the Music Box, a Mary Oliver documentary and the latest in the "Evil Dead" series. (Ray Pride)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

LIT

Chicago Native Jake La Botz Brings His Blues to the Page

The musician's new Algren-inspired collection features melodic stories about wanting to belong, in places like Maxwell Street or a Lutheran church basement. (Mary Wisniewski)

STAGE

Stage Top 5: July/August 2026

These two months in theater have all the touchstones of a great summer season, like music, parks and old Western novels. (Todd Hieggelke)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

The Art Institute Announces Its Remaining Exhibitions This Year

The Art Institute's exhibitions for the rest of this year include the recently opened "Beyond Form: Abstraction at Midcentury," which "explores how abstraction emerged as a powerful visual language between 1940-1970, a period of global upheaval and transformation." Featured artists include Ruth Asawa, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, Sam Gilliam, Mark Rothko and Yayoi Kusama. Also planned is "Lee Miller: Fearless," "the first comprehensive survey of the versatile photographer's work in more than twenty-five years."

Other planned exhibitions include "Mary Cassatt's most innovative compositions to newly created paintings from contemporary artist Jill Mulleady to the first retrospective of Beatriz González, one of Latin America's most renowned contemporary artists." Meer has more on the traveling Lee Miller show here. Read more on the Art Institute's exhibitions here.

Could New Bremen, Ohio Become "The Marfa Of The Midwest"?

James Dicke II, chairman and CEO of Crown Equipment Corporation, "one of the world's largest forklift truck manufacturers, is a long-time admirer of James Turrell, the renowned Light and Space artist," reports The Art Newspaper. After visiting his famous light installations around the globe, "Dicke II decided he wanted a Turrell closer to home and company headquarters. In 2023, the executive began discussions with the artist about creating a new Skyspace installation for his community in New Bremen, Ohio, a town of around 3,000 people in a rural area.

"The project, which consists of an enclosed chamber with a retractable roof, is scheduled to open in 2027. At the end of this year, Dicke II will open the city's new Modern Aboriginal Art Museum. 'It would be wonderful if New Bremen, Ohio became the Marfa of the Midwest,' he says. 'We aspire to have enough here that's interesting, that it's worth the trip.'"

Madison's Chazen Museum Plans To Reopen This Fall

"When the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reopens its doors this fall, visitors won't simply return to a familiar destination—they'll experience an entirely new way of seeing the collection," the museum announces. "After a full reinstallation of its collection galleries, the Chazen is unveiling a dynamic and visitor-centered approach to exhibiting the artwork in its collection." (More.)

Health Groups In Wales And Greece Advance Art's Benefits

"Global interest in the health benefits of the arts is gaining momentum with more governments recognizing that creativity should be embedded across national health systems," relays The Art Newspaper. "Wales has been forward thinking in this field, with the Arts Council of Wales, the public arm's-length arts funding body, and the Welsh NHS Confederation teaming up in 2017 to sign an ongoing memorandum of understanding aimed at disseminating research and informing government policy around the benefits that the arts can bring to people's health and wellbeing."

"Greece, meanwhile, has gone further: its 'cultural prescription' scheme has been assimilated into the national healthcare infrastructure, becoming statutory policy. The program, embedded within Greece 2.0, the national recovery and resilience strategy, enables health professionals to recommend participation in arts-based activities as part of a holistic approach to mental-health support. Participants living with conditions such as depression or anxiety attend sessions in venues such as galleries, theaters and community arts spaces."

Readers Respond To Art Market Sustainability Essay

New York Times readers respond to a guest essay by former Art Basel director Marc Spiegler about the struggles that galleries face. Writes one, "Spiegler’s admonition that galleries must remain locally focused comes across as condescending, unhelpful and unaware of the role that the author himself has played in destabilizing the art market. It is art itself that suffers the most, with artists feeling the pressure to churn out inoffensive works their galleries can sell to remain afloat."(More.)

DINING & DRINKING

All Well, Three Months After Opening

"All Well comes from the team behind Oriole, a fine dining restaurant that’s been recognized by both the Michelin Guide and the Beard Awards. At the restaurant, 'You feel comforted when you walk in and know that we’ve dialed in the food and the cocktails,' says Larry Feldmeier, the restaurant’s executive chef and co-owner," newsletters Pre Shift in an extended interview. "Even the name comes from having that kind of rapport. 'When I was working at Oriole with Noah [Sandoval, All Well's chef-partner], when one of us was out of town, we'd check in with each other, and we'd text "all well." It was a way to see how things were going at the restaurant and see how everyone was doing. We were like, "We should just call the restaurant that.""'

What's a favored dish? "That family-style pasta course encompasses what we want to do here. It's a stuffed pasta with a Délice de Bourgogne and potato filling. It’s glazed in beurre monté with a bunch of English peas and a little bit of Banyuls vinegar and pea tendrils. We serve it in a copper pot with sourdough toast from Milli bakery here in Chicago." (More.)

Scofflaw Team Establishes Drama Club In Humboldt Park

Drama Club, a "high-design, elegant bar," "will have mezcal and tequila cocktails for $10-$12 and DJs on the weekends," locates Block Club. The decade-dormant site at 819 North California Avenue is a block north of The Continental, and has been transformed into a "moody and theatrical space" fitting of its name. "We wanted to create a lively, affordable cocktail concept but also wanted it to have some grandeur," says Danny Shapiro, co-owner of Scofflaw Group, which also owns popular bars like Scofflaw, Moonlighter, Heavy Feather and Slippery Slope. "Drama Club is a fitting name based on how we wanted it to feel.”

Getting In Line For The Baked Goods

There are lines, and there are lines for breakfast pastries. Chicago magazine dining critic John Kessler waits in one with hopes to "compare the latest bakery sensation to the previous one. How does Bad Butter compare to Del Sur, Daeji Dough Company or Fat Peach? I’ve not personally been to all the hot bakeries—so many!" he says, spreading on the personal anecdotes and toothsome detail. "There are a lot of good bakeries now. Compare the average croissant of today to one from ten years ago, and you'll note a serious upgrade thanks to better, cheaper tools for laminating dough. You, too, could probably open a good bakery with a little investment and practice."

Celebrating Chicago's Dive Bars

"Cash Only: An Ode to Dive Bars" is a new group exhibition where "local artists explore why dive bars remain one of the last places where conversations happen face-to-face instead of through a screen." The show opens Friday, July 10 at Art City in Lincoln Park, reports Time Out Chicago. "Running through August 14, the show pays tribute to the neon signs, battered bar stools, sticky floors and colorful regulars that have long made Chicago's corner taverns some of the city's most important (and memorable) gathering places."

Sipping Coffee At The Obama Center

"Lower West Side company Color Me Coffee was chosen as the sole coffee supplier for the Obama Presidential Center," cups the Sun-Times. "After a blind taste test that included seven other local roasters, the brand was chosen as the winner in February. The judges included representatives from the Obama Foundation, Bon Appetit magazine and the Chicago Beverage Co. In honor of former President Barack Obama, Stivers and staff created the '44 Reserve,' a proprietary blend of Kenyan, Hawaiian and Indonesian beans, symbolizing Obama's roots. The blend is available at the center and on Color Me Coffee's website."

FILM & TELEVISION

Mubi Fest Returns

Mubi Fest plays this weekend at the Salt Shed, the Music Box and the Film Center, including a sold-out preview of Jane Schoenbrun's lurid Gillian Anderson-starring meta-slasher "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma." The Film Center will show "The Royal Tenenbaums" for its twenty-fifth anniversary under the Film Center roof. Plus: Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" at twenty-five under the Music Box's twinkling sky. And of great note, Rob Mazurek provides live accompaniment to his splendid original score to Kelly Reichardt's painterly road movie-rebel fable "The Mastermind" (review here). Complete listings here.

All-Day "Lollopalooza" To Celebrate Gina Lollobrigida

Alliance Française de Chicago will present "Lollopalooza: An All-Day Apéro" to salute Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. Plans include "a stylish summer double feature pairing French cinema, vintage-inspired fashion, garden glamour, sophisticated sips and the irresistible allure of 'La Lollo.' The only essential fashion is a taste for cinema and joie de vivre—think oversized sunglasses, silk scarves, summer dresses, sharp tailoring, market baskets, bold lipstick and unapologetic glamour!" The films are 1952's "Fanfan la Tulipe" at 11:30am and 1968's "Death Laid An Egg" at 2:30pm, with complimentary Twisted Mimosas between films in the Alliance’s jewel-box garden. Saturday, August 1. Tickets ($30) and more here.

Blockbusters In The Wards

T magazine checks out a British nonprofit that "helps patients escape the stress and boredom of ward life by watching the latest blockbusters." Nine cinemas are run inside hospitals around the country by the BAFTA-winning MediCinema. "There is a growing realization that 'patient experience influences patient outcomes,' said Daisy Fancourt, a professor at University College London who has written extensively on the links between culture and health. Too often, she said, the benefits of the arts in clinical settings have been undervalued." Upcoming screenings include "Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' and 'Taxi Driver' for its fiftieth anniversary."

One Union: "Chicago Fire" And "Chicago Med" PAs Ratify Contract

Production assistants on Dick Wolf NBC shows "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago Med" have ratified their first union contracts with Production Assistants United and LiUNA Local 724. "These contracts mean pension coverage, health coverage, union representation, enforceable standards and momentum for PA organizing in Chicago." More on Instagram here.

Lincoln Square Celebrates "Caturday" In August

On August 8, Lincoln Square will be host to "Caturday," neighbors will be able to enjoy a day of cat videos followed by a street tour showcasing the neighborhood’s feline friends this August. Plans include a 12:30pm screening of "CatVideoFest 2026" at the Davis Theater, "a compilation of the latest and best cat videos," followed by the first-ever Lincoln Square Cat Tour through the neighborhood from 3-5pm. More from Block Club here.

LIT

Chicago Public Library Foundation Announces President & CEO

Eva Giglio will join the Chicago Public Library Foundation as president and CEO next month. She succeeds interim leader Bob Wislow, who has run the organization since the death of CEO Brenda Langstraat Bui earlier this year. Giglio brings a background of over seventeen years of "extensive work in education, government and philanthropy. Her passion for lifelong learning and supporting strong communities began in a classroom at Kenwood Academy, where she taught middle and high school students." (More.)

MEDIA

Chicago Public Media To Launch Chicago.com

Chicago Public Media, the parent company of the Sun-Times and WBEZ, plans to turn the coveted domain into a community hub, which "will include Chicago-area information, civic and cultural resources, community-sourced knowledge and opportunities for audience participation," reports WBEZ. "It will also curate headlines from the Sun-Times, WBEZ and other news sources." The launch "will consist of a 'minimally viable product,' or a basic website, that will continue to evolve."

STAGE

"Iceboy!"'s Nick Offerman Remembers His Chicago Theater Days

Nick Offerman "was born in Joliet, grew up in downstate Minooka and got his professional start on Chicago stages in the 1990s, performing with the long-gone Defiant Theatre, as well as with Steppenwolf, the Goodman and A Red Orchid Theatre," profiles Web Behrens at Block Club. Now he’s back in Chicago with his wife, Megan Mullally, "who studied theater at Northwestern University." Says Offerman, "When we got to Chicago, we were scrappy. We were itinerant. I mean, we'd beg and scrape the rent for a theater for six weeks, and I would drive around the alleys of Chicago and collect loose lumber from dumpsters and materials that looked like, if I squint, I can turn that into a chaise lounge for a period piece. And we just had the greatest time."

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Chicago Museums Host Free Summer Days

"Whether you’re looking for a cheap activity for the kids or craving a new experience, the city’s museum scene has got something for everyone," charts WBEZ. Illinois residents "can get the most out of the summer by taking advantage of multiple free days across Chicago institutions like the Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum." The piece also lists free dates for the Adler Planetarium; Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago History Museum; DuSable Black History Museum; Griffin Museum of Science and Industry; Heritage Museum of Asian Art; Museum of Contemporary Art; Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum; Shedd Aquarium; and the Swedish American Museum.

From Out Of The Fog Comes A Free Ferris Wheel

Navy Pier is offering a small make-good for the fog-felled fireworks of the Fourth of July with free rides on its Ferris wheel on Wednesday nights through Labor Day. More on Instagram here.

World Naked Bike Ride Returns This Weekend

For its twenty-second doff, the World Naked Bike Ride comes back on Saturday to Chicago, peeps Time Out Chicago. The ride "is a national tradition that celebrates 'freedom from oil' in transportation. As the organizers say, 'Even when clothed, we cyclists are virtually naked, exposed to the dangers and pollution imposed by cars. By cycling naked, we show our confidence in the beauty and individuality of our bodies and the bicycle's place as a catalyst for change to a future of ecologically responsible transport and healthy and humane communities.'" (More.)

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2026-07-09 New City

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:00:06 GMT

Talking Screens: A Week In Chicago Film
July 10-16, 2026

by Ray Pride

Movies opening before Thursday's saturation burst of Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey"—the first three-hour adventure shot entirely in IMAX!—include the live-action rendition of Disney's highly successful cartoon musicals, "Moana"; Sébastien Vani?ek's "Evil Dead Burn"; and David Wain's "Gail Daughtry And The Celebrity Sex Pass," a small-town satire from the makers of "Wet Hot American Summer" that follows a rural woman's spirited attempt to... have sex with Jon Hamm. Along for the ride: John Slattery, Ken Marino, Zoey Deutch, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Ben Wang and Sabrina Impacciatore. Opens Thursday, July 9 at Landmark Century and other screens.

"Romería"

Janus Films is a home for atmospheric, coming-of-age memory pieces with female characters, especially the semi-autobiographical, among which Spanish filmmaker Carla Simón's bold, confident "Romería" (Pilgrimage) shines. Eighteen-year-old Marina (Llúcia Garcia), raised by her uncle and aunt seeks the story of her father in Vigo, the classic sunny Spanish seaside town. Simón's hold on the story could be called hallucinatory realism. Layers present layers; secrets abound. Both Marina and Garcia come into their own as knowledge buttresses their identity. Opens Friday, July 10 at the Film Center.

"Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World"

Sasha Waters' refined, loving portrait, "Mary Oliver: Saved By The Beauty Of The World," is a short, sharp walk in the poet's words as well as the Pulitzer winner's eighty-three years. Her admirers are legion and likable, some of whom are touched as they recite Oliver's work, including Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Buscemi, Mark Doty, Ada Limón, Nick Flynn, Maria Shriver, Major Jackson, Lucy Dacus, Norman Mailer, V and longtime Provincetown neighbor John Waters. Her words are often heard in the settings that inspired her to stirring effect. Trailer here. Opens Friday, July 10 at the Film Center.

"Night Nurse"

It's Brian De Palma meets Catherine Breillat with a tincture of David Cronenberg in Georgia Bernstein's perverse erotic thriller, "Night Nurse," largely shot in the filmmaker's grandmother's Northbrook home. Too many suspense pics of late trade in smears of darkness, rather than the silken, crepuscular character that digital capture also makes possible. The story's about phone calls that unsettle seniors in a home, but Bernstein's sharp with bodies at motion in rest, serrated by frames that cut rather than unite: there's a likable echo of De Palma as well as Roman Polanski that elevates the genuine scares and slashes. With Cemre Paksoy, Bruce McKenzie, Eléonore Hendricks, Colleen Rose Trundy and Mimi Rogers. Bernstein is the production partner of local filmmaker Alex Phillips, and co-produced Friday's double-feature at Facets of Phillips' "All Jacked Up And Full Of Worms" and "Anything That Moves" (more on that below). Trailer here. Opens Thursday, July 9.

What Sam Raimi & Co. began in 1981's "The Evil Dead" (and a short film back in Michigan before that) has become a vital succession of bloody supernatural horror action that now runs to six features and a series, with a further entry promised for 2028. Just as it was for Raimi (and producer Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell), the "Evil Dead" movies, with an expanded budget, provide a chance for fresh faces on what would have been drive-in movies in the past century, but are now a staple of the studio franchise diet. It's a place where producer Raimi, after three explosive comedies, can shepherd talent he's admired into potential careers, including Uruguay's Fede Álvarez, Lee Cronin and from France, Sébastien Vani?ek for "Evil Dead Burn." "Groovy!"

"Manhunter"

At the Music Box, eighty-three-year-old Chicago crime auteur Michael Mann isn't resting while prepping "Heat 2": his latest effort is "Manhunter: The Final Cut." Mann's changes include cutting 1986-era dialogue he no longer likes, adding and trimming small bits and a new color grade. Two shows only at the Music Box, Saturday, July 11.

"The Mastermind"

Mubi Fest plays this weekend at Salt Shed, The Music Box and the Film Center, including a sold-out preview of Jane Schoenbrun's lurid Gillian Anderson-starring meta-slasher "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma." The Film Center will show "The Royal Tenenbaums" for its twenty-fifth anniversary under the Film Center roof. Plus: Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" at twenty-five under the Music Box's twinkling sky. And of great note, Rob Mazurek provides live accompaniment to his splendid original score to Kelly Reichardt's painterly road movie-rebel fable "The Mastermind" (review here). Complete listings here.

And in The Week In Film, "Obsession" executive producer Jason Blum is excited for new filmmakers; and Kartemquin slates its summer soirée. Plus, Tony Rayns, protean supporter of Asian film of many decades was seventy-eight. See below.

REPERTORY & REVIVAL

The Film Center's marquee this week (calendar here) includes Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman" as part of their "Twentieth Century Queers" series, which also includes the 4K restoration of Lino Brocka's 1988 Philippine crime melodrama "Macho Dancer." And: Lucrecia Martel's tender hallucination, 2008 "The Headless Woman," is part of the Film Center's "25 for 25" series.

This week's "Must-Watch Indies" at Facets include David Lowery's "Mother Mary" (review below); Sophy Romvari's rich, akilter 1990s Vancouver Island memory piece "Blue Heron"; and the first feature documentary by Argentine master Lucrecia Martel, she of the stylish specs, cheroot, walking stick and anxiety-rich mise-en-scène, "Nuestra Tierra" (Our Land). Showtimes here.

Also: a Friday double feature at Facets of the oeuvre of Chicago horror hand Alex Phillips, including "All Jacked Up And Full Of Worms" and sexy-fied giallo "Anything That Moves." We talk to Phillips below. Showtimes here.

The Davis, built in 1918, is showing "Paper Moon," Peter Bogdanovich's near-perfect 1972 feat of craft and comedy entertainment set in the depths of the Depression and the heights of Hollywood comedy. Tuesday, July 14, 7pm. The Music Box is presenting a different box of yocks with a clutch of "Looney Tunes" cartoons on 35mm for free. Roster here. Saturday-Sunday, July 11-12.

"A Matter Of Life and Death (Stairway To Heaven)"

“A Matter of Life and Death” used to play every year-and-a-half or so at places like the old Film Center at the Art Institute on Columbus Drive. Over the course of several years, it played at least three times and I went with three different dates. None of them liked it. Knew nothing would work out, then! Fade in: David Niven wakes up planted face first in the sand on a British-looking beach. Dog wanders past. “Ah! I’d hoped there’d be dogs in heaven.”

A pretty woman rides past on a bicycle. Catches his eye. It’s June. He’s alive. The angel meant to ferry him to heaven messed up. A celestial trial is convened in heaven, he asks the greatest minds in history to defend him. And that is only the setup.

There are visual innovations that in a way make this the “Matrix” of its era. The cinematography, set design and the mind-boggling turns of the script, eventually about the smallest runnels of the brain and the larger hopes of the human heart, are a ceaseless thrill on the big screen. Chicago Film Society, Music Box, Sunday, July 12, 7pm.

"Mother Mary"

Weather-battened and blood-borne, writer-director-editor David Lowery’s gothic eighth feature, the mega-, meta-Madonna “Mother Mary," is confident and careening, an investiture in ghosts, residual sentiment and the bloody glory of collaboration. (Gory, gory, hallelujah.) Mother Mary (bedraggled Anne Hathaway) is a depressed pop star who abandoned her career after an accident and now arises from a storm to the Brit barn-cum-workshop of her former friend and former costume designer, Sam Anselm (gleaming Michaela Coel) in search of a perfect costume for her comeback performance—which is only three days away. Implausible, yes, but also the impetus for a couple of dark nights peeling back a history of them.

Since his first feature, the near-molecular scale “St. Nick,” about two runaway children who also frequent outbuildings, Lowery has been attuned to surroundings, embroidering his characters with history via place. The two-hander “Mother Mary,” while providing blasts of her persona and stage show, lives within a rude fashion atelier, as well as in shadow-swaddled medium close-ups and long shots of his warring compatriots. Yet they’re like a single entity, a melded mind warring with itself, words coming out, especially from Sam, as fully formed theses, compounded thesauruses of a decade’s not-yet-abandoned resentment. “I could build you a pyre the likes of which the world has never seen if that is the way you see things going,” Sam says. (More here.)

Jerry Blumenthal's 1974 "The Chicago Maternity Center Story" is presented by Kartemquin Films, Birth Workers of Color Collective, and Muffy Film Productions, with a post-screening conversation. Music Box, Tuesday, July 14, 6:30pm

Also at the Music Box: "We Are Fugazi from Washington, D.C.," by Joe Gross, Jeff Krulik and Joseph Pattisall, in a benefit for Lumpen Radio. Wednesday, July 15, 7pm.

Doc Films (calendar here) showcases two Howard Hawks entries on 35mm, 1930's "The Dawn Patrol" and 1938's comic clockwork "Bringing Up Baby"; Robert Altman's wink-and-a-slap Hollywood satire "The Player" (1992); and Carl Franklin's bruised ne0-noir "Devil in a Blue Dress" (1995).

CHICAGO SEEN

"Anything That Moves"

At Facets on Friday, July 1o, four shorts plus the features “All Jacked Up And Full Of Worms” and “Anything That Moves” from Chicago’s reigning specialist in low-budget absurdist-surrealist horror are presented as "'I’m Going To Kill You': The Movies Of Alex Phillips." (View the "All Jacked Up " trailer here, and the "Anything That Moves" trailer here.)

Alex, how do you define what you do, how would you explain it to someone you were just introduced to?

I started off as a playwright and screenwriter, but I quickly became frustrated with people telling me what could not be achieved. Out of necessity, I made short films to show how my ideas were supposed to translate to visual storytelling. They ended up doing well in festivals, and as I picked up work on production sets, I got a wide-eyed sense of what I could do with a feature. My entire path toward making movies has been shortsighted hubris. It's the worst and best art form with too many moving parts. It is also exactly what I want to be doing. I've been at it for a decade.

What brought you to making the work you make today? Was it a mentor, an experience?

I find that candid, impulsive honesty is basically criminal. I use movies as a way to say and do what can't otherwise be expressed. And I think of story as a tool to hook people into empathizing with characters and situations that are larger than everyday life.

For mentors and artistic influences, I watch all kinds of movies that intersect throughout the process. For "Worms," it was David Cronenberg, Frank Henenlotter, William S. Burroughs, Jane Campion, Ken Russell, Nicolas Roeg, Lucio Fulci, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Larry Cohen, Bill Gunn, Todd Haynes. With "Anything That Moves," William Friedkin, John McNaughton and Brian De Palma entered the mix. And now I'm hanging with Raoul Walsh, Alfred Hitchcock and Nicholas Ray. I don't look to emulate any one filmmaker, but I'm always searching for methods of storytelling that harmonize with what I'm trying to say.

Why is Chicago the place to do what you do today?

Chicago has smart, talented artists who make things they believe in, often without pretension. I can't imagine making films in places like New York City or L.A. Mainly, I can't afford it. I think those environments are more risk-averse, class-stratified and homogenous. In Chicago, people want to help make things, and the scene is inclusive. At the very worst our city can be indifferent to filmmaking. Most people here have real jobs. The process of making a film is messy and complicated. Finding adventurous collaborators with their own point of view is extremely necessary. I love all the people I've worked with.

THE WEEK IN FILM

Producer Jason Blum

"Obsession" Executive Producer Jason Blum Is Excited

The Producers Guild posted on Instagram part of a conversation with producer Jason Blum, speaking after the second weekend of "Obsession." The dream of young filmmakers, "their hope, desire, and dream is to make cool movies and 'Backrooms' and 'Obsession' are edgy and weird and fucking nuts, and to me it's that there's almost this feeling of the seventies, of like this new generation of young people who are making edgy movies that are connecting in theaters in a crazy way."

"So many young people grew up in a time when you couldn't go to the movies and they haven't had something for them to go get out and get off their iPad and go see the movies. Suddenly they have two movies! 'Obsession,' this weekend. It went up twenty-percent from last weekend. Last weekend it went thirty-percent up from the opening weekend. No movie has done that, has gone up two weekends in a row since 'E.T.'!"

"It's unbelievable, and I don't say that to say, 'Aren't we great?' I say that to say there's fucking hope in the movie business and it's exciting and it's great and the generation of people—like, 'Everyone's on Instagram and everyone's on social media'—Actually the stars of the internet, they wanna make movies and that's great!" The full half-hour with Blumhouse-Atomic Monster co-CEOs Blum and James Wan is here.

Kartemquin Slates Summer Soirée

Sixty years of Kartemquin Films will be celebrated at their annual fundraiser, "where activism, artistry and community come together. Join fellow filmmakers, storytellers and democracy defenders for an intimate evening of music, film, drinks and fireworks!" Hosted in a Lakeshore penthouse overlooking Navy Pier, "this intimate fundraising event blends the spirit of documentary storytelling with the electricity of a Chicago summer night. Guests will arrive for a soulful House DJ-driven rooftop reception, sip activism-inspired cocktails, gather for docs under the stars, and close the night with a spectacular private view of Chicago’s beautiful Lakefront." More about the sixtieth anniversary here. Tickets ($300-$2,500) here.

Observations On David Bordwell

A new anthology of writings about aspects of David Bordwell's career contains contributions from twenty-five writers, plus a preface by Damien Chazelle, posts Kristin Thompson on the "Observations On Film Art" site.

BENEDICTIONS

Thai critic Kong Rithdee describes the late, great Tony Rayns on Facebook: "a truly legendary critic, programmer and writer who played a pivotal role in elevating Asian cinema to a status on par with films from the Anglo-Saxon world, thereby expanding the canon of world cinema. He was instrumental in introducing Asian films—spanning Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Thailand—to Western audiences and film festivals from the 1970s right up to the present day." Posts Hong Kong expert Dylan Cheung, "RIP Tony Rayns, one of the few English-language critics who genuinely knew what they were talking about (most of the time) when it came to East Asian cinema, especially Hong Kong's."

Film Top 5: July 2026

The Music Box hosts 70mm screenings of Christopher Nolan's 172-minute epic, plus one of the greatest and mostly unlikely of otherworldly romances. (Ray Pride)

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2026-07-10 New City

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 08:00:05 GMT

Since Newcity, over its forty-year history, has never before been sold at a retail establishment, I decided to hand-deliver the copies to the first three stores that will have it for sale: The Silver Room, Quimby's and Foursided. It was a blast to visit three such distinct and iconic Chicago retailers, in three distinct parts of the city, and to see where Newcity will sit on their shelves.

But the experience was strange, too, because as I drove around town, I listened to a late-May episode of The Grill Room podcast, "The Google Zero Clickopocalypse," where they discussed, in frightening detail, the ramifications of Google's shift of search to a captive AI model and what that meant for publishing, especially digital publishing. While no one knows for sure where all of this is going, the sentiment was certainly not as sunny as the day I was enjoying in the city.

Call me a Luddite all you want, but I loved visiting the old-fashioned brick-and-mortar retailers, and seeing the creative and economic engines they are for their communities. And I was very happy to be in print. I guarantee you, that if you visit any one of these stores to get a copy of the new issue, and spend some time perusing their shelves, you'll feel the same way.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

DESIGN

Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford Transforms Familiar Design Icons into Unstable Vessels of Memory, Grief and Time

The exhibition at Elmhurst Art Museum turns objects like the Barcelona Chair and the Eames splint into altered forms that feel at once recognizable and estranged. (Vasia Rigou)

ART

Leticia Pardo's Stairway to Heaven

Pardo honors the legacy of Mexican labor in Chicago's built history with the Arts Club of Chicago. (Lucas Gomez-Doyle)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

STAGE

"Hamlet" Plays Under the Oak Park Skies

The Oak Park Festival Theatre's take on Shakespeare's classic, directed by Peter G. Andersen, is a blend of modernization and appreciation. (Rob Silverman Ascher)

BRAZIL

Three Generations of Amazonian Artists at David Nolan Gallery

"Riverlines: Three Generations of Amazonian Indigenous Artists" guides spectators through separate exhibitions in a manner akin to sailing down a riverline. (Mána Taylor)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

The MCA Plans An Amanda Williams Exhibition, Plus Other Warhol Foundation Grants

The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts has named the recipients of its spring 2026 grants, totaling "nearly $5.2 million to visual arts organizations and institutions," reports Artforum. The report notes that the MCA has received $100,000 toward an Amanda Williams show. Williams is also being honored at the MCA's Visionary luncheon in October.

Other Chicago recipients include $20,000 to Roots & Culture for their "Double Exposure" exhibitions, $100,000 to Public Media Institute, $80,000 to the Smart Museum of Art for a Nina Chanel Abney exhibition and $30,000 to Bridge Art for the Festival of Holes.

The Summer Of De Kooning

Two Willem de Kooning shows—one at Princeton and one in Chicago—"feature different eras and aspects of the Dutch American artist's mastery," surveys Puck. "But both make a case for de Kooning as the meticulous leader of abstract expressionism and set the stage for a market shift," noting that "fifty-six de Kooning paintings and works on paper have sold for more than $77 million, the most for his auction market since the peak year of 2022. By focusing on de Kooning's training, tools and process, the Chicago show makes the case that his own work—and, by extension, the output of his peers—was the product of planning, meticulous trial and error and revision. In this show, we see de Kooning's extraordinary draftsmanship, honed in the repetition and transposition of images, shapes and gestures. But we also see the tools and his training."

Gertie Announces Chicago Exhibition Week

Chicago Exhibition Week will bring together leading galleries, artist-run spaces, museums and cultural institutions in celebration of contemporary art across Chicago, September 14–20. Participating galleries include Corbett vs. Dempsey, Good Weather, Gray, M. LeBlanc, Mariane Ibrahim and Patron. More here.

Surveying The Art Surrounding The Obama Center

"Only a fraction of the more than two dozen commissions sit behind the ticketed museum entrance," notes the Sun-Times in a tour of the public art at the Obama Presidential Center. "The vast majority of the sculptures, murals and mosaics pop up in locations around the 19.3-acre campus that are open to the public."

DESIGN

An Early Bruce Goff House Is For Sale In Edison Park

"For sale for the first time in six decades is an Edison Park house designed by Bruce Goff, the twentieth century architect of many eccentric buildings who was commemorated with a show at the Art Institute of Chicago that opened in December," reports Crain's. "One of two Goff designs that were completed in 1938 and decidedly more conventional than his later work, the four-bedroom house on Olcott Avenue came on the market July 3," and is called a "stepping-stone toward the more eccentric designs" featured in the exhibition. "The Olcott Avenue house was built four years after Goff moved to Chicago from Oklahoma, where his architecture firm had been laid low by the Depression."

AIA Chicago Firm Awarded To Studio Gang

Studio Gang has been named the 2026 recipient of the AIA Chicago Firm Award, which "recognizes outstanding achievements and excellence in the body of work produced by a firm over a period of time, the distinctive characteristics of a firm and its operations and the ongoing contributions of the firm to the advancement of the architectural profession." Says AIA Chicago executive director Jen Masengarb, "Over nearly thirty years, they have demonstrated what it looks like when design excellence and genuine care for community go hand in hand. The firm's culture and core values are reflected in their thoughtful public engagement, design rigor, technical innovation and environmental stewardship. Studio Gang is deeply rooted in Chicago, while also having a global impact on the way our profession sees its responsibility to people, place and the planet."

Downtown Office Vacancies May Have Finally Bottomed Out

"The share of available workspace in the central business district inched down to twenty-eight percent midway through the year from 28.6 percent at the end of the first quarter, according to data from real estate services firm CBRE," reports Crain's. "While the metric still towers over the 13.8 percent vacancy rate when the COVID-19 pandemic began, the slight decrease ended a run of fifteen consecutive quarters during which the rate reached a new all-time high. The data shows a downtown office market slowly transitioning to stabilization."

Fifty Years Of Tattoo Factory

Far North Side tattoo shop Tattoo Factory "prides itself on having maintained its old-school tattoo parlor vibes throughout its decades in business," inks Block Club. "Tattoo Factory opened in Uptown in 1976, originally across the street from its current location at 4441 North Broadway, said owner Paul Collurafici. It is believed to be the second-oldest tattoo parlor in the city; the Chicago Tattooing & Piercing Co., located in Lakeview, opened in 1973 and is considered the city and state’s oldest."

DINING & DRINKING

A Family Squawk Over The Harold's Chicken Empire

"Six months after the death of Harold's Chicken Shack CEO Kristen Pierce-Sherrod, the question remains: Who owns the iconic Chicago restaurant brand?" reports the Trib. "Pierce-Sherrod's five adult children claim it's their birthright, pointing to a mysterious, still-contested 'will' that, they say, makes clear their mother's final wishes...Pierce-Sherrod's widower, Vincent Sherrod, meanwhile, has enlisted former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot as his lawyer to argue that the purported 'will'—which wasn't referenced until two months after Pierce-Sherrod's death—is fake." Because of the dispute, "the future of Harold's Chicken Shack empire may soon be determined by a Will County probate judge."

Pollyanna Buys And Reopens The Alarmist Taproom And Brewery

"Pollyanna Brewing & Distilling has purchased Alarmist Brewing, with plans to reopen its Sauganash taproom and bring back its acclaimed beers this year," quaffs the Trib. "Alarmist Brewing, best known for its flagship Le Jus, an award-winning Hazy IPA, closed the doors on its twelve-year-old Peterson Avenue brewery and taproom in February." With the purchase and reopening plan, "Lemont-based Pollyanna, a twelve-year-old brewery with three suburban locations, is making its first foray into Chicago, looking to expand its geographic reach, brewing capacity and portfolio with the Alarmist acquisition."

FILM & TELEVISION

Eighteen Emmy Nominations For "The Bear," Including The Late Rob Reiner

Season five of Chicago-set series "The Bear" took eighteen Emmy nominations for the upcoming awards, including another nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. Other nominations for the season include Ayo Edebiri for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series; Christopher Storer for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series; and Jamie Lee Curtis and the late Rob Reiner for guest appearances in the series. "The Bear" also garnered nominations for cinematography, picture editing and sound mixing.

Colbert Sets Nomination Record In Final Season

Also in its final season, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” drew nine Emmy nominations, tallies Variety. It's "the biggest awards showing of Colbert's eleven-year tenure behind the desk. Before this year, the largest haul was three consecutive years of five nominations, which occurred from 2020 to 2022."

MEDIA

New York Times Expands Into Local Newsletters With Twin Cities Launch

The Local is a pilot newsletter "to connect readers to their communities through journalism," crows the New York Times. "This pilot newsletter will launch in August with the goal of deepening our relationships with readers in Minneapolis and St. Paul and helping them feel more connected through journalism. Our hope is that [this] can serve as a model for similar future efforts elsewhere around the country."

MUSIC

Ravinia's Hunter Pavilion Reopens Following Major Renovation

"The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s summer home, about twenty-five miles north of the city, starts its season Saturday night with chief conductor Marin Alsop leading a program with pianist Yunchan Lim and flautist Lizzo. A crowd of up to 12,758 can fill the pavilion and lawn in Highland Park, Illinois," reports the Associated Press.

On the pavilion, the report notes "a geometric Arts and Crafts style pattern found in the windows of the Martin Theatre, which dates to Ravinia’s opening, inspired the design of stage ceiling and walls made of rigid foam clad with 3M vinyl." The renovation also slightly lowered capacity, "as wider seats were installed and made compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. LED lights have lowered the stage temperature, and nine ventilation fans were installed to push hot air through the ceiling."

Studio Ghibli Composer Joe Hisaishi's Nights With The CSO

"Joe Hisaishi got famous writing the soundtracks to Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films. Now he is focusing on his first love: classical music," profiles the New York Times (gift link). Hisaishi recently "spent the evening leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from the conductor's podium. But near the end of the concert, a grand piano was wheeled out onstage, and he took a seat on its bench. He started to play and the auditorium rattled with cheers.

"His fans immediately recognized the opening of the soundtrack for 'Spirited Away' (2001), one of his many beloved collaborations with the filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. This excitement, the kind that makes people squeal at pop concerts when they hear the first notes of a favorite song, tends to follow Hisaishi wherever he performs." "Hisaishi Conducts Hisaishi" is slated for April 30-May 1 of next year.

Chief Keef Returns To Chicago After Fourteen Years

"After effectively being blacklisted from performing in the city for over a decade, South Side rapper Chief Keef will return to Chicago on September 12 as part of his nationwide tour for his latest mixtape, 'Skeletor,'" reports Block Club. Though it's his first recent show within city limits, Keef "made his return to a local stage when he headlined Lyrical Lemonade's Summer Smash Festival in suburban Bridgeview in June 2024. He also headlined the festival in June."

STAGE

Audrey Francis On Closing Steppenwolf's Fiftieth Annum

Steppenwolf is closing its fiftieth anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of Mia Chung's "Catch As Catch Can," reports Broadway World Chicago. "Directed by ensemble member Amy Morton, the form-bending theatrical tour-de-force features three actors taking on six roles across gender and generation, following a prodigal son whose return to blue collar New England sets off a spiraling crisis for two families."

"It's very meaningful to be closing Steppenwolf's fiftieth season with this show," says artistic director Audrey Francis, who also acts in the show. "First and foremost, having an all-ensemble team, with Amy Morton directing and Tim Hopper and Gary Cole in the cast, allowed us to bring decades of Steppenwolf history to the stage. And this play is about family, identity, fluidity, fracturing, disorientation and the ability and/or willingness to try to catch each other (and ourselves) as best we can. That feels very Steppenwolf to me."

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Pepe Vargas' Successor Shares Plans

Over the forty-two years under founder Pepe Vargas, "the International Latino Cultural Center has become one of the hallmarks of Latino artistic and cultural life in Chicago," writes the newly appointed ILCC executive director Mateo Mulcahy. "I am honored and humbled by the faith placed in me by Pepe and the board of directors to lead this organization and am eager to continue serving the Chicago community. Under my leadership, I will push to create seven equal pillars of artistic programming that include film, music, dance, theater, visual arts, literary arts and culinary arts...The centerpiece of the ILCC’s programming, the Chicago Latino Film Festival, is of the highest priority and I am excited to build on recent successes and implement some innovative elements to the forty-third edition next April." More here.

The Obama Center Will Host WNBA All-Star Events

On July 24, WNBA events hosted at the Obama Presidential Center "will bring players, fans and community members together to not only engage in basketball activities, but also to promote women in leadership and community engagement," reports the Sun-Times. "The events will take place at the center's Home Court, a 60,000-square-foot athletic facility that features a WNBA regulation-sized basketball court," adds USA Today. "This marks the first time a WNBA All-Star practice has been held at a venue of this type."

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2026-07-13 New City

Mon, 13 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

It was a beautiful midday morning in Grant Park, and as we neared the Museum Campus, a cheerful young woman greeted us and asked us if we wanted a map to the city. Welcome to Chicago!

A few days later, on a busy Saturday near the same spot, a multigenerational family was greeted by a pedicab driver—pedicab being a misnomer for fast motorized vehicles with loud sound systems that trawl for tourists and terrorize all park visitors, seemingly unregulated.

The driver asked them where they were headed, and they said the Shedd Aquarium, which they were standing near, perhaps a five-minute walk up the path to the entrance. "I can take you all for seventy dollars," the driver offered, making even the highest Uber surge rates seem like bargains by comparison.

To our relief, the family passed on the offer, even though they were still unaware that they were standing next to their destination. The driver sped away, in search of another mark. Welcome to Chicago?

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

ART

Spectral Traces in the Built Environment with "Phantom Frame"

Non Stndrd puts on a group exhibition situated within National Building Arts Center's industrial space. (Greg Ruffing)

STAGE

In a Room Full of Empty Chairs, a Couple Grapples With Nothingness

The Eugène Ionesco play, on stage at American Players Theatre, is philosophically bleak, but with a comedic vaudeville feeling. (Mary Wisniewski)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

LIT

Zayd Ayers Dohrn Remembers a Childhood in the Underground

“Dangerous, Dirty, Violent and Young" tells the story of the playwright and Northwestern University professor who was raised by leaders of the Weather Underground. (Mike Claffey)

BRAZIL

The Island That Can Not Be Reached

"Ilha," at Almeida & Dale, is a manifestation of opulent, historical influence. (Luiz Armando Bagolin)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Chicago Photographer Barbara Karant Alleges Copyright Infringement By Mickalene Thomas

Chicago-based photographer Barbara Karant, "whose works are held in the photography collections of institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, claims that artist Mickalene Thomas 'appropriated more than a dozen' of her images without her consent or proper attribution," writes Hyperallergic. "The dispute revolves around Karant’s '820 Ebony/Jet '(2013–15) series, a collection of 250 photographs taken at the vacant former headquarters of the Johnson Publishing Company. Their South Michigan Avenue headquarters was Chicago’s first high-rise commissioned by a Black-owned corporation." (More.)

MCA Assistant Curator Nolan Jimbo Departs

"After five fabulous years, my time as a curator at the MCA has come to an end," announces assistant curator Nolan Jimbo. "I’m so proud of the exhibitions, performances and everything in between that we made together and I’ve learned so much from you all along the way."

Lilly Endowment Grants $2.5 Million To Fort Wayne Museum Of Art

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art has received a $2.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support projects "that will increase the museum’s capacity for expanded service and organizational excellence," the museum announces. The award is one of twelve grants that Lilly Endowment is making to Indiana art museums, and "will be used to support projects in facility planning and improvements, improving collection storage, professional development and training, museum best practices research, increasing the museum’s online presence and digital collection resources, developing new approaches to inclusivity and making key equipment purchases to create operating efficiencies."

Guggenheim Cooling Tower Holds Legionella

"The bacteria that causes Legionnaires' disease has been detected in a cooling tower at New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, though museum officials say the building remains safe for visitors and staff," relays ARTnews. "The discovery comes as city health officials investigate an outbreak of the potentially serious form of pneumonia across Manhattan's Upper East Side. Legionnaires’ disease is spread by inhaling tiny water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria. It cannot be passed from person to person."

DESIGN

Elevated Chicago And DCASE Present "Intersections: Art, Planning and Place"

Elevated Chicago, in partnership with DCASE, is launching "Intersections: Art, Planning and Place," a series of events "designed to bring together artists, creative entrepreneurs, developers, community leaders and cultural practitioners to explore how arts and culture can shape more vibrant, connected and resilient neighborhoods." The theme of the first event is "The Art of Belonging: Social Cohesion & Community." Sessions "will provide practical tools for artists to engage in neighborhood development, help developers and planners integrate creative and cultural strategies into their work and create opportunities for cross-sector collaboration." Hosted by Alt_ Chicago, 5645 West Lake, on Friday, July 17, from 1:30pm-6:30pm. Reservations here.

Bryn Mawr Historic District Nears Landmark Status

"A key city commission formally recommended an Edgewater historic district become a Chicago landmark while also denying a demolition permit in the district that would have made way for an apartment building," reports Block Club. "The Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously gave a final landmark recommendation for the Bryn Mawr Historic District during a hearing Thursday. The commission granted a preliminary recommendation in April, and held a public hearing on the matter in June."

Renovations For Eighty-Five-Year-Old Northwest Side Industrial Building

"An eighty-five-year-old industrial building at 4700 West Montrose that originally was used for the production of blueprint paper and associated equipment is undergoing renovations, as a new owner seeks tenants," reports Nadig Newspapers. "The two-story, 60,000-square-foot building features an Art Moderne façade, designed in 1941 by architect Victor Charn, who also designed the former Motorola factory on Augusta Boulevard in Chicago."

White House North Portico Columns The Latest Trump Project

"Repairs are occurring at the White House’s North Portico," reports The Hill, "adding it to the list of renovation projects around Washington that President Trump has undertaken." Adds the Independent, a "massive photorealistic covering displays a rendering of what the White House’s north entrance will look like after upgrades while obscuring the actual entrance from view." "Mr. Trump has undertaken a Washington construction spree unlike any president before him," writes the New York Times, "proposing at least eighteen major construction projects with a potential cost of more than $1 billion." (More.)

FILM & TELEVISION

Cinema/Chicago Adds Cinema Soirée Honorees

Cinema/Chicago has announced its Artistic Achievement Award will be presented to Chicago-based author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn, whose work has been brought to the screen by directors including David Fincher ("Gone Girl") and Steve McQueen ("Widows"). Ben Foster will receive the Tour de Force Award. These awards will be presented in addition to the previously announced Vanguard Award recipients, Alex Thompson and Kelly O’Sullivan. "Committed to making films here and collaborating with Chicago actors and crews, they have long been champions of our community." Saturday, July 18. Tickets ($1,000-$50,000) and more here.

Netflix Considers Live Programming

"Engagement, which measures how long people spend watching content and how frequently they finish a movie or series, is the holy grail in modern Hollywood," reports the Wall Street Journal. "It signals that customers are satisfied and less likely to cancel their subscriptions. To bolster engagement, Netflix executives have discussed adding live channels that would continuously stream certain programs, or shows and films from a certain genre." (The Criterion Channel presents a stream of mystery titles as "Criterion 24/7" as a treat.) Netflix "has also explored bundling other subscription-based streaming services, including NBCUniversal’s Peacock, into its offering. It would sell those subscriptions through its main app as rivals such as Amazon.com and Apple have long done."

LIT

Dominic A. Pacyga Receives Pattis Award For Chronicle Of Chicago Clout

The Newberry Library and the Pattis Family Foundation have awarded the fifth Pattis Family Foundation Chicago Book Award, which honors books "that transform public understanding of Chicago, its history and its people." This year’s $25,000 prize has been awarded to Dominic A. Pacyga’s "Clout City: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Political Machine" (University of Chicago Press, 2025), "which traces the origins of Chicago’s distinctive political system to its eventual collapse." The panel also honors Gayle F. Wald’s "This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music and the Long Civil Rights Movement" (University of Chicago Press, 2025). Wald will receive an award of $2,500. The Newberry will have details closer to the time of the September ceremony here.

MEDIA

MacArthur Grant To Newswell Chicago

Newswell Chicago, the new owner of Growing Community Media publications, has received a transformative three-year grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that will allow them to expand their newsroom with three additional full-time reporters and an editor, relays Wednesday Journal. The grant "reflects a growing belief that local journalism matters and that our neighborhoods deserve strong, independent reporting that informs residents, strengthens civic life and holds institutions accountable."

Are Publishers Preparing To Opt Out Of Google Search?

"For decades, publishers have done everything in their power to rank as highly in Google Search as possible. For many websites, traffic from the search engine was their single greatest source of audience and, as a result, revenue," reports Adweek. But "influential players in the digital media ecosystem have begun moving in the opposite direction, laying the groundwork for what was once unthinkable: removing themselves from Google Search."

MUSIC

Pitchfork Parent Condé Nast Sues Festival Co-Founder Mike Reed

A federal lawsuit filed last week on behalf of Pitchfork Festivals LLC "accuses co-founder Mike Reed of keeping $564,680 that he falsely claimed were expenses he had already incurred to prepare for the 2025 fest before it was cancelled," tallies Block Club. When Reed was contacted about the money, he submitted "a 'Wind Down Settlement Report' claiming that the money was 'incurred and attributed to the canceled 2025 event and the wind-down of all operations.' Reed wrote that all advanced operations for the event started when Condé Nast notified him to proceed with the next year’s festival."

Chicago's Music Nightspots Face Smaller Drink Orders

"Young people are drinking less. What does that mean for the bars, venues and other pieces of social infrastructure that support Chicago's music scene?" asks the Reader. "At the Empty Bottle, co-owner Matt Ciarleglio says attendance at the venue has climbed year over year since 2022, but liquor sales remain flat. 'That’s an indicator that people are drinking less, for sure,' he says. 'Though our nonalcoholic category of sales has gone up since 2022—like, 300 percent every year.' So far in 2026, NA options have accounted for about ten percent of the Bottle’s total drink sales."

The Cramps Rise Again

"The Cramps came to an abrupt end in 2009 when Lux Interior, then sixty-two, died suddenly and unexpectedly from an aortic dissection," writes Anna Merlan in a vivid report at Mother Jones. Band co-founder Poison Ivy, "often cited as central in shaping the 'primitivist' rock-and-roll style," "withdrew from the public eye: no interviews, no reunion tours with a stand-in singer, no reissues of Cramps records." But thanks to Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye at Dischord Records, their work will again be heard through "the reformed Vengeance Records, [starting with] a 1977 album that had, until earlier this year, been sitting unheard on tapes in Ivy’s Los Angeles garage." (More.)

STAGE

Chicago Shakes' Fortieth Anniversary Gala Raises $1.3 Million

Chicago Shakespeare Theater celebrated the company's fortieth anniversary with the Revel in Ruby Gala on June 12, tallies Broadway World Chicago. "The evening raised $1.3 million, honoring four decades of powerful theatermaking and fueling the artistry, education and community engagement...350 attendees from Chicago's civic and cultural community gathered for a lively cocktail hour and seated dinner with a program in The Yard, followed by desserts and dancing in the Jentes Family Courtyard Theater lobby."

A Nice Half-Hour With "Iceboy!"'s Nick Offerman

CBS News Chicago has an agreeable half-hour sit-down with Minooka's own amiable Nick Offerman, who waxes Offermanian on "Iceboy!," his wife and creative partner Megan Mullaly, who he loves working with, and his Illinois origins.

Four London Stages Endangered

Four London theaters "are at risk of closure, redevelopment or demolition, according to the Theatres Trust At Risk Register," reports the Standard of London. "Among those are four London locations: Borough Hall, Streatham Hill Theatre, Tottenham Palace Theatre and the Intimate Theatre. Theaters in London have faced challenges in the past few years, including recovery after the pandemic and rising energy costs. But there have also been deep-rooted problems, including restoration and costly repairs."

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2026-07-14 New City

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:00:05 GMT

The unlikely miracle that is the 2026 Chicago White Sox baseball season came into clear focus on Sunday when the number-one draft pick, Roch Cholowsky, threw out the first pitch. The top picks go to the teams with the worst record, which the Sox did have last year, but now they are tied for first place at the All-Star break.

There's nothing better than sitting in the ballpark for nine innings of professional baseball on a hot summer afternoon, even if the beer is overpriced. The casual pace of the game epitomizes the "lazy, hazy days of summer," and allows for great crowd dynamics. In the seat next to me, a young mother cradled her seven-month-old daughter in a White Sox onesie. "First game?" I asked her. "No, it's her third," she replied. "But the other two were earlier, when it wasn't so hot." Then she laughed, saying her baby was a White Sox fan.

Later, a grizzled white fan caught a ball chucked into the outfield stands by a player, and then handed it to the young Black child who'd brought his glove to the stands, enthusiastically hoping to catch a ball but about three feet too short to compete for it when it came. It conjured up memories for me of the classic Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial from the seventies.

After the game, we grabbed a beer at the nearby Cork & Kerry and parked at a picnic table on the sidewalk. Before long, a diverse group of White Sox fans congregated around us, talking baseball, bobbleheads and all business in between. They came from the city and the suburbs, and ranged across decades in age. How do they know each other? They've all been sitting in Section 108 for years, and have even spawned a podcast.

In the outstanding Netflix series, "Brazil '70: The Third Star," a journalist is on the phone with his wife, trying to convince her that cheering for her country in the World Cup is not just about capitulating to the propaganda needs of the military dictatorship then running the country. "It's a crazy thing," he says about the game. "It makes us laugh, cry, hug strangers on the street. It's like we all become one."

I have no idea what the politics were in our section, 102, at the White Sox game. What kind of jobs folks had, how big their bank accounts were, anything. I just know that, for one hot summer afternoon, we all became one.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

MUSIC

Paul Simon Hosts "A Quiet Celebration" at Ravinia

Simon finales his tour at Ravinia's Hunter Pavilion, playing 2023 album "Seven Psalms" in full ahead of a second half that spans a career of classic songs. (Teddy Sandler)

ART

The Anti-Monumentalist Defines "Monumental: Sculpture by Dr. Charles Smith"

Dr. Smith challenges, inverts and rejects the conventions of traditional monuments at Intuit Art Museum. (Elisa Shoenberger)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
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STAGE

Irene Hsiao's "Guardians of the Earth and Sky" Offers a Garden of Delights

Now in its third year, Hsiao's walking outdoor performance in Chicago Parks is a summertime must for all ages. (Eileen B. Fisher)

NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of July 16, 2026

Make a list of your five greatest pleasures. (Rob Brezsny)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Chicago Foto League Launches

Chicago Foto League, a new nonprofit "dedicated to documentary image making and its education," announces its launch on Instagram. The group, founded by Jonathan Michael Castillo, Paul D'Amato, Lali Khalid, Colleen Plumb and Dylan Yarbrough, intends to "foster critical engagement with the world through community, classes and dialogue centered on an expansive vision of documentary practice. We believe photography is a force for building connection and understanding." View classes and other programming here.

Street Photography magazine looks at a predecessor: "Founded in 1936, the New York Photo League set out to shoot their complicated, stressed-out world. They believed photography was, first and foremost, an art form. But it was an art form with tremendous documentary potential. And they wanted to unleash that potential. In this respect, they were helping to invent street photography as we know it today."

Stony Island Arts Bank's New Cocktail Bar Features Drinks Created By Chicago Artists

Each of the seven drinks on offer at Stony Island Arts Bank's arts-themed cocktail bar Yunomi "are crafted by and named after artists with ties to Theaster Gates and Heiji Choy Black," sips Eater Chicago. “It’s one-hundred percent them," says Choy Black of the drinks developed by the artists. "Most of them were telling me in real time 'Oh, I had friends over last night and we decided that this was the one.' It makes me joyful to think of them experimenting and having their own party, trying to figure out their perfect cocktail."

Edra Soto "contributed coquito, a rum-based drink synonymous with Puerto Rico. Caroline Kent’s addition is a vodka-based lavender drop and Brendan Fernandes’ Jeté drinks like a very modern martini crossed with a Manhattan. The tequila-based drink is turned electric green by Chartreuse, orange bitters and saffron syrup."

Broad Art Museum Director Phillip Bahar On Marketing And Museums

Adam Rozan, a friend of former Chicago Humanities Festival head and current MSU Broad Art Museum director Phillip Bahar, publishes a conversation between the two. "Phillip, one thing that has always struck me is how few museum directors come from marketing. I can think of you and Elizabeth Pierce (Cincinnati Museum Center), but it's still a pretty short list." Says Bahar, "Slowly, but I actually think it's the wrong question. It's less about whether someone comes from marketing and more about whether they lead with an audience mindset." (More.)

DESIGN

A New Age For The Stockyards?

More than a half-century after they were closed, Chicago's Union Stockyards are starting to see developers modernize the area, explores Axios. "While other industrial parts of the city, like Fulton Market and the West Loop, have boomed with development, the Stockyards have remained stagnant. Chicago developers The Missner Group are hoping to change that by banking on the area's proximity to the Loop, Dan Ryan expressway and labor force." (More.)

A "Goldilocks" Building In South Chicago

"There hasn’t been a lot of new anything for decades in the neighborhood immediately west of the old South Works site in South Chicago. But that’s changed with the recent completion of a well-scaled mixed-use mid-rise called Thrive Exchange," writes Tribune architecture critic Edward Keegan. "The design is the product of locally based Koo Architecture led by architect Jackie Koo," and was built "as part of the Invest South/West initiative that was launched by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot and then-Department of Planning and Development Commissioner Maurice Cox." (More.)

Box Stores Find Urban Foothold In Affordable Housing

"As more states and municipalities continue their push to build affordable housing, companies like Costco and Target are riding along and getting their stores into crowded cities," reports the New York Times. "As the nation's housing shortage worsens, more states and municipalities, including California, Florida, Massachusetts and Philadelphia, have rolled out incentives and financing to encourage housing construction," with the retailers taking ground floor retail space. "For the retailers, the partnerships often mean access to scarce unused land, with the housing developers responsible for construction and other upfront costs. For the developers, a retailer like Costco can lend cachet and even contribute to the project's garnering higher rents."

DINING AND DRINKING

The Home Depot Hot Dog Is An Essential Chicago Thing

"If you live in Chicago, a hardware run includes the opportunity to visit one of the seventeen Fixin' Franks locations in Home Depot's bright-orange exit vestibules throughout the city and suburbs," profiles Block Club of the chain of hot dog stands housed in the hardware giant's local entryways. "Today's Fixin' Franks menu include Italian beef served on bread from D'Amato's Bakery, elotes in a cup and even the paper-wrapped, machine-extruded, Chicago-style tamale. It tends to surprise those unfamiliar with the deep cuts of Chicago fast food, [owner] Jordan Shirley said."

South Loop Resto Faces Eviction, Wage Theft Accusations

"Former bartenders and servers of South Loop restaurant Reserv said they're owed thousands in unpaid wages, after the business was served an eviction notice last month," reports the Sun-Times. The eatery "owes an estimated total of $45,800 for unpaid rent since March, court records show. The 9,454-square-foot restaurant at 744 South Dearborn opened in December and replaced Roots Handmade Pizza in Printers Row. Reserv owner Gerald Joseph said he's contesting the eviction filing and dealing with a dispute involving a business partner."

Chengdu Impression Could Expand To Logan Square

Sichuan restaurant Chengdu Impression may be opening up their fourth location in Chicago, rumors B Talent. The potential Logan Square location is at the former Chiya Chai space.

Restos Rush Back To OpenTable From Resy

"A decade ago, Resy skimmed many of the most popular restaurants off of OpenTable's platform, turning it from a monopoly player in digital reservations to an old-timer," reserves Grub Street. "Over the last year or so, that's changed: OpenTable is now betting that a combination of product updates, pricing changes and a full-on charm offensive—plus, in certain cases, straight cash—will be enough to win back the kinds of sought-after spots that draw diners to a booking platform. The strategy is working. [In New York], Estela, Raf's, Altro Paradiso, Scarr's Pizza and Win Son are just some of the restaurants that have moved from Resy to OpenTable since last summer." (More.)

FILM & TELEVISION

Christopher Nolan On Discovering IMAX In Chicago

"You spent a lot of time in Chicago growing up. Were you a Museum of Science and Industry guy?" asks Richard Roeper at WBEZ. (Nolan and his siblings spent their summers in Evanston.) "My early, formative IMAX experiences were going to the Museum of Science and Industry and seeing 'Ring of Fire' (1991), a wonderful documentary about volcanoes in the Pacific and Indonesia," says Nolan. "And going to Great America and seeing 'To Fly!' (1976). The Museum of Science and Industry was an IMAX dome, which was incredible. But the [IMAX Pictorium at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee] back then was a flat IMAX, and 'To Fly!' was there."

State Attorneys General Could Stop Paramount Skydance Deal; Ellison Family Threatens To Abandon California

"A coalition of state attorneys general have sued Paramount to stop its $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, a sweeping legal challenge to a merger that threatens to reshape Hollywood amid the absence of the Trump administration's intervention in big deals," writes the Hollywood Reporter. "In a much-anticipated lawsuit filed in California federal court, the states allege that the acquisition will substantially throttle competition in wide-release and top-grossing theatrical distribution and cable licensing in violation of antitrust laws. They argue that the merger will combine two of the top five studios in Hollywood, leading to higher prices, fewer movies in theaters and a reduction in the variety and quality of content." (More.)

LIT

"Welcome To The Show" Books Harold Washington Library To Talk Folding Map Project

The next edition of "Welcome to the Show," "Chicago's only live, traveling talk show" will feature interviews with Folding Map Project creator and organizer Tonika Lewis Johnson, urban explorer Joabe Barbosa, composer Charles Joseph Smith and saxophonist Nick Zoulek. The program will also include a performance by members of Backroom Shakespeare. Sunday, August 9, 2pm. More on Instagram here.

MUSIC

Swan Paddle Boats As The Stage In A Milwaukee Lagoon

"Swans," a free public performance in Milwaukee's Veteran's Park Lagoon, will use swan paddle boats as the stage in a performance created by Chicago composer Lia Kohl and visual artist Jess Bass. "Six boats will move around the lagoon in choreographed formations, each holding dancers waving wing sculptures and saxophones playing from the back of each boat. Performers include dancers and musicians from Milwaukee and Chicago." The event is presented by "Out There," Milwaukee's experimental performance series. Sunday, August 30. More here.

Better Acoustics, Fewer Seats In Ravinia Revamp

Audiences who visit the Ravinia Festival this season will "see and hear a few improvements, the result of a $70 million makeover," measures the Sun-Times. "The Highland Park venue's signature stage, called the Hunter Pavilion, is bigger, freshly designed and features a brand new orchestra shell with enhanced acoustics. The new shell is inspired by the stained-glass windows of the Martin Theatre, the last original structure standing from when the thirty-six-acre wooded park opened in 1904." A seven-foot increase in stage space reduces the pavilion's seating to 2,840 seats, down from 3,350. "But Ravinia has invested in brand-new, cushioned seats that come with cupholders. They're wider than the old chairs, too."

Smoking Out The Windy City Smokeout

Windy City Smokeout, which took place this past weekend, brings BBQ pitmasters and country music bands "into the exceedingly unfriendly confines of a United Center parking lot, [which] lacks shade, good views of the stage (for everyone) and, paradoxically, any negativity whatsoever. I don’t know about you, but I found it hard to relate at times. It may be the only place in Chicago you won't hear a lot of whining," writes the usually equanimous Christopher Borrelli at the Trib (gift link). "Being at Windy City Smokeout is like being in a crowded bar with a jukebox playing and occasionally you recognize a song but hearing music is not a priority. Why they have Windy City Smokeout here and not in the middle of Clark Street and Wrigleyville—Nashville North—is beyond me." (More.)

Could Lollapalooza Do More To Serve Chicago?

"Chicago Made is one of a handful of ways the city deepens its ties to Lollapalooza year-round," writes Leor Galil at the Reader. "C3 Presents also hosts an annual job fair linked to Lolla and Sueños, the Latine music fest it helped launch in 2022. Lolla has donated $3.9 million to Chicago Public Schools in support of arts programming between 2021 and 2031. And Lolla and C3 threw down $30,000 to help the Chicago Park District purchase Buckingham Fountain’s new set of a hundred lawn chairs...These initiatives all sound like good things in and of themselves, but they also invite the city to become reliant on Lollapalooza. And the festival clearly gains more from its use of Grant Park than the city’s music culture gets from Lolla’s four days of programming or its charitable gestures. Those gestures incentivize local public institutions to see themselves as part of a corporate festival whose priority is Live Nation’s finances, not Chicago’s cultural health."

STAGE

John Mulaney's Wrigley Field Stand Sets A Stand-Up Record

Chicago native John Mulaney "returned home to become the first comedian to perform at Wrigley Field, and he sold out the venue to boot, performing for one of the largest stand-up audiences ever," offers the Hollywood Reporter in an extended recap. "'How did this happen?' asked a bearded David Letterman as he took centerstage to wild cheers and applause. 'What, are the Beatles here tonight, ladies and gentlemen? This makes that Taylor Swift wedding look like a student film.'"

Other guests included Buddy Guy, Fred Armisen and, of course, Richard Kind. "Mulaney seemed floored by the scene. 'Every Chicago thing in me tells me to stop bowing, but I’m going to enjoy the moment,' he said as he closed the show. 'Words can’t describe how cool this is.'" Mulaney says goodnight to the assembled in a video here.

Skokie Theatre To Reopen In Fall

Monica and Chris Matsakis along with Jose and Kristi Cantillo have bought the Skokie Theatre, which closed at the start of 2012, and plan to reopen it as soon as September. The theater will be "a live entertainment venue dedicated to comedy, storytelling, music and community," they announce. View updates here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

The Obama Center Sets The Silver Room Symposium

The Obama Center and the Silver Room are hosting a symposium that explores "America through the interconnected lenses of arts, culture, archival preservation and civics," bringing "together scholars and cultural practitioners for conversations that connect history with modern changemaking." The afternoon hosts a performance by musician Sam Thousand and two panels: "Preserving Democracy and the Role of the Archives," is moderated by Natalie Y. Moore and features panelists Tracie D. Hall, Nichole Hill and Faheem Majeed; "Preserving Democracy and the Role of Artists" is moderated by Jacqueline Stewart and features Edra Soto, Nancy Villafranca-Guzman, Raquel Flores-Clemons and Norman Teague. Friday, July 17, 2pm-5:15pm. Tickets ($65) here.

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2026-07-14 New City

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:00:05 GMT

Get your ticket now for Chicago's hottest summer festival: The StoryBoard Writers Festival!

Join StoryStudio Chicago Artistic Director Rebecca Makkai, Program Curator Ananda Lima, and an exciting group of instructors on August 15 at the Newberry Library for an inspiring day of creative writing, craft, and community.

Your StoryBoard Festival ticket gets you:

Coffee & Breakfast Social
Choose from 15 Breakout Sessions with Featured Craft Lecturers and StoryStudio Instructors
Lunch with your fellow writers (lunch is included!)
Book Signing with Featured Craft Lecturers
Saturday Evening Cocktail Party

BONUS: Join us for our FREE Friday night kick-off keynote with writer ‘Pemi Aguda in conversation with Rebecca Makkai. This event is Friday, August 14 at 6:30 pm at the Driehaus Museum. Please RSVP for this event separately.

RSVP

SPONSORED

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2026-07-15 New City

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:00:08 GMT

My earliest political memory is of despising Nixon and cheering on the demise of his presidency, a sentiment far too mature for the boy I was, but one readily absorbed from my very liberal father. Not long after Nixon resigned, America celebrated its bicentennial with a flourish that pervaded our lives. We were celebrating the nation in its conception and totality, so whatever disdain we had for the then-current president Ford did not seem to matter.

It feels so different now, as we fear not for our policy positions, but for the very institutions we cherish. And yet, it's our country too. Our 250th birthday, too. So how do we fashion our own celebration?

In Chicago, the answer came to us on a silver platter, with the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, a magnificent monument to a moment when so much of the promise of America seemed closer to realization than ever.

But we had a problem. This issue is coming out a few weeks after the Center opened, and the onslaught of press coverage has been overwhelming. I count at least ten stories over just a few weeks in the New York Times alone.

Meanwhile, I've had the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library on my radar ever since I visited the so-cheesy-it's-charming Medora, North Dakota back in the summer of 2021.

Continue reading the July/August Editor's Letter here.
Order the July/August edition here.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

FILM

Rise, Fall, Rise: Civilization and "The Odyssey"

Under a Kodachrome sky, Christopher Nolan shows what happens when kindness and unquestioning hospitality are abandoned: around the survivors, an age collapsing, its ruins, ours. (Ray Pride)

Note: Due to an embargo, the review will be published at 11am CST at newcityfilm.com.

STAGE

“Suffs” Offers Sustenance to Keep Marching for Gender Equality

Broadway in Chicago's musical on the suffragist movement makes feminism sing. (Dennis Polkow)

ART

Kazuhito Tanaka's Colorful Display at Document

Tanaka takes over Document's space in a vibrant medley of hues, tones and shades with his exhibition "Picture(s)." (Lucas Gomez-Doyle)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

STAGE

Too Much Farce, Not Enough Force in This Version of “The Importance of Being Earnest”

Sight gags go Wilde in No Dogs in the Kitchen Theatre Company’s revival of the classic comedy, overwhelming the play’s trenchant commentary on Victorian social mores. (Hugh Iglarsh)

BRAZIL

Casa Fundação Itaú Debuts At FLIP’s Twenty-Fourth Edition

Plus: SP-Arte Rotas releases its exhibitor list. (Daniela Cantu)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Karen Finley Shares Her Believer Stories

Artist, poet and performer Karen Finley will perform her solo piece "Believe" at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on Monday, July 20 in a free performance open to the public. In the piece, "Finley creates a series of artworks illustrating mentors, teachers and artists who 'believed' in Finley and gave support with their encouragement." For the performance, "Finley sits at a table handling the works on paper artwork she created that illustrates the narrative while a live camera with a bird's-eye view projects Finley's hands and artwork onto the screen simultaneously in real time.

"While the images are projected, Finley tells the story of each 'believe' encounter. The artworks act as a storyboard creating intimacy, the private made public of supportive relationships." The artists include Louise Bourgeois, Kathy Acker, bell hooks, Sinead O'Connor, Joan Rivers, David Wojnarowicz, Tony Fitzpatrick and Lee Godie. Hosted on Monday, July 20 at 6pm in the ballroom at 112 South Michigan. More here.

DESIGN

The Loop's Weather Bell Glows Again

The long-abandoned weather bell at 79 West Monroe, which "changes color to alert passersby of coming weather conditions," is being restored, reports the Sun-Times. "It's an icon for the city," said Gary Stoltz of R2 Companies, which is redeveloping the landmark Rector Building where the sign is located. "Everybody who's spent time in the Loop, walking through the Loop, recognizes the building by the bell." R2 and Luxembourg's Lagfin S.C.A. "are handling the $64 million residential conversion," which will be called the Bellwether Residences.

"The city's landmark designation didn't require restoration of the weather bell—but the state's historic preservation office did. Stoltz said the project includes upgrading the bell's lighting, installing controls that can better anticipate the weather, then recladding the whole thing over the next few weeks."

City Council Approves $425 Million Subsidy For The 78, With Half Going To Parking Garage

"Despite myriad concerns, a City Council committee Monday overwhelmingly approved a $425 million tax increment financing subsidy to bankroll the public improvements needed to support a South Loop development anchored by a new soccer stadium privately financed by the Chicago Fire" and billionaire owner Joe Mansueto, reports the Sun-Times. "Some members questioned Mayor Brandon Johnson’s commitment to use more than half the public subsidy—$216 million—to build a 1,200-space parking garage that will serve as the 'podium' for an open-air plaza and future high-rise development on the air rights above the garage." The original infrastructure plans included a new Red Line stop, which is no longer planned.

A Brick Mid Rise Planned For Vacant Logan Square Lot

"A mixed-use development is in the works on a vacant site at 2758 North Mozart," reports Urbanize Chicago. Planned by Studio Oakley and designed by Chicago Common Studio and Gansari & Associates LLC, the proposal is to take shape as a five-story mixed-use building with "a dark masonry exterior with punched window openings and horizontal banding that breaks down the massing." The project includes "forty residential units, 2,525 square feet of retail space, nine parking spaces and bike parking. To meet Affordable Requirements Ordinance requirements, twenty percent of the residential units will be set aside as affordable housing units."

New York First State To Pause Data Center Construction (For A Year)

"New York state's data center moratorium may become the blueprint for [the] anti-AI movement," reports Ars Technica. "The statewide ban applies to data centers using fifty megawatts or more and it won't be lifted until the state figures out what 'consistent standards' for responsible data center development in New York should look like." Adds the New York Times (gift link), "Ms. [Kathy] Hochul, a Democrat seeking re-election this year, reiterated her belief in the power of technological innovation to improve New Yorkers' lives. 'I also believe this: that the businesses that build technology capable of changing civilization with AI are also capable of working with us to protect our power grid, to protect our water supplies and our communities.'"

DINING AND DRINKING

Greek Frozen Yogurt Pop-Up Settles In Pilsen

"Former Google interns and best friends Nathalie Del Valle and Maya Matta have bet their savings on their frozen yogurt made with fresh fruit and syrups," reports the Sun-Times, which lined up with the very first customers on opening day. After months of selling frozen yogurt out of their apartment "and later hosting sold-out pop-ups all around the city, the best friends have opened the brick-and-mortar home for their independent froyo brand Mikono" in Pilsen. At the opening, "a long line of enthusiastic followers…wrapped around the building."

Edgewater's Sip & Savor Closes

With the closing of its Edgewater site in the historic Belle Shore Apartments building, coffee shop Sip & Savor has closed three stores since December, reports Block Club. That was the chain's only North Side shop; locations remain in Bronzeville and Hyde Park.

FILM & TELEVISION

Christopher Nolan: Pro-Celluloid, Anti-Slop

Making his international interview rounds for "The Odyssey," IMAX emissary Nolan is optimistic about the rejection of AI: "I’ve never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology in my lifetime," he tells the Telegraph. "So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at that generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it...And while that doesn't mean that every aspect of the technology is useless or meaningless, in filmmaking it's hitting at exactly the wrong time. After years of driving towards heavily virtual environments, we're seeing a renewed interest in more tactile, more real forms of storytelling." Nolan also talked to Jon Stewart for a half hour, including on his time living in Chicago.

Behind The Scenes At Cinespace Chicago

"Cinespace Chicago is often called 'The Hollywood of the Midwest.' It spans sixty acres, includes fifty-one soundstages and employs thousands of people," reports WGN-TV in a six minute segment. Jane Williamson, vice president of client services and operations, says, "Just a couple of months ago, we had seven productions on the lot. They have their story, they have their script, they have their crew and they come to us for the space." Adds Williamson, "Last year, the state of Illinois had about $700 million in revenue thanks to this industry."

LIT

How Many Books Is Too Many Books For A New York City Apartment?

"For a young Jewish scholar and writer named Mendel Uminer, books are the wellspring of enlightenment. So when he scored a studio apartment a block away from Central Park on Manhattan’s Upper East Side a year ago, he brought his books with him—all 10,000 of them. What followed, at least for a little while, was a charmed existence in his 600-square-foot temple of knowledge," reports the New York Times from moving-out day (gift link). "The stacks kept rising as Uminer added his hauls from thrift shops, book dealers and eBay deliveries. 'I don’t think of myself as a hoarder,' he said, 'but I guess my building did.'"

MUSIC

Back Alley Jazz, Take Nine

The Hyde Park Jazz Festival has announced the ninth annual Back Alley Jazz program, which is "inspired by the original jazz alley jams that took place in locations on the South Side in the 1960s and seventies, and which continue in different forms. The project creates a contemporary neighborhood 'happening' that animates, builds on and celebrates Chicago’s history and the continuum of culture and art within communities," with "two free live performances in July and August in the South Shore and Greater Grand Crossing neighborhoods on the South Side." View the performance locations, times and artists here.

Chicago's Urge Overkill On Reissues And Meltdowns

"The intentionality of placing the needle and having it physically come out of a thing—it's miraculous. I’m glad that it's become popular again," Urge Overkill guitarist Eddie "King" Roeser tells the Vinyl District, as their 1995 album "Enter The Dragon" is reissued. Why was it their last album for a decade? "Well, we had what would be called a classic internal meltdown," says Roeser of the Chicago band. "You watch 'Inside the Music;' it's like a Greek myth. Very few bands don't have a flameout. I think our flameout was, forgive me for this comparison, was almost Beatlesque, where you've got two, almost three songwriters involved." (More.)

HotHouse At Forty

"Founded in 1986 by Marguerite Horberg in a loft in the West Loop of Chicago, HotHouse has developed and operated two game-changing cultural centers: The first opened its doors in Wicker Park in the early 1990s, and set the bar for international programming as well as a home for creative improvised music. Relocating to the South Loop in the late 1990s, the club doubled in size and welcomed 70,000 patrons a year to more than 500 annual events." As the organization reaches a milestone anniversary, the city "will honor HotHouse with a formal proclamation recognizing its longstanding contributions to the cultural life of the city." A celebration will be held at the Edgewater Beach Apartments on Saturday, August 8, 4pm. Tickets ($25-$535) and more here.

StubHub CEO Alleged To Be Major Ticket Scalper

"Eric Baker isn’t just the CEO of ticket resale site StubHub—he's also a major scalper, using his Andro Capital private equity company," reports John Stanton at New Orleans' Gambit. "He buys tickets to everything, from Taylor Swift shows and the New Orleans Jazz Fest, to major sporting events like the World Cup, in bulk to resale at massive markups on StubHub, according to documents filed with the Security & Exchange Commission. The CBC first reported the questionable arrangement July 10. A New York man filed a class action lawsuit against Baker and StubHub July 13, alleging the company engages in misleading business practices."

STAGE

Raven Theatre "Octet" Transfers To Goodman

"In the a cappella musical 'Octet,' written and composed by Dave Malloy, eight strangers meet at a support group for Internet addiction. The Raven Theatre Midwest premiere this spring yielded a sold-out run in the company’s 130-seat theater," reports the Sun-Times. "Now the production is getting another extension—and an upgrade, opening tonight in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre, which has more than double the capacity at 300 seats. Director Keira Fromm said the stories told through the production sound familiar to audiences. 'It is a musical about eight individuals who meet weekly to untangle their uniquely toxic relationships to the internet, which is, I think, a theme we can all really relate to.'" Read Newcity's review of the Raven Theatre production here.

A Ballet With Choreographed Farm Equipment

"Make Hay While the Sun Shines" features a ballet that "frames everyday farming practices within a classical dance aesthetic, and pays homage to the inherent craft and significance of family farm-scale agricultural practices." The program begins with an opening act by Wild Space Dance Company, leading the audience past straw sculpture by artist Brian Sobaski to the stage for the Hay Rake Ballet, where choreographed farm machinery, harvest rhythms and live music converge. "Rooted in the fertile space between culture and agriculture, 'Make Hay While the Sun Shines' invites audiences to celebrate the harvest and our enduring connections to the land." More details here. Saturday, September 12. The Sauk County location will be announced closer to the date. Tickets ($40-$80) here.

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Fears For Broadway

"Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to write musicals. Even though I’m British, when I was young, Broadway meant musicals to me," the seventy-eight-year-old composer writes as "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" prepares to close in August. "What is happening in front of all who care about the Great White Way breaks my heart. One of the last things Hal Prince said to me was that it broke his heart that it was impossible for new or daring work to be originated on Broadway any more. For any show, it makes practically no financial sense to come to Broadway with things as they are. Would a show like 'West Side Story,' a musical which changed musical theater forever, have a remote chance to premiere on Broadway today?" (More.)

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Sotheby's Sells T. Rex For $50 Million

"When Sotheby’s sold "Sue," a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton for $8.4 million in 1997, the house changed the way the art world looked at dinosaur fossils," records ARTnews. "On Tuesday, Sotheby’s landed even higher with "Gus," one of the largest and most complete T. rex skeletons ever found. Standing 12.5 feet tall and measuring nearly forty feet long, the specimen dates back 67 million years and carried an estimate of $30 million. "Gus" sold on Tuesday morning for a record $50.1 million with fees, a record for a fossil on the auction block. The growth of the dinosaur fossil market has created a new ecosystem of dealers, excavators, and specialists."

Car-Free Sundays Return To Wicker Park This Summer

In Wicker Park, Milwaukee Avenue "will once again be closed to car and bus traffic on the last Sundays in August, September and October," reports Block Club. The collaboration between alder Daniel La Spata’s office and the Wicker Park-Bucktown Chamber of Commerce "launched last summer as a way to reimagine the often-hectic Wicker Park thoroughfare without vehicular traffic...Each Meet Me On Milwaukee brought out not only pedestrians but cyclists, rollerbladers, scooter riders and other street users. Some shops set up sidewalk sales outside their storefronts and even welcomed trick-or-treaters at the final event in October."

Smithsonian Kept From Adding Board Members

"An odd silence has surrounded a delay to fill several open seats on the board of the Smithsonian, even as a fierce battle to control the institution ensues," reports the New York Times. "In a turn of events that attests to a Smithsonian under siege from the White House, the names of several recent nominees to the board have not even made it to Congress. Not the embattled Smithsonian director Lonnie G. Bunch III, who is hanging on to a bare majority of support on the board, nor other trustees." (More.)

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2026-07-16 New City

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 08:00:07 GMT

The news of Mary Morello's passing brought back memories of a very early Newcity cover story that featured her. It was almost certainly the only time the story was about a rock star's mom and not the star himself.

Tom's Chicago-area-based mom was the founder of Parents for Rock and Rap, an anti-censorship group started in the late eighties in response to the Parents Music Resource Center, co-founded by Tipper Gore, the wife of the future Democratic vice president Al Gore. Gore's group wanted warning labels of explicit content on music that their children had access to.

It seems so long ago and so very quaint, doesn't it, that parents could protect their kids with a sticker? Now they blindly give their children smartphones and all that these instruments open up to them: graphic pornography, incitements to violence, access to predators—and any and all music.

And, of course, a lifetime of solitude and depression. Too bad there's no warning labels for that.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

LIT

Budi Darma’s Work Is Found in Translation, From Indonesia to Indiana

The renowned Indonesian writer is breaking through thanks to new English-language versions of his Bloomington, Indiana-set books translated by Tiffany Tsao. (Ted C. Fishman)

ART

Edgar Calel Presents "Corn Mountain of Life (Ixim Juyu K’aslem)"

Architecture from Chi Xot interacts with Chicago's skyline at the Art Institute. (John H. Guevara)

MUSIC

Max Subar’s “Anything Could Be” Makes the Case for Hope

Rich with acoustic guitar, fiddle, pedal steel and vivid lyrical imagery, “Anything Could Be” embraces the classic singer-songwriter tradition with warmth and originality. (Elizabeth Jakaitis)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

FILM

Talking Screens: Ruth Leitman's Debut Restored | Whit Stillman's “Last Days Of Disco” | "Twentieth Century Queers" at the Film Center

Plus: Ross McElwee's "Sherman's March" plays at the Music Box, the Chicago Film Society screens "The Queen" and "Barrio Triste" comes to the Film Center. (Ray Pride)

STAGE

“Safe Landing: Coyote Embrace” Is Caught Between Genres

Authentic Chicago Ensemble production spans everything from coyote-masked interpretive dance to a thriller with hitmen, trapping itself in too many conflicting choices. (Robert Eric Shoemaker)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Document Partner Sibylle Friche Announces Departure

"After eleven years with Document, it is with mixed emotions that I am saying goodbye to the gallery and its incredible team," writes Sibylle Friche. "I take pride in what we achieved together and have nothing but respect for the artists I’ve shared this journey with. It’s been a true honor to help you along the way." Friche joined the gallery as its first director from 2015 to 2022, when she became a partner in the gallery. Before joining Document, she was the director of Rhona Hoffman Gallery as well as Galerie Laurent Godin in Paris.

Hannah Klemm Named Warhol Curator of Art

Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum has announced Hannah Klemm as the new Milton Fine Curator of Art, reports Art Daily. "Klemm is the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the Blanton Museum of Art, she served as associate curator of modern and contemporary art for the Saint Louis Art Museum and held a variety of curatorial fellowship positions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. She will join the Warhol on August 17."

DESIGN

Wicker Park Getting First All-Way Pedestrian Crossing Outside Of The Loop

"The all-way pedestrian crossing residents voted for through participatory budgeting is coming to the North, Damen and Milwaukee intersection," newsletters First Ward alder Daniel La Spata. Also known as a pedestrian scramble, this gives the intersection's signals a cycle where all vehicle traffic is stopped, and pedestrians are able to cross diagonally. It's famously used in places like Tokyo's Shibuya District. "What we are tentatively calling the Pedestrian Priority Pilot should be in place later this year," continues La Spata. "I'm excited to see the first all-way pedestrian crossing phase outside of the Loop come to Wicker Park!"

"Project Runway"-Featured Fabric Store Makes For State Street

"For more than twenty years, millions have been able to step inside Mood Fabrics just by turning on their TV thanks to its presence on the reality fashion competition 'Project Runway,' which premiered on Bravo TV," stitches the Sun-Times. "Now, Chicago fabric lovers will get the chance to experience what the company calls the 'world's most famous fabric store.' Mood plans to open a Loop showroom at 109 South State Street, sharing the block with the Palmer House. It's their first Midwest location."

The Sweeping Views From A St. Regis Penthouse Condo

"This is not a standard developer unit. Instead, it's a custom-crafted home in the sky that took over a year to finalize," reports Robb Report. "Set on the entire seventy-sixth floor of the 101-story St. Regis Chicago—an undulating hotel and residential supertall designed by Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang—the condo was bought for $8.3 million in 2024 by the billionaire family behind cookware Le Creuset. They then enlisted Brazil-based designer Matheus Lima to outfit the space with finishes and furniture that elevated it beyond the standard developer specs. Appointed with Roberto Cavalli and Pininfarina decor, the four-bedroom, five-bath residence is being offered fully furnished for $11.5 million." View the listing here.

Chicago Retail Corridors Rebound

"Major retail corridors like Michigan Avenue are moving out of survival mode and into thriving," reports Axios Chicago. "The Mag Mile, Fulton Market and other neighborhood corridors are seen as indicators of broader economic trends, and the picture for Chicago is bright right now. As return-to-office numbers still lag behind pre-pandemic levels, retailers downtown feel the pinch on weekdays 8am-4pm. Shoppers are making up for some of that slowdown on weekends."

World Architecture Festival Shortlist Unveiled

The World Architecture Festival has announced the shortlist for its 2026 Awards, "recognizing completed buildings, future projects, interiors and landscape works from around the world. The finalists, selected from hundreds of submissions, will compete at this year's festival in November," reports ArchDaily. "This year's selection includes projects by practices such as Foster + Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, Studio Gang, Grimshaw, Perkins&Will, RSHP, Woods Bagot, KPF, Nikken Sekkei, VTN Architects and Sanjay Puri Architects, alongside work by emerging studios." Studio Gang's candidate is the Shirley Chisholm Recreation Center in New York City.

DINING AND DRINKING

Will Chicago Keep The James Beard Awards Past 2028?

"Just months after extending its Chicago partnership through 2028, the James Beard Foundation has officially opened the competition to determine where the nation’s premier culinary awards will be held beginning in 2029," reports Crain's. Block Club has more on the post-2028 road show, noting that "the city will be given a chance to remain the awards ceremony's host as part of the search process."

The Fourth Generation Takes Up The Eighty-Year-Old Hagen Fish Market

"Eric Johnson, the twenty-seven-year-old great-grandson of one of the founders of Hagen Fish Market, now leads the family business—home to one of Chicago’s last natural hardwood smokehouses," reports Block Club on the Portage Park-based fish market. "Over the past eighty years, the neighborhood surrounding Hagen’s has changed a lot more than the store itself. His grandparents and his great-grandparents lived next to the shop, and he grew up across the street." Said Johnson, "It was the family complex."

FILM & TELEVISION

AMC Closes Evanston Multiplex Until 2027 For Renovations

AMC Evanston 12 is closing until early 2027 for renovations, reports the Daily Northwestern. "The theater will downsize by five screens as developers look to construct a mixed-use high-rise on the property." In September 2025, Continuum Development "acquired Church Street Plaza, the site of the proposed twenty-six-story tower which houses AMC. The tower’s plans call for 360 units, including seventy-two designated as affordable housing." The site had reopened as an AMC in 2022 after previous operator Cinemark closed the theater in 2021.

George Lucas Says Get In The Rocket Before AI Leaves You Behind

George Lucas is out on the circuit talking up the September opening of Los Angeles' Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art, which had once been proposed for the Chicago Lakefront. In a recent interview at Cannes, Lucas, eighty-two, said that "artificial intelligence means it’s much easier for us to make movies." Resistance is "very much like sitting here saying: Well, I believe the horse and the buggy is really where it's at. These cars, they break down, they need gas, there's all kinds of problems with them and pretty soon they'll be making them into tanks, and then they'll be killing people. It’s terrible.' Adoption of such tools, continued Lucas, was an inevitability." (More.)

MUSIC

Times Takes To Ravinia Opening Gala

"The gorgeously renovated Hunter Pavilion at Ravinia, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s off-season home, was inaugurated with a gala last weekend," reports the New York Times (gift link). "Marin Alsop was there, the latest in a line of Ravinia chief conductors that includes James Conlon, Christoph Eschenbach and Seiji Ozawa. Under her baton was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in residence at its suburban summer home as it has been since the festival debuted in 1936. Yunchan Lim, the superstar Korean pianist who recently received his college diploma, joined them for a typically astute reading of the Ravel Piano Concerto." (More.)

John Prine's Eightieth Birthday Celebrated Across Five Days

October 10 would have marked the eightieth birthday of musician John Prine. To commemorate the late singer, the Prine family and the Hello In There Foundation have announced a slate of events, collaborations and tributes across Chicago, including screenings of the concert documentary "How Lucky Can One Man Get" (2010); a panel discussion of Prine's contribution to the Chicago folk scene at the Chicago History Museum; the unveiling of Jon Langford's mural of Prine, followed by an all-day celebration at the Old Town School of Folk Music; and a celebration of Prine's life in the village of Maywood, where he grew up and attended high school. A full schedule will be posted soon here. "Souvenirs: 80 Years of John Prine," the concert celebrating Prine's life and legacy, hosted by John C. Reilly on October 8 at the Chicago Theatre, is sold out. Dates and details here.

RIP Mary Morello, 102, Mother Of Tom Morello

Mary Morello "walked onstage at the Aragon Ballroom in 1996 and her son, guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, lowered the microphone so she could offer a few words before the band went on," chronicles Mitch Dudek at the Sun-Times. "Looking sweetly at the audience, she said, 'I’d like to introduce the best fucking band in the universe.' She delivered the pandemonium-inducing line many times—in recent years, with the assistance of a walker. Ms. Morello, a retired schoolteacher and free speech activist who raised her son in Libertyville as a single mother, was 102." Says Morello, "My mom led a humble yet powerfully impactful life, always siding with the underdog, always fearlessly speaking out against racism, intolerance and injustice."

R. Kelly Anticipates Trump Commutation Of Sentence

"As a long shot motion for a new trial remains pending, imprisoned Chicago R&B superstar R. Kelly has formally asked President Trump to commute his thirty-year sentence for an array of sexual misconduct convictions," the Tribune reports. "Kelly’s request, which remains pending, was for a commutation of his sentence, not a full pardon, online records show. Kelly's formal bid for clemency comes more than a year after his newly hired attorney, Beau Brindley, made a public plea to Trump to release the singer from prison immediately, alleging a far-fetched plot by federal authorities to steal his mail and turn witnesses against him, then have a convicted member of the Aryan Brotherhood murder him in prison to keep it all from being exposed."

Why Some International Musicians Avoid The United States

"Before a musician from another country can take the stage in the U.S., someone has to file paperwork with the federal government on their behalf. And not just any paperwork—a petition, hundreds of pages long, stacked with press clippings, award documentation, testimonial letters from other artists, venue contracts, a detailed tour itinerary and evidence that the artist is legitimately accomplished at what they do," reports NPR. "It's a complicated, expensive process that arts advocates say has long made the country a difficult place for foreign artists to access. But now, they say it's gotten much worse." (More.)

STAGE

Oil Lamp Theater Announces Its Future Home, Designed By Future Firm

Oil Lamp Theater, currently at 1723 Glenview Road, has announced its future home at the former Ten Ninety Brewing Co. location in downtown Glenview. "At approximately 11,000 square feet, this new home will feature a warm and welcoming lobby, a flexible theater with seating for up to 150 plus guests and thoughtfully designed spaces by Future Firm that will serve Oil Lamp’s artists, students and community," the theater company announces. "The opportunity to move to a larger performance space, that is adjacent to Oil Lamp Academy, became possible due to the founder of the Negaunee Foundation, client of Virginia Trux, who purchased the property as a personal project and looks forward to years of joy with Oil Lamp Theater." More here.

SummerDance Returns With More Than Thirty Dance Styles Across City Parks

Mayor Johnson and DCASE have outlined the return of Chicago SummerDance 2026, "the city's free social dancing series that invites residents and visitors of all ages to experience Chicago's vibrant cultural traditions through free dance lessons, live music and community celebration. This year's lineup features dance styles representing traditions from around the world, including salsa, plena, East Coast swing, Bollywood, vintage swing, square dance, Brazilian samba and Chicago Steppin'. Professional dance instructors will lead free lessons before live performances by acclaimed bands and DJs, making each event accessible for beginners and experienced dancers alike." View the schedule here.

West End Strike Averted With Deal On Actor Pay

The Society of London Theatre "has reached a proposed three-year agreement with Equity covering pay and working conditions for performers and stage management working in the West End," notes What's On Stage.

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2026-07-16 New City

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:00:06 GMT

Talking Screens: A Week In Chicago Film
July 17-23, 2026

by Ray Pride

In Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," from the epic poem by Homer, the writer-director-producer shows what happens when kindness and unquestioning hospitality are abandoned: around the survivors, an age collapsing, its ruins, ours. Matt Damon's Odysseus is lost, lost, lost, lost. But with love, he is found. He is an extraordinary everyman. Our review is here. Now playing, in IMAX at Roosevelt and Regal City North and on 70mm at the Music Box, Roosevelt and River East.

"Remake"

Ross McElwee's 1985 "Sherman’s March: A Meditation on the Possibility Of Romantic Love in the South During An Era of Nuclear Weapons Proliferation" is a progenitor of the personal documentary, a 158-minute comic road trip stripping away moments in history as well as a soul as he meets several remarkable women. It's a solid, unassuming masterpiece, fruitfully restored—but an even greater testament to lives led is McElwee's beautiful and shattering "Remake."

It's essential viewing, and compactly summarized by McElwee himself: "It’s been fourteen years since I completed my last film, 'Photographic Memory.' What animated that film was the sense that I no longer understood my son, Adrian, the way I once thought I did. As a child, Adrian liked being filmed, and I liked filming him. It was a process that linked us. But as the years went by, things changed—for him and for me.

"When Adrian died, suddenly and unexpectedly, in the winter of 2016, I wasn’t sure I would make another film. Eventually I started going through my home movies again, all these accumulated moments with my son, who was now no longer here. And then I began to look at what he’d filmed too. 'Remake' is both my attempt to hold onto Adrian, and to let him go." My summa is simpler: Go. "Sherman's March" and "Remake" open Friday, July 17 at the Music Box.

"Barrio Triste"

Beautifully earnest "Barrio Triste," from Colombian-American filmmaker, photographer and Bad Bunny collaborator Stillz and presented by Harmony Korine, is an arresting lo-fi testament to youth in corrupted surroundings, a visual astonishment that does not let up (or let go). In 1980s Medellín, teenagers who live in neglect steal a news reporter's camera and frame their world. There's a no-budget affinity with "City of God"; the dystopia that's already here is reminiscent of Alfonso Cuarón's vision in "Children of Men." Comparisons between Stillz's neorealist-surrealist vision have been made to Gabriel García Márquez's Colombia of the past; the milieu simmers fiercely. Death is right there; right here. The score by Arca is refined delirium. The trailer is here. "Barrio Triste" opens Friday, July 17 at the Film Center.

We talk at length to Chicago filmmaker Ruth Leitman about the return of her first feature, its scrappy origins and hardscrabble life, "Wildwood, NJ." (Interview at end of column.)

HOLDOVERS

This week’s “Must-Watch Indies” at Facets include David Lowery’s “Mother Mary” and the first feature documentary by Argentine master Lucrecia Martel, she of the stylish specs, cheroot, walking stick, class consciousness and anxiety-rich mise-en-scène, “Nuestra Tierra” (Our Land). Showtimes here.

CHICAGO SEEN

Notable Repertory & Revival attractions include Whit Stillman's "Last Days Of Disco" (a fragment of a 1998 interview is below); Howard Hawks' comic clockwork “Bringing Up Baby“ at Doc Films; and Frank Simon's period drag doc "The Queen."

The Film Center features the fiftieth anniversary restoration of Bruno Bozzetto's animated musical fantasy, "Allegro non troppo" and Abbas Kiarostami's mysterious masterpiece "The Taste Of Cherry" (which prompted one of Roger Ebert's most uncomprehending reviews).

"The Queen"

The Chicago Film Society showcases Simon's 1968 "The Queen" (35mm). "Shot over five days in the lead-up to the Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant of 1967, 'The Queen,'" writes CFS' Kyle Westphal, "eavesdrops on a cadre of female impersonators as they primp, preen, sing showtunes, and turn New York upside down in search of the right wig." Shown with Heather McAdams' 1988 "Meet ... Bradley Harrison Picklesimer," a visit with "your favorite 'redneck in sheep’s clothing,' proprietor of Club LMNOP, Lexington, Kentucky’s neighborhood drag bar with the best jukebox in town." Film Center, Sunday, July 19, 5pm.

Also at the Film Center, as part of their "20th Century Queers" series, Chantal Akerman's newly restored, luminous, brooding portrait of a filmmaker in flux, played by the great Aurore Clément, "Les Rendez-vous d'Anna" (1978). "Chantal Akerman’s narrative follow-up to her international breakthrough, 'Jeanne Dielman,' is a penetrating portrait of a woman’s soul-deep malaise and a mesmerizing odyssey through a haunted Europe," synopsizes Criterion. Trailer here. Film Center, July 18-22.

"Desperate Living"

John Waters has fresh Criterion Blu-rays of "Hairspray" and "Desperate Living," and the latter is also showing as part of "20th Century Queers." Rapscallion and "filth elder" Waters just turned eighty and made the interview circuit for the Criterion editions. One of the best chats comes from Queer Review: "I’m amazed that 'Hairspray' has lasted so long and that it has had so many different lives. Watching it again, I thought, boy, the idea of a fat girl fighting for civil rights was a damn good one!'" Of "Desperate Living," “Once thought to be my ugliest and angriest film, It’s now ludicrously but beautifully restored in 4K."

Looking at his 1977 work, Waters says, "That movie is extremely confusingly politically correct or incorrect. I actually believe that time has made it now politically correct, when at one time it might not have been. The young hip trans people that I know love it and they love its excess. Susan Lowe as Mole says, ‘I want a wang and I want it now!’ What’s the matter with that? That’s just being militant." Film Center, July 17-23.

"Body Double"

Brian De Palma's memorably sleek yet joyously tacky provocation "Body Double," a cartoon of the world of Los Angeles porn in 1984 and his fantasies of driller-killer double-crosses, glides into Lincoln Square. Come for John Lautner's 1960 Chemosphere, stay for the sudden apparition of a four-minute peregrinating video of Frankie Goes To Hollywood performing "Relax." Davis, Thursday, July 23.

"Linda Linda Linda"

At Facets: the gleeful 2002 black-and-white experimental animation of "Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space," from the Japanese composer-director team of T.O.L., who have acknowledged it's an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying Of Lot 49." Also: the irresistible fun of “Linda Linda Linda," one of the more joyous comedies of the 2000s.

Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Aki Kaurismäki-esque tale, which takes its title from an infernally catchy Japanese pop song, is a little like “Rock School,” seems influenced by Jim Jarmusch, but it’s filled with the kind of youthful exuberance that only the Japanese do well. Like the great “All About Lily Chou-Chou,” “Linda Linda Linda” treats music like air or water: strictly necessary. Showtimes here.

"The Last Days Of Disco"

Doc Films is showing “Last Days Of Disco” (1998), the third of Whit Stillman's keenly observed, neatly structured, dialogue-furnished trilogy that began with “Metropolitan” (1990) and “Barcelona" (1994). Here's part of a interview from before its release.

Why these very specific people of a particular class?

I find that because of "Metropolitan," people are interpreting the characters, their bourgeois identity as more important than it really has to be. In this country, there's a broad class of people who've gone to universities. Wherever they started, they go through the mill and they come to the city and they get professional jobs, publishing jobs, whatever that is. There is a similarity, the people sort themselves out, it's not necessarily where it came from. That's not the intention, but maybe inadvertently it does wind up that way. There is a sort of stylistic self-definition of certain people who would have these jobs and care about going out at night. It's a dressier crowd. There'd be other crowds at work and their friends they went to college with. I think in university years, people start self-selection and forming identities and winding up in one group or another.

Your three movies take place in the past.

For me, it's really important to write with a fifteen-year time lag. That's another reason for the disco period. When I looked back from 1994, fifteen years put me plonk in the middle of that period. I find I can't really write about the present. Only through the past do you get through the mist of stuff you want to remember and think about. And also I don't like all popular culture. When something happens in popular culture that you respond to, I want to hold onto that. It was one period that I thought was fun and interesting. "The Last Days of Disco" plays July 21 and 24 on 35mm at Doc Films.

CHICAGO SEEN

Behind the scenes of making "Wildwood, NJ"

A restoration of Chicago filmmaker Ruth Leitman's debut, "Wildwood, NJ" plays this week. We talk about the documentary's twenty-five-year history, from teen girl empowerment to lo-fi tech. Davis Theater, Saturday, July 18.

How did the restoration and tour come about?

"Wildwood, NJ" premiered at festivals in 1994. It has had a second, third and maybe now, fourth life. The first "second life" happened in 2009. "Wildwood" was invited to screen at Hot Docs' fifteen-year anniversary in 2013 and was later featured in Sight & Sound's "The Female Gaze: One Hundred Overlooked Films Directed by Women," which sparked a theatrical tour of the UK over the summer of 2016. Earlier this year, the film was invited to the Berlinale Retrospective “Lost in the Nineties," no better way to premiere the restoration by American Genre Film Archive, followed by this summer tour in tandem with AGFA’s Blu-Ray.

And of course, right now, as a culture, we are obsessed with and nostalgic for the nineties, and this film delivers that authenticity of a time that was so hopeful and pure. There’s even a payphone that is a character in the film, harkening to a time that will never be the same again. As a filmmaker deeply engaged in the exhibition and distribution of my work, I have embraced every iteration of "Wildwood’"s life. It lives on as a 1990s time capsule of teen girl culture. But the sharing and viral nature of "Wildwood" now, in a sense, belongs to all of us searching for the complexities of a time gone by and reflecting back upon the fleeting nature of our own youth.

"Wildwood NJ"

Tell me about the restoration.

Yes, it is a restoration derived from its best digital form. "Wildwood" was shot on Super 8 film stock and edited on tape. Our source was the Digital Betacam master. The raw, gritty aesthetic of the movie is one of its defining traits. The visual quality is just as nostalgic and beautiful as the neon lights of the boardwalk that appear in the film. Our goal was to retain the aesthetic of the original analog elements (including the 1994 color grade and audio mix) while bringing out a richness and vibrancy overall. It was shot on Kodak Ektachrome and Kodachrome Super 8 film stock with magnetic sound, which was used as a scratch track. I purchased an older Canon 1014 XLS camera, which I had modified in order to be able to film as a sync sound camera double system to sync with a Nagra and DAT sound recorders. I literally answered an ad from a film magazine: "Crystal Synch Your Super8 camera!" I sent a $500 check and the camera was the way to transform my home movie camera into a professional sync sound film camera package.

What has the actual place meant to you over time?

As a teen, this place held a certain nostalgia for me, but also a fantasy. There was a bit of the unattainable teenage life I’d missed that I was moved to capture. I wanted to explore the magic of the place, and thus the highly grainy Super 8 stock, heightens the retro aesthetic of the film, making the 1990s look like the 1980s, hearkening even further back in time.

"Wildwood, NJ"

Do you remember your goals in making the film and do they hold up?

When we made "Wildwood," it really was an exploration, there was so much experimentation in the process of how it was made. I was working mainly as a photographer at that point. But I felt that teen girls—especially those from working class backgrounds in New Jersey—are seldom listened to or ever taken seriously. I wanted to give the megaphone to the tough teen girls I had been photographing for years. I wanted to capture the experiences of my friends, the things that I had missed while ostensibly being imprisoned in an abusive relationship as a teenager myself. I wrote about my films and how my own experience as a teen affected me a few weeks ago at Talkhouse (here).

That goal holds up better than I ever could have imagined because even though the film was made in and "about" a very specific place, the characters we meet in the film transcend the place, becoming universal examples of girlhood and growing up female and what it takes for us to have dreams, aspiration and, really, just to even be heard.

Images and stories

Back then, I was looking for the instrument, the art form that would help give me some hope and a way out. Picking up a camera after escaping an abusive relationship as a teenager was my lifeline. So my younger self was telling me that I could do this and that I needed to work my ass off and be good at it, otherwise I could end up dead. And there’s no question that this is what drove me. But I fell in love with filmmaking, because it gave me great purpose. Younger me tells older me… "You did it!" Older me says: "I have no idea how you did it." Back then, I gravitated toward teen girls who were much like myself, at risk and scrappy as hell. I am still scrappy decades later, and that experience has made me unbreakable. Good thing though, because I would eventually need that. The film industry is so broken and especially doesn’t work for women, queer, people of color or any marginalized makers. So I have always felt comfortable working outside of this dysfunctional system.

Rise, Fall, Rise: Civilization and "The Odyssey"

Under a Kodachrome sky, Christopher Nolan shows what happens when kindness and unquestioning hospitality are abandoned: around the survivors, an age collapsing, its ruins, ours. (Ray Pride)

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2026-07-17 New City

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

I used to love snow days as a kid, when the weather gave us a bonus day to play outside in the powder or hole up in the living room to watch cartoons on WGN-TV without even needing to exaggerate a sniffle.

Smoke days, on the other hand, simply seem ominous; shades of pandemic isolation without even being able to go outside and burn off some energy. They do remind us, however, of how much we take for granted. Once we can see and breathe again, let's all enjoy the city and its great outdoor summer offerings all the more.

Until then, we can all hole up at "The Odyssey" in the movie theater or curl up at home with the summer edition of Newcity. If you don't have it yet, you might want to venture out to one of the retailers who now have it on sale. Each of them is a singular Chicago destination worth a visit any time, on a sunny, snowy or smoky day.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

STAGE

Gwydion Reclaims the Risk-Taking Heritage of Chicago Storefront Theater

These recent transplants represent a new generation of theater artists who have chosen this city based on its reputation as a place open to brash, bright young thespians willing to do their own thing on their own terms. (Hugh Iglarsh)

DESIGN

A Lost Frank Lloyd Wright Design, Worn With a Windsor

The Tie Bar turns Wright’s now-demolished Midway Gardens, the architect’s Hyde Park entertainment complex, into wearable Chicago design history. (Vasia Rigou)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
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ART

"Life Is an Art: The Collection of Jan Petry" Honors Intuitive Collecting

The exhibition pays tribute to Petry’s formative role and endorsement of the Intuit Art Museum as well as her lifelong passion for the arts. (Zara Yost)

BRAZIL

For Almir Mavignier, Art Is an Existential Issue

Three shows celebrate the work of the Brazilian painter and graphic designer after his centenary. (Jose Bento Ferreira)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Vogue Visits The Studio Of Gladys Nilsson

"It's not more than a few seconds after we meet that the artist Gladys Nilsson, eighty-six, insists on helping me carry my suitcase over the threshold and into her home. Nilsson has lived in a handsome brick house with Craftsman-style interiors in the town of Wilmette, just north of Chicago, since 1976 with her husband, the artist Jim Nutt, eighty-six. The two met in 1960 when they were both students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago," profiles Vogue.

"There is art everywhere—paintings and sculptures and masks, piles of papers and books, work made by the two of them or their friends, plus plenty of souvenirs from their decades of travel. 'Stuff gets put down and it stays there and we ignore it,' Nilsson deadpans. Eclecticism suits them." "Gleefully Askew: A Gladys Nilsson Retrospective" is on view at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento from July 19-November 29.

Driehaus Museum Adds To Board Of Directors, Including Former Frick Director

The Driehaus Museum has added Chicago philanthropist Cari B. Sacks and former Frick Collection director Ian Wardropper to its board of directors. Sacks is involved with civic and cultural organizations across the city, and provided major support for the museum’s inaugural artist residency, "Brendan Fernandes: In the Round." Wardropper was the director of the Frick Collection from 2011-2025, overseeing its major renovation before retiring from the role. (More.)

Strong Mid-Year Art Auction Results Driven By Trophy Collections

Auction giants Christie's and Sotheby's "closed the first half of 2026 with multibillion-dollar totals, but that rebound depended heavily on major estates at the very top end of the market and a broader, cross-category buyer base," reports the Observer. "Single-owner collections were a key driver of auction sales growing, bringing in $2.17 billion in total sales and accounting for thirty-two percent of total auction sales value. Christie’s sold the highest-value collection with the $630.8 million S.I. Newhouse sales in May." (More.)

DESIGN

Jahn Imagines A Pedestrian-Only LaSalle Street

"What if LaSalle Street became Chicago’s next great public space?" writes architecture firm Jahn of their submission for citywide competition "Horizon Lines: Visions for Chicago 2050." "As downtown evolves, so should the streets that define it. Our vision reimagines LaSalle Street as a pedestrian-first corridor that reconnects people, neighborhoods and the Chicago River, transforming a historic financial district into a vibrant place for everyday life. Chicago has never been afraid to reinvent itself, and perhaps LaSalle Street is ready for its next chapter." The submission was named among the World Business Chicago competition's "Notable Visions."

Krueck Sexton Updates UIC Learning Spaces, Preserving Brutalist Character

Major renovations of the Walter Netsch-designed Jefferson and Henry Halls are underway at the University of Illinois Chicago, with the updates designed by Chicago-based Krueck Sexton Partners, UIC announces. These changes "will expand classroom and studio space for students in the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts’ School of Theatre and Music and the growing computer science and design major. It also will add office spaces for the college.

"The renovation, supported by private philanthropy and institutional support, marks the first comprehensive update to the buildings since their 1965 opening. As part of the redesign, a freestanding brick wall along Harrison Street will be removed and replaced with perennial plantings." Attention will be paid to "the architectural legacy of Walter Netsch and the stewardship of UIC’s internationally recognized Brutalist campus." More here.

Edgar Miller Legacy Sets "Handmade Histories"

The Edgar Miller Legacy announces "Handmade Histories: One Hundred Years of Old Town Art & Design," an exhibition at the Art on Sedgwick Gallery that celebrates the new graphic novel on the Chicago artist, "A Total Work of Art: The Story of Edgar Miller." The show "explores how Old Town became a crossroads of a rapidly changing urban environment defined by its artistic nature, modernist aesthetic, traditional craft and generational legacy." Opens Friday, July 24. Registration and more here. Read Newcity's recent feature on Edgar Miller and the creation of the graphic novel here.

Mid-Rise Apartment Projects Proposed For Fulton Market And West Town

"A local firm has proposed a 109-unit apartment building in Fulton Market at 1133 West Kinzie, adding to a wave of development proposals coming to the district’s northwestern edge," observes Crain's. The report notes that "downtown Chicago’s development pipeline overall has seen a major slowdown the last couple of years amid challenges drawing equity to the city to finance large-scale projects, an environment that makes mid-rise projects like this one an easier lift." A bit further west, a new proposal has been revealed for 2119 West Grand, rising five stories and featuring forty-eight residential units.

Detroit's Own Shinola Launches First Brand Campaign

"Shinola has unveiled its first-ever overarching brand campaign, marking a new creative chapter for the Detroit-based brand while reintroducing its signature Runwell timepiece," notches Fashion Network. "Introduced in 2011 as the first watch assembled by Shinola in Detroit, the Runwell remains the brand’s best-known timepiece and helped establish the company as a modern American watchmaker. The latest campaign positions the watch as more than a timepiece, framing it as a symbol of choosing one’s own pace in an increasingly fast-moving world."

FILM & TELEVISION

Hollywood's Counting On The Youth For A $10 Billion Year

"It’s not just Homer fever that has America going to the movies again," cover-stories Variety. "Popcorn is popping at concession stands (and moviegoers are shelling out extra to consume the buttery goodness in collectible themed buckets), teens are turning out in force (and sharing the fun on TikTok) and studio accountants are giddy as the list of blockbusters keeps growing. Yes, people have fallen back in love with the silver screen... Revenues for the summer are in line with those of 2019, a banner year for the business, and overall ticket sales are ten percent above the same point in 2025, according to Rentrak. At this pace, yearly domestic grosses are expected to hit $10 billion for the first time since the onset of the pandemic."

Activist FCC Chairman Says Local News Ownership Must Agglomerate

FCC chair Brendan Carr says an August 6 vote "to allow the FCC to, on a case-by-case basis, lift a limit on the number of stations a broadcaster owns is vital to the survival of the medium," reports The Hill. Regulation has "really been holding back local broadcasters from reaching the scale necessary to invest in local news and journalism reporting."

LIT

NewberryFest Features 250 Years Of The United States This Saturday

The 2026 edition of NewberryFest, hosted by the library this Saturday, July 18, "will offer opportunities to come face-to-face with collection items, interact with scholars and curators, and reflect on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The day is anchored by two exhibitions on American history topics—'Free and Independent: The Declaration of Independence and the Words That Made the United States' and 'Conceived in Liberty: Cartoons, Caricatures, and Illustrations in the Wartime US, 1812-1918.' A collection presentation featuring rare Revolutionary-era materials will take place throughout the day, as will building tours and a small used book sale." Saturday, July 18, 10am. More Newberry here.

Memoir Panel Books Harold Washington Center

The Chicago Public Library is hosting an event on writing memoirs with a panel of authors with recently published memoirs. The panel includes Melissa Fraterrigo ("The Perils of Girlhood"), Timothy J. Hillegonds ("And You Will Call It Fate: A Memoir") and Alex Poppe ("Breakfast Wine"), moderated by Miles Harvey. Newcity reviewed all three memoirs of the featured panelists: read the "Breakfast Wine" review here, the review of "And You Will Call It Fate" here and "The Perils Of Girlhood" here. Hosted at the Harold Washington Library Center on Tuesday, August 11 at 6pm. More on the event here.

MUSIC

William Shatner Makes Heavy Metal Debut At Riot Fest

Ninety-five-year-old William Shatner will debut The *uckers, his new heavy metal band at Riot Fest on Sunday, September 20, Block Club records. The *uckers includes guitarists Marcus Nand and Britt Lightning, Phil Soussan on bass and Fred Aching on drums. Says Shatner, the actor, writer, veteran of space flight and "Mr. Tambourine Man," "I’ve always believed that music, like space, is about exploration. Riot Fest is exactly the kind of place where anything can happen. We’re bringing volume, intensity and a few surprises. I can’t wait to share this experience." Shatner offers a thirty-second video transmission here.

STAGE

Northlight Theatre: A New Home, A New Season And A New Era

Northlight Theatre is preparing to move into its new home in Evanston. "The building’s ribbon cutting will be held on July 28," and "the inaugural season in Evanston will begin on September 9, with the world premiere of 'The Front Page,' adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the original by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur." The theater company's grand opening gala, “Celebrating our Past, Building our Future," will mark "the beginning of a new era" in their 287-seat Evanston theater. "Musical entertainment will be by celebrated performers and Evanston natives Abby Mueller, Andrew Mueller, Jessie Mueller and Matt Mueller with music direction by Northwestern University alumnus Ian Weinberger." The benefit event will be held Saturday, August 15, at Northlight Theatre, 1012 Church Street in Evanston. Limited tickets ($500) and more here.

Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project Returns To The Harris

Following last year’s sold-out engagement, the Harris Theater for Music and Dance presents the return of Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project in a one-night-only performance, "Dancing the Archive: Embodied Histories, Collective Power." As performed by ten Black dance organizations, the evening celebrates Chicago’s inaugural Legacy Bearers, "ten visionaries and changemakers whose lives and leadership have shaped the city’s landscape while inspiring its future." Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Friday, August 28. Tickets ($46 and up) here. More on the Dance Legacy Project here.

TimeLine's World Premiere Based On Jonathan Eig's "The Birth Of The Pill"

TimeLine Theatre will open its thirtieth anniversary at its new home in Uptown with the world premiere of "The Birth of the Pill," based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winner Jonathan Eig, adapted by Jessica Huang and directed by Sandra Marquez. The cast features TimeLine company member Janet Ulrich Brooks as Margaret Sanger, with Rammel Chan, Mitchell J. Fain, Mary Beth Fisher, María Victoria Martínez, as well as TimeLine company member David Parkes. Previews begin September 2; performances run through October 4. Single tickets go on sale July 21 here.

Chicago Live! Returns To Navy Pier

Chicago Live! will return for its sixth year, hosting more than a hundred of the city’s performing arts organizations and artists across five stages throughout Navy Pier. Since its debut in 2021, the festival has grown from forty-three performing companies, "reflecting both the strength of Chicago’s performing arts community and Navy Pier's commitment to creating opportunities for artists to reach new audiences." September 19-20. More here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

250 Chicago Artists Receive Grants From The City

Mayor Johnson and DCASE have announced $1.3 million in Individual Artists Program grants to 250 Chicago artists working across visual arts, music, theater, dance, literary arts and film and media arts. "The grants provide critical support for artists to develop new work, preserve Chicago's rich cultural heritage and bring innovative creative experiences to neighborhoods throughout the city," the city writes. The program attracted 1,239 applications. This year's total of 250 artists is the highest number of awards in program history, and artists represent all fifty wards. The list of recipients is here.

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2026-07-20 New City

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

If I owe you an email from these last couple of months, it's at least in part because we've been doing a ton of interviews and meetings that have resulted in the addition of two amazing people to the Newcity team.

When our longest-serving art director Dan Streeting decided to leave this year, we were worried about how we'd replace him and maintain the exceptional design standards he'd brought to the publication. So when we connected with the founder of the Design Museum of Chicago, Tanner Woodford, and found out he was interested in taking over, we could not be more excited about the way things turned out. You can read more about Tanner here.

Separately, we were a bit overwhelmed by the number of great candidates we met in the process of hiring a new assistant editor. But we found Maya Surrenti from an unexpected source: She'd been referred to us by an editor who got his start with us in the nineties, Gil Kaufman, and went on to a long career as a leading music journalist, now based in Cincinnati. You can read more about Maya here.

And now let me get back to responding to emails. I don't have an excuse anymore.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You can still get a copy of the 156-page double summer issue. If you subscribe now here, it will be your first edition. And as for other options, find out here.

NEWCITY

Of the Audacity of Change: The Obama Presidential Center

The “grand” grand opening provided a feeling of American (and Black) pride unfelt in a very long time. But with it, the audacity of this architecture of change—and the cost of that change—ever present and inescapable. (Robert Scoop Jackson)

ART

Gelsy Verna's Pleading Monument

Verna's work joins the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art's collection. (Rafael Salas)

STAGE

"The Matchmaker" Is the Play That Became "Hello, Dolly!"

On stage at American Players Theatre, Wisconsin native Thornton Wilder's play is an old-fashioned but well-made farce that was later adapted into the 1964 Broadway hit. (Mary Wisniewski)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

LIT

“Man Overboard!” Throws Readers Into the Deep End

Kathleen Rooney spins a tale of depression and resilience that begins on the deck of a cruise ship. (Amanda Norton)

BRAZIL

Rubem Valentim's Geometry of the Sacred

MAM Rio's retrospective Valentim exhibition follows a historical wave of influence. (Luiz Armando Bagolin)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

The Driehaus Museum Presents A Solo Show Of Sculptor Emma Stebbins

The Driehaus Museum has announced "Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History," "a touring exhibition that examines the full scope of Stebbins’ history-making career as one of the most significant American sculptors of the nineteenth century. From 1857 to 1870, Stebbins created innovative marble and bronze sculptures while living in Rome and studying within the circles of historic sculptors. Her work models inventive and incisive interpretations of literary and biblical subjects, as well as unprecedented allegories of American industry. With the Bethesda Fountain in 1863, Stebbins became the first woman to earn a commission for a public sculpture from the City of New York." October 8-April 18. More here.

Collector Carl Thoma, Now Based In Dallas, Has No Regrets

"I’m drawn to where art is going. The experimental, digital, time-based work that's redefining the medium's boundaries," collector Carl Thoma tells the Observer. "The Thoma Foundation has been headquartered in Dallas since 2023, two years after [he and wife Marilynn] relocated from Chicago. Yet it already feels as though Dallas is becoming 'Thoma Town,' as museum publicist Taylor Mayad Powell puts it. Both her clients, the Meadows Museum of Spanish Art at SMU and the Crow Museum of Asian Art, are showing works from the Thoma Foundation this year."

What's Trump Got Against The Smithsonian's History?

The recent report claiming reform is required across the Smithsonian's range of museums "is not a document about history; it is the product of a racial and political ideology in search of a history that no longer bears scrutiny," writes historian David W. Blight at the New York Times (gift link). "People often joke about how Trumpism would like to return us to some version of the 1950s, when America supposedly was 'great.' In this 162-page report, the administration has done just that. The report would prefer that nothing had ever happened since the fifties to mar the White House’s polished, superficial, puerile version of America’s past."

DESIGN

A Symposium On Sustainable Architecture Coming This September

Villa Albertine Chicago and Mas Context have organized a three-day symposium "bringing together leading voices to explore the future of sustainable architecture" this September. Titled "Shaping Contemporary Realities: Architecture And Beyond," the event will gather "more than thirty-five architects, landscape architects, urban planners, curators, artists, scientists, researchers, philosophers and experts [to] explore three themes: innovative adaptation, civic changemaking and flourishing environments. Each day will take place at a different venue—the IIT College of Architecture, Experimental Station on the South Side and the Chicago Architecture Center—and will combine short talks, public Q&A sessions and guided tours." The program will be announced soon, and is free. September 24-26. More here.

A Vintage Office Tower At 70 East Lake Will Go Residential

"A vintage office tower in the northeast corner of the Loop is poised to become apartments, adding another large-scale, privately-backed project to the wave of conversions downtown," writes Crain's. "Chicago developer Honore Properties bought the seventeen-story office building at 70 East Lake and plans to convert it to about 170 apartments. The purchase price for the 141,593-square-foot property was $9.2 million. Honore has completed office-to-apartment conversions at 118 South Clinton in the West Loop and at 811 West Evergreen near Goose Island, both of which [developer Michael] Shenouda said leased up quickly, and has another under construction at 50 East Superior."

A Guidebook Author's Six Favorite Illinois Frank Lloyd Wright Sites

"Milwaukee writer Kristine Hansen's 'Frank Lloyd Wright's Illinois: Explore His Most Prolific State, From Prairie to Usonian,' is illustrated with color photographs and has entries on forty Wright sites in the Land of Lincoln," relays On Milwaukee. She pinpoints six sites, leading, of course, with the Frank Lloyd Wright Home (1889) and Studio (1898) in Oak Park.

DINING & DRINKING

Where Danny's Tavern Once Stood

Block Club reporter Quinn Myers shares a dispiriting shot of the less-than-memorable apartment building that's taken the place of Danny's Tavern in Bucktown. His earlier Block Club story on the demolition of the legendary Bucktown nightlife spot is here.

Is Malört Poised To Flavor A Nation?

"Jeppson’s Malört is gearing up for its biggest ad campaign yet under current ownership as demand for its unusual flavor grows beyond the Chicago area," sniffs the Wall Street Journal. "Not so long ago, it was tough to find Jeppson’s Malört in bars or liquor stores outside of Chicago and its suburbs. Now, it is in thirty-seven states and counting, thanks to a strange strategy: playing up how disgusting it tastes." A new marketing campaign "will prompt consumers to share their harrowing tales of trying the extremely bitter Malört for the first time—and to taste it if they haven’t before."

"Last year, a campaign called 'Malört Tastes Like' featured consumer comparisons to 'fermented back sweat' and 'moist dumpster residue.' The distiller of the spirit, made from the weedlike wormwood plant using a Swedish recipe and likened by consumers to 'liquefied existential dread' or 'octane-fueled Chicago gutter water,' has been beefing up sales and marketing since acquiring the brand in 2018."

The Fine Arts Building Now Pours Groundswell Coffee

Groundswell Coffee Roasters is expected to open in the Fine Arts Building this week, "pending final city inspections, marking the first cafe in the Downtown architectural landmark since its Artist’s Cafe closed in 2019," reports the Sun-Times. "Groundswell’s bright space was designed by Hammersley Architecture, with interior design by Gooch Design Studio. Both are Fine Arts Building tenants. Hammersley Architecture previously worked on the Studebaker Theater’s renovation. The cafe shares design motifs with the Studebaker, such as wood paneling and metal grating found in the theater," and it features "a gilt-framed mirror from an elevator originally in the space." Groundswell, spanning about 1,000 square feet, will offer food and beverages daily from 7am-7pm. More here. (Read Newcity's longest feature ever, a history of the building published, here.)

A Hundred Years Of Original Rainbow Cone

"Chicago's Original Rainbow Cone turns one hundred this year, but it's staying dedicated to its recipe," scoops Axios Chicago. "Joe and Katherine Sapp opened Rainbow Cone at 92nd and Western in Beverly in 1926, serving their signature five-layer ice cream treat of chocolate, strawberry, Palmer House, pistachio and orange sherbet. Always sliced, not scooped." The Museum of Ice Cream is opening "an exhibit dedicated to the sweet shop's history, including archival photos and the ice cream paddles servers use to slice up the flavors," and $5 cones will be available on weekends in nearby Pioneer Court.

FILM & TELEVISION

Indie Cinema Revival Sweeps Nation

"With unexpected programming and a community ethos, independent cinemas across the U.S. are giving multiplexes a run for their money," observes the Guardian, with a splash photo of the Music Box marquee. "Indie movie theaters have found themselves 'in the business of culture-making' after years of being a niche, highbrow activity," said Lela Meadow-Conner, the interim executive director at Art House Convergence. "Gen Z is flocking to repertory cinema, which we know to be true around the world, and nobody curates rep better than the art house. This is in large part because independent theaters are programmed by humans who understand the tastes and desires of their community rather than just programming for the bottom line.”

The Paramount Skydance Absorption Of Warner Is Getting Shaky

Investments of about $300 billion in OpenAI appear to be a major cause of the increasing volatility of the Larry Ellison-owned Oracle, and lawsuits are being filed to stall or prevent the $111-billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by the much smaller Paramount Skydance. The New York Times reported Friday that Oracle debt "stands just one notch above junk bond status. S&P Global has said that Oracle’s finances had been deteriorating. Oracle has also been hit hard in the stock market, reducing the value of Larry Ellison’s holdings since September by about $230 billion." Meanwhile, "Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison and his son, producer David Ellison, are accused in a lawsuit of cutting an illegal deal with President Donald Trump to pave the way for their blockbuster acquisition," reports Bloomberg Law. (More.)

LIT

South Side Zine Fest And Carnival Returns

Zine Club Chicago will present the second South Side Zine Fest And Carnival, a "free community celebration of self-publishing with carnival vibes. Highlights include artist-led programming, exploration of the South Side Zine Library, stations for zine and button making and a zine swap, along with tabling by two dozen local zine collectives, distributors and artists." Programs and activities include "a workshop on zines and disability curated by Keidra Chaney (Wild Ramp Publishing), a panel discussion about longevity in DIY moderated by Liz Mason (Caboose, Sugar Hijinx), Zinester Qigong with Heather Anacker (Heather Andhercats) and typewriter poetry with the Mysterious Liz Baudler." Free. Hosted at the Chicago Public Library's Richard J. Daley Branch, 3400 South Halsted. Saturday, August 15 from 11am-4pm. More here.

MUSIC

In A First, Ravinia Closed Due To Big Smoke

"Due to the wildfire smoke from Canada, which caused increasingly hazardous air quality, the Ravinia Festival cancelled Thursday night’s performance of Mozart’s 'Abduction From The Seraglio,'" reports Slipped Disc. "Nobody can remember a Ravinia Festival cancellation due to fires, smoke or weather conditions," notes Norman Lebrecht. "Evidently, the entire cast of singers did not want to sing given the horrendous quality of the air."

Permanent Records Is Selling The Record Collection Of Legendary Music Journo Mikal Gilmore

Once a West Town staple and now a stalwart of the Los Angeles music scene, Permanent Records is in charge of disseminating the vast, lifelong record collection of indispensable music journalist Mikal Gilmore, who is serializing his life's work on Facebook and Substack under the title, "Night Beat." "For nearly five decades, Gilmore helped document the artists, albums and movements that shaped modern music, [assembling] records from the personal collection he built while chronicling rock history from the inside. Discogs and Permanent Warehouse are giving collectors exclusive access to Gilmore’s personal archive—a collection that is filled with rare promotional copies, test pressings and records acquired through decades at the center of music culture. Each record will include a certificate of authenticity," writes Discogs. USA Today covers the sale here.

Bucket O' Blood Closing Avondale Spot, With Plans To Relocate

Bucket O' Blood owners Grant and Jennifer McKee say "they’re exploring future locations for their sixteen-year-old business," reports Block Club. "When the lease [for their current Avondale location] ends November 30, the McKees don’t plan to renew it." They cite building issues as the reason for relocation.

"Seven Nation Army" Has Entered The Stadium

ESPN has released a very good fifteen-minute doc about how The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" became the most familiar seven notes in sports.

STAGE

Harold Washington Drama Slated For Lookingglass

Lookingglass Theatre Company will stage J. Nicole Brooks' new drama, "Prince Hal." The production will portray former mayor Harold Washington "as a reluctant candidate for greatness who is buoyed by finding supporters among everyday Chicagoans in a West Loop tavern, a plot that suggests parallels with the Shakespeare history play," reports Chris Jones at the Trib (gift link). The character is a riff on a character in Shakespeare’s "Henry IV." "Brooks, a Chicago-based actor, writer and director, previously wrote 'Her Honor, Jane Byrne.' 'Prince Hal,' slated for the late summer of 2027, is the second in a planned trilogy for Lookingglass about Chicago mayors." (What's next? "Rahm With A View"?)

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Checking Into Nighthawk, Albany Park's Versatile Arts Center

"Nighthawk is located in Albany Park," reports NPR. "Once upon a time, it was just a local bar. 'We've been coming here for the last ten years, practically since they opened,' said David Chavez, who by day plans programs and cultural events for the city of Chicago. Back then, he and three members of his family were just patrons at this cozy neighborhood hang. But since then, they've reimagined Nighthawk into something else altogether. At the beginning of 2025, the four of them became managing partners in this local joint—and they've turned it into one of the most interesting small arts venues in the city. They present live music and DJs, visual art exhibitions, live drawing and painting evenings; you don't have to buy anything to attend." Instagram here.

Eleven Things To Do At The Obama Center Without A Ticket

You do need a ticket to get into the museum inside the towering granite building, but there are other attractions on the campus, enumerates Time Out Chicago. Among them: the grounds of the 19.3-acre campus and Tafari’s Kitchen, "the fast-casual on-site restaurant inside the Forum Building, which is open to the public. Named after the Obamas’ late personal chef, the restaurant features an elevated dining room and additional tables in the lobby area."

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2026-07-20 New City

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:00:05 GMT

July 24 – Montgomery Ward Park: Mr. Blake at Your Service! (Complètement Cramé !)

Films on the Green Returns to Celebrate America at 250!

Until July 31, Films on the Green continues its run in parks across Chicago, inviting audiences to enjoy French films under the stars. Presented by Villa Albertine, the French institute for Culture and Education, in partnership with the Chicago Park District’s Movies in the Parks, this 2026 edition brings a vibrant mélange of French and American flair to the city’s green spaces.

Make plans to join us for the last two screenings:

July 31 – Lake Shore Park, La Vie en rose (La Môme)

Films are in French with English subtitles

RESERVE A SPOT

SPONSORED

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2026-07-21 New City

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

I'm not in my best summer head space right now thanks to June's rain, July's smoke and the fact that my days are being spent working on our September issue, which is typically the biggest of the year.

And that's a problem since summer is my favorite season. And when I got an email newsletter today that proclaimed "summer is almost over," well… ugh.

What is almost over is your chance to subscribe to Newcity and get our 156-page double summer issue as part of it. Just a couple days in fact. You can subscribe here now.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

FILM

Movies Are Back! Surmising the Sizzle in This Summer’s Box Office

"People are showing up for original movies again. They're discovering new filmmakers, talking about films with their friends afterward, and turning a night at the movies into an event…" (Ray Pride)

ART

Artist in Residence Gets a Fresh Spin

Caryn Capotosto expands her Museum & Crane Arts from film into art exhibition at her Gold Coast home. (Maya Surrenti)

STAGE

Annie Franklin Weaves Fluidity and Attack with Chicago Dance Crash in "Six Ways to Fall"

In Franklin's new piece, little chapters explore various ways people experience vulnerability, relating to physical, emotional, social, relational and existential challenges, and to identity. (Eileen B. Fisher)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
GET THE ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE

MUSIC

Chicago Musicians Unite to Perform for Immigrant and Refugee Rights

“Songs of Protest, Sounds of Freedom” was organized by Space co-owner Dave Specter, who was driven to action by ICE's recent presence in Chicago communities. (David Witter)

NEWCITY

Free Will Astrology: Week of July 23, 2026

In the coming weeks, overproduce. (Rob Brezsny)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Secrist Beach Now Represents Jeffly Gabriela Molina

Secrist Beach has announced representation of Jeffly Gabriela Molina, a Chicago-based artist "whose works explore the profound experience of migration, and the tension of living between identities. Informed by her migration from Venezuela to the United States, Molina creates visual narratives about the work of building a home amid uncertainty. She paints intimate, symbolic objects—flower arrangements, glasses of water and personal artifacts, alongside gracious portraits of friends and neighbors that simultaneously carry fragility and the promise of beginning again." More on Instagram here.

Is Frank Gehry's Icehenge Desk Headed To A Museum?

Recently sold at auction, the Frank Gehry-designed desk "might be temporarily loaned to a museum or institution by the new owner who wants to preserve public access to the seven-ton marvel," writes Lee Bey at WBEZ. "Called Icehenge, the sixteen-piece emerald glass desk created for the lobby of the Inland Steel Building sold Wednesday for $243,200." The buyer's identity has not been revealed, and "no specific plans have been finalized."

Minneapolis Institute Of Art Hires Lead Curator

Curator Kevin Tervala will move to Minnesota after more than ten years at the Baltimore Museum of Art, reports The Art Newspaper. "Tervala will oversee the museum’s curatorial division, including collections, exhibitions planning and scheduling and scholarship. 'MIA is one of this country’s great art institutions, and I have long been impressed with its collection and its approach to visitor accessibility with its free admission,' says Tervala."

Bongs Gonged At Toledo Museum Of Art

"After the Toledo Museum of Art canceled a pioneering exhibition of glass cannabis pipes, many people wondered what lay behind the decision," reports the New York Times. "About three years ago, it approached a former curator at the Corning Museum of Glass to coordinate the show. It spent $250,000 to organize it, and it attracted interest from dozens of artists whose sculptural smoking tools top anything one might find in the average head shop. But this spring, only months from its opening, 'High Style: the Art of Cannabis Pipes' was canceled." (More.)

DINING & DRINKING

Hot Dog Season Keeps Chicago's Bun Powerhouse Busy

"S.Rosen’s Mary Ann, the go-to brand for hot dog stands across the city, is churning out four million buns a week from an unassuming building," scarfs Block Club. Every bun "is baked in a long and narrow building in Hermosa. Though the owners don’t know exactly when the building was built, they estimate that parts of it are at least a hundred years old. Nearly every part of the baking process is automated. Flour is fed to the mixers through tubes that hang from the ceiling. A maze of conveyor belts winds through the space, advancing the dough as it’s shaped, proofed, baked, sliced and packaged. Even with all the automation, workers are there at every step, carefully monitoring the buns."

Thai Street Food Comes To North Side

Mayfair Thai restaurant Noodles Party, at 4205 West Lawrence, "is the closest thing in Chicago to Bangkok street food," attests Kevin Pang at NBC5 Chicago. "Its charismatic owner and chef, Aomjai Phumpardit, has recreated her room—from the colorful Thai bric-a-brac to the vinyl table covers—to resemble sitting under a canopied food stall on Bangkok's Khao San Road." But what makes it special is that "the food is uncompromising to its Bangkok street food roots. If you're expecting pad thai, feel free to visit one of the city's hundred other Thai restaurants. Noodle Party's signature boat noodles are a savory, assertive, big-flavored noodle bowl with liver, meatballs and thickened with pork blood, as is the tradition of Thai boat noodles. It's tremendous."

Chicago Food Giants Want Consumers To Embrace Its Legacy Brands

"Companies like Kraft Heinz, Conagra and Mondelez are grappling with an increasingly hard to please consumer base and rising inflation," reports WBEZ. As the food giants "have struggled to quickly adjust to changing consumer tastes while managing volatile economic conditions," these companies have been "leaning more into consumer trends and product collaborations intended to feed excitement. In May, Kraft Heinz launched 'Snackables,' joining the Lunchables brand. The company also rolled out Capri-Sun juices with electrolytes; a protein version of its Mac & Cheese; and a line of instant noodles, called KD Ramen, available in Canada. And in June, Kraft Heinz announced a collaboration with Heineken. For a limited time, customers can buy a six-pack that includes five beers and one bottle of Heinz ketchup."

Old Town Pour House Returns To The Loop

Bottleneck Management will open a new Old Town Pour House in the Loop at 120 North LaSalle, marking the brand's return to the city after its longtime Wells Street location closed in 2024. The location "features a menu created for the downtown crowd, a strong craft beer program, happy hour and spaces designed for business lunches, after-work gatherings and pre-theater dining." Opening Monday, August 3. More here.

FILM & TELEVISION

Keeping Ferris Bueller From Becoming "Punchable"

Matthew Broderick and Alan Ruck gaze back at "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" at the Guardian. Says Broderick: "Alan and I have neat hair because we’d both just been in a military play. If we’d had crazy 1980s mullets, it wouldn’t have become a timeless classic. I thought Ferris shouldn’t seem to be trying too hard, that things came easy to him. I wanted to be a little cool and aloof. We didn’t want him to be somebody you wanted to punch in the face. That’s always the danger with guys who get away with everything. After a test screening, one young woman’s feedback was that she didn’t like Ferris because 'he’d make me do things I don’t want to do,' so they got rid of a scene where I try to get Sloane not to go back home and keep hanging out having fun."

Federal Judge Grants Two-Week Delay In Paramount-Warner Merger

"Paramount Skydance’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery hit a roadblock Monday after a federal judge temporarily paused the proposed merger, granting a request from a coalition of twelve state attorneys general who sued to thwart the $110 billion deal," reports NBC News. "U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the Northern District of California issued a temporary restraining order barring Paramount from closing the transaction, a corporate tie-up that would unite two movie studios, two streaming platforms and two news organizations under the control of David Ellison, the son of billionaire technology tycoon Larry Ellison." "The delay is intended to give the court time to consider a lawsuit that argues the $111 billion merger violates antitrust laws," adds the New York Times (gift link). The preliminary injunction hearing is August 3. The ten-page order is here.

LIT

“The Odyssey” Translations Come To Shore In Fresh Regalia

The market for Homer's epic poem, obviously out of copyright, "is as crowded as a certain Ithacan palace, and publishers have had to get crafty to attract readers to their editions," reports the New York Times. "So far this year, sales of the 'Odyssey' rose by seventy-six percent compared with last year. The most direct way publishers are elevating their translations is by giving them splashy reissues. Picador released a new edition of Robert Fitzgerald’s 1961 translation. Christopher Nolan’s film directly influenced its rerelease strategy."

"Last year, the University of Chicago Press released a version translated by the Bard College professor Daniel Mendelsohn. Classicists are stereotyped as monkish, spending their time cloistered in the ivory tower of academia, but Mendelsohn is a surprisingly buzzy media figure. Mendelsohn’s cultural criticism is as acclaimed as his scholarship, and he has written for publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books."

MEDIA

The Feds Go After Times Reporters And Relatives

"The government is aggressively seeking the confidential sources of Times reporters who wrote about Trump’s new Air Force One. The Times has asked a judge to quash the subpoenas," reports the New York Times. The Justice Department "sought the phone records of several New York Times journalists and their relatives—including one reporter’s mother. The government’s actions amount to an extraordinarily aggressive and unorthodox attempt by the Trump administration to unearth the confidential sources of independent journalists whose reporting had angered the president."

MUSIC

Marin Alsop Departs As Ravinia's Chief Conductor

"What Marin Alsop built at Ravinia started to feel real, she says, in 2022," profiles the Trib. "Her second summer at the festival, the conductor—the first woman to lead major orchestras in the U.S., Great Britain, Austria and South America—had begun Breaking Barriers, a festival-within-a-festival dedicated to smashing the glass ceiling. The first iteration spotlighted female conductors, like her." Says Alsop, "When I walked into the Ravinia campus, and families were stopping to look at posters of one-hundred women conductors, many of whom I had never even heard of—that was pretty monumental." Alsop, "who turns seventy this fall, is departing Ravinia after six years as chief conductor and a one-time curator of the festival." (More.)

Chicago As America's "Music City"

"Without the sounds of Chicago, our entire musical landscape would be different and much poorer for it," argues England's Far Out magazine. "Owing to the deep and abiding influence of the blues, which were first so electrified in Illinois, you could say that all of the modern music that came afterwards was born in Chicago, and it wasn’t just Muddy who was setting the scene on fire. Chicago boasted the talents of Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy and Bo Diddley, as well as the next generation like Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield and Nick Gravenites, among others. As if that wasn’t enough, artists as diverse as Herbie Hancock, Chance the Rapper, Quincy Jones, Minnie Ripperton, Patti Smith and more were born and raised in the city limits, as well."

A Century Of The Aragon Ballroom

"Over the years, [the Aragon] has hosted ballroom dancing, a roller rink, disco and boxing matches. In 1973, Aragon most significantly transferred hands to promoter Jam Productions, which helped usher in the venue’s present-day 'Brawlroom' concert era," the Sun-Times reports. "Jam owner and president Jerry Mickelson was a fan of many of the holdover features from the ballroom days, but says there was one that was a bit of a hamper. 'The dome design was acoustically challenging because it swirled the sound around it,' he said. To help the issue, Jam came up with the idea to put some curtains in the dome to improve the acoustics. 'It’s still challenging, but it’s a lot better than what it was.'"

STAGE

Broadway In Chicago Announces Four Shows For 2027, Plus Its Summer Concert

Broadway in Chicago has announced four new shows for 2027: "The Who's Tommy" will be on stage in February, "The Bodyguard" in April, "The Lion King" in June and July and "Heathers: The Musical" in June. Songs from all four shows will be performed at Broadway in Chicago's free summer concert, as well as a song from "The Sound Of Music" and eight other productions. The concert is presented with DCASE and held at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on Monday, August 10 at 6:15pm. More here.

The West End Gets An “August: Osage County” Revival

Jeremy Herrin will direct Tracy Letts' "August: Osage County" at the West End's Noël Coward Theatre. "Leading the cast will be two-time Olivier winner and 2026 Tony winner Lesley Manville as Violet Weston, alongside Anna Maxwell Martin as Barbara Fordham," reports Playbill. "Letts' comic drama about a dysfunctional Plains family that reunites when the patriarch goes missing, which debuted at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2008 Tony Award for Best New Play." The production will take place from January 18 through April 10, 2027.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Ohio Arts Funding Looks A Decade Ahead

Reports released last week provide evidence that strong public funding for the arts provided by Cuyahoga County’s cigarette tax "is supporting a nationally significant cultural sector," reports Ideastream Public Media. "Nevertheless, one of the reports looks ahead for potential new sources of public support beyond the cigarette tax, a levy slated to end in 2035."

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2026-07-22 New City

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:00:09 GMT

I pretty much knew I wanted the vinyl of the new Rolling Stones record, "Foreign Tongues," when I saw that the artist who'd done our May cover, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, had also done the artwork for this album. But when I started seeing reviews that were almost all positive, even saying it was the band's best record since 1978's "Some Girls"—which is likely the last new Stones album I bought—I pulled the trigger.

Perhaps it was the memory of that high-school favorite that made me decide to listen to this new record the way I did in those pre-digital-music days, when every birthday, holiday or paycheck went toward vinyl LPs at $5.99 a pop. (Albums like this new one, that cost $30-$50, seem so expensive by comparison, but if you do the math, my $5.99 then is about $35 now.)

I intentionally did not stream the album beforehand, so when I unwrapped the record and placed the vinyl on the turntable, it was brand new in every sense. I put my phone away and immersed myself in its totality, listening to the music and studying the liner notes, which is how I would have played every new record back then.

I tend to listen to music all day long, every day while I work. But I don't think I can say I've really heard anything new until now.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

You just have two more days to subscribe to Newcity and get our 156-page double summer issue as part of it. You can subscribe here now.

NEWCITY

A Rough Rider Rides Again in the Badlands: The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Roosevelt said that he would not have been president if not for his experience in North Dakota. “It was here that the romance of my life began." (Mary Wisniewski)

ART

Eighteenth-Century Prints Make an Inky Splash in "Ink and Outrage"

The Driehaus Museum exhibits satirical prints from London and Dublin. (Elisa Shoenberger)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
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STAGE

"Hair" Is More Relevant Than Ever

Kokandy Productions revives the "tribal love-rock musical" at Chopin Theatre. (Mary Wisniewski)

BRAZIL

MAM São Paulo Sets Reopening After Two Years

First, a gala for the museum that's been in the wilderness. Plus Artist Cildo Meireles will feature his sound piece “Tilim Tilim” through a commission by Carbono Galeria. (Daniela Cantu)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

The Block Museum Names New Curatorial Head

The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University has named Ainsley M. Cameron, D.Phil. (Oxon.), as associate director of curatorial affairs, effective September 1, 2026. Cameron will lead The Block's curatorial department, shaping exhibitions and publications, collections strategy and interdisciplinary teaching initiatives. Cameron joins The Block from the Cincinnati Art Museum, where she is director of curatorial affairs and initiatives. More here.

The National Museum Of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture Receives National Accreditation

The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture located in Humboldt Park has received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition available to museums in the United States. This makes it the only Puerto Rican Museum in the continental United States to join "an elite group of institutions recognized for excellence, accountability and public trust." More on the museum here.

Clean Sweep: Art Institute To Eliminate Custodial Staff

The Art Institute "plans to eliminate its entire in-house custodial workforce in August," reports Hyperallergic. "Up to twenty-five of the museum’s custodians—including twenty-three unionized workers—would lose their current jobs as part of the plan to outsource its custodial work to a private, third-party vendor. The affected workers are responsible for cleaning the institution’s galleries and facilities. Some of them have worked at the AIC for decades."

Auction Houses Shifting Focus From Trophy Lots To Breadth

"The biggest transformation in the auction business isn’t the recovery itself. It’s the transformation of the auction houses’ businesses," reports ARTnews. "Every house is focused less on record prices and more on participation. Christie’s emphasized record bidder participation, stronger sell-through rates and competitive bidding on works estimated between $20,000 and $100,000. Sotheby’s repeatedly highlighted its highest sell-through rate in more than a decade and a record 4.9 bidders per lot. Phillips focused on first-time buyers and strong online bidding. Heritage pointed to an ever-broadening universe of collectors entering through everything from Pokémon cards and vintage video games to sports memorabilia and coins."

DESIGN

What's Ahead For Belmora, Located At The Former Ann Sather Site

Renderings have been shown for the second phase of the mixed-use development at 909 West Belmont, pictures Chicago YIMBY. One block from the CTA Belmont stop, "the proposal will complement the first phase next door at 919 West Belmont and replace a two-story mixed-use building, for which a demolition permit was issued last week. The two buildings will be known as Belmora. The five-story structures are a downsizing from the original glassy ten-story proposal, which was opposed by locals due to its density and massing."

DINING & DRINKING

How To Make The Publican’s Little Gem Salad

"For Midwestern chefs, so keenly attuned to summer’s impermanence, fresh local fruit is no mere ingredient—it’s a muse. Take the genesis of this dish, which the Publican’s Rob Levitt credits to a chat with the restaurant’s founder, Paul Kahan," reports Chicago magazine. "We were talking about summer produce, and he was waxing poetic about blueberries," Levitt says. "Inspired, Levitt created a salad with crisp Little Gem and radicchio leaves, spiced almonds and aged cheddar to showcase blueberries two ways—lightly cooked into a brilliant purple vinaigrette and as an unadulterated mix-in—for an elegant bite that tastes of a fleeting season."

Bourbon County Stouts Announced

In addition to its Original Stout, Goose Island has announced five new flavors in its 2026 lineup of Bourbon County Brand Stouts: Tiramisu Cask Finish Stout, Apple Crisp Stout, Toasted Barrel Rye Stout, Triple Oak Barleywine and Proprietor's Stout. Says Goose Island, "Spanning seven unique barrel types and six distinct expressions, each asks the same question in a different way—what does a barrel, and the spirit it once held, bring to the final stout? Not simply as a vessel, but as the defining force behind a style of beer that didn't exist until Goose Island made it. This year's family celebrates the oak, the char and the craft of the barrel itself." More here.

New Report: Gen Z Still Drinking As Much As Boomers

"Millennials still drink more than any other generation, followed by Gen X," reports global drinks analyst IWSR. Boomers "registered significant declines across all consumption metrics, and now have the lowest drinking rate of any generation at just seventy-one percent. Boomers also reported the smallest number of drinking occasions of any generation and reported consuming the smallest number of drinks when they do drink (an average of 2.6 drinks per occasion)."

FILM & TELEVISION

Music Box Tunes Up Noir City Chicago 2026

The Music Box has announced a musicalized, terpsichorean season for the annual "Noir City" festival it hosts, with "genuine musical legends like Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Hoagy Carmichael, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra and Dexter Gordon performing alongside film noir favorites including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Ida Lupino, Dan Duryea, Linda Darnell and Rita Hayworth." The nineteen noirs of dark doings and musical mayhem include "Man With The Golden Arm," "The Sweet Smell of Success," "Blues In the Night," "To Have And Have Not" and much more. September 4-10. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 24.

Carrie Coon On Portraying The Very Rich

"On camera, Carrie Coon and her 'Gilded Age' costars revel in the spoils of extreme wealth," writes the Ankler's Prestige Junkie. Off camera? "'Our cast is sort of famously political,' Coon says of the New York-set series, in which she stars alongside fellow New York theater legends and outspoken actors like Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon and Audra McDonald. 'It is rather hilarious that we’re the people celebrating the lives of these billionaires and playing them earnestly and without judgment. At the same time, we are railing against them anytime the press asks a question about it.'"

LIT

House, Senate Both Introduce Bills To Encourage Nationwide Book Bans

"Senate Bill 4925, a partisan effort to control materials in public schools, has been referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The bill was introduced June 24 by Republican Senators Jim Banks of Indiana, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama," reports Publishers Weekly. "Like House Bill 7661, SB 4925 would amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to prohibit the use of federal funding for 'sexually oriented material' in public schools. Both SB 4925 and HB 7661 are known as the 'Stop the Sexualization of Children Act.'" (More.)

Top-Shelf German Art Book Publisher Steidl Endangered

"Steidl Verlag, one of the most beloved publishers of photobooks, is facing preliminary insolvency proceedings in Germany," writes ARTnews. Hearing the news, an art book publisher we know was not surprised, saying that the entire industry is endangered, with only stores and distributors making money today. "Insolvency proceedings were opened last week at the request of a creditor."

MEDIA

Can The Times Newsletter Its Way Into Other Locales?

"The Times, Axios and niche newsletters are betting on local news. But with ad spend fleeing to video, the business case remains elusive," reports Puck on their new Minneapolis newsletter. "Sure, everyone agrees local news is essential. The real question is whether anyone can actually make money rebuilding it for an AI-first, video-first internet. The New York Times is giving it a shot."

Reader Union Begins Letter-Writing Campaign

"The Chicago Reader Union has been bargaining with Noisy Creek since February," the union writes, and "management has consistently offered proposals that would cut longstanding benefits in exchange for meager pay raises." They have started a letter-writing campaign to support their bargaining for a new contract, which can be viewed here.

MUSIC

What's Ahead At The Englewood Jazz Festival

The twenty-seventh Annual Englewood Jazz Festival will take place at historic Hamilton Park on September 17–19. "This year’s festival celebrates the next generation of creative musicians while honoring the centennial legacies of Oscar Brown Jr., John Coltrane and Miles Davis. All music performed will be original compositions by the featured artists." The lineup includes festival showcase performances by Julius Tucker, Live the Spirit Residency Expanded Ensemble with Dee Alexander, Jeremiah Hunt, Kevin King, the Young Masters, Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble Redux, Maggie Brown and many more. 513 West 72nd, September 17-19. More here.

Bella Voce Announces Season, Artistic Director's Twentieth

Bella Voce celebrates Andrew Lewis’ twentieth season as artistic director by reprising some of his favorite programs from the past two decades. The repertoire extends from the Renaissance through today, with performances by the Bella Voce Chorus and Sinfonia, plus a featured organ collaboration with Opus 327. Lewis conducts all programs this season—the ensemble’s forty-fourth. More here.

Madison Symphony Appoints Music Director

"Laura Jackson, conductor of the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra in Nevada, has been selected to lead the Madison Symphony Orchestra," reports the Cap Times. "Jackson has led the Reno Phil since 2009. She intends to stay on there, having signed a contract through the 2028-29 season, in addition to her work in Madison. 'The reality is it’s more common than not for conductors today to have more than one music directorship,' said Jackson, who has a home base in Ann Arbor, where her husband is a musicologist. 'The Madison Symphony and the Reno Philharmonic work beautifully in complement to each other.'"

STAGE

Stage Manager Laura D. Glenn Joins The Steppenwolf Ensemble

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's artistic directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis have announced that veteran Production Stage Manager Laura D. Glenn has been welcomed into the company’s ensemble. Glenn, "whose journey with Steppenwolf began as a summer intern in 1988, has worked on more than a hundred Steppenwolf productions over thirty-eight years and collaborated with all fifty-five ensemble members. This historic appointment makes Glenn the second-ever stage manager invited into the ensemble, joining the late Malcolm Ewen." (More.)

A Red Orchid Announces "World On Fire," Its Thirty-Fourth Season

A Red Orchid Theatre has announced its thirty-fourth season, exploring the theme of a “world on fire.” The season opens with the Chicago premiere of Will Arbery’s politically-charged drama "Heroes of the Fourth Turning," directed by ensemble member dado, then continues with the Chicago premiere of Keiko Green’s dark comedy "You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!," directed by Terry Guest. The season concludes with a world premiere adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s "Rosmersholm," adapted by ensemble members Steve Haggard and Shade Murray, directed by Shade Murray. More here.

Chris Jones Takes In The Hand & Eye

"Chicago, a city with an auspicious past and present of prestidigitation and legerdemain, has never before had a space for magic anything close to The Hand & The Eye," writes Chris Jones at the Trib (gift link). "And where else in town can you hear a line like 'as the fork melts, the shrimp un-fries,' and then watch it happen? I’ve already written about Broadway designer David Rockwell’s stunning interiors within creator Glen Tullman’s opulent, $50 million renovation of the McCormick Mansion on the corner of Ontario and Rush streets, most recently the home of Lawry’s Prime Rib. Once you add a dress code that obligates humans to be dressed to the nines, the effect is akin to walking through a kind of 'Eyes Wide Shut' dreamscape, if you will—a costly adult playground of bespoke cocktails (The Spade! The Diamond!) and fancy trickery with dinner on the side."

Joan Crawford Goes Back To Hell With Hell In A Handbag

In its twenty-fifth year, Hell in a Handbag Productions presents a revival of "Joan Crawford Goes To Hell," written by artistic director David Cerda and directed by Cheryl Snodgrass. "Originally produced in 1999 with Sweetback Productions, 'Joan Crawford Goes To Hell' is a roller coaster ride that explores the life of the legendary Hollywood star." In the play, "Joan Crawford dies, goes to hell and is forced to view her life through the eyes of her daughter, Christina." August 21-September 27 at The Clutch. Tickets here.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Chicago Cabbies And Rideshare Drivers Struggling

In recent years, "rideshare drivers have hit speed bumps. The app-based companies control their fares and the trips available to them, take an ever-changing percentage of their pay and sometimes cut off drivers’ accounts at a moment’s notice," reports the Sun-Times. City and state lawmakers have taken "steps to support cabbies and rideshare drivers alike, but some worry it may be too little too late. Since the pandemic, major commuting pattern shifts have hurt both taxis and rideshare services. And then there’s the emerging threat of autonomous vehicles looming over all drivers."

Canadian Beluga Whales Coming To The Shedd

The transport of four beluga whales to the Shedd Aquarium "is the first phase of a plan to move up to thirty belugas from the shuttered Marineland in Niagara Falls to several American aquariums as well as to Oceanografic Valencia in Spain," announces the Sun-Times. The Shedd "could receive up to ten belugas from Marineland."

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2026-07-22 New City

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:00:06 GMT

Join treasure hunters on July 25th and 26th, 2026 at the Plumbers Union Hall in Chicago for an unforgettable weekend of shopping, art, and entertainment!

Event Details:

-Indoors & Outdoors/Rain or Shine
- Date: July 25-26, 2026
- Location: Plumbers Union Hall, Chicago
- Early Buy Ticket For Charity: Saturday July 25th from 9 AM - 10 AM
- General Admission: 10 AM - 5 PM each day

Dive into a treasure trove of vintage and antique art, fashion, and housewares! While you shop, enjoy live performances from talented musicians and indulge in delicious offerings from local food vendors. Plus 3 bars indoors and out to make the party even more fun!

Special Highlight: Art Camp 2026
Join us for our special Art Camp, where creativity meets sustainability! Engage in hands-on activities using recycled materials to create unique masterpieces. Perfect for all ages! Bring 3 or more empty pill containers and get a complimentary admission to any future Market!

Transportation & Parking:
- Convenient secure parking available on-site.
- Easily accessible via public transportation.

Ticket Information:
Get your tickets now! Visit RandolphStreetMarket.com. DON’T MISS OUT ON OUR SPECIAL EARLY SHOPPING TICKET (SATURDAY 9 AM - 10 AM) 100% of the proceeds goes to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Boys & Girls Club of Chicago

You won’t want to miss this vibrant celebration of art and community!

GET TICKETS

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2026-07-23 New City

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:00:06 GMT

"A spectacular July-August edition, just wildly good."

"I received the newest issue of Newcity this weekend, and I just wanted to pass along how much I’m enjoying it."

"Gorgeous, electrifying issue!"

We've been hearing from readers about the new issue and wanted to pass along a few of their comments. Because today is the final day to subscribe and get this issue as your first edition. Sign up here.

Brian Hieggelke

Editor & Publisher

MUSIC

Klaus Mäkelä Says Farewell to Oslo and Hello to Ravinia

The CSO music director-designate Klaus Mäkelä makes his debut at the orchestra's summer home with two programs in August. (Dennis Polkow)

ART

All Things Are Big and Small With Jonathan Latiano

"Scaling a Pyramid" at Hawthorn Contemporary puts one face to face with size's relativity. (Vera Scekic)

JULY-AUGUST 2026:

AMERICA 250 + ART IN MICHIGAN
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FILM

Talking Screens: Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales" | A Musical Noir City | Sidney Lumet's "Network" at the Davis

Plus: Whit Stillman's "The Last Days Of Disco," the return of the Cinerama and "Her Private Hell." (Ray Pride)

LIT

A Poet Grows in Skokie: An Interview with Edward Hirsch on His Memoir, “My Childhood in Pieces”

With ten published books of verse, several poetry anthologies, and numerous scholarly and critical works to his name, Edward Hirsch is a major force both as a maker and popularizer of poetry. “My Childhood in Pieces” takes the Chicago-born Hirsch out of his comfort zone. (Hugh Iglarsh)

TODAY IN CULTURE

By Ray Pride

ART

Jessica Morgan, Former MCA Curator, Named Director Of Tate

Tate has announced Jessica Morgan as its new director, reports Artforum. "Morgan arrives to the London institution from New York’s Dia Art Foundation, where she has served as director for over a decade. Morgan will step into her new role in January 2027. As director, she will oversee the Tate Britain and Tate Modern, as well as the institution’s Liverpool and St. Ives branches."

"Morgan joined Dia as director in 2015. While at the foundation, she diversified its collection and increased the representation of women. Earlier, at Tate, she organized the well-regarded 2015 survey 'The World Goes Pop' as well as solo exhibitions of Saloua Raouda Choucair and Gabriel Orozco. Morgan also held curatorial roles at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston."

New Show At M. LeBlanc Features Mapplethorpe Work From The Kinsey Institute

Opening this weekend at M. LeBlanc gallery, curator Ryan M. Pfeiffer presents "Organgrinder," a group exhibition featuring Ron Athey, Richard Hawkins, Robert Mapplethorpe, Paul McCarthy, Pierre Molinier, Fakir Musafar, Hermann Nitsch and Breyer P-Orridge. Some of the Kinsey Institute's Mapplethorpe work has never before been on public view. Open through August 29. More here.

DESIGN

MHub Plans A West Side Campus Bigger Than The 78

A new district named M+ could "mark a new chapter in the Near West Side’s long history as a hub of light industrial businesses," reports Crain's. MHub is assembling properties "next to its Near West Side advanced manufacturing incubator, hoping to kickstart an ambitious vision for a seventy-two-acre 'ecosystem' for industrial companies just blocks from both Fulton Market and a mixed-use campus taking shape around the United Center. An affiliate of the nonprofit is in advanced talks to acquire a full city block immediately south of its building at 240 North Ashland and a neighboring property at 1640 West Walnut." (More.)

The Chicago Daily News Building Landmarked

The twenty-six-story Art Deco building at 2 North Riverside has been designated an official Chicago landmark. The building "opened ninety-seven years ago, helping to establish the city as a center for media and architecture," reports the Sun-Times. "The building, designed by Holabird & Root, was completed in 1929. It was the first office structure in the city built above railroad tracks and the first with a public plaza." It's currently undergoing "a nearly $70 million commercial rehabilitation by the owner," who has plans for a new space in the public plaza.

River North's Sound Bar Building Getting Residential Conversion, Two-Story Addition

River North's Leahy Building joins the rush to residential conversion, reports the Sun-Times. "The building at 226 West Ontario will be converted into seventy apartments, complete with rooftop terraces, a gym and a coworking lounge. The building’s occupancy was 'very low' prior to the sale. The nightclub Sound Bar operates on the building’s lower floors." Ten of the apartments will be contained in a "two-story addition atop the building’s existing structure. Those residences will include private outdoor spaces... in addition to rooftop terraces."

What's Taking The Place Of The Drive-Through Bank On Southport

Renderings have been revealed for the mixed-use project underway at 3600 North Southport on the Southport Corridor, pictures Chicago YIMBY. "Located on the northwest corner with West Addison Street, construction on the project is already well underway, with foundations being poured in mid-June." The report notes that the project will bring 6,250 feet of new retail space to the bustling shopping corridor, as well as ten residential units. The design is by local firm Jonathan Splitt Architects.

First-Time Homebuyers Go Straight To Vacation Homes

"City dwellers priced out of owning locally look to vacation and weekend homes as a path to home ownership," profiles the New York Times (gift link). "As home prices reach record highs and inventory remains historically tight—especially in cities... a growing group of buyers [are] reshaping the path to homeownership... These buyers rent their primary residence in the city and buy their first homes in second-home markets—often with the hope of making those places their permanent homes one day."

DINING & DRINKING

Chicago Gourmet Returns To Millennium Park

Tickets are on sale for this year's Chicago Gourmet, taking place September 24-27 at Millennium Park. Under the umbrella, "Let Your Tastebuds Dance," events include the Global Stage Dinner, "an ultra-exclusive multi-course dinner paired with live dance performances directly on the Pritzker Pavilion stage;" the Asian Night Market, "a late-night, neon-lit street market experience hosted at Zhou B Art Center in Bridgeport;" chef demos with "masterclasses at the Pritzker Pavilion stage;" and the Dine Around Series, "a September 1-18 overture, featuring special festival dishes across nearly eighty area restaurants."

Featured culinary figures include Kwame Onwuachi (New York City), Lorena Garcia (Miami), Lee Anne Wong (Hawaii), Chris Shepherd (Texas), Cheetie Kumar (North Carolina), Fleetwood Covington (Florida) and Helen Nguyen (New York City). Local chefs featured include Rick Bayless, Stephanie Izard, Sarah Grueneberg, Joe Flamm, Art Smith, Erick Williams, Thai Dang, Beverly Kim and Diana Dávila. More here. Tickets here.

Lincoln Park's The Dime Bar Shut Down Following Shooting

A Sunday shooting in Lincoln Park began with a fight inside Lincoln Avenue's The Dime Bar, Alder Timmy Knudsen says. "Knudsen has spent the past few months pushing for more oversight of the bar following a separate shooting in June that critically wounded a woman nearby," reports Block Club. "Tuesday’s closure followed 'sustained advocacy and pressure' from his office."

When The Analog Restaurant Is "Bespoke"

"Some restaurants are leaning into handmade touches, as AI-generated food photos and flyers become commonplace," writes Bettina Makalintal at Eater. "I wondered, in the earlier days of AI, if its inevitable abundance would eventually lead to a renewed valorization of the analog, the physical and the explicitly human-made, and indeed, that seems to have increasingly become reality. Take the New England grocery store chain Market Basket, which recently released a limited edition of its weekly circular that’s entirely hand-illustrated by artist Katie Christensen. It’s meant to call back to the store’s earlier days, when circulars were always drawn by a person."

Save A Lot Stores Could Close Across South And West Sides

"Seven Save A Lot grocery stores across the South and West sides are at risk of closing Saturday if the company that owns and operates them doesn’t find an alternative investor or new supplier to help keep the locations afloat," reports Block Club.

FILM & TELEVISION

IMAXxed: Why There Are Fewer Than A Hundred 70mm Imax Screens Worldwide

"Only twenty-five theaters in the U.S. are equipped to project 'The Odyssey' in true Imax 70mm film," measures Variety. "There's certainly more demand. The problem is they haven't made new Imax film projectors in about fifty years," says Imax CEO Richard Gelfond. "So we retrofit them, rebuild them and part of our strategy is to see how far we can take it." Many of the parts needed to build these projectors "simply no longer exist." The original design files "were created roughly half a century ago, but as Gelfond alludes to, they were never properly maintained. As a result, Imax no longer has a complete manufacturing blueprint—and much like the lost tribal knowledge of the Apollo-era spacecraft, very few engineers working today fully understand the systems."

Hollywood’s Neglected Cinerama Dome Adopted By Sony Drafthouse

Another major big-screen movie house development in one of the country’s largest cinematic locales: Sony will reopen the Cinerama Dome and the adjacent former Arclight as a fourteen-screen multiplex in 2028 under its Alamo Drafthouse brand, which have been shuttered since the pandemic in 2020. The Cinerama signage will be retained, and it will not be a dine-in outlet, reports Variety. "The complex will retain 35mm capabilities to showcase archival film prints and house premium format screens, including 70mm auditoriums." (More.)

Director Jennifer Reeder Talks Craft With Frequent Collaborators

The Chicago Film Office's next installment of "Directing The Craft," a discussion series "dedicated to lifting the veil on how directors collaborate with their crews to give life to their ideas," will feature Chicago-based genre filmmaker Jennifer Reeder along with two of her frequent collaborators: cinematographer Christopher Rejano and production designer Adri Siriwatt. "They’ll discuss their roles and working relationship on features such as 'Knives and Skin' and 'Night’s End,' where evocative and often surreal lighting and design create delightfully uncanny and creepy worlds." Chicago Cultural Center, Monday, July 27, 6:30pm. Free with RSVP here.

Facets Celebrates Playwright Brett Neveu, With Michael Shannon And Jim Sikora

Facets will present "Brett Neveu x 2," "a celebration of acclaimed Chicago playwright Brett Neveu through two feature film adaptations." The event features screenings of Jim Sikora's "The Earl" (2007) and Michael Shannon’s feature directorial debut "Eric LaRue" (2023), followed by an in-depth conversation with Neveu, Shannon and Sikora, moderated by Michael Phillips. The discussion will explore "the journey from stage to screen, the artists' decades-long creative collaborations and the enduring influence of Chicago’s independent theater and film communities." Saturday, August 29. More here.

LIT

Judge Approves Anthropic's $1.5 Billion Settlement To Pirated Authors

"A federal judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement in which artificial intelligence company Anthropic will pay thousands of authors about $3,000 per book after using pirated copies of their works to train its Claude chatbot," reports AP. "About ninety-one percent of the more than 482,000 books covered by the ruling have been claimed by authors or publishers who are now due payment."

MUSIC

Chicago-Born Russian Circles Prepare New Album

Post-metal band Russian Circles have released a new track titled "Eluvial." It's the second single from their album, "Nine," which will be released on August 28 by Sargent House. The "patiently cataclysmic track" features "the kind of ping-ponging delayed guitar patterns that Brian Eno and The Edge developed for 'The Joshua Tree,' with guitarist Mike Sullivan slowly unfurling a winding, linear melody against the backdrop of drummer Dave Turncrantz’s Latin-rhythm-inspired groove and Brian Cook’s pairing of grinding bass and stuttering electronics." The band teamed up with engineer Kurt Ballou for the record, and basic tracking took place at Electrical Audio in Chicago, where they’ve recorded as far back as their debut album, "Enter" (2006). Watch the video here.

Lollapalooza Will Erect A Free Ferris Wheel

Motorola is building a branded "Razr Wheel" at Lollapalooza in the center of Grant Park, writes Time Out Chicago. "Created in partnership with Live Nation, the Ferris wheel will offer complimentary rides throughout the festival weekend, giving attendees a chance to escape the crowds and take in panoramic views of the Chicago skyline and the festival grounds." The report notes that the attraction is inspired by Motorola's Razr phone.

STAGE

Nominees Named For Equity Jeffs

"With the Goodman Theatre leading the way with twenty-four nominations from six different productions, the Joseph Jefferson Awards committee announced a huge slate of 2026 Equity Jeff Award nominees," reports Chris Jones at the Trib (gift link). "The number of nominations has proliferated in recent years. Indeed, the all-volunteer committee this year nominated almost everything it judged, in one category or another. Between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026, its members reportedly attended eighty-five Equity productions. From these, seventy-two productions became 'Jeff Recommended,' and thus eligible for award nominations."

"Across the 'large' and 'midsized' categories, fifteen plays were nominated for best production. Other hefty lists included the nominations for best new work (eight nominations) and best director of a play (sixteen, including two nods for former Goodman artistic director Robert Falls). Fourteen actors were nominated for best performance in a principal role in a play (the category is gender-neutral). Overall, well over fifty actors will be able to say they were Jeff nominated for their work in the last year."

Puppeteering Free Street Theater Wants Audiences To "Touch Grass"

Free Street Theater is bringing its interactive show to Chicago parks this month "to inspire people to learn more about trees, and get a hundred more planted in the city," reports Block Club. "Touch Grass" will transport a twelve-foot puppet and interactive installations to parks around the West and South sides, "inviting visitors to learn more about what trees do in a community." Through July 30.

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Loop's Arts And Culture Visitors Contribute Almost $400 Million To Economy

"In the second quarter, the number of weekend pedestrians on State Street was above 2019 levels, but weekday foot traffic remains low and vacancies remain high, according to the Chicago Loop Alliance," accounts the Sun-Times. Still, "arts and cultural events drew nearly 1.5 million visitors from April through June. They contributed more than $395 million to the local economy, representing a twenty-percent rise compared to the second quarter of last year."

Pivot Arts Announces Artists And Projects

Pivot Arts has announced artists and projects for its latest season, opening the fiscal year "with a slate that spans photography, poetry-driven performance, new plays, street dance and dance-theater. The season introduces four artists-in-residence developing new work through the Pivot Arts Festival—Kayla Reefer, Mikee Parangalan, Sarah Bock and Jessica Leyva—and marks the return of the Made in Chicago Residency, presenting choreographer Silvita Diaz Brown’s evening-length 'Ellas y Yo: Mexicanas.'" More here.

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2026-07-23 New City

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:00:06 GMT

Talking Screens: A Week In Chicago Film
July 24-30, 2026

by Ray Pride

On the occasion of the first English translation of Éric Rohmer's early, only novel, "Élisabeth," the Music Box and Janus Films bring back the filmmaker's "Six Moral Tales," which includes "Love In The Afternoon," "My Night At Maud's" and "Claire's Knee." "Fifteen years before completing his first feature film—and ten before beginning a transformative editorial stint at Cahiers du cinéma that would usher the journal, and French cinema, into a new era—the man who would become known worldwide as Éric Rohmer published a single novel," summarizes the Music Box. "Released by Éditions Gallimard alongside the early works of Claude Simon and Marguérite Duras, 'Élisabeth' was part of the first flowering of what would come to be known as the nouveau roman—and was also the 'matrix,' as Rohmer himself later put it, of the images, ideas and formal concerns of his first sequence of films, 'Six Moral Tales.'" Showtimes and more here.

"Her Private Hell"

After a decade away from feature filmmaking and a near-death experience in 2023 that filled his lungs with blood, Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn returns with an eyeful scored by the oft-operatic Pino Donaggio ("Carrie," "Piranha"). A young woman searches for her father in a fog-bound future metropolis marked by serial killers, costume and production design and attractive performers—including Charles Melton ("Warfare"), Sophie Thatcher ("Yellowjackets"), Havana Rose Liu ("Tuner"), Kristine Froseth and Dougray Scott. Trailer here. "Her Private Hell" opens Thursday.

The Film Center features, as part of its "20th Century Queers" series, the estimable "Orlando" (trailer), Sally Potter's lush, transfixing 1992 study in androgyny and gender that brought Derek Jarman’s model Tilda Swinton to a larger world, as well as Pedro Almodóvar's rhapsodic "All About My Mother." Plus: Michael Haneke's "The Piano Teacher" as part of the "25 For 25" roundup; and another round with "Amores Perros" (our Alejandro G. Iñárritu interview here).

"The Sweet Smell of Success" at Noir City Chicago 2026

The Music Box has announced a musicalized, terpsichorean season with nineteen noirs of dark doings and musical mayhem for Noir City Chicago 2026. Titles include "The Man With The Golden Arm"; "Sweet Smell of Success"; "Blues In the Night"; "To Have And Have Not"; and DCP offerings including Robert Altman's "Kansas City"; and Jack Webb's "Pete Kelly's Blues"; "Round Midnight"; and "Gilda." September 4-10. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 24.

The 113-year-old, three-screen 400 Theater (Facebook) reopens next Friday, July 31. Programming includes Gregg Araki's "I Want Your Sex" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day." A spunky pre-opening FAQ here.