The Greeks: 5,000 years of history in 500 objects
By Josef Siebert As the glass doors to the special exhibit area close behind us like a tomb, an ethereal hum gradually fills our ears, prompting a feeling of rising exultation. Gone are the bright light and clatter of hundreds of people milling around the towering columns, white marble walls and vaulted ceiling of the […]
Jazz Record Mart collection is now in distinguished company
By Josef Siebert The entire contents of Chicago’s iconic Jazz Record Mart now sits in a warehouse in Reno, Nevada. Over 50 years of history were piled onto 25 pallets and shipped to Wolfgang’s Vault, an online music memorabilia seller, after JRM closed for business Feb. 15 The items will be sorted, priced and listed […]
City ordered to produce documents in Lucas Museum suit
By Josef Siebert U.S. District Judge John Darrah reprimanded the city at a hearing Wednesday for failing to produce documents in the ongoing Lucas Museum lawsuit. The next status hearing in the legal battle over filmmaker George Lucas’s plans to build the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the lakefront near Soldier Field will be […]
A hard rain’s gonna fall again at Ravinia
![Folk singers Joan Baez and Bob Dylan perform during a civil rights rally on August 28, 1963 in Washington D.C. (Rowland Scherman/National Archives and Records Administration [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons)](https://s3.amazonaws.com/medill.wordpress.offload/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2016/03/Joan_Baez_and_Bob_Dylan-1024x714.jpg)
By Josef Siebert Bob Dylan will return to Ravinia this summer, appearing for the first time since his debut at the 102-year-old festival one rainy night in June 1964. Ravinia announced details of its 2016 season, which features over 140 events between June 2 and Sept. 11, on Wednesday. Billed as Robert Dylan for his […]
How sweet the sound: The spirit of legendary Evanston venue Amazingrace lives on
By Josef Siebert Arguably the most famous counterculture venue in 1970s Chicago, Amazingrace was founded as neither a venue nor in Chicago. It started with Northwestern University students occupying part of a kitchen on the university’s Evanston campus to provide food to Vietnam War protesters. Eventually it morphed into a coffeehouse, a collective and finally […]
ISIS, looting and the antiquities trade: expert panel discussion at the National Hellenic Museum
By Josef Siebert Recent attacks by ISIS have destroyed cultural artifacts, ancient architecture and archaeological sites in the Middle East. The importance of these actions can be lost on an audience halfway around the world. But when the consequences include increased terrorism as well as the loss of thousands of years of history, the effects […]
The outro plays for Jazz Record Mart
By Josef Siebert The Jazz Record Mart was full of activity on Tuesday, the day after the iconic Chicago record store closed its doors forever. With its bright neon window sign and overhead lights inside the store blazing at 27 E. Illinois St., it was easy to imagine JRM was still in business. Until, that […]
Bowie’s influence captivates millennials
By Josef Siebert David Bowie’s theatrical version of rock ‘n’ roll pioneered glam and immediately impacted artists like the New York Dolls, Elton John and Queen. Bowie’s influence trickled down through the decades and is apparent in the music of the Killers, the attitude of Lorde, and the fashion of Lady Gaga. Bowie, born David […]
