U.S. innovation at risk: Science funding crunch clashes with a burgeoning Ph.D. workforce
By Lakshmi Chandrasekaran “A CR (continuing resolution) Attenuates Progress. That would be C-R-A-P in case you haven’t figured that out,” said National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins last month, talking about how government funding affects research. Collins, quoted in Science magazine, referred to an amorphous continuing federal funding program that ends this Friday. Congress passed a […]
Veterans of Chicago’s DIY counterculture see a shifting scene and new paths ahead
By Grant Rindner When Rae Bees came to Chicago from Tallahassee, she already had deep roots in Florida’s DIY culture that went back to her college days. When she arrived in the Windy City, she became involved with Hostel Earphoria, a house and creative space that hosts artists traveling through Chicago and looking for an authentic understanding […]
Chicago’s LGBTQ community gearing up for Trump presidency
By Puja Bhattacharjee The LGBTQ community in Chicago is not taking any chances on President-elect Donald Trump’s shifting statements. Organizations and groups advocating LGBTQ rights are hosting on-going events to calm, organize and inform the community about their rights and the resources available to them. On November 28, the Center on Halsted organized A Call to Rise […]
AIDs legacy of loss told through new exhibit Art AIDs America Chicago
By Hannah Moulthrop A gong reverberates through the white-walled space once every 10 minutes. Piñatas that resemble HIV viruses hang from a swath of ceiling above the staircase. Oversized glass red blood cells are strewn across the floor. These works and 169 others anchor the new Art AIDS America Chicago exhibition at the pop-up Alphawood Gallery […]
Mural project in Little Village showcases Chicago’s coming “Year of Public Art”
By Wen-Yee Lee Max Sansing was spray-painting a ragged wall of an underpass between Little Village and North Lawndale — a border that separates Mexican-American and African-American communities. Soon, images unfolded of Mexican culture and experiences in Chicago, West African symbols of strength and unity, and portraits of community residents. As a core artist for […]
Puerto Rico: a “canary in the coal mine” for climate change
By Janice Cantieri In Alexi Correa’s coastal town of Loiza, Puerto Rico, families are raising their furniture on milk crates and building second floors onto their concrete homes to adapt to frequent flooding caused by sea level rise. They are witnessing a major impact of climate change right at their doorsteps. “Our community is quite […]
NoDAPL supporters chant ‘Mni wiconi’ and it’s not just about water
By Pat Nabong and June Leffler [Package of Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline stories here] Women in black burkas have marched around the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota with a banner that reads, “Muslims stand with Standing Rock.” In a ceremonial dance, Aztec dancers from South America have skipped to the beat […]
Southwest Side business cooperative puts waste to good use
By Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang Before you trash the remnants of that Thanksgiving turkey or ram the last bits of stuffing into the garbage disposal, try thinking about how much food is wasted in the U.S. every day. The U.S. throws away 30 percent of edible food annually, an equivalent of $161 billion worth of produce, […]
For the love of birds: Carolyn Marsh’s 30-year fight for the Hammond environment
By Puja Bhattacharjee Plan to navigate through the Horseshoe Casino parking lot and take a short walk along the lakefront before you can get to the turnstile entrance of the Hammond Bird Sanctuary in Hammond, Indiana. I followed Carolyn Marsh, 72, into the sanctuary early one morning. Marsh cleaned the bird baths inside the sanctuary, […]
Moholy-Nagy retrospective highlights his revolutionary vision, impact in Chicago
By Grant Rindner Laszlo Moholy-Nagy brought the Bauhaus movement from to Chicago from Germany in the 1930s, launching a revolution in arts and design as one of Chicago’s most influential and iconic innovators. The Renaissance man comes through is the sprawling new exhibit and even the exhibit title “Moholy-Nagy: Future Present,” on display at the […]