Patrick Curran – Page 3 – Clef Notes Chicagoland Journal for the Arts

One year after its April 2021 announcement of $3 million in expedited funding, and two years after its April 2020 announcement of nearly $3 million in expedited finding, the Chicago-based Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation (the Foundation) has announced a third wave of support, expediting an additional $2.1 million that includes: $1.6 million in expedited payments to Chicago small arts organizations in the midst of their multi-year award; and $576,000 in general operating renewal grants.

Arts Chicago Arts and Culture Dance

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Finds New Home on Magnificent Mile

February 23, 2022 Patrick Curran Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) has moved its studio to a 13,000 square-foot space on the fourth floor of Water Tower Place (835 Michigan Avenue).

Ballet Dance

Joffrey Ballet Bringing “Of Mice and Men” to Lyric Opera House

February 23, 2022 Patrick Curran Joffrey Ballet

The Joffrey Ballet has announced its spring program, which includes the world-premiere adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men by choreographer Cathy Marston (featuring an original composition by Academy Award-nominated composer Thomas Newman), and the Joffrey premiere of Serenade by dance pioneer George Balanchine, presented during the Joffrey’s first-ever season at the historic Lyric Opera House in downtown Chicago.

Art Autumn 2021 Museums

Marvel Up Close and Personal

October 1, 2021 Patrick Curran Museum of Science and Industry

Growing up, my friends and I all had our favorite, go-to Marvel Comic superheroes. The number of which is a long and varied. Spanning over 80 years, with iconic heroes like Captain America, Spider-Man, The Thor and Black Panther and larger-than-life villains like Doctor Doom, Magneo and Thanos, the library of super-personas emanating from the Marvel universe has always offered great fodder for escape, creating written storylines that have gone one to become part of American culture. Today more than ever, that is true, with the library branching out into the cinematic universe. Marvel has become more than just a niche escape for fans of comic fantasy seemingly influencing everything from commerce to culture. It’s contemporary popularity notwithstanding, Marvel Comics and characters have actually been influencing popular American culture, in some form, for over the last 80 years. A new exhibition at The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) entitled Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes and its curator, Ben Saunders, hope to enlighten visitors about Marvel’s true influence while bringing to life the legendary characters we’ve all come to know.

Architecture History Spring 2021

Jackson Park and its Latest Date with History

May 28, 2021 Patrick Curran Jackson Park, Obama Presidential Library

Over the course of the next few months, local and national media attention will soon be directed towards Chicago’s historic Jackson Park as groundbreaking ceremonies are set to begin in September 2021 on the historic Barack Obama Presidential Library and Center. After a tumultuous year battling the COVID-19 pandemic and culminating in the historic election of President Joseph Robinet Biden, the selection of Chicago’s own Jackson Park to honor the nation’s first African-American president (Chicago’s own native son) keenly underscores the intractable connections of the south side community haven to Chicago’s own history and that of the nation. Just as Jackson Park served as the symbolic platform for the promotion of nineteenth century “American ideals” as host to the 1892 Columbian World’s Exposition, so too will it promote in the halls of the new presidential library the more inclusive multi-cultural ideals of twenty first century America most poignantly represented in the life and legacy of America’s 45th president.

Arts

Logan Center Gallery to Exhibit Images by Photographer K. Kofi Moyo

January 28, 2021 Patrick Curran

The Logan Center Exhibitions at the University of Chicago will present K. Kofi Moyo and FESTAC ’77: The Activation of a Black Archive, in partnership with the Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry.

General News

Audubon Volunteers Track How Local Birds are Responding to Climate Change

January 28, 2021 Patrick Curran

This winter, through February 15, Audubon volunteers across the Great Lakes region are tallying vulnerable bird species as part of Climate Watch, Audubon’s twice annual community science program that explores how North American birds are responding to climate change.

Arts Theater

New Philharmonic to Present “A Night of Broadway and Opera”

January 23, 2021 Patrick Curran Kirk Muspratt, McAninch Arts Center, New Philharmonic

New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), opens 2021 with “A Night of Broadway

Architecture Art

Wrightwood 659 Collaborator Jonathon David Katz Awarded Prestigious Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant

January 23, 2021 Patrick Curran Andrew Mellon Foundation Grant, Jonathan Katz, Wriightwood 659

Wrightwood 659 recently congratulated its friend, curator, and collaborator, Jonathan David Katz on the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s announcement of a $5M award for the proposal Dispossessions in the Americas: The Extraction of Bodies, Land, and Heritage from La Conquista to the Present.

Ballet Dance

Joffrey Ballet to Present First Performance Since Start of the Pandemic

January 23, 2021 Patrick Curran Ashley Wheater, Bolero, Joffrey Ballet

The Joffrey Ballet recently announced the world premiere of Boléro, its first performance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Named after the acclaimed orchestral piece by composer Maurice Ravel and choreographed by Joffrey Company Artist Yoshihisa Arai, the performance will be streamed in one free performance on February 12, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. on the Joffrey’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/TheJoffreyBallet.

Author: Patrick Curran

$2.1 Million Expedited by Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation