By Consequence of Sound

“Chicago’s vibrant arts scene is full of musicians, filmmakers, writers, painters, photographers, builders, collectors, and other creative types who grind and hustle each and every day. They create because they love to create, and they do so in a city where success is measured not by downloads or sales, but by impact you make on the community you live in. The Come Up shines a light on these various creators; today, we continue our story with a trip to Bric-a-Brac Records, Chicago’s ultimate thrift store.”

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Posted on February 9, 2018

By Erika Maldonado/Univision

Also, skateboards.

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Posted on February 5, 2018

By The Electronic Freedom Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched its Catalog of Missing Devices – a project that illustrates the gadgets that could and should exist, if not for bad copyright laws that prevent innovators from creating the cool new tools that could enrich our lives.

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Posted on February 2, 2018

By Scott Gordon/WisContext

The 2017-18 flu season is proving to be rougher than many, and is still placing a lot of demand on the American healthcare system to treat people with influenza and other respiratory illnesses that flare up during the winter. Most of the United States is seeing a high level of seasonal flu activity, thanks in part to a type of influenza virus that’s tough to vaccinate against and can be particularly hard on the elderly and small children. The subtype, called H3N2, is proving particularly good at putting people in the hospital.
The spike in flu cases comes as healthcare providers continue to deal with a shortage of one of their most common and crucial tools: pre-filled IV bags practitioners use for everything from hydrating patients to administering carefully measured medications.

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Posted on February 1, 2018

By J.J. Tindall

Flight of the Iguana
“They stalk more silently,/And crouch on the limbs of trees,/And their descent/Upon the bright backs of their prey/May take years/In a sovereign floating of joy.” – James Dickey, “The Heaven of Animals”
I didn’t know iguanas
Lived in trees and I didn’t know
They fall when they freeze.
I did not know iguanas
Lived in climates which froze
Nor where they’d doze.
Why would trees
In Florida freeze?
Why would January thunder

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Posted on January 29, 2018

By Steve Rhodes

Welcome to this Chicago zine queen’s ass-kicking life of ever-evolving freakdom.

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Posted on January 25, 2018

By Urban Gateways

Each year, all too many Chicago youths and their families are struck with traumatic incidents stemming from exposure to gun violence, domestic abuse, sexual assault, substance abuse, and other forms of violence and loss; 2016 was the city’s most violent year in nearly two decades with 762 murders, 3,550 shooting incidents, and 4,331 shooting victims.
Urban Gateways often engages the very same youth and families who have been exposed to trauma and has witnessed firsthand the importance of combating this trauma. Without intervention, the life expectancy of youth trauma victims decreases by 20 years.
The city of Chicago is in desperate need of healing and of positive, impactful experiences. Arts intervention can provide a tool for recovery and mitigate the impact of trauma on our city’s youth.
This is why Urban Gateways has partnered with Artists 4 Israel and Chicago Survivors to pilot the distribution of A4I’s Healing Arts Kits throughout the city.

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Posted on January 25, 2018

By The Spertus Institute For Jewish Learning And Leadership

The Spertus Institute presents a new, commissioned, site-specific installation by artist Ellen Rothenberg.
Rothenberg prompts visitors to consider connections between past and contemporary issues of migration. The project is inspired by objects and documents Rothenberg uncovered in the Spertus collection – as well as research she pursued in Berlin at Germany’s largest refugee camp, housed in the monumental Tempelhof Airport, a disused site that was designed and built by the Nazis.

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Posted on January 24, 2018

Performing “More Dead Than Alive”

Brightyn Brems at Jump Chicago over the weekend.

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Posted on January 22, 2018

By The Art Institute Of Chicago

“How does what you see in an artwork tell you how to look? Using three artworks from the Art Institute’s collection, this video unpacks a central theme and uses innovative visual storytelling to highlight the choices artists made to shape form and meaning in their works. Ultimately, it shows that each of us already possesses a powerful tool for making sense of art: looking closely.”

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Posted on January 19, 2018