Chicago celebrates poetry year round
National Poetry Month just came to an end when April turned to May, but some Chicago poets say the city celebrates poetry all year round. Chicago boasts a Poetry Foundation, a Poetry Center and poetry reading events on almost any night of the week. Chicago even has an official Poetry Tour, which includes Poet Laureate Gwendolyn [...]
Chicago street artist’s struggle continues
On May 7th, at 11 a.m. in front of Macy’s on State St., artists and friends will hand out postcards commemorating the late street artist activist, Chris Drew. This follows a memorial for Drew, who died a year ago, that was held on April 28, and is prior to the release of a documentary about [...]
Englewood grows green, but faces challenges with urban agriculture
Mayor Rahm Emanuel paid a visit to Growing Home community garden in Englewood on May 1 to celebrate the kickoff of the garden’s farm stand that will provide fresh food to the community’s residents every Wednesday through spring and summer. The Mayor’s visit highlights the growing initiatives being implemented to combat food deserts, particularly urban [...]
Austin Talks Reporters Win Lisagor Journalism Awards
Society for Professional Journalistslocal chapter, the Headline Club, held the annual Lisagor dinner where journalists are recognized by their peers for outstanding reporting and writing. Former ChicagoTalks editor Ellyn Fortino was a winner for a story she reported for our Talks publication, Austin Talks. John Fountain won his independent blog which is published in Austin [...]
Volkswagen donates cars to Chicago Fire Department
Volkswagen donated three of its passenger sedans to the Chicago Fire Department Training Division to help rescue teams learn how to get into the vehicles after they’ve crashed. At a demonstration Thursday, fire rescue squads annihilated one of the brand new vehicles with the hydraulic Jaws of Life from Hurst Tools. A firefighter walked up and [...]
Elena Delle Donne joins Chicago Sky
Elena Delle Donne, 23, the Chicago Sky’s newest team member, met with press today at the John Hancock Observatory. Between quick hellos and posing for pictures, Delle Donne stood at the windows on the 94th floor looking out over her new city with her mother. Delle Donne was the second pick of the 2013 WNBA draft in mid [...]
Workers, Immigrant Rights Advocates Prepare For May Day Rally In Chicago (VIDEO) | Progress Illinois
Every day 1,100 people in the country are deported and families are ripped apart. Progress Illinois’ Ellyn Fortino writes about how workers and immigrant rights advocates are getting ready for May Day 2013 Progress Illinois chatted with SEIU Local 1 member Lourdes Gonzalez who plans to march today; she echoed Arreola’s argument: Today’s rally begins [...]
Temp Agencies and ‘Raiteros’ in Immigrant Chicago
[I]n Chicago’s Little Village, the largest Mexican community in the Midwest, the raiteros have melded with temp agencies and their corporate clients in a way that might be unparalleled anywhere in America — and could violate Illinois’ wage laws. Raiteros tell temp workers to show up early to secure work for the day, leading to [...]
Journalists Linda Lutton and Alex Kotlowitz visit Columbia College Chicago
Last Tuesday, journalists Linda Lutton and Alex Kotlowitz came and talked to a class at Columbia College Chicago about the work they did at Harper High School, 6520 S. Wood Street, in Chicago. The two journalists, along with Ben Calhoun, who was not in attendance, went to Harper High School and spent five months trying to [...]
“I’M A MIDWESTERNER” Fashion Icon Dominates the Region
From the Midwest comes originality, creativity, and individuality in fashion from local designer, Rahphael Hunter . Hunter’s presence along with masculine demeanor dominates the small Chicago coffee shop upon entry, comes across casual, but confident. He began studying fashion in the heart of the city and as a student he was drawn to both fashion and graphic design. But [...]
After school program brings bricolage mural making into Chicago classrooms
Green Star Movement is a nonprofit arts organization that provides the youth in Chicago with the opportunity to participate in public art projects in the city, all while making a difference in their communities and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how an original mural is produced, designed, & installed. The mural program, which is part [...]
City starts construction on second housing project for veterans
Gov. Pat Quinn joined local leaders and volunteers on Thursday in breaking ground on a new housing development in Chicago for female veterans with children, the second of its kind dedicated to serving homeless veterans in the city. The complex will be built on 2.3 acres of land at 61st and Halsted streets in the [...]
Del Corazon Festival returns to Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen
The Del Corazon Festival at Pilsen’s National Museum of Mexican Art will include culinary arts, films and literature — “a ‘probadita,’ a little bit of everything.” The festival, scheduled to start in late August, will be curated by Jorge Valdivia, director of performing arts at the museum. Valdivia said he is particularly excited about the [...]
Earth Day film review: ‘Musicwood’
“Forests are not quiet. There’s music in the forest,” says a man in the opening lines of the film. “When you cut down the spruce tree and make it into a thousand guitars, all that means is that a spruce tree is singing in a thousand different places.” ‘Musicwood,’ a 2012 documentary directed by Maxine [...]
Chicago Anarchist Film Festival: Lucky 2013
For the 13th year, CAFF invites anarchists, anti-authoritarians, the anarcho-friendly and the anarcho-curious to experience radical cinema from around the world with features, shorts, documentaries, animation, and found footage. Anarchist films cross boundaries, take risks, and subvert passivity. There will be a topical discussion lead by Four Star Anarchist Organization, tabling from a variety of [...]
Art=Ammo joins families in protest against gun violence in Chicago
Mothers of young victims affected by gun violence, along with Art=Ammo (Artists Against Gun Violence) came together in the Chicago downtown area to honor their loved ones during a silent demonstration in April. The group created an artistic display in an effort to protest gun violence in the city underneath the Picasso display outside of the Daley Center [...]
Building a barbecue community in West Ridge
Harry Belafonte is playing on the turntable and the smell of smoked barbecue invades the room. Within moments of walking in, Rub’s Backcountry Smokehouse proves true to its name, and feels more backwoods Nashville than it does Northside Chicago. Vintage flags, wagon wheel chandeliers and ornamental pigs decorate the space. Through the economic downturn, struggling [...]
Fleet Feet sponsoring benefit run for Boston
Fleet Feet Chicago will join running stores across the country to raise money and show support for victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. John Moloznik, manager of sales and operations, spoke to Chicago Talks about the event. The run will take place on Monday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the Old Town and Lincoln Square [...]
