Three years ago, the Chicago Bears made a move just a week before the season kicked off. It was a move which altered the future of the franchise in a monumental way.
Of course, that deal is the one which brought Khalil Mack from the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders to Chicago, reenergizing the defense and catapulting the Bears into one of the most fun seasons in recent memory.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Eddie George picked a good time for a career change.
He’s one of several high-profile former pro athletes to give up their lavish retirement lifestyles, roll up their sleeves and accept historically Black colleges and universities coaching positions at a time when the country seems ready to embrace social change.
Television networks, which already had contracts with the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, now have new storylines thanks to coaches who bring name recognition and a known brand to the sidelines.
There are at least 13 former pro athletes coaching football or men’s basketball at an HBCU, with seven hired since 2019. The star-studded group includes Deion Sanders at Jackson State; former NBA champion and All-Star Mo Williams at Alabama State; 11-year NFL veteran Sean Gilbert at Livingstone College; and Bonzi Wells, the 11th overall NBA draft pick in 1998, just hired at LeMoyne-Owen.
“It’s high risk, high reward,” SWAC Commissioner Charles McClelland said. “The biggest challenge that high-profile coaches have to deal with coming to historically Black colleges and universities is that those resources that they are accustomed to are not necessarily there all the time.”
Many of the high-profile coaches earned tens of millions in salary during the pro careers and now are working in athletic departments operating on a fraction of those dollars.
George, being paid $400,000 a year, says it’s a calling for him to be coaching at an HBCU. He didn’t have to relocate to take the job at Tennessee State, which is where he first practiced when the then-Houston Oilers relocated from Texas to Tennessee. Nashville also has been his home for a quarter century.
“You want to enhance that world and bring a light to the HBCU world and the great storied programs that have produced NFL talent and great talent into the world, period,” George said. “That comes along with it. But at its core, at its impetus, it’s always first and foremost these young men that are in this building.”
Seeing former professional athletes coaching at an HBCU is nothing new for anyone paying attention.
Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams went to Grambling State in 1998 for his first of two stints coaching his alma mater. McClelland hired former WNBA star and Naismith Hall of Fame player Cynthia Cooper in 2006 when he was AD at Prairie View and again at Texas Southern. The woman who has a statue on the Nike campus helped bring gear Prairie View normally couldn’t get.
Still, it’s hard to imagine the timing could be any better for this new wave of coaches. George, Sanders and others have elevated HBCUs to a level where they’ve never been before. McClelland and administrators like him hope all the attention translates into new revenue streams and increased support.
The SWAC has led FCS attendance in 43 of the last 44 seasons, and McClelland said the market, excitement and fan bases were there already — now it’s being fueled by the celebrity status these coaches bring to the sidelines.
All of it will be on full display Saturday night when George and Tennessee State square off against Jackson State and Sanders in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis.
The game usually draws nearly 50,000 fans, but McClelland said with the former NFL standouts coaching against each other the matchup that will be televised on ESPN3 will attract new fans.
“Individuals that might not necessarily know anything about Tennessee State or Jackson State now know something about Deion Sanders and Eddie George (and) are going to watch that game, and we can open up our brand to other entities and other individuals,” McClelland said. “So it is definitely significant.”
George is looking forward to stepping into the spotlight at the Southern Heritage Classic, which pits schools once coached by College Football Hall of Famer “Big” John Merritt.
“This is another opportunity for us to showcase our talent, to showcase our coaches, the brand of our schools, and show the the pageantry and the tradition of HBCU football on a grander scale, hopefully,” George said.
He and Sanders have been on the sidelines less than a year — George was hired in April, and Sanders was introduced Sept. 21, 2020 — but have already made their presence felt.
Sanders’ connections helped his Tigers get uniforms by Under Armour with Walmart assisting with a new turf field. George has former NFL head coach Hue Jackson as offensive coordinator and is pushing for a new turf field for TSU’s indoor practice facility and other improvements.
Tennessee State kicked off a fundraising campaign the day George was hired, though the new coach says he’s being patient as he learns what the university has done before he arrived and how he can help use his corporate ties best now.
It also helps that these coaches have personal experience dealing with endorsement deals with new name, image and likeness rules. Sanders is in a new ad for Aflac, while George is part of Nissan’s Heisman House commercials that roll out each season.
“No one wants you to endorse their product if you’re not good,” Sanders said.
Ultimately, winning games is how all coaches are measured.
George knows he won’t get some athletes determined to play at a program like his alma mater Ohio State or Alabama. His pitch to players to attend TSU is for them to lay the groundwork for the next stage of success at a program that has produced the likes of Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Claude Humphrey. Then he sprinkles in the promise of growth with a new stadium and better facilities.
“We’re going to try to get to the FBS level, know those are our aspirations to take this program to new heights,” George said of his lure to players and recruits. “So you’re our forefather. You’re building bricks and layers, a foundation for what’s to come.”
How long Sanders and George remain in their respective positions is anyone’s guess. College coaches leave, get fired, move on; it’s part of the business. But even if they use HBCUs as stepping stones to other endeavors, McClelland said it’s a win-win for both the conference and the schools.
“If Coach Prime gets an opportunity to leave, if Coach George gets an opportunity to leave, it’s only going to be because they were successful at Jackson State and Tennessee State,” McClelland said. “And as athletics director, that’s all that you can ask for.”
A federal judge on Thursday gave six months of community confinement to a key player in a large-scale, international gambling ring based around Chicago.
U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall also gave two years of probation and a $10,000 fine to Matthew Knight, ordering him to serve 100 hours of community service. She said she spared him prison time in part due to his lack of criminal history, remorse and cooperation with investigators.
Knight is the sixth person to be sentenced in a series of related gambling cases filed in Chicago’s federal court since early 2020. Two of the five who were previously sentenced landed prison time, but three others managed to avoid it.
Another defendant, Mettawa Mayor Casey Urlacher, was pardoned in January by then-President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors argued that a sentence of about a year in prison would be appropriate for Knight, based on “the massive scale of this gambling operation.” Knight’s defense attorney, Todd Pugh, asked for probation and home confinement, describing Knight as a recent widower with three teenage daughters who has been repeatedly visited by “personal loss and tragedy.”
Before he was sentenced, Knight told the judge that his business partners and other members of his community have cut ties with him. He repeatedly said he took responsibility for his crime.
“I did this to myself and everyone around me,” Knight said.
As she handed down the sentence, Kendall said she found a report on Knight’s personal background written by court personnel to be “rather heartbreaking.” She told Knight that “today is pretty much the lowest day of your life” but added, “there have been some low days in the past.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ankur Srivastava wrote in a court memo that Knight was the second biggest agent involved in the gambling ring run by Vincent “Uncle Mick” DelGiudice, but he was third in “overall culpability” behind DelGiudice and Chicago Police Officer Nicholas Stella.
DelGiudice has pleaded guilty but has yet to be sentenced. Stella was sentenced in July to 15 months behind bars.
Knight’s gamblers generated $901,504 between January and mid-December 2018, according to Srivastava — a figure that doesn’t include winnings from college football bowl games played at the end of the year. An FBI forensic examiner said it is typical for a gambling operation to accept 20 times as much in wagers as it makes in profit, meaning Knight’s gamblers could have made $18 million in wagers, the prosecutor wrote.
Srivastava added that “lives have been destroyed,” and he wrote that investigators have “met with individuals whose careers, marriages, family life, and lives were ruined by their affiliation with the gambling enterprise.”
Pugh wrote in his own memo that Knight “immediately accepted responsibility” when approached by law enforcement and cooperated “to an extent unlike his co-defendants.” He insisted that Knight “was not a predatory bookie that preyed upon individuals struggling with addiction.”
“Bettors settled their account with Mr. Knight when they could, and the only consequence of not paying was not being able to continue to place bets,” Pugh wrote.
Pugh also pointed, like other defense attorneys in the case, to the ever-expanding popularity of legal sports betting — including potentially at Wrigley Field.
“None of these observations excuse or justify Mr. Knight’s criminal conduct,” Pugh wrote, “but they do illustrate that sports betting is incredibly popular, widely accepted, and enjoyed by a significant portion of society.”
The other person sentenced to prison time in a related gambling case was Gregory Paloian, a bookie who prosecutors say ran his operation through DelGiudice’s network. U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow gave Paloian a two-and-a-half year prison sentence in April, but she agreed to push his surrender date back until August 2022 for health reasons.
In the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster, this missing-person poster of Andrea Haberman, a Chicago futures trader who was in New York for the first time for a day of meetings, was hung in New York City. | Getty Images
A New York museum aims to ensure that she and nearly 3,000 others who died in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, won’t be forgotten
For nearly six years, Andrea Haberman’s damaged wallet lay mostly untouched in a drawer at her parents’ Wisconsin home along with a partly melted cell phone, her driver’s license, credit cards, checkbook and house keys.
Flecks of rust had formed on the rims of her glasses, their lenses shattered and gone.
Those everyday items were the remnants of a young life that ended when a hijacked jetliner struck the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Haberman was 25 and about to be married to her college sweetheart when she was killed while on a business trip from Chicago, where she’d worked for the brokerage firm Carr Futures for about three years.
It was her first time in New York City. She got to work early on Sept. 11 for a day of meetings and was “on the phone with her office in Chicago when the plane hit,” her fiance told a reporter in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
For Haberman’s family, her belongings, still smelling of Ground Zero, evoked mostly sorrow. To ease their pain, they donated the artifacts to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
“These are not the happy things you want to remember someone by,” says Gordon Haberman, her father.
The collection of 22,000 personal artifacts — wallets, passports, baseball gloves, shoes, clothing items, rings, some on display at New York’s 9/11 museum, some at museums around the country — provide a mosaic of lost lives and stories of survival.
“Each person who makes up part of that tally was an individual who lived a life,” says Jan Ramirez, the museum’s chief curator and director of collections.
Robert Bumsted / AP
Jan Ramirez (right), chief curator at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, sifts through a collection of condolence cards for a victim of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that were donated to the museum’s archive. The museum has collected 22,000 personal artifacts to help tell the stories of those who died and those who were lucky to survive.
“We knew that families — the people that have lost a loved one that day — were going to need to have a place, have a way to remember the person that never came home from work, that never came home from a flight,” Ramirez says.
Many of those personal effects were plucked from the ruins of the Twin Towers. Other items were donated by survivors or by the families of those who died.
A woodworking square, screwdriver, pry bar and a tool belt represent Sean Rooney, a vice president at Aon Corp. who died in the South Tower. Rooney’s essence was that of “a builder,” his sister-in-law Margot Eckert says, making the carpenter’s tools donated to the museum the “perfect antidote to the destruction.”
Rooney had phoned his wife Beverly Eckert at their home in Stamford, Conn., after being trapped by fire and smoke on the 105th floor. He spent his last breaths recounting happier times, whispering, “I love you,” as he labored for air.
His remains were never found.
Beverly Eckert died eight years later in a plane crash while traveling to her husband’s high school in Buffalo, N.Y., to award a scholarship in his honor. Before she died, she had set aside the items she hoped would help tell her husband’s story, that of a weekend carpenter, handyman and volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
“We have a gravesite for her,” Margot Eckert says. “We don’t have a gravesite for Sean. Artifacts become very important. And artifacts are the facts that someone lived. They are the facts you can touch.”
Robert Bumsted / AP
Margot Eckert stands by a display of pictures of her brother-in-law Sean Rooney and sister Beverly Eckert at her home in Springfield, Mass. Rooney was killed on 9/11 while working in his office in the South Tower. His wife Beverly Eckert died in a plane crash in 2009.
For Robert Chin’s family, the story was about a love for playing softball. They recounted his first hit — a drive down the third-base line — playing for Fiduciary Trust International. To help savor the moment, his teammates scribbled congratulatory notes on the ball before presenting it to him.
Among the names on the ball were those of Pedro Francisco Checo and Ruben Esquilin Jr., who died with Chin that day. That dusty softball that Chin had kept at home is included among the trove of keepsakes in the 9/11 museum’s collection.
Some of the donated artifacts came from those who survived.
Like Linda Raisch-Lopez’s bloodied patent leather heels. They tell the story of her will to survive and the day she ran for her life. Making her way down a stairwell from the 97th floor of the South Tower, she slipped out of her heels and walked through the debris in her bare feet, according to the museum. At some point, she slipped back into her shoes, smearing blood on the tan leather from her cut and blistered feet.
Only a small part of the New York museum’s collection of artifacts is on display at a time because there’s so much of it.
“Each piece is a little part of a puzzle,” Ramirez says. “Having those important, little pieces of truth, those palpable pieces of truth — those bridges to allow people to get engaged in the story — is why we do what we do and will continue to do what we do.”
The latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters.
1. Naperville Central (3) (2-0) 74 4
2. Maine South (3) (2-0) 72 5
3. Marist (2) (2-0) 68 3
4. Warren (1-1) 45 1
5. Neuqua Valley (2-0) 42 6
6. Lincoln-Way East (1-1) 41 2
(tie) Glenbard West (2-0) 41 7
8. Bolingbrook (2-0) 23 8
9. Homewood-Flossmoor (2-0) 15 10
10. Hinsdale Central (1-1) 5 NR
Others receiving votes: Lockport 4, O’Fallon 4, Oswego East 4, South Elgin 1, New Trier 1.
1. Loyola (8) (2-0) 89 2
2. Mount Carmel (1) (2-0) 81 1
3. Brother Rice (2-0) 69 3
4. St. Rita (1-1) 58 6
5. Wheaton North (1-1) 56 4
6. St. Charles North (2-0) 43 5
7. Batavia (2-0) 41 7
8. Hersey (2-0) 24 10
9. Prospect (2-0) 14 T8
10. Pekin (2-0) 7 NR
Others receiving votes: Normal 5, Buffalo Grove 3, Bradley-Bourbonnais 2, Wheaton Warrenville South 2, Hononegah 1.
1. Cary-Grove (9) (2-0) 90 1
2. Kankakee (2-0) 72 6
3. Crete-Monee (1-1) 66 2
4. Lemont (2-0) 56 9
5. Springfield (2-0) 48 7
6. Crystal Lake Central (2-0) 43 8
7. Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge (2-0) 31 NR
8. Washington (1-1) 18 3
9. Lake Forest (1-1) 15 4
10. Kenwood (2-0) 12 NR
Others receiving votes: Deerfield 9, Rockford Boylan 8, Simeon 6, Vernon Hills 5, Benet 5, Richards 4, Carmel 3, Belvidere North 2, Wauconda 1, Chatham Glenwood 1.
1. East St. Louis (7) (2-0) 79 1
2. Rochester (1) (1-1) 71 2
3. Fenwick (2-0) 60 6
4. Providence (1-1) 36 4
5. Marion (2-0) 35 8
6. Mascoutah (2-0) 33 10
7. Peoria (1-1) 25 3
8. Sycamore (1-1) 23 9
9. Morris (2-0) 19 NR
10. Metamora (2-0) 14 NR
(tie) Glenbard South (2-0) 14 NR
Others receiving votes: Sterling 11, Morgan Park 7, Marmion 5, Mahomet-Seymour 4, Nazareth 2, Decatur MacArthur 2.
1. Joliet Catholic (9) (2-0) 90 1
2. Sacred Heart-Griffin (Springfield) (2-0) 80 2
3. Richmond-Burton (2-0) 70 3
4. Quincy Notre Dame (2-0) 60 4
5. St. Francis (1-1) 56 6
6. Genoa-Kingston (2-0) 38 5
7. Mt. Zion (2-0) 31 8
8. Coal City (1-1) 22 9
9. Murphysboro (2-0) 17 10
10. Phillips (0-2) 12 7
Others receiving votes: Bethalto Civic Memorial 8, Stillman Valley 4, Harrisburg 3, Cahokia 2, Dixon 1, Taylorville 1.
1. Wilmington (4) (2-0) 75 1
2. Princeton (4) (2-0) 71 2
3. Monticello (2-0) 61 3
4. Tolono Unity (2-0) 45 4
5. Williamsville (1-1) 41 5
6. Montini (1-1) 40 T9
7. Byron (2-0) 33 6
8. Farmington (2-0) 31 7
9. Mt. Carmel (2-0) 21 T9
10. Paxton-Buckley-Loda (2-0) 9 NR
Others receiving votes: Reed-Custer 5, Nashville 3, Durand 2, Peotone 1, Carlinville 1, Wheaton Academy 1.
1. Decatur St. Teresa (5) (2-0) 75 1
2. IC Catholic (3) (2-0) 71 3
3. Maroa-Forsyth (2-0) 68 2
4. Breese Mater Dei (2-0) 53 4
5. Downs Tri-Valley (2-0) 38 6
6. Bismarck-Henning (2-0) 36 T7
(tie) Rockridge (1-1) 36 9
8. Pana (2-0) 23 10
9. Sterling Newman (1-1) 14 5
10. Rushville-Industry (2-0) 8 NR
Others receiving votes: Bishop McNamara 6, Tremont 5, Clifton Central 3, Knoxville 3, Athens 1.
1. Moweaqua Central A&M (3) (2-0) 75 T1
2. Lena-Winslow (5) (2-0) 73 T1
3. Mt. Sterling (Brown County) (2-0) 53 3
4. Fulton (2-0) 45 T4
(tie) Kewanee (Wethersfield) (2-0) 45 T4
6. Cumberland (2-0) 37 8
7. Aurora Christian (2-0) 33 T9
8. Camp Point Central (2-0) 25 T9
9. Carrollton (1-1) 15 NR
10. St. Bede (2-0) 8 NR
Others receiving votes: Winchester West Central 7, Greenfield-Northwestern 6, Tuscola 5, Forreston 4, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 4, Galena 2, Ottawa Marquette 2, Hope Academy 1.
Welcome to our highlights of events and entertainment in Chicago at our city’s best museums and galleries. Bookmark this page and check back for updates on the latest activities.
When: Through Oct. 31
Where: 325 W. Huron
What: This pop-up features an immersive exhibition of nearly 70 neon and light-based sculptures. Among the highlights are John Bannon’s 14-foot-tall neon sculpture “Breathe,” Monika Wulfer’s installation “Circle’s Edge” and an iconic neon self-portrait by John Lennon. Other artists include feminist neon artist Zoelle Nagib, pop sign artist Jason Pickleman, projected light specialist Gary Justis, abstract artist sculptor Michael Young and more. Tickets: $40+, reservations required.
More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit neonandlightmuseum.com.
George Rodriguez, “Mictlantecuhtli Offering,” 2020, ceramic installation, is featured in the exhibit “Dias de Muertos: A Time to Grieve & Remember.”Courtesy of the artist
When: Sept. 10-Dec. 12
Where: 1852 W. 19th
What: This year’s Day of the Dead exhibition at the National Museum of Mexican Art pays tribute to and remembers the many individuals from Mexico and the U.S. who have died from COVID-19. An annual time-honored tradition in Mexico, the Day of the Dead offers a way to join together to grieve and celebrate the lives of loved ones. The exhibit is a way to contemplate this moment via artworks and installations by artists from both sides of the border. Among those creating installations are Sandra Cisneros, Hector Duarte, Alejandro Garcia Nelo, Enrique Garcia and the Yollacalli Arts Center. These colorful displays sit alongside artwork by a long list of Mexican and Mexican American artists. Admission is free.
More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org.
“Untitled (Death by Gun),” by Felix Gonzalez-Torres (1990)Provided
When: Sept. 10-Feb. 20
Where: 600 S. Michigan
What: The Museum of Contemporary Photography presents an exhibit that brings together work by nine artists who examine the past three decades of gun culture in the United States. Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Carolyn Drake, Zora J Murff, Stephen Foster, Renee Stout, Hank Willis Thomas, Kambui Olujimi, Nancy Floyd and Andres Gonzalez use photography to approach the topic from a wide range of perspectives. “We hope this exhibition lays bare the persistent epidemic of gun violence in this country,” said Karen Irvine, MoCP chief curator and deputy director. “These artists point us towards nuanced ways of reckoning with this tragic — and uniquely American — plight.” Admission is free.
More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit mocp.org.
A “Future Fossils: SUM” piece by Lan TuazonCourtesy of the artist
When: Sept. 7-Nov. 13
Where: 5020 S. Cornell
What: This is the final sculpture installation in Lan Tuazon’s decade-long trilogy of work that visualizes the lifespan of our material goods. The Chicago artist calls her process “documentary sculpture.” Common packaged goods, tchotchkes and household items are accumulated, dissected and layered to give an accounting of the unseen byproduct of consumption. Tuazon offers visitors an encounter with a future house — one constructed solely with recovered materials — built to scale and exhibited from inside the two-story gallery at the Hyde Park Art Center. Admission is free.
More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit hydeparkart.org.
Bani Abidi’s watercolor “The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared.”Courtesy of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
When: Sept. 4-June 5
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago
What: Two decades of the work of multidisciplinary Pakistani artist Bani Abidi are brought together for this exhibition. Informed by her upbringing in Karachi and experiences in cities including Chicago, where she studied at the School of the Art Institute, Abidi, a master storyteller, uses video, photography, sound and installation to uncover the influence of cultural and political power struggles on everyday life. Admission: $15.
More information: For vaccination and/or mask policies, visit mcachicago.org.
The Museum of Contemporary Art presents “Chicago Works: Caroline Kent,” the first solo museum exhibition of work by the multidisciplinary Chicago-based artist. Nathan Keay, (C) MCA Chicago
When: To April 3
Where: 220 E. Chicago
What: The Museum of Contemporary Art presents the first solo museum exhibition of work by the multidisciplinary Chicago-based artist. In this site-specific installation, Kent explores the abbreviated forms of communication that develop in intimate relationships such as those between sisters. Inspired by the experience of communicating with her own twin, she transfers her visual language to painting, sculpture and installation. Admission: $15.
More information: mcachicago.org
Paul Nicklen, “Face to Face,” Svalbard, Norway, 2008.Courtesy the artist
When: Aug. 27-Oct. 2
Where: Hilton/Asmus Contemporary, Morgan Arts Complex, 3622 S. Morgan
What: The work of National Geographic photographers, filmmakers and marine biologists Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier are featured in this new exhibit. Nicklen, one of the world’s prominent nature photographers, has spent the last 20 years documenting the beauty and the plight of our planet. Mittermeier, whose work documents the conservation movement, is globally recognized as an influential wildlife writer and conservationist. Admission is free.
More information: Hilton-asmus.com
Banksy’s “Flower Thrower”The Art of Banksy
When: To Oct. 31
Where: 360 N. State
What: The identity of the artist known as Banksy has for years been the art world’s most intriguing mystery. But while we don’t know the man, we do know the art. The English-based street artist has created some of the most iconic images of the past few decades. A new exhibit brings more than 80 of these original works to Chicago. World-famous pieces from private collections including “Flower Thrower,” “Rude Copper” and “Girl with Balloon” will sit alongside other works rarely seen by the general public. As the artist-provocateur Banksy says: “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Tickets: $40, $30 for 16 and younger.
More information: banksyexhibit.com
“Helmut Jahn – Life + Architecture”Chicago Architecture Center
When: To Oct. 31
Where: 111 E. Wacker
What: Chicago Architecture Center presents a new exhibit honoring the late Chicago architect, which highlights his designs ranging from signature early projects like the Michigan City Public Library (1977) and the James R. Thompson Center (1985) to the Sony Center in Berlin (2000) and the Pritzker Military Archives Center, currently under construction in Somers, Wisconsin. Photography, models and sketches illuminate each project and explore the collaborative design and engineering process, while personal imagery, video and recollections by those who knew and worked with Jahn underscore his flair for the dramatic and zest for life. Admission is $15.
More information: architecture.org
“Van Gogh for All”Lou Bank
When: To Sept. 26
Where: 333 N. Michigan Ave.
What: The immersive art experience that debuted in Chicago in 2019 returns for a limited run. The exhibit allows attendees to step into many of the artist’s works and learn about them in a whole new way. Fly through the Starry Night or step behind the shutters of his iconic Yellow House and walk through a re-creation of his studio. Open seven days a week 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Tickets: $20, $10 for 12 and under.
More information:vangoghforall.org
“Untitled” by Mimi Cherono Ng’ok(C) Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
When: To Feb. 7
Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan
What: This new exhibit features the work of a photographer who travels extensively across the tropical climates on a mission to understand how natural environments, botanical cultures and human subjects coexist and evolve together. In this solo exhibit, she presents photographs and a film in which she tracked flowers and floral imagery across varied contexts and a range of hidden associations. Admission: $14-$22.
More information: artic.edu
Mel Chin’s Fundred Dollar Bill ProjectProvided/Courtesy of the artist
When: July 25-Oct. 24
Where: 5020 S. Cornell
What: Mel Chin’s Fundred Dollar Bill Project as well as works by LaToya Ruby Frazier and Fazal Sheikh are on display at the Hyde Park museum as part of “Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40.” Chin’s 13-year-project, here titled “Chicago Fundred Initiative: A Bill for IL,” invites people to create their own “Fundred,” a form of currency that affirms the right of each maker to equal protection against lead contamination; Frazier’s film “Flint is Family” uses her photographs and voiceover by Flint, Michigan, resident Shea Cobb to understand the Flint water crisis; Sheikh’s landscape photography examines the connection between desertification, colonialism, and the displacement of Bedouin communities from ancestral lands in Israel’s Negev desert. Admission is free.
More information: hydeparkart.org
When: Ongoing
Where: 2430 N. Cannon Dr.
What: The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, where children of all ages can connect to nature and science, reopened July 8. Exhibits include “Without a Trace,” selections of photographs by Zbigniew Bzdak; “Patterns in Nature: A Bridge between Art and the Natural World,” mixed media work by artist Katherine Lampert; “Judy Istock Butterfly Haven,” “Birds of Chicago” and many more. Admission: $6-$9, children under 3 free.
More information: naturemuseum.org
Toba Khedoori’s “Untitled” at the Smart Museum of Art.Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner and Regen Projects, Los Angeles (C) Toba Khedoori.
“Toward Common Cause — Art, Social Change and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40” is a multi-museum venture organized by the Smart Museum of Art that explores the current sociopolitical moment, challenging questions of inclusion, exclusion, ownership and rights of access. In its gallery, the Smart Museum features works by Mark Bradford, Mel Chin, Nicole Eisenman, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Jeffrey Gibson, Toba Khedoori, Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Julie Mehretu, Fazal Sheikh and Xu Bing. From July 15-Dec. 19 at Smart Museum, University of Chicago, 5550 S. Greenwood. Admission is free. Visit smartmuseum.uchciago.edu; for a list of participating museums visit towardcommoncause.org.
Stony Island Arts Bank reopens with its contribution to “Towards Common Cause.” The group show features work by Carrie Mae Weems, Kerry James Marshall, Gary Hill, Whitfield Lovell, Trevor Paglen, Deborah Willis, Dawoud Bey, Fred Wilson and Nicole Eisenman. From July 18-Dec. 19 at Stony Island Arts Bank, 6760 S. Stony Island. Admission is free. Visit rebuild-foundation.org.
The reopened DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl., participates with an exhibit of “Presenting Negro Scenes Drawn Upon My Passage through the South and Reconfigured for the Benefit of Enlightened Audiences Wherever Such May Be Found, By Myself, Missus K.E.B Walker, Colored,” a signature black silhouette installation from the artist Kara Walker. Admission: $3-$10 (Sundays free), children under 5 free. Visit: dusablemuseum.org.
A 1954 “Brenda Starr” panel at the Chicago Cultural Center exhibit.DCASE
When: To Oct. 3
Where: Chicago Cultural Center, 77 E. Randolph
What: This exhibit looks at Chicago’s significant role in the development of the early comic strip. Curated by artist-author Chris Ware and the City of Chicago’s cultural historian emeritus, Tim Samuelson, it focuses on comics in popular publishing, African American cartoonists, the first women cartoonists, the first daily comic strip and more. Admission is free. (The exhibit is a historical companion to “Chicago Comics: 1960s to Now,” the survey of contemporary Chicago comics at the Museum of Contemporary Art.)
Visit: chicagoculturalcenter.org
“We the People” by Chaz BojorquezNational Museum of Mexican Art Permanent Collection, gift of Chaz and Christina Bojorquez
When: Ongoing
Where: National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th street
What: After being closed for 15 months, the museum has reopened with a handful of exhibits. “Spotlight on Chaz Bojorquez and Enrique Alferez” features the museum’s newest acquisition, “We the People,” a painting by Bojorquez, and Alferez’s iconic bronze sculpture “La Soldadera.” Plus “Adlateres and the Unexpected Journey: Works by Carmen Chami” features paintings inspired by Mexican Baroque painting and figurative style. Admission is free.
More information: nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
“Mother and Child,” Njideka Akunyili Crosby (2016). Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner.(C) Njideka Akunyili Crosby
When: To Nov. 21
Where: National Public Housing Museum, 625 N. Kingsbury, and at the Minnie Riperton Apartments, 4250 S. Princeton
What: The National Public Housing Museum partners with the Chicago Housing Authority to display artwork by MacArthur Fellow Njideka Akunyili Crosby as part of “Toward Common Cause,” a multi-site exhibition organized by the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the MacArthur Fellows Program. Crosby uses acrylic, colored pencil and photo collages to create her distinctive portraits of African American life. “I almost want people to feel like the door is open and they’re walking by a scene into someone else’s life,” she says, “because that really is what I’m doing… mining my life to tell a story that is global but really wanting people to feel like they’re getting a glimpse into my world.” Crosby’s artwork installation is displayed on 70-foot banners on the sides of two buildings.
More information: nphm.org
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill MauldinCopyright the Pritzker Military Museum & Library
When: Through spring 2022
Where: 104 S. Michigan
What: Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin, who studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and was a cartoonist for the Chicago Sun-Times, is the subject of a retrospective at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. “Drawn to Combat” covers Mauldin’s career as a wartime cartoonist focusing on soldiers’ experiences and as a political cartoonist. The exhibit draws from more than 5,000 cartoons and objects donated to the museum by the Mauldin family. Tickets: $8, $10, children under 12 free.
More information: pritzkermilitary.org
Nick Drnaso’s painting for the cover of his graphic novel “Sabrina” in “Chicago Comics.”Provided
When: To Oct. 3
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago
What: A new exhibit celebrates Chicago’s pivotal role as a national and innovative center for comics and cartooning. With a focus on rediscovering the work of women and BIPOC comic artists, this major exhibition presents the last 60 years of the city’s artful cartooning history, showing how comic art is a democratic medium that allows artists to speak directly to people in relatable ways. Over 40 cartoonists are featured including Lynda Barry, Lilli Carre, Daniel Clowes, Nick Drnaso, Edie Fake, Emil Ferris, Nicole Hollander, Charles Johnson, Kerry James Marshall and Chris Ware. On display are comics, graphic novels, zines, original drawings, dioramas, commissioned films, installations, rare ephemera and books. Admission: $8, $15.
More information: mcachicago.org
Vivian Maier, “Three Highland Park firemen,” Highland Park, August 1964, inkjet print. Gift of Jeffrey Goldstein/(C) The Estate of Vivian Maier
When: To May 8, 2023
Where: Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark
What: Much has been heralded about street photographer Vivian Maier’s black-and-white photographs in exhibits, books and films. Now this multimedia exhibit features 65 color images made during her time as a suburban Chicago nanny from the 1950s to 1970s, many of which have never been seen before. Maier, who died in 2009, was a bit of a character and always had a Roloflex camera around her neck as she walked the streets snapping images of women, children, the old, the poor, the abstract. While her motives remain elusive, her photographs continue to speak volumes. Tickets: $17, $19.
More information: chicagohistory.org
The Paderewki Collection at Polish Museum of America.Courtesy Polish Museum of America
When: Ongoing
Where: 984 N. Milwaukee
What: The museum, since 1935 a repository for a wide variety of materials pertaining to Poland and the Polish-American community, has reopened after being shuttered for more than a year. Among the many permanent exhibits are “Polish Chicago 1850-1939,” “Folk Art Collection” and “The Paderewski Collection,” which documents the life of Polish pianist and composer Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Tickets: $6-$10.
More information: polishmuseumofamerica.org
The Hartwell Memorial Window bears a design attributed to Agnes F. Northrop of Tiffany Studios.The Art Institute of Chicago
When: Permanent
Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan
What: A magnificent stained glass window made by Tiffany Studios in 1917 is now on permanent display at the Art Institute. The Hartwell Memorial Window, attributed to Agnes F. Northrop, Tiffany’s leading landscape window designer, was originally commissioned for a church as the gift of Mary L. Hartwell in memory of her husband Frederick W. Hartwell. It consists of 48 different panels, and is a scenic view of Mount Chocorua, a peak in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. The window, located near the museum’s entrance, is one of the most ambitious landscape window projects produced by Tiffany. Museum admission: $14-$25.
More information: artic.edu
Gears that open the bridge.Friends of the Chicago River
When: Ongoing
Where: 99 Chicago Riverwalk
What: This five-story museum celebrates the Chicago River and its world-famous movable bridges. Visitors explore a historic bridgehouse, watch the massive gears of a moving bridge and learn about the history of the Chicago River. Plus from the top floor, there’s a 360-degree view of the city and river. Find the museum at 99 Chicago Riverwalk. Admission: $5, $6; children 5 and under free.
More information: bridgehousemuseum.org
The start of the 2021 NFL Regular Season is on Thursday night as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Dallas Cowboys. Both the Buccaneers and Cowboys have identified franchise quarterbacks for their respective teams as Tom Brady is looking to lead the Buccaneers to their second consecutive Super Bowl title while Dak Prescott is returning from an injury that forced him to miss most of the Cowboys’ 2020 campaign.
The Bears believe that they have their franchise quarterback in the form of 2021 first round draft pick Justin Fields. Despite Fields proving during training camp and the pre-season that he was the better quarterback over veteran Andy Dalton, the Bears are prepared to roll out Dalton as their Week 1 starter on Sunday night when they take the field against the Los Angeles Rams.
What can employers do if workers avoid COVID-19 vaccines?
They can require vaccination and fire employees who don’t comply or take other actions such as withholding company perks or charging extra for health insurance.
For months, businesses have been encouraging workers to get vaccinated, in some cases offering incentives like time off or gift cards.
But more are taking a harder stance and requiring vaccinations for any remaining holdouts, a push that has gained momentum since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Employers “feel like they’ve sort of hit that point where the unvaccinated are not going to do it unless there’s something significant making them do it,” said Wade Symons, a partner with the benefits consulting firm Mercer.
It’s legal for businesses to require the shots, and they could fire employees who don’t comply. In other cases, workers might be required to wear masks or get regular tests for the virus. Some companies also are considering making the unvaccinated pay more for their health insurance.
At Delta Air Lines, unvaccinated employees on the company health plan will be charged $200 a month to help cover costs for possible COVID-19 hospital stays.
Symons said other employers will more likely add smaller charges of $20 or $25 per paycheck, an amount that might be refunded once an employee gets vaccinated.
Employers also can restrict the use of office space, company gyms or business travel to only those who have been vaccinated.
In Las Vegas, MGM Resorts International has said unvaccinated employees won’t be paid for time off to quarantine if they test positive for the virus.
Vaccine requirements will come mainly from businesses that need workers on a job site, Symons said.
Employers have to offer exemptions or accommodations from vaccine requirements for some who don’t get the shots for medical or religious reasons.
Walt Disney World and Ohio State University are among large employers that have said they will make vaccination mandatory since Pfizer’s shot was given the FDA’s full approval.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also has said that military troops must immediately begin to get the vaccine.
Some state,s like Montana, have either banned employers from requiring vaccines or limited when they can issue such a mandate.
What an eventful offseason for the Chicago Bulls. It feels as though it has been decades since Bulls fans could genuinely be excited about a team, although in reality it has been a solid 10 years.
General manager Marc Eversley has done a masterful job behind the scenes, along with Vice President Arturas Karnisovas. The two of them have gone above and beyond any expectations over the past few months, and now, the Bulls look like a real playoff team.
The Chicago Bears are going to play the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night football. It is going to be a spectacle out there in LA as the season kicks off. However, the NFL season actually kicks off tonight when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play the Dallas Cowboys. It is two great NFC rivals that believe they will be playoff teams in 2021. It is going to be a lot of fun to watch as fans but there is a lot for the Bears to learn during this game.
If each team stays healthy, they are going to probably be better than the Bears. They certainly have better quarterbacks (at least as long as Andy Dalton is starting) which makes a big difference. Tom Brady and Dak Prescott are going to put on a show this season if they both stay healthy.
