Graffiti: Making the leap from illegal to legal
By Ashley Altus Before picking up a spray paint can for her aerosol art, Gloe One was writing her nickname on random places she might be visiting throughout Chicago. She got into graffiti because she envisioned herself painting outside on walls just like the graffiti crews did in her neighborhood. The city has taken down her […]
An artist’s eye on fashion
By Lily Singh Tucked behind a gray fedora, Rosemary Fanti’s eyes floated between her subjects and her canvas as she crafted her live fashion illustrations of customers in the fragrance department at Bloomingdale’s on Michigan Avenue. As Fanti illustrated, person after person stood by to admire her work. Shoppers who may have otherwise been in a […]
The name is the least of the controversy for Chi-Raq
By Kierra Gray In Spike Lee’s new film Chi-Raq, he explores gang violence and the use of sex strikes as a tactic to combat violence. This modern-day adaptation of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek satire “Lysistrata” is set on the South Side of Chicago. After a stray bullet kills a young child in a gang war, our […]
Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq has inspired a sex strike movement in Chicago
By Alexis Myers To view this story interactively click here. A South Side woman has brought the premise of the new movie “Chi-Raq” to life by launching a female sex strike with the goal of ending the city’s gun violence. So far 94 supporters have signed April Lawson’s petition on Change.org. The movie Chi-Raq, by director Spike Lee, opened […]
Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz keeps job, leads team to best season ever
By Lena Blietz Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz entered the year on the hot seat after a 7-6 football season in 2014. Ferentz responded by leading the team to its first 12-0 regular season. He was named Big Ten Coach of the Year as Iowa made its first appearance in the conference championship game. The Hawkeyes fell to Michigan State, but […]
Japanese photographer uses “cult” camera to tell a Chicago story
By Elizabeth Bacharach Satoki Nagata, who moved to Chicago in 1992, exclusively used a Leica camera to capture the photographs that compose the December-long exhibit “Lights in the City” at the Rangefinder Gallery. Located within Tamarkin Camera, 300 W. Superior St., the gallery displays 21 images from two different projects: “Lights in Chicago” and “Frances […]
Alleged police torture victim seeks to clear his name (video)
By Jasmine Cen Anthony Jakes is fighting to clear his name after he spent years in jail. He was charged with first-degree murder and taken into police custody in Chicago when he was fifteen. Jakes is still working to fit back into the society since his release from prison in 2012 and he is fighting to […]
Vinyl records are making more money than ad-supported streaming
By Ariana LaBarrie Pause the streaming! Vinyl is making a comeback. Streaming music seems to be the all the rage for music media. But the numbers tell a different story. Vinyl is making more money than the digital competition.
Who can be held responsible for climate inaction?
By Kevin Stark Well, that’s different. Until negotiations kicked off in Paris this month, a goal of curbing global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees F) cseemed like the arduous but obtainable goal. As talks began, it quickly became clear that world leaders want an even sharper curb in fossil fuel emissions […]
Jingle all the way home: Holiday Train turns 24
By Qingwei Vivian Chen Large crowds were waiting at stations for the CTA holiday train. Chicagoans are giving a warm welcome to their 24-year-old holiday train tradition. “This is my first time getting on a holiday train, I have lived in the city for a number of years, but I have never been on a […]