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ART

Center For Curatorial Studies Award To MCA Curator Carla Acevedo-Yates

Curator Carla Acevedo-Yates has won the inaugural Scott Lorinsky Alumni Award from Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, the MCA posts on Instagram. “I am honored to be recognized by my peers as the inaugural recipient of the Scott Lorinsky Alumni Award at CCS Bard, an institution that has been deeply influential in how I approach curatorial practice and working with artists,” Acevedo-Yates says. “Apart from understanding exhibition-making as an intellectually driven spatial practice, I also gained a generous community of colleagues [at CCS] that have accompanied me through the years.”

DESIGN

Chicago’s The Third City In Public Transportation Ridership, Now Behind Los Angeles

The American Public Transportation Association posts on X/Twitter the U.S. public transportation agencies with the highest ridership, leading with New York’s MTA, 2.8 billion; Metro Los Angeles, 280 million and the CTA, 270 million.

Ross Barney Architects Creates Pavilion Exploring Early Chicago For Biennial

“Ross Barney Architects has created a pavilion dedicated to Haitian entrepreneur Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, the first non-Indigenous settler of Chicago, for the city’s architecture biennial,” relays Dezeen. “Parallel Histories is a pavilion made up of small, temporary structures representing the footprint of DuSable’s homestead, on a park that Ross Barney Architects is revamping where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. Commissioned for the fifth Chicago Architecture Biennial, the installation is meant to shine a light on this early history and bring attention to the park, which served as an industrial site for many years.”

Studio founder and AIA Gold Medal-winner Carol Ross Barney says, “We wanted just to make a physical representation of the impact that he had on his site. We built his house, basically out of scrim on the site.” The project “is a ‘lantern-like’ structure that is illuminated by solar lighting at night and has ‘vital questions’ about the site and its relationship to the city written in bold white lettering across the side. The questions include ‘Who Was DuSable?’ and ‘Who Found Chicago?’” Barney: “That’s kind of a trick question because everybody who comes here has found Chicago.”

Meta Opens Billion-Dollar Data Center In DeKalb

“Three years after breaking ground, Meta turned on its massive $1 billion DeKalb data center Wednesday,” reports the Tribune, “firing up banks of servers and network equipment to power… Facebook and Instagram posts” and other efforts. Governor Pritzker “was among the politicos on hand to celebrate its opening and flip a ceremonial switch as the first phase of the five-building, 2.3 million-square-foot complex came online, boosting both the local economy and the capacity for content-sharing on social media.”

Residents Sue Northwestern Over Near-Billion-Dollar Stadium

“The battle over Northwestern University’s $800 million stadium has now moved to the courts. A group of Evanston and Wilmette residents, along with the nonprofit Most Livable City Association, which has fought against the stadium rebuild, filed a lawsuit,” reports Crain’s. “Alleging elected officials bent laws and sold them out for ‘monetary contributions,’ opponents of… plans for a new football stadium filed a lawsuit against the city of Evanston,” reports WBEZ. “The complaint in Cook County Circuit Court seeks to overturn last month’s narrow vote in favor of allowing concerts and other commercial events at the rebuilt Ryan Field, near single-family homes in the northern suburb and neighboring Wilmette.”

Groupon Subleasing Much Smaller Space

Groupon’s subleasing 25,000 feet of space in the Leo Burnett building, reports the Trib. “The company will move to the twenty-fifth floor of 35 West Wacker Drive in January,” reducing its footprint from 300,000 square feet in the former Montgomery Ward building. Said interim CEO Dusan Senkypl, “Groupon has always had a thriving office culture and this move to a space that is better aligned to our new hybrid working ethos is a great step to kick off 2024 for our Chicago team.”

DINING & DRINKING

Massimo Bottura Brings “Slow Food, Fast Cars” To Chicago

Following the bestselling “Never Trust a Skinny Italian Chef” (2014) and “Bread is Gold” (2017), Phaidon has published a new book from chef Massimo Bottura, written in collaboration with his wife and partner Lara Gilmore: “Slow Food, Fast Cars: Casa Maria Luigia–Stories and Recipes.” Casa Maria is an eighteenth-century guest house in the countryside of the Emilia-Romagna region, just a short drive from Bottura’s Osteria Francescana in Modena. Opened by Bottura and Gilmore in 2019, the historic property “was transformed into a contemporary, immersive experience boasting not only exquisite food, but also cutting-edge art and design objects, superb interiors, and an impressive collection of cars and motorcycles.”

Featuring contributions from head chef Jessica Rosval, the book presents a collection of eighty-five recipes from the guest house’s Emilian kitchen. Bottura’s talk and book signing is December 12 at University Club Chicago, with a Resy exclusive dinner on December 13 at Moody Tongue. Chicago details here.

Yelp’s Twenty-Five Best New Restaurants Includes Indienne, Alpana

“Yelp’s inaugural list of the year’s Best New Restaurants makes it easy to find the latest hot spots at home or on the road!” hypes the citizen-review site. Chicago’s got two slots, with Indienne at eighteen: “At this elegant Indian-French, Michelin-starred restaurant—which offers non-vegetarian, vegetarian, and vegan tasting menus, along with a la carte dishes—favorites include Egg Curry (poached egg in curry covered by a buckwheat dome), Yogurt Chat (airy cashew yogurt layered with crispy potatoes and chutneys), and Passion Fruit Pani Puri (buckwheat tart with green apple and sorrel).” And at twenty, Alpana: “A menu inspired by owner-sommelier Alpana Singh’s love of food and wine includes… Squid Ink Campanelle (in saffron chili butter with rock shrimp and tarragon), Creste di Gallo Alla Grappa (rooster’s crest pasta in spicy tomato grappa sauce), Tagliatelle Verdura (pasta with greens, lemon sauce and stracciatella cheese), and Short Rib Bourguignon (fall-off-the-bone tender, served with mashed potatoes and root [vegetables]).”

The Campaign To Modernize Illinois Beer

“For anyone stepping into an Illinois brewery it’s not obvious that the laws and regulations that govern the industry are almost a century old and ill-suited to the times,” writes The New Chicagoan of behind-the-scenes regulations that the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild are targeting. Their “Modernize Illinois Craft” campaign “has six planks: legalizing mug clubs and reward programs, legalizing craft beer donations to nonprofit organizations, eliminating burdensome reporting requirements, expanding the beer showcase permit, increasing self-distribution for Class 3 breweries, and increasing the transfer cap for Class 2 breweries. ‘We’re dealing with laws written in the 1930s and then revised again in the 1980s,’ said Ray Stout, executive director of the Brewers Guild.”

“Stout tied the urgency of the modernization campaign to a worrying development in the Illinois brewing industry: the closure of ten percent of the state’s breweries since 2022. Of the 300 or so breweries in the state, thirty-one have closed (or are planning to close) in the past twenty-four months. The biggest loss has sent chills through the beer world: Metropolitan Brewing in Chicago announced that it will be shuttering for good in December.”

Gangnam Market Officially Opens In River West

“Gangnam Market—featuring standard groceries with Asian specialties and a six-restaurant food court—could turn River West into an unlikely Asian street food mecca,” samples Axios. The former Urban Market building on West Chicago “has finally finished and staffed its food court…To celebrate, Gangnam will host a weekend-long party… Kenny Yang, who owns Strings, Ken Kee and Gyuro Ramen, took over the 28,000-square-foot space ten months ago.”

Mexican-Japanese Cocktail Lounge Valedor Comes To Wicker Park

“Paying homage to the large number of Japanese immigrants who built the foundation of Mexico City’s Little Tokyo after World War II, Valedor, from Spearhead Hospitality (CanalStreet, Afterbar, Robey Hotel) is opening at 1620 North Milwaukee in the former Fairgrounds Coffee & Tea space. “Embracing the progression from colonial outpost to modern metropolis, the concept will incorporate elements of the diverse cultural and culinary heritage. With a focus on rice, an ingredient that is engraved in both cultures not only in food but in beverage as well, both sake and horchata will be utilized to create a list of avant-garde cocktails featuring classics reinterpreted with Mexican-Japanese inflection. The cocktail menu will feature an array of classic, signature, large format drinks, and sakerita flights.”

CosMc’s Caught On Camera In Bolingbrook

“During a July earnings call, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski teased news that the burger giant was about to experiment with a new restaurant idea—something to be called CosMc’s, a small format-concept with all the DNA of McDonald’s but its own unique personality,” reports Crain’s. X/Twitter user Iman Jalali was chastised for taking pictures of the menu at one of four drive-through lanes during a commercial shoot he chanced upon, which he posted. Set dressing or offerings to come? “Popping Pear Slush”? “Creamy Avocado Tomatillo Sandwich”? “Turmeric Spiced Latte”?

FILM & TELEVISION

“The Bear” Loses Its Collective Mind Again This Winter

“Season three of FX/Hulu’s ‘The Bear’ will commence production in late February-early March,” reports Deadline.

“Chicago Fire” And “P.D.” Rolling Again

Post-strike, “The cast and crew of ‘Chicago Fire’ and ‘Chicago P.D.’ were the first of the One Chicago franchise to return to filming,” reports Reel Chicago. The shows began shooting their first day of the season earlier this week on Cinespace Studios stages. “Chicago Med” is also now filming on location in Chicago. A rundown of what’s up with other shows is here.

MEDIA

World’s Richest Man To Crowd Of Advertisers, Including Disney CEO Robert Iger: “Go Fuck Yourself. G.-F.-Y.”

Elon Musk has “promoted and verbally endorsed what the White House called ‘antisemitic and racist hate’ on X, formerly Twitter, the social media platform he owns and runs as CTO,” reports CNBC. “Those posts led large advertisers, including Disney, Apple and many others, to suspend campaigns there. At the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York on Wednesday, Musk scoffed at advertisers’ boycotts. ‘If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money? Go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear?’”

Musk “also implied that his fans would boycott those advertisers in kind. ‘The whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company and we will document it in great detail. I have no problem being hated. Hate away.” Posts J. D. Durkin, “The Street” host on X/Twitter: “It’s almost as if he’s watching the… Iron Man movies and doing a reverse Tony Stark impression.” (Attorney Kaivan Shroff posts the video on X/Twitter here.)

Jezebel Returns Under Wing Of Paste Magazine

Pioneering feminist website Jezebel is being sold to Paste Magazine by G/O Media, which had shut down the site this month, reports the New York Times. “Paste Magazine, a music and culture outlet, acquired Jezebel on Tuesday and planned to start publishing on the site” as soon as possible. The co-founder of Paste said Jezebel has no employees, “so he was aiming to first find an editor-in-chief for Jezebel and then hire writers.”

Mark Jacob Sounds Warning That Media Needs To Sound Warning On Trump Threats Against Democracy

“Donald Trump is a fascist who wants to be a dictator,” former Tribune and Sun-Times editor Mark Jacob states forthrightly at Stop The Presses. “How do we know this? Because he tells us so, over and over. America’s major news organizations are beginning to say it too, belatedly. The nation’s two most influential newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, are writing stories about how he plans to weaponize the Justice Department to punish his political enemies, how he plans to put millions of immigrants in camps, and how he may order the military to shut down public protests if he takes office in January 2025. But these news outlets sometimes sugar-coat Trump’s poison. A recent New York Times headline, for example, referred to Trump’s ‘authoritarian leanings.’”

“It’s past time for major news organizations to take a bold stand against Trumpian fascism before their soft-pedaling of the threat puts the public in further danger and causes the news outlets themselves to keep losing credibility. Here’s one clear way to take that stand: Major newspapers should run front-page editorials declaring clearly that a vote for Trump is a vote to end democracy.”

Iowa Public Radio Listeners Take Over Funding After State and University Slash Funds

“Iowa Public Radio is planning a newsroom expansion after raising more than $8 million. The public media network, which is now run independently after IPR took over the licenses of seventeen signals from the University of Iowa in March of 2022, initially sought to raise $6.5 million which was surpassed, thanks to the generosity of more than 200 donors,” reports Inside Radio. “The network is nearly entirely funded by listener donations after its budget was slashed by state lawmakers and the Iowa Board of Regents discontinued funding the station in 2020… Two million dollars will be invested in… ‘journalism excellence,’ which will include… partnerships for in-depth and investigative reporting and an expansion of its arts and culture coverage.”

BBC Slashes Flagship Nightly News Program

“BBC Two’s Newsnight is to be cut back and have its format overhauled as part of a plan to save money in the corporation’s news department,” reports the increasingly conservative BBC under Britain’s increasingly conservative government. “The long-running show will lose its dedicated reporters, be shortened by ten minutes and drop its investigative films to focus on studio-based debates… The BBC News at One TV bulletin will be extended to an hour and will be broadcast from Salford.” The BBC’s news and current affairs CEO said the broadcaster was “in a tough financial climate.” The National Union of Journalists said the Newsnight cuts is “a major blow to investigative news.”

STAGE

Yes… And… Second City Teachers Set Strike

“Contract bargaining with the Chicago comedy theater has dragged on for more than two years,” reports the Sun-Times. “Teachers at Second City have voted to authorize a strike… Ninety-four percent of those voting said yes to the strike option.”

COVID Wipes A Performance Of Extended “POTUS”

Steppenwolf’s Wednesday night performance of “POTUS: or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive” was scrubbed, the theater relayed on X/Twitter. “Due to a positive COVID-19 case in the company, tonight’s performance of ‘POTUS’ is canceled. Performances throughout the rest of the week are scheduled to continue as planned.” (Earlier, the production was extended to December 17.)

ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.

Choose Chicago And DCASE Firm Holiday Events

Mayor Johnson, Choose Chicago, and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events have set a program to support public holiday events throughout the city. “The initiative will drive foot traffic to commercial corridors and support small businesses in ten neighborhoods through public decorations, holiday events, and holiday-themed storefront events. The program is part of Choose Chicago’s Neighborhood Strategy efforts and is funded by American Rescue Plan Act funds earmarked for supporting small businesses’ recovery in the wake of the pandemic.

‘There is no shortage of fun to be had in Chicago during the holidays,’ said Mayor Johnson. ‘Community-based celebrations, festivals, and parades allow us to showcase the beauty and diversity of our incredible city while also driving additional customers to small businesses in our neighborhoods.’” The first events were in Humboldt Park, Pilsen, and South Shore over the Thanksgiving weekend. The next two events are today, Friday, December 1, in the Austin and Uptown neighborhoods. More at the city’s “Holiday Magic” website here.

NASCAR Sets Billions In Seven-Year Media Rights Deals

No Chicago-specific details, but “NASCAR has new broadcast deals with Amazon, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery,” reports Front Office Sports. “NASCAR’s new media contracts will pay out $7.7 billion over seven years.”

Local Governments Nationwide Swamped By Pickleball Tsunami

It’s not just Chicago parks: “For the last few months I’ve been trying to understand what’s been happening behind-the-scenes in cities large and small by filing public records requests aimed at learning how common beefs about pickleball are, and what’s causing them,” writes Jason Koebler at 404 Media. “The smaller court, hard ball, and hard racket means that pickleball is louder than tennis, a fact that is brought up very often by homeowners and homeowner associations who claim, somewhat dubiously, that the noise from pickleball drives down their home values.”

“My hypothesis… was that people who live in cities are mad at the noise… and they have… complained… What I found was surprisingly more complex: Thousands of pages of documents I’ve reviewed show that pickleball’s surging popularity is overwhelming under-resourced parks departments in city governments all over the country. This may sound frivolous, but the documents also show what happens after we fail to build things in America: Compromises are made, and our cities’ already strapped public space and public resources become increasingly crowded and difficult to use. People fight about it.”

University Of Wisconsin System Topper Memos Shift Away From Liberal Arts For Low-Income Students

“In an email to chancellors of UW campuses, UW System President Jay Rothman privately suggested schools ‘shift away’ from liberal arts programs while making large, one-time budget cuts,” reports the Daily Cardinal. “In emails obtained by The Daily Cardinal, Rothman, a former law firm chairman and CEO with no higher education background before leading the UW System, told campus chancellors UW schools should seek a long-term path ‘to return to financial stability… Consider shifting away from liberal arts programs to programs that are more career specific, particularly if the institution serves a large number of low-income students,’ Rothman wrote in a list of recommendations… ‘Make the “painful”cuts and adjustments at one time and then move on.’”

A spokesperson declined multiple requests for an interview, but Rothman has since complained about the reporting, managing editor Tyler Katzenberger posts. Despite the published email, Rothman posts on X/Twitter, “Let me be crystal clear: I have not asked our universities to move away from liberal arts programs. I have repeatedly stated that the liberal arts develops critical thinking and problem solving skills vital to a knowledge economy and to winning the war for talent.” Katzenberger: “I firmly stand behind our reporting, which included a full copy of the email from Rothman.”

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