Earlier this month, Ravenswood photographer Brian Ulrich received a special letter in his mailbox: No, not a rhyme-y poem from his mom (that's what we receive in our mailbox), but a note stating that he had won a Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography -- the same prize bestowed upon such shutter-snapping legends as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus and -- it's worth noting -- a slew of Chicagoans. Ulrich, who is an adjunct professor at Columbia College and part-time prof at the Art Institute, will use the fellowship to continue his Copia project, which examines Americans' relationship to consumption and, when completed, will comprise a decade of work. Recently we chatted with Ulrich about photography, economics and big-box aesthetics. more ›

Wal-Mart is once again looking into plans to build a second store within the city of Chicago; the chain's first store opened on the West Side in September 2006. Attempts to put in another store have started and stopped before and the chain has long had union issues with opening stores here. Still, the company seems optimistic about its chances. John Bisio, director of public affairs for Wal-Mart in Chicago, said, "We've shown ourselves to be a very viable business and a relevant one in the face of some pretty tough developments in the economy. I would guess as we come out of the holidays, we would want to have that kind of conversation [with the city]." The current store generates sales of $60 million annually. In spite of that failed attempt in Chatham earlier this year, Bisio said, "It makes sense for us to continue to look on the South Side, but we haven't formally begun any dialogue." more ›

Though rushing to the mall or local CrapMart the day after Thanksgiving has become trad for millions of Americans, many Americans spend Black Friday boycotting shopping altogether in protest. Buy Nothing Day -- promoted since the early 1990s by the zany culture jammers at Adbusters -- has become a holiday for anti-consumerist folk who enjoy taking a stand against all the shopping and spending that inevitably produces lots of debt, trash and disappointment (that American Apparel hoodie didn't really fix the interminable gnawing feeling in your soul, now did it?) more ›

Oprah’s 2007 Favorite Things show was last week. We thought since Oprah is deciding who our next president is going to be, we should catch yesterday's “Making Of” show, so we won’t be caught unawares when chocolate-covered-yogurt-soy-smoothies become national law. Yesterday's show was reasonably interesting. They went to Macon, Ga., for the taping, because Oprah's highest ratings are in Macon; 45% of the people in Macon watch Oprah. 45% of the people! Judging by this... more ›

Well, a pile of something: Sweet & Sassy, the tarting-up spa and salon party zone for little girls, is opening two Chicagoland locations in the very near future. One at 1730 W. Fullerton is set to open December 5, and another is in the works for the newly opened Oak Brook Promenade. A Sweet & Sassy spokesperson told Crain's that the company is looking to open 12 stores in our area in the next 18 months. more ›