Page 45 - Chicago Reader News Today

Filmmakers Lily Qi and Sarabi Woods covering events in downtown Chicago for Activism Now. David A. Holcombe When the Black Lives Matter and other social justice uprisings hit Chicago last year, the creators at Soft Cage Films were ready. The nonprofit film production company has been documenting social change, combating oppressive systems, and amplifying unde...

The birds are flocking to the city for survival. Sign up for our newsletters Subscribe A group of Canada Geese wakes up after a night sleeping on icy waters near the iconic Navy Pier on Friday, January 29, 2021. Scientists think that geese sleep on the water to evade land predators, though that isn’t necessary in the city. Caroline Catherman Chicago has beco...

He just self-published the 80th issue of the comic book 'King-Cat' and other cartoonists like Chris Ware admire his work. For this self-proclaimed simple Midwesterner, it's all more than enough.

2020 was always going to be a historic year for cannabis in Illinois. The sale of recreational marijuana became legal across the state at the turn of the decade, all thanks to the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA) that Pritzker signed back in June of 2019. Despite some supply shortages, limited licenses, and opening in the dead of Chicago winter, Illinois dispensaries sold around $3.2 million worth of recreational cannabis on January 1 alone. Thats nothing, though, compared to the overall ...

‘King-Cat’ cartoonist John Porcellino says he is living the dream. His dream, anyway. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune © Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS John Porcellino at his home in Beloit, Wisconsin on March 3, 2021. Porcellino self-publishes King-Cat comics and stories and has been doing so since 1989. This is a story about achieving financial solvency! (Sort of.) Discovering creative independence! (Painfully.) And finding personal satisfacti...

click to enlarge Photo by Bernard Benant As the anniversaries of pandemic lockdowns arrive, many of us have been reflecting on the people weve lost in the past year, whether from COVID or any other cause. If any good can come from all times, I hope we never again take for granted the opportunity to say goodbye or come together to celebrate a...

click to enlarge Orel Cholette The story of House Theatre mirrors that of so many other legendary ensembles in Chicago. A group of friends meet in college and decide to start a company, doing shows that promise to bring originality and verve and epic vision to the stage, often by breaking fourth walls and questioning the traditional models o...

Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton, California, whose three-year basic income experiment has been making headlines for how it improved low-income residents’ well-being, will become “special advisor for economic mobility and opportunity” for California Governor Gavin Newsom, the Sacramento Bee reports. The unpaid position involves serving on Newsom’s Council of Economic Advisors, working with businesses and economic development officials, and potentially working with legislators...

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago © Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago In the latest surge of simmering tensions between the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) in Chicago, its workers and local arts groups, six artists and one collective have pulled their work from the current exhibition, The Long Dream over complaints about access, equity and labour rights. The Long Dream opened at the MCA on 7 November 2020, with the aim of presenting works by more than 70 loca...

ONLINE: Billy Branch & His Sons of the Blues, Shemekia Copeland, Toronzo Cannon, Lil Ed Williams Mar 13, 2021 7:00 PM The Chicago-based Alligator Records has remained steadfastly independent and dedicated to blues and roots music for five decades. During that time its been the recording home for legends such as Koko Taylor and Luther Allison as well as modern-day musical leaders like Cash Box Kings and Shemekia Copeland. Founder and label prexy Bruce Iglauer will emcee this concert filmed on t...