Interview with Singer/Songwriter Jeffrey Foucault
Born in the Midwestern bastion of Wisconsin, singer, songwriter and producer, Jeff Foucault brings a workman’s sensibility to his art
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Autumn 2020
Meeting the Moment: A Pandemic Puts Public Art in Focus
The world feels like an especially hard place at the moment — a place that needs art and expression now more than ever. So what do artists do when galleries and museums are closed thanks to a global pandemic? They get creative and bring the art to the people.
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A Question of Diversity
Though most stages are dark and classrooms empty as performing arts organizations head into the fall, artists and administrators are busier than ever. In this era when audiences can’t gather, and collaborative art is a struggle to create safely, Chicago artists are using their time to do difficult and important work around equity, diversity and inclusion, using this summer’s protests as a springboard for meaningful change.
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Surreality: Preview of “The Long Dream” at MCA
Equal parts farce and harsh reality, the year 2020 has been something of a surreal moment for most of us. Few, if any, can boast of lives untouched by the events that have thrown our nation, nee world, into flux these past eight or night months. On our hands, we’ve got a worldwide pandemic which has amassed millions of victims worldwide and killed more than 200,000 (and still counting) in the U.S. alone; public unrest has mounted quickly over what is seen as unjust, state-absolved killings of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of police; shutdowns from coast to coast that have upended any sense of normalcy for most households; pulsing upticks in white-nationalism have taken place in the public square; and on top of all of that, we’ve got a contentious presidential election on our hands.
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Chronicling Chicago Dance
As the effects of the global pandemic have laid economic devastation to so many aspects of American social, economic and culture life, every individual, business, and institution has had to reimagine and reinterpret norms in order to survive. Like other industries that depend upon public attendance and participation, eight months of social distancing, mask mandates, and public gathering limitations have devastated Chicago’s arts venues. Bedrock cultural institutions like the Joffrey Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago have all had to shutter their stages as the pandemic has made enclosed, indoor audience participation all but impossible.
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