Morgan Smith

Chicago gun safety activists at Pitchfork look to reach Gov. Rauner

December 13, 2018 at 3:52 a.m.

To the right of Pitchfork's Green Stage, underneath a shady row of trees, Valerie Simutis and her team are rallying festival attendees to mail postcards to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner....

Pitchfork Music Fest 2018: 12 things we loved (and hated) from day 1

December 13, 2018 at 3:55 a.m.

Festival season is in full swing, can rain be far behind? Puddles dotted the stages Friday as the Pitchfork Music Festival opened in Union Park. Which is why we thank...

15th Annual Disability Pride Parade calls for “long overdue” equality

December 17, 2018 at 10:10 p.m.

Bill Thomansson remembers his first pride parade. It was a Saturday afternoon, 15 years ago. Not many people turned out, save for a small group of disability activists and support...

Chicago’s Instagram influencers on staying authentic while #sponsored

June 18, 2021 at 8:44 p.m.

Chances are (if you’re on social media), you’ve interacted with an influencer. They’re everywhere. Their carefully curated social media feeds are nothing short of glamorous: globetrotting across the country and...

The Black Tiberinus art piece by Chicago based artist Robert Burnier, on display along the Riverwalk in Chicago, Monday, July 16, 2018.

Black Tiberinus is coming to the Chicago Riverwalk

December 17, 2018 at 10:11 p.m.

If you’re strolling along the Chicago Riverwalk this summer, you’ll notice a vibrant new colossus guarding the Lake Street drawbridge. “Black Tibernius,” a massive, three-piece installation will add color to...

Chicago R&B darling Rayvn Lenae Washington is ready to groove at Pitchfork

December 13, 2018 at 3:25 a.m.

In her life, Rayvn Lenae Washington has been a lot of things. A choir singer at church, a bubbly high school student, a thrift shop aficionado. But in the past...

Mac Blackout brings street art with a flair to Uncle Art Gallery

December 17, 2018 at 10:11 p.m.

You may have seen artist Mark McKenzie’s lively characters on tree stumps, garbage cans, slabs of wood — anything he can get his hands on, really — in neighborhoods like...

Erica Sanchez, left, and Janice Aponte of Arte al Rescate are seen July 10, 2018, at Workshop 4200, where Aponte is an artist-in-residence. The women's organization has raised more than $18,000 to benefit victims of Hurricane Maria.

Arte al Rescate provides relief to victims of Hurricane Maria through art

December 17, 2018 at 10:11 p.m.

On Sept. 20, when Category 5 Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, Erica Sanchez panicked. In the two weeks before Sanchez heard from her sister Tanya, the panic grew. Tanya finally...

Reclaimed art steals the spotlight at Loyola University Museum of Art’s summer exhibitions

May 22, 2026 at 8:20 p.m.

Contemporary art is increasingly defined by what is intrinsically “new,” yet, often, artists look to the past — found objects, childhood memories — to light a creative spark. The artists...

Local residents and artists create posters June 28, 2018, at the Hyde Park Art Center for the "Families Belong Together" March set for Saturday in Chicago.

Artists, residents gather at Hyde Park Art Center to make posters for immigration march

December 17, 2018 at 10:12 p.m.

Katherine Lampert couldn’t watch the news. The independent artist and mother was “scarred” by the vivid images of crying children at immigrant holding centers, forcibly separated from their parents under...

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