A Plea for Illinois's Creative Future Fund: Now is the time for $500M for Arts & Culture

COVID has devastated our state’s creative sector, yet the arts remain an economic engine to power a resilient Illinois recovery. Our state must invest in arts and culture in order to come back stronger.

Through the Illinois Creative Future Fund campaign, we are advocating for Illinois to invest $500 million from federal American Rescue Plan assistance over the next four years in the relief, recovery, and resilience of Illinois’ creative sector, prioritizing BIPOC, rural, and other communities disproportionately impacted by COVID. 

Read more and contact your representative here by FRIDAY May 28

Pullman leaders, developers announce completion and grand opening of Artspace Lofts

On Thursday, May 20, elected officials, local business and nonprofit leaders and Pullman-area community members convened to mark the official grand opening of the Pullman Artspace Lofts development at S. Langley Aveune and E. 112th Street. After nearly a decade of planning and construction, the development is notable for being the first multifamily development in Pullman in 60 years, stakeholders said.

Via RE Journals

Alfred Caldwell: A Brief History – The Man Who Designed Lincoln Park's Lily Pool

On May 26th of this year, Alfred Caldwell would have been 118 years old. In honor of his birthday and the 20th anniversary year of the Conservancy and Park District’s Lily Pool restoration, we’re highlighting some of the interesting stories about the man who designed the Lily Pool.

Caldwell had a long and varied career primarily focused on landscape architecture, but which also included stints as a city planner, civil engineer, professor, and author.

Caldwell’s love of nature was influenced by his experience with his Lakeview High School biology teacher, naturalist Dr. Hermann Silas Pepoon. He then worked under renowned landscape artchitect Jens Jensen, whose style had a lifelong impact on Caldwell’s designs. From Pepoon he learned the value and history of native plants. From Jensen, he learned the properties of Prairie Style landscaping, including playing with areas of light and shade, visual interest through the season, and emphasizing plants that attracted birds. Caldwell was also inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, whose influence can clearly be seen in the design of the Pavilions by the shore of the Lily Pool.

Via Lincoln Park Conservancy