CAC Has a June 7 Fundraising Deadline to Raise $50K and Plans Are In Works for Sabina Ott Memorial Library

In an email to supporters, CAC shared, "Sabina Ott was both a dear friend to CAC and an incredible champion of Chicago artists. She understood both the power of art to uplift our city and the deep need for all of us to give to nurture our artistic ecosystem. Over her life, she advocated for, mentored, and elevated dozens of Chicago artists—just as CAC does every single day.

Sabina believed that art is a gift to the world, and CAC received the gift of over 800 pieces of her work, collection, and ephemera upon her passing. Plans are now underway for the Sabina Ott Memorial Library within CAC’s home space—which will make this remarkable collection available to Chicago artists, as well as provide further digital resources for creating, and a new, exciting exhibition space for art created in our vibrant city."

Details here

Sam Zell Has Died at 81: Real Estate Leader and Half of an Art Collector Mega Couple

Chicago billionaire Sam Zell, an inveterate dealmaker in real estate and business, died today at age 81, according to Equity Residential, an apartment company he founded and chaired.

Zell died due to complications from a recent illness, according to a statement from his company Equity Group Investments, which called him “a self-made, visionary entrepreneur.”

Read CGN's 2015 interview with wife Helen Zell 

Via Crain's

Fifth Edition of Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces September Opening

The fifth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, CAB 5: This is a Rehearsal, curated by the interdisciplinary arts collective the Floating Museum, takes an expansive view of design as an iterative rehearsal process to explore architecture, cities, and the different social, ecological, economic and political forces that shape them. From artists, architects, engineers, performers, poets, and others, the practitioners represented in CAB 5 collectively set the stage for the cross-pollination of ideas in order to challenge and envision alternatives for the following: how we understand and address the needs of a city, who plays a role in imagining and making the city, and how our potential solutions attend to the overlapping crises that now inform our everyday lives. 

The Biennial will open on September 21, 2023, and run through January 2, 2024, with major installations and programming at the Chicago Cultural Center and at sites across the city. The opening preview will take place September 21–24, 2023, with a schedule of public and special events.

The Graham Foundation Announces 2023 Grants to Individuals

The Graham Foundation is honored to announce the award of 64 new grants to individuals working to realize innovative and interdisciplinary ideas that contribute critical perspectives on architecture and design. Selected from approximately 500 submissions, the funded projects include publications, research, exhibitions, films, podcasts, digital initiatives, public programs and other formats that further ideas, discussions, and new understandings of architecture. The funded projects are led by 92 individuals that include established and emerging architects, artists, curators, designers, filmmakers, historians, and writers, based in cities such as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Ahmedabad, India; Bandung, Indonesia; Beirut, Lebanon; Buenos Aires, Argentina; New York, NY; Paris, France; Oklahoma City, OK; Porto, Portugal; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; and Chicago, IL where the Graham Foundation is based.

Among the funded projects in the 2023 award cycle are several installations that open in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia, Venice this week.