![\"Jeff](\"https:\/\/www.newcity.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Jeff-Tweedy-Photo-Credit-Shervin-Lainez.jpg\")
Jeff Tweedy\/Photo: Shervin Lainez<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Subscribe to Newcity Today <\/i><\/b>here<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n ART<\/strong><\/p>\n Sotheby\u2019s Plans November Auction For Cindy and Jay Pritzker\u2019s Art Collection<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cArtworks from the collection of the late Cindy and Jay Pritzker, thirty-seven pieces worth an estimated $120 million but representing only part of their collection, will go up for auction at Sotheby\u2019s in New York in November after spending a couple of months being seen in galleries around the world,\u201d reports Crain\u2019s<\/a>. \u201cThe works, by artists including Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin, are of a caliber \u2018that rarely exists outside a museum context,\u2019 said Julian Dawes, head of Impressionist and Modern Art at the venerable auction house. \u2018In terms of rarity, in terms of quality of each example, it\u2019s an extraordinary collection.’\u201d<\/p>\n Philadelphia Builds A Garden For Alexander Calder<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhat can a museum experience be now? Meet Calder Gardens. A leading architect, garden designer and philanthropist build a thrillingly eccentric complex for the inventor of the mobile,\u201d reports the New York Times (gift link<\/a><\/em>). \u201cCelebrating one of the city\u2019s native sons, the site,\u00a0Calder Gardens<\/a>, is small but potent, an exhibition space and philanthropic project, a civic gift with a radical slant. Stuffed with both prime Calders and more obscure material, it revivifies the artist\u2019s expansive powers, and it ought to inspire similarly adventurous single-artist museums, which are still a rarity in this country.\u201d The institution was designed by celebrated architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.<\/p>\n Are We Censoring Some Of The Most Well-Known Slavery Imagery?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn the two centuries since the medium was invented, few photographs have had a more powerful impact on the American conscience than a series of images made in 1863 of a formerly enslaved man known by at least two names, Gordon and Peter. Early in 1863, he escaped the hell of enslavement and found safety among Union forces in Louisiana, thus becoming contraband, to use the solecism common at the time,\u201d writes The Washington Post (free link<\/a><\/em>). \u201cThe image shocked even those who knew the brutality and horrors of slavery.\u201d Reportedly, \u201cthe Trump administration will remove a display of the photograph from a Park Service unit that deals with slavery and the Civil War, as part of its campaign against what it deems \u2018corrosive ideology.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DESIGN<\/strong><\/p>\n Open House Chicago\u2019s Fifteenth Edition Sets 210 Locations<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chicago Architecture Center has set sites for the fifteenth annual Open House Chicago, taking place over the weekend of October 18-19. The free annual festival provides behind-the-scenes access to places of architectural, historical and cultural significance. Open House will debut thirty new sites this edition, which include \u201cBertrand Goldberg\u2019s Hilliard Tower Apartments in Chinatown; Morris Architects Planners-designed The Magic Lounge in Andersonville; state-of-the-art indoor cultivation facility Four Star Mushrooms, growing gourmet mushrooms in the Near West Side; the late Steve Albini\u2019s recording studio Electrical Audio in Avondale; and the state-of-the-art Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation in the Austin neighborhood, converted from a shuttered elementary school.\u201d The complete list, mapped by neighborhood, is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Downtown\u2019s Virgin Hotel To Become Sports Illustrated \u201cUrban Resort\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The Virgin Hotel Chicago on Wabash will \u201cbe converted into a sports-themed urban resort with the Sports Illustrated brand under a new plan from a Florida hospitality firm [Travel + Leisure],\u201d reports Crain\u2019s<\/a>. \u201cTravel + Leisure did not specifically identify the planned Sports Illustrated Resorts Chicago location as a timeshare, but said in a statement that the property will be converted from an existing hotel and offer \u2018flexible, points-based ownership options, with sales beginning in early next year.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n DINING & DRINKING<\/strong><\/p>\n Twisted Spoke\u2019s Biker Skeleton Could Become A West Town Monument<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cArtist and neighbor Jon Satrom has launched a petition to move the beloved motorcyle-riding skeleton to a median on Ogden Avenue following Twisted Spoke\u2019s closure. The bar\u2019s owner is on board,\u201d maps Block Club<\/a>. \u201cAfter thirty years, \u2018Skelly,\u2019 as owner Mitch Einhorn affectionately refers to it, is coming down and could disappear from the neighborhood.\u201d The bar \u201cclosed last month<\/a>, and a new concept is taking over the space.\u201d<\/p>\n Metric Coffee Opens Avondale All-Day Cafe<\/strong><\/p>\n Metric Coffee has opened Milli, a cafe and roastery in Avondale, relays Chicago Eater<\/a>. The project, \u201ctransforming a 12,000-square-foot former antiques warehouse into Metric\u2019s new headquarters and a daytime third place,\u201d has been in the works since 2021. More from Metric here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Four Seasons Reopens Mile High Cocktail Club With Handshake Speakeasy<\/strong><\/p>\n Four Seasons Hotel Chicago is reopening the Mile High Cocktail Club, \u201can exclusive and elevated speakeasy experience\u201d in continued collaboration with the Handshake Speakeasy<\/a>. The Mexico City-based bar was named to the top spot on the World\u2019s 50 Best Bars<\/a> list last year. Mile High will be open from October 2-December 31. Reservations are required at OpenTable here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lincoln Square\u2019s The Green Post Closing<\/strong><\/p>\n The Green Post at Rockwell and Lawrence is closing after three years, knells Block Club<\/a>. The ownership team behind The Northman, the now-closed Fountainhead and Bar on Buena will close their pub on September 30. \u201cFrom day one, our vision was to create a full-service neighborhood pub built on a [strong] beverage program, chef-driven cuisine and a true sense of community,\u201d the owners wrote in a statement. \u201cThis has always been our passion, but the realities of today\u2019s Chicago restaurant scene have made sustaining this model increasingly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump-Supporting Owner Of Moe\u2019s Cantina Flies To D.C. In Hope Of Slowing Worker Deportations<\/strong><\/p>\n Restaurateur \u201cSam Sanchez is lobbying the White House to end its mass deportations and protect undocumented essential workers,\u201d reports Block Club<\/a>. \u201cA board member and former board chair of the Illinois Restaurant Association, and whose company operates Chicago venues including Moe\u2019s Cantina, Tunnel nightclub and Old Crow Smokehouse\u2014said he voted for Trump to support a \u2018law-and-order\u2019 approach aimed at deporting violent offenders. But Sanchez said he is alarmed by mass deportations of nonviolent, hard-working immigrants in Chicago. \u2018I can\u2019t regret supporting law and order, but what they\u2019re doing now\u2026 is not what the president promised.’\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n FILM & TELEVISION<\/strong><\/p>\n Music Box Debuts New Sound System With Paul Thomas Anderson Action<\/strong><\/p>\n The 70mm presentation of Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s big-and-loud \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d christens \u201ca brand-new sound system in [the Music Box\u2019s] main theater. Manufactured by Netherlands-based Alcons Audio and installed by Kinora Audio Visual Systems, the system was designed to improve dialogue intelligibility and increase power handling, as well as integrate seamlessly into the theater\u2019s architecture. The focus of this improvement was not only to install a system that was powerful enough to handle modern soundtracks, but also to reproduce all soundtracks beautifully and accurately, providing the same listening experience to every member of the audience.<\/p>\n \u201cBuilt in 1929 at the dawn of sound films, the Music Box\u2019s Auditorium design has been a particular challenge for the reproduction of modern cinema soundtracks. Over the past fifteen years, the theater has made significant investments in improving the theater sound: improving the stereo sound stage by moving the left and right channels from behind the screen, adding acoustic treatments to reduce reverberation time, replacing and upgrading power amplifiers and surrounds, and installing an acoustically transparent screen. With the installation of this new system, the theater is better suited to reproduce nearly a hundred years of movie soundtracks than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n MEDIA<\/strong><\/p>\n Cleveland\u2019s Ideastream Public Media Wins Major Grant For Dedicated Jazz Studio<\/strong><\/p>\n Ohio\u2019s Ideastream Public Media \u201chas received a $1 million gift from Cleveland\u2019s Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation to fund its NEOJazz Legacy Project and build a dedicated studio for its JazzNEO channel,\u201d reports Inside Radio<\/a>. \u201cSince its launch in February 2024, JazzNEO has been operating without a dedicated studio and airing all pre-recorded programming. The new state-of-the-art space will allow for live hosting, interviews and live jazz performances.\u201d<\/p>\n Washington, D.C.\u2019s WETA Suffers $4.4 Million Cut<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWETA in Washington, D.C., has eliminated twenty-one staff positions and canceled three TV shows as it looks to cut $4.4 million in spending for this fiscal year,\u201d reports Current<\/a>. The circulation of its monthly magazine will be reduced, and local shows \u201cIf You Lived Here, Get Out of Town\u201d and \u201cWETA Best Bets\u201d have been canceled, and \u201cTelly Visions,\u201d its website and podcast about British television and culture has ended.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n MUSIC<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Tweedy Releases \u201cLou Reed Was My Babysitter\u201d Pre-Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cHere sits Jeffrey Scot Tweedy, alt-rock bard and best-selling author\u2026 the Grammy-winning Wilco frontman and longtime Chicagoan bellies up to a glass table in the modest but homey kitchen of the band\u2019s Irving Park studio,\u201d places Mike Thomas at Chicago magazine<\/a>. \u201cThe 5,000-square-foot, low-ceilinged space just off Irving Park Road, known far and wide as the Loft, has served as a recording space, a practice room, a place to store equipment, and a hangout pad since 1997. As such, it\u2019s stuffed with all manner of musical implements and instruments, from amps and pedals to drums, keyboards, and guitars\u2014especially guitars, scores of them, some upright and naked on stands, others protected in cases on metal shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s escaped from the space is one of the thirty songs, a single and video<\/a>, \u201cLou Reed Was My Babysitter,\u201d from his new solo album, \u201cTwilight Override.\u201d Tweedy says in a release that the song\u2019s title references \u201cthe joy in this dark music that Lou Reed made, and the beautiful conflict that it creates when you try and analyze it. And how it was such a positive force for so many people. \u2018My life was saved by rock \u2018n\u2019 roll\u2019\u2014Lou Reed is saying the same thing.\u201d The triple album is out September 26; Tweedy kicks off his tour in Chicago on September 25 at a to-be-determined locale, with a November 1 booking at the Salt Shed.<\/p>\n New Principal Trombonist For CSO<\/strong><\/p>\n The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has named Timothy Higgins its new principal trombone, charts Chicago Classical Review<\/a>. Higgins will appear in that role for the first time at this week\u2019s season-opening concerts.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n STAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n Remembering Chicago Theater Architect John Morris<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cJohn Morris brought an extensive understanding of stagecraft and a keen eye for audiences to his long career as a Chicago-based theater architect who designed performance spaces like the Steppenwolf Theatre\u2019s mainstage, the Lookingglass Theatre, the Athenaeum Center, the Black Ensemble Theater and the Old Town School of Folk Music, among others,\u201d chronicles the Trib in an extended, illustrated obit (gift link<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n Lyric\u2019s Ryan Opera Center Selects Singers For Season<\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n One of the world\u2019s preeminent artist-development programs for emerging artists, the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced singers for its 2026-27 ensemble. The new members include sopranos Kylie Kreucher and Josie Larsen, baritone Adam Partridge, and bass-baritones Matthew Dexter and Lin Fan. They will join five returning ensemble members: mezzo-sopranos Alexis Peart and Camille Robles, tenor Daniel Luis Espinal, baritone Sihao Hu, and bass-baritone Benjamin R. Sokol. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Refracted Theatre Announces \u201cThe Shortlist\u201d Fest<\/strong><\/p>\n Refracted Theatre Company announces the debut of \u201cThe Shortlist: A Refracted Festival,\u201d September 19-October 18, at the Den Theatre, a festival of workshops and staged readings showcasing plays Refracted is considering for its seventh season in 2026. The festival replaces the previously announced \u201cDream Hou$e,\u201d which was recently canceled. All performances are pay-what-you-can. More here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nora Dunn On Comedy, Anger And Becoming Conciliatory<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Saturday Night Live\u2019 pissed me off,\u201d writer-performer Nora Dunn\u00a0tells Mike Thomas at Chicago magazine<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019d been writing my own material for three years. I\u2019d had a one-woman show. In San Francisco, I\u2019d done improv with a really funny group called Spaghetti Jam, and I\u2019d improvised with Robin Williams one night for forty-five minutes. So I knew my stuff. I auditioned with so many characters and so much material and thought, people are going to be writing for me like crazy. But the writers literally would say, \u2018It\u2019s impossible to write for women.\u2019 I thought, I can\u2019t wait to get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ARTS & CULTURE & ETC.<\/strong><\/p>\n A Hundred Liberal Philanthropies Prepare To Push Back Against Government Crackdown<\/strong><\/p>\n A hundred institutions have \u201cpublished an open letter to defend their missions amid fears the Trump administration could target their tax-exempt status,\u201d reports the New York Times (gift link<\/a><\/em>), \u201ceven as its list of signers doubled as a list of the types of left-leaning charities that President Trump may target. The statement condemned political violence and any possible retribution\u2026 Following the murder of Charlie Kirk last week, the Trump administration has said it plans to crack down on nonprofits that it accuses of fostering a culture of violence, name-checking the Ford Foundation and Mr. Soros\u2019 group. An executive order could come as soon as this week.\u201d The letter is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, \u201cThe People Vs. Project 2025\u201d launches<\/strong>: Nationwide organizing has been launched, records American Theatre magazine<\/a>, under the banner of \u201cThe People vs. Project 2025<\/a>,\u201d billed as \u201cA Movement to Defeat Trump and the Heritage Foundation and Reclaim the Nation\u2019s Democratic Institutions & Cultural Narrative,\u201d \u201cwhich will stage simultaneous events across the country September 20-21, inviting artists and culture workers to shape the initiative and take local action during the autumnal equinox. Livestreams of the weekend\u2019s events will feed into a central channel and be distributed to audiences across the country.\u201d The initiative \u201cis designed to connect, amplify and mobilize artists and cultural workers confronting the authoritarianism and targeted state repression that is using the playbook laid out by the Heritage Foundation\u2019s Project 2025<\/a> (pdf) and is \u2018threatening democracy, civil rights and cultural freedom in the United States,’\u201d they say.<\/p>\n What Is The Future Of Humanities At UChicago?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAs someone with a lifelong love for the arts and humanities, it pains me to see mischaracterizations of efforts to place these fields on a stronger footing at U. of C. No, we\u2019re not replacing instructors with ChatGPT (to name one strange rumor), and we\u2019re certainly not removing the arts and humanities from the center of academic inquiry. The university has a website<\/a> debunking some of the most glaring inaccuracies,\u201d writes Deborah L. Nelson, dean of the Division of the Arts & Humanities at the University of Chicago, at the Tribune<\/a>. \u201cThe pressures on the arts and humanities today are real and in many ways unprecedented. But we won\u2019t build a stronger future for these beloved subjects by treating them as static or frozen in time. Success will require imaginative thinking, engagement with a changing culture and a renewed commitment to collaboration across disciplinary boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Send culture news and tips to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n