Final Chicago Weekend

A night view of Chicago

The second week of school was extremely productive, and the students and I will review that work tomorrow. Meanwhile i had an extremely busy weekend in Chicago, my last for this trip. I have been thoroughly enjoying myself, but I do look forward to going home. My friend Ann Morton, from Phoenix, joined me for a few days and we have travelled all over the city. We spent Saturday going to galleries in River North and the West Side. The Doug Dawson Gallery is always my favorite and this was no exception. He has a beautiful mixture of textiles and objects on display now. His place is like an oasis of beauty in the midst of debris. I got to see the city at night since Ann and I went out to Evanston for dinner with Anne Wilson and Teddy Zehner, who was in from Wisconsin. Teddy and I shared a wonderful trip to Turkey together in 2001, with a group of textile enthusiasts, and it was great to see her again.

Swimming pool at apartment

This morning for the first time I actually used the pool at the apartment building where I am staying. I had checked it out the first day, but haven't had time to go down before. Okay, I admit it, I always need a friend to get me to exercise. So Ann was the catalyst that got me in the water. It felt great and I look forward to returning to a regular regime back in Randolph. By the way, I just realized the other day how strange it is that I live in Randolph, VT and am staying just off Randolph Street here in Chicago.

View of buildings from Brown Line

After swimming we got on the subway and went to Argyle Street to have dim sum at the other branch of Furama. On the way to the restaurant Ann found a lost textile. She is doing an interesting multi-leveled project that includes the documentation of the location where she finds these objects. Today she found an umbrella, a pair of gloves, a spiderman hat, and a button.

Ann Morton documenting the find of a lost umbrella

After lunch we wandered around. There were lots of stores with the typical abundance of silly toys but in one Ann found these wonderful chia animals. Four for a dollar!

Display in store on Argyle Street

Chia animals--can't wait to see grass grow on them

In the afternoon we went to the Contemporary Art Musuem which had inspiring exhibitions on each floor. The top floor not only had a great Buckminister Fuller exhibit (he was so right that if we don't get it right for the planet we are all in trouble) there was also an exhibit of some work from their permanent collection which included work by Claire Zeisler and Anne Wilson. I admit that I felt starstruck and excited that I know Anne.

Entrance to Contemporary Art Museum

On the way back home we saw the Taste of Chicago going on in Grant Park. We were tired, but the music drew us down. So we caught the end of the concert by the Wallflowers. Any of you that know me well know that I am Bob Dylan all the way. It is no joke, the four day drive moving to Vermont was a four day Dylan marathon for me, one of many I have had since the mid-60's when I first heard him. So it wasn't him, but it was his son's group--and they were good.

Taste of Chicago in the distance

Wallflowers on stage and a projection of the lead singer

Tonight we are having a real pajama party here, as my friend Chris Allen-Wickler and her daughter Zoe have arrived for two days. Zoe will interview at Columbia College while they are here. Amazing to see my friends' children grown and going to college already. They drove here straight from a fair they did near Detroit. We will probably talk late into the night.