All in Things to Do in Chicago
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Pictured is a sculpture that adjourns the City and County Building. Analogous to Certs--Two Mints In One--the Cook County Main Administration building is combined with Chicago's City Hall in an 11-story, Greek-styled building designed by Chicago architectural powerhouse Holabird & Root.
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Helmut Jahn's State of Illinois Building is in a state of disrepair. Chicago Tribune architectural columnist Blair Kamin points to rusted columns, chipped paint, and duct tape holding faded carpets together. There is also the smell of fast food grease wafting through the atrium from the food court on the lower level. All of this mirrors the State of Illinois' budget crisis, which will continue to plague the state despite the band-aid tax increase signed into law ten days ago by Governor Bruce Rauner.
Unfortunately, but appropriately, Jean Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast, which is located at the building's southeast corner, is in similar disrepair. The 10-ton sculpture has faded in parts from white to cigarette-finger yellow. It appears to be chipped, with parts of it covered in graffiti, which serves as another example of why we can't have nice things.
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Ah, yes, we all remember being a kid and partaking in the joys of summer. No school, so head down to the Daley Plaza, and then use the Picasso statue as a slide.
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I headed over to the Chicago Cultural Center today intent on photographing the Tiffany Glass dome that sits above the Preston Bradley Hall. This is the dome that has the star power because it is believed to be the world's largest Tiffany dome. At 11:00AM the light was perfect, with the sun not quite directly overhead. Unfortunately, the hall was closed for an event--high school students.
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Let's face it, one of life's simple pleasures in lying in the sun on a hot summer day in July. This gentlemen has it going on: The towel behind his head, the sunglasses slightly askew, and dressed in white head to toe. All serve to emphasize his deep tan. He is gracing one of the new lounge chairs that line Navy Pier. Yes, there is nothing better than lying out in the sun on a hot summer day in July.
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Several stores opened pop-up shops on Navy Pier as part of the festivities surrounding the launch of the 109th Chicago-to-Macinac Island sailboat race held by the Chicago Yacht Club. One of the stores offered patrons the opportunity to acquire what looked like some high-end cigars and to then smoke them under a small tented area overlooking Lake Michigan.
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Today was the start of the Chicago Yacht Club's 109th Race to Mackinac, a 333-mile sprint from Chicago to Mackinac Island in Michigan. The race begins with a parade of boats past the east end of Navy Pier. More than 300 boats pass by, most with sails down. Then the boats head through the breakwater to the start line. The starts are staggered.
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Mwata Bowden, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), brought his band, One Foot In, One Foot Out, to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art for a Tuesdays on the Terrace performance. Bowden is not to be missed, particularly when he brings Ari Brown (tenor saxophone), Avreeayl Ra (drums), and Harrison Bankhead (bass), all AACM members, with him. Let's not forget Phil Q. on trumpet and Bowden's son, Khari B., who added poetry and rap to the mix.
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The Lincoln Park Boat Club held the 37th Annual Sprints Regatta on July 7 through the 9th in the lagoon that seperates Lincoln Park from Lake Shore Drive. I was in Maine at a photography workshop during the week, but managed to make it back for Sunday's finals. The event features 1,000-meter, side-by-side, Henley style racing. I don't have this year's numbers, but last year, over 1,000 athletes participated, with 27 clubs from 10 states in the chase for victory.
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Just about every event passes through the Trump filter in this day and age. Today, the Lions Clubs International held a parade on Chicago's State Street to commemorate the Chicago-based organization's 100th anniversary. One parade participant proudly told me that the Lions Club is the largest service organization in the world, with 1,400,000 members in somewhere around 200 countries. The organization focuses its efforts on visual impairment, hearing loss, disaster relief, diabetes awareness, and other good causes.
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On Monday of this week, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events installed a statue by Chicago artist Scott Reader across the river from the Trump Tower. As is evident, the statue is simply the words "Real Fake" in gold lettering. Quite appropriate for anything associated with President Donald J. Trump.
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Everyone knows what happens in Chicago on the last Sunday in June: The Gay Pride parade. Having lived on the periphery of Boystown for over two decades, I've been to my share of Gay Pride parades. Each year the parade is a little more corporate and a little less outrageous, reflecting the mainstream acceptance of gay people.
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The 11th Annual Hyde Park Jazz Festival is just three months away, which is why the annual benefit gathering was held tonight. About 175 people showed up at the Promontory Restaurant, Bar, and Performance Space to celebrate what has become one of the top jazz festivals in the country and certainly the top one in Chicago.
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On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi established the first self-sustaining controlled nuclear reaction under the Stage Field Stadium located on the University of Chicago's Hyde Park campus. The laboratory was a squash court, which is an appropriate given the speed and force that a squash ball ricochets off the walls of a court.
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Oak Park, Illinois may be the location of a number of important Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, including Wright's home, but Hyde Park is the location of one important Wright work, the Robie House. The house was built between 1908 and 1910 for Chicago businessman Frederick C. Robie.
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Best to position yourself in one place over a 2.5-hour period. The changes are gradual, but dramatic. Today, the Chicago skyline was partially cloudy: Mid morning there were high cumulus clouds and large blue patches.
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Several weeks ago, I received a notice that the Chicago Tribune was offering a two-hour tour of its Chicago Avenue printing and distribution plant, referred to as the Freedom Center. My impression was that this was a one-time event, so I immediately purchased two $25 dollar tickets. It turns out that the Tribune offers the tour nine times a year
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Tonight, Chicago's jazz community staged a benefit concert at the University of Chicago's Logan Center to help Ellis cover medical and rehab bills. That community loves her so much that the organizers had to turn away musicians who wanted to participate in the 2.5 hour concert.
