NEW ISSUE: Legendary Chicago photographer Barbara Crane

Plus: Gaza Scholars at Risk protests at UChicago. [View this email in your browser]( | [chicagoreader.com]( by Maja Stachnik|December 5, 2024 Happy Thursday! Andrew Bird’s fourteenth iteration of Gezelligheid [begins tonight at Fourth Presbyterian Church]( which was rebuilt in 1874 after the Great Chicago Fire. We have a new issue out today; the cover features a 1969 photo from the Neon series by Chicago photographer Barbara Crane, a longtime faculty member at SAIC. [A black and white close up of a person's face, with a look of anguish and with their hand covering their mouth can be seen behind another exposure of a neon light made of an upper case G.]( From the artist's Neon series [Credit: Courtesy of the Barbara Crane Studio Archive, © Barbara B. Crane Trust] [‘She couldn’t not make work’]( Barbara Crane, the legendary Chicago artist behind this week’s cover, said, “Once I developed my first roll of film in 1948, nothing else mattered.” What followed was decades of daring formal experimentation, defined by a connection to Chicago’s social and physical landscape. Her current solo exhibition at Paris’s Centre Pompidou features over 200 works from the first 25 years of her practice. It’s accompanied by a new monograph published by Atelier EXB. Reader art director James Hosking spoke to Lynne Brown, an artist and former studio manager to Crane who helped develop the show, about Crane’s history and legacy. As a woman and a single parent with three children, Barbara’s work wasn’t always taken seriously by her professors and male peers. She was often up against preconceived ideas of what a woman’s role should be. The curator, Julie Jones, had an interest in making Barbara and her work more present. [READ MORE](  MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE - Chicago drummer Lily Glick Finnegan and New York–based violinist gabby fluke-mogul released the duo album [Throw It in the Sink]( in October—after only meeting once before. Contributor Bill Meyer writes that the record demonstrates how the players’ heightened attunement to each other can give a listener access to something about them that isn’t so much heard as understood. They will reconvene to celebrate the record’s release on the last night of this weekend’s Catalytic Sound Festival, joined by video and vocal artist Kim Alpert—who, like them, is being inducted into the Catalytic collective. NEWS & POLITICS - Taylor Moore reports that about one hundred demonstrators gathered in the bitter cold on Tuesday to protest the University of Chicago’s perceived failure in upholding its promise to launch a [Gaza Scholars at Risk initiative that would invite up to 8 Palestinian academics to campus]( promise that resulted from negotiations between university administration and student protesters this spring. Jeremy Manier, a spokesperson for the University of Chicago, said in a statement to the Reader that the Scholars at Risk program has been “mischaracterized” and “remains focused on supporting scholars at risk and upholding the University’s commitment to academic freedom.”  PERFORMING ARTS - [Who’s Holiday is back at Theater Wit]( for the holiday season, as Cindy-Lou Who spins tales of Grinches past from her trailer. At its surface, the show has the makings to be one of those heartwarming redundant Christmas stories that proliferate through the likes of Hallmark and Lifetime. However, Christopher Pazdernik’s direction and Garza’s stellar, quick-witted embodiment of Cindy-Lou Who take the show on a different route that keeps its audience entertained. Who’s Holiday runs through December 29. - Juwon Tyrel Perry’s new play, [FLUSH]( digs into a multitude of impactful stories revealed in the confines of a gay nightclub’s bathroom. Directed by Christian Alexander for Campfire Repertory, we meet ten individuals who are each striving, in their own way, to be seen and heard. Reader recommended, the show only runs through this weekend at Chicago Dramatists. [a logo for the ben joravsky show with a graphic of a man wearing a](  PODCASTS Monroe Anderson [stopped by the show]( to explain why mainstream journalists love Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has returned from “exile.” They also chat about President Biden’s Hunter pardon (Ben’s all over the map on that one). And a few words about the execution of Fred Hampton, which happened 55 years ago.  BEHIND-THE-SCENES Don’t forget to take a look at the Reader’s [holiday gift guide]( as you’re pulling together gifts for your loved ones, featuring locally made goods, unique experiences, and Chicago organizations. Female-founded West Loop company Scratch Goods’s Mask Bar offers interactive workshops, while Salem Collo-Julin suggests a Back of the Yards Chicago flag lapel pin designed by La Selva Shop owner Rolando Santoyo. 📰 LATEST ISSUE: DECEMBER 5, 2024 📰 [READ ONLINE]( | [COVER]( | [DOWNLOAD PDF]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [X icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Threads icon]( [YouTube icon]( [logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! 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