President Obama pencil topper. Olympic Mayor Daley. Parachuting Rod Blagojevich.(Acrobat PDF) Mayor Daley Parking Meter.(Acrobat PDF) Paper sculptures by illustrator and animation artist Joe Fournier.
posted by mattdidthat on Aug 2, 2009 - 4 comments

Sculptor John Kearney of Chicago and Provincetown and his wife Lynn have been running Chicago's Contemporary Art Workshop in a former dairy for almost 60 years. Unlike their better-known contemporary the Hyde Park Art Center, (founded nearly the same year) the pair never let the gallery move beyond its original mission, to discover and support young artists, especially those with little or no exhibition background. The Workshop had early solo exhibitions for both artists who went on to fame, and those whose careers fizzled (full disclosure-that would be me) and has exhibited thousands in its 6 decades. Kearney, who worked with found objects from early in his career, is the best-known sculptor you never heard of, with his creative and amusing bumper sculptures all over Chicago. [more inside]
posted by nax on Jan 29, 2008 - 6 comments

2 years ago I FPP'd FlavorPill, a company that sends out permission-based emails for books (Boldtype), music (Earplug), and fashion (the JC Report). They've since added ArtKrush (it's art, stupid! - nsfw) and Activate (world events) to their aresenal. In addition to the topic-specific mailing lists, they offer city-specific lists for London, New York, SF, LA, and Chicago. Sample issues are archived on the site.
posted by dobbs on Aug 11, 2006 - 6 comments

Cayetano Ferrer is a Chicago based artist whose work involves (among other styles) painting street signs with the images of the items immediately behind them, to give the illusion of transparency (depending on what angle you're viewing from). The latest campaign by Amnesty International seems inspired by his work.
posted by jonson on Jun 8, 2006 - 14 comments

Singer Wesley Willis was an artist as well. I'm not generally a big fan of "outsider art," as this might be called, but as raw as these pictures may be, they have a quality to them I don't think I've seen before. Enjoy. Via Monkeyfilter
posted by deadcowdan on Apr 26, 2004 - 16 comments

Wesley Willis: Rock and roll star, artist, poet, movie star and friend to all he met passed away last night from Leukemia at the age of 40. The six foot five, 320 pound Chicago area musician who cut his teeth on the streets selling city landscape drawings and playing music on his tiny Casio keyboard was infamous for his raw insightful songs and ability to draw his audiences into a schizophrenic's take on reality.
posted by car_bomb on Aug 22, 2003 - 35 comments

The Top 25 Arts Destinations. AmericanStyle magazine asked its readers to "list their top choices for arts travel destinations" in the United States. The winner was not New York. Sacrilege? Or not? A list of the best galleries is included for each of the top ten. (via ArtsJournal)
posted by Ljubljana on Jun 3, 2003 - 14 comments

SFMOMA appoints Neal Benezra as new director. Benezra was formerly the deputy director and curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, and replaces David Ross, who left the museum in a hurry last August to become chairman of the board of Eyestorm. During his tenure, Ross spent $140 million on acquisitions for the museum; Elaine McKeon, chairwoman of the Museum's board told the NYTimes that "We will still continue purchasing works of art, but we are going to move more slowly." Benezra has ties to Hunk and Moo Anderson, and wrote the catalog essay for the 2000 show of the Anderson collection. Could this mean that the Anderson collection will eventually be gifted to SFMOMA? (sfgate story, nytimes story)
posted by msippey on Mar 14, 2002 - 4 comments

Speaking of Veterans Day, here in Chicago we have the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum. Art by Vets about the War. Most pieces are on-line with a short essay. The Above and Beyond memorial is impressive to say the least.
posted by skallas on Nov 11, 2001 - 2 comments

Apparently, Chicago sponsors an annual event where artists make fiberglass cows, and they're displayed throughout the city. See the official Cows on Parade if you don't believe me.
posted by mathowie on Aug 2, 1999 - 0 comments