Dwight Cleveland has 25,000 movie posters, and has spent 35 years of his life amassing them. more ›

It's once again time to vote for next year's city vehicle sticker. These ten finalists were chosen from over 240 entries and the one with the most votes will be featured on over 1.3 million stickers. more ›

SmallBar celebrates all things rye tonight. A Pilsen art collective hosts a sale to raise funds for a Miami exhibition. Five-Star Bar goes Yacht Rock tomorrow. more ›

(Legendary Chicago-based photographer Art Shay has taken photos of kings, queens, celebrities and the common man in a 60-year career. In this week's look at his photography archives, Art explains how he spent a lifetime trying to avoid taking stock photography.) more ›

The recovering groupie, artist and plaster penis aficionado also has been working on her memoirs, off and on, for the past 20 years. now, she's turning to Kickstarter to raise the money she needs to cover her expenses while she finishes her memoirs. more ›

Last weekend the 2011 Sculpture Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) Chicago exposition took place at Navy Pier's Festival Hall. Running concurrently in the same space was the Intuit Show of Folk and Outsider Art. more ›

It's Friday and we know none of you are really into thinking too hard right now (and that you're probably looking forward to an extended liquid lunch) so let's keep things breezy here. This week we're kind of into maps and artistic representations of where we're from. We're self-centered like that! Let's enjoy some art, shall we? more ›

It surprised us to learn that only two years after Richard Warren Sears moved to Chicago and joined forces with Alvah C. Roebuck, their catalog featured fine art. Perhaps the oil paintings for sale in that 1895 catalog weren't what the Sears Catalog ended up being known for (we still remember it primarily as a compendium of fantasies about what Santa might, in our wildest dreams, bring us). The point is that it would not have been surprising when, in 1962, Sears asked someone to curate and acquire a 2,700-piece art collection to be merchandised nationwide, with costs as low as $5 down and $5 per month. It does seem surprising, to many of us today, who they chose to head it up: Vincent Price. more ›

Custom House Tavern turns six with an open house Thursday. more ›

Columbia College Recycling Program hosted an on-campus event yesterday called “Screenprinting a Smaller Carbon Footprint.” more ›

Claire Zulkey's "Funny Ha-Ha" at Hideout tonight is loaded with local literary luminaries who host their own shows around town. more ›

For many Chicagoans, most of what they've seen of Dmitry Samarov is from the back seat of his Scion cab, or what they've gleaned from his observations of the city via his paintings and pencil drawings. Now that University of Chicago Press has released Samarov's first book, Hack: Stories From a Chicago Cab, the artist, writer and cab driver is showing up everywhere, from the pages of The Trib to Bob Edward's Talk of the Nation to an art show at Saki Records with musician Chris Brokaw (see the info for tonight's opening reception of "Music and Baseball" at the end of the interview). more ›

The notion that graffiti is an artistic expression has remained largely underground, but in the social media age where access to people with similar interests is readily available, this has started to change. more ›

Anyone who has ever seen Andrew Bird in concert will recognize the captivating, rotating Specimen horn speakers that have become his signature. This December, the Museum of Contemporary Art will have an entire installation of them—70 to be exact—in their atrium with a score composed by, who else, Bird himself, creating an experience that appeals to the eyes as well as the ears. Better yet, Bird will perform live on December 21 and 22 with the “forest” of horns serving as his PA. more ›

Tomorrow, University of Chicago Press is publishing Dmitry Samarov's "Hack: Stories From A Chicago Cab." more ›

We thought there was an awful lot going on at the grand opening of the Southside Hub of Production (SHoP), a brand-new cultural center in Hyde Park, until we saw that the space the organization will be occupying was the Fenn House, a 16-room Victorian mansion across the street from the University of Chicago Campus. With that kind of square footage, there is room to offer something for everybody, which is what SHoP is aiming to do--and from a decidedly local perspective. more ›

It may be the only exclusive comic Ware draws for an iPad. more ›

The Marina Towers have become an iconic image on the skyline of Chicago with their unique corncob architecture. Their distinctive look makes them an easily recognizable landmark that has appeared in many Hollywood films (including the memorable scene in the Steve McQueen film The Hunter where a car plummets from the parking garage into the river) and more recently graced the album cover of Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. But, as much as we admire the exterior and associate it with our city, what goes on inside? Who lives there? more ›

Pork, booze, and record bins. These are a few of our favorite things. The folks from Schubas are bringing all three together at their first annual Pig, Swig and Record Dig. more ›

A free screening of The Goonies kicks off today's listings. more ›

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Tejano funk from Austin at Mayne Stage. A pop-up art show in River North. Or just stay home and watch local boxers pound each other. more ›

The Art Institute of Chicago's new exhibit shows a glimpse of that brief period of time when Americans and Soviets begrudgingly got along. more ›

This year's annual poster challenge from the Chicago Public Library celebrates the tenth anniversary of the "One Book, One Chicago" program. more ›

With tomato season now upon us, here's a drawing that celebrates the nightshade's presence in the Chicago-style hot dog. more ›

In an upcoming Issue #666 (totally not kidding about this) in the Amazing Spider-Man comic book series, Spider-Man will save our very own Chicago Comics from destruction. more ›

Today's listings include desert blues from Niger, a meet the artist event and a celebration of 90s music from the drag queens at Kit Kat Lounge and Supper Club. more ›

Construction is underway on a 26-foot sculpture based on Marilyn Monroe's iconic subway grate pose in . The sculpture, by New Jersey artist Seward Johnson, will be completed Friday night. Regular Chicagoist Photos Flickr pool contributor Jonathan Lurie shared these shots of the construction of Marilyn's bottom half. more ›

In today's listings: the Eye on India Festival kicks off tonight. Also, Woman Made Gallery's latest exhibit. more ›

Get a head start on your holiday shopping Saturday when Constructor Craft Fair comes to Fitzgerald's in Berwyn. more ›