The biggest cultural stories of 2008 are likely less predictable than this week’s Rose Bowl. Every year we see our share of breakout artists and surprising storefront gems, and 2008 promises to be no different. But 2007 left some unfinished business and we’re eager to see how these stories play out: Stingy in Springfield Blago’s veto of the FY08 State budget reduced Illinois Arts Council funding by 30%. And a trickle-down economics of pain proceeds:......

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits......

Although we aren't as vocal about it as when we were new to Chicagoist, we still love living in Bridgeport and still consider not moving down here sooner one of our greatest regrets as an adult. An increasing number of artists are starting to call Bridgeport their home base, lured by plentiful space, affordable rents and a welcoming community of artists who have been living down here for years. As part of Chicago Artists Month,......

Tonight kicks off a fest that's all about the ladies. Wait. You've heard of this concept before? Innovative or not, the festival appeals to the large number of people out there who feel like women need to continue to form communities and alliances within the art world and that females are not always represented as prominently as men. Ladyfest began in Olympia, Wash., seven years ago and has since spread to 50 cities worldwide. The......

Looking forward The Chicago Chamber Musicians are giving it away today and all first Mondays through August 2008 at the Chicago Cultural Center, a series of monthly free concerts kicking off with Eric Ewazen's Trio in E-Flat and Alexander Arutunian's Trumpet Concerto in A-Flat Major. Caro d’Offay Gallery invites contributions from aspiring and established sculptors for Colorist Chess, an interactive exhibition linking imaginative writing and creative imagery. Artists — established, aspiring, and otherwise — are......

The Joffrey Ballet has been on a hunt. Not for dancers, or choreographers, or even the folks that run the follow spotlights. Joffrey co-founder Gerald Arpino and his board have been looking for a new artistic director, and it seems that they've found one. Ashley Wheater has a dancer's resume that's full of big names in dance — Nureyev, The Royal Ballet, Fred Ashton, Helgi Tomasson, and more. He was appointed to the position of......

We admit to having mixed feelings about the beast that has become Wicker Park's Around The Coyote Festival. We don't dig all the suburbanites stumbling down the sidewalk in an effort to discover "culture" in the space of a few days. At the same time we have plenty of artist friends that look forward to the event as a chance to sell some of their work and mingle with the public. So, weighing that, we've......

Here’s what we missed as we considered an Obama/Keyes rematch: Breathe a sigh of relief. In the eleventh hour, the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Federation of Musicians reached a new multiyear contract. We can’t tell you more than that until the official announcement on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal’s Terry Teachout considers recent controversies involving Chicago theater critics reviewing (or not reviewing) “developmental” productions and wonders whether critics can or should be kept away......

Of all the city-sponsored music festivals, few utilize as much of the city limits like the World Music Festival (check out the festival's Myspace page, also). In its nine years, World Music Fest has become a showcase event, even though it lacks the resources the city pours into Blues Fest, Jazz Fest, and Viva! Chicago. Its drawn visitors to the city from around the world, done a remarkable job in shining a much-needed spotlight on......

Although Chicagoist has some photographers on staff, we don't always "get" modern photography. Something about many trendy fine art photographs can seem too "snapshotty" in nature, a bit too sterile, or somewhat void of emotion. As such, we were thrilled to find the current Jeff Wall show everything we hoped for in a photography exhibit: beautiful, inspired, intriguing and unique. After selecting his "Outside a Nightclub" as our unequivocal favorite piece at the Museum of......

Here’s what you missed while you were gawking at fallen trees and the troubled lives of Michael Vick and Owen Wilson: The first signs that fall’s on the way: cooler temps, fading leaves and university gallery art openings. Two shows open today at Columbia College’s Glass Curtain Gallery and C33, and a new exhibit of Carol Jackson’s ‘signatureless’ work opens at UIC’s Gallery 400 tomorrow. When Thursday’s storms cut power to Belmont Avenue businesses, Bailiwick......

Here’s what you missed while you were thinking about giant ketchup packets: August is supposed to be a slow month? The dance community didn't get that memo. Aside from the Jazz Dance World Festival, next month sees Dance for Life, a gala for AIDS-related charities; Mark Morris Dance Group presented by Ravinia at the Harris Theater; Chicago Dancing Festival at Millennium Park; and the conclusion of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Summer Festival. The Berwyn......

Here’s what you missed while you were reading Harry Potter… and while Harry Potter got stinking rich: Grab your composition paper and get to work. The Chicago Chamber Musicians are searching for the next great chamber piece by a brilliant composer age 32 or younger. They’ll perform the winning entry at a CCM concert next June. Entries are due December 1, so check out the rules, then find your muse. Thirty years ago, the Sears......

Now that Spidey 3 and Transformers have opened and iPhone mania is starting to subside, it’s time to find a new place to direct all that geek-out energy. Enter Chicago Tap Theatre’s latest storybook show, The Hourglass in the Stop-Time Chronicles, a CTT collaboration with comic-book artist Andrew Pepoy. Fans of the genre don’t need to be reminded that local boy and Loyola grad Pepoy has inked Spiderman, Superman, Batman, and The Simpsons comix, among......

A relative newcomer to Chicago's art gallery scene, 40000 (119 N. Peoria) has received a great deal of buzz since its start in 2005. After living and working in New Mexico and Austin TX, gallery owner/curator Britton Bertran set down roots in Chicago after receiving a Master's in Arts Administration from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2002. Bertran made the leap to full-time gallery owner after several years of working in......

Phantom Hidden, by ninjagrl...

Chicagoist checked out the National Museum of Mexican Art a few months ago, and if you haven't been, go. Located in Pilsen, the museum offers a fascinating look at art from a country that often gets looked over in the arts world. Fortunately for those of us who enjoy the act of eating, no such slight exists with Mexican food, especially in Chicago. We know you love eating Mexican food, as judged by the number......

While we didn't sustain any permanent injuries Friday night or Saturday morning, we too were participants in Looptopia. When we first heard about it lo so many months ago, we thought it was finally a way for Chicago step onto the world stage, regardless of the Olympic nod. After all, if Paris, Rome, Montréal and São Paulo can do it, why not us? ... Well, we found that out the hard way. Since you presumably......

The night started out fine, except for the weather. We've been running into that a bit lately -- beautiful summer-like days, until we really need to be outside. Then it's fall/winter all over again. But we were not going to be stopped. We went to the press room to get our credentials for the night, stopping briefly to eat a piece of deep-dish and getting recruited to break ranks and do double duty, live blogging......

Well, we've been hearing about Looptopia for awhile. A big overnight festival held in the Loop, blah blah. We didn't think too much about it. We pretty much dismiss the Loop after 5 p.m. and give it up for lost on the weekends. Looptopia is obviously working hard to change all that. It's going on this Friday through early Saturday morning and since we're going to be down there, we decided to check out the......

Chicagoist doesn't think about poetry much. Oh, sure, we acknowledge its timeless beauty and reason for being, mostly through the cramped pages of our high school notebooks. And we recognize its innate role in the magical media of music — after all, "my hump" and "my lumps" rhyme sublimely, do they not? Surely it must be Fate. But we jest. Overall we take poetry for granted, preferring instead the down-to-earth words of novels and stories.......

Is it 2007 or 1927? Lately we've had the peculiar feeling that somehow we've magically time-travelled back to the Roaring Twenties: an era of flagpole sitting, dance marathons and other tests of human endurance. Movieside's Sci-Fi movie marathon will be give everyone's stamina a workout starting tomorrow. And later in the month the Siskel will be screening Jacques Rivette's legendary OUT 1, a 12-hour-and-forty-minute endurance test for cinephiles which has never been shown in Chicago......

Paris in the Springtime in Chicago?...

Dance’s big guns prance around Chicago each spring, so we won’t have to. That’s for the best, since a few too many evenings on the couch and bar stool have robbed us of our best stage leaps. At least these folks haven’t lost a step: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the Auditorium Theater this weekend, bringing new work and a few of their gorgeous, athletic favorites. Influences range from traditional Indian and West......

It's nice to see social networking sites being put to good use for something other than hawking the latest mall-emo sensation or soon-to-flop Hollywood blockbuster. Flickr is one of our favorite places to visit, and we could get lost strolling amongst the labyrinthine connections made between photographer's images, the comments, the groups, and the wonderful discoveries we make along the way. A number of Chicago photographers formed the ChiFlickr group a while ago as......

Valentine's Day is such a gut-wrencher. We hardly know anyone who likes it. The Just Broken-Up With are bitter and lonely, wishing that the whole coupled world would go to hell. Or The Sad And Desperate, bemoaning the fact that they'll never, ever find someone to love them ... ever. There's The Newly Dating, who are excited to be with someone, but are unsure what exactly to do ... is this gift too much? Is......

Last week you tried to get tickets to High School Musical for your pre-teen, teen, or tween child. And of course you failed, along with thousands of other parents. Craigslist hints at only a fraction of the carnage. Next to that game in Miami, the HSM one-night stand is the most sought after ticket in Chicago. But even if you sold your soul or ransacked your nest egg for the chance to see glossy American......

We can’t turn our backs for a minute without those creatives making all sorts of trouble. Good for them. Let’s catch up and find more excuses to get out of the house this winter: Comedy/Theater Schadenfreude holds their December Rent Party tonight, where Chicagoist editor Scott Smith will read his correspondence with Richard Marx. Will the mulleted 80s rocker show up? No, but he’ll be played by a special guest. The monthly showcase of local......

Our Mexican Fine Arts Center is now the National Museum of Mexican Art. Chicago native Joan Higginbotham was launched into outerspace. She took a White Sox World Series cap with her. The baby beluga at the Shedd was named Bella. "Outside the CBOT" via Ursus Maritimus. We never noticed this before, but now that we saw it we can't ever look at this photo or these statues another way - does it look like......

In news that is not news to anyone who actually lives in Chicago, the New York Times discovered this weekend that Chicago's West Loop is hip. Comparing the West Loop to New York's Meatpacking District, the story discovers that, like the Meatpacking District, the West Loop transitions from a meat processing area to one where food and drink abound after the sun goes down. Interestingly enough, Chicagoist was in the West Loop last night, dining......