“Women care about ambience. Men care about a big TV and a recliner,” said Roderick Shade outside Rumba, the hot Latin nightspot. In town to receive the Design Pioneer Award at the Organization of Black Designers’ Interior Rhythms fundraiser, Shade was into shop talk. “You can tell in the first five minutes whether you should take a job or not,” he told last year’s honoree, Calvin Ashford, brother of composer Nick Ashford and designer of homes for Whitney Houston and Sammy Sosa, among others. “If it gives you the heebie-jeebies, don’t do it.” Some 300 designers and supporters were in attendance for margaritas and salsa dancing. Crystal Whiters, a student at Harrington College of Design, won the group’s annual scholarship.
— Natasha Womack
SURVIVAL SKILLS
It’s been said that surviving in the arts is always a challenge. Mary E. Young, deputy commissioner for the Department of Cultural Affairs, tackled that head-on during her 28 years there. So it was no surprise that a real cross-section of the Chicago arts community showed up to pay homage after she announced her retirement. When the Chinese Fine Arts Society met the Muntuu Dance Company at the Mexican Fine Arts Center that evening, the party was on. Juana Guzman, the center’s co-director, summed it up: “Mary has been the Fairy Godmother to a lot of us.”
–Terry Glover
