Clinée Hedspeth Named New Commissioner of DCASE

Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Monday the appointment of Clinée Hedspeth as the new commissioner of the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE).

Hedspeth previously served as legislative director under Johnson during his time as Cook County Commissioner. She has also worked as director of curatorial services at the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, and more recently as associate specialist of 20th century and contemporary art at Phillips Auctioneers, where she identified and evaluated art.

The announcement comes one month after Johnson announced the termination of the previous DCASE commissioner, Erin Harkey, although she remained on the job until last Friday. News of Harkey’s departure came just weeks before the city’s festival season gets underway, and was a surprise to some in the arts community.

Via Chicago Sun-Times

School of the Art Institute of Chicago turns to AI to help admissions

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to make more accurate enrollment predictions, a move that could save the school money and offer a path forward for cash-strapped art schools nationally.

Via Crain's (paywall) 

Chicago’s ‘Pothole Picasso’ opens a studio/gallery in Uptown

Local artist Jim Bachor, who has been called the “Pothole Picasso,” has opened a gallery/studio in Uptown, with the hope to get back to his true calling, fine art mosaics.

The studio, located across from the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom at 1111 W. Lawrence Ave., is about 1,000 square feet and is divided by a small gallery in the front and a larger studio space in the back, where Bachor said he will move his workshop from the basement of his Mayfair home.

Via WBEZ