Exploring my new "backyard" - The Museum of Science and Industry

Hi Everyone, Liane here.

For the core course component of the ACM Chicago Program students have Neighborhood Explorations. The assignments require us to visit a work of public art, a community meeting, a restaurant, and a business strip; and then to write about our experience and what we discovered there.
For my public art exploration in Hyde Park I chose the Caryatids at The Museum of Science and Industry.

The intention I have for this post is to share with you all some of photographs I took while wandering around the Museum's grounds to emphasize just how incredible my new "backyard" is.

Welcome to the Museum of Science and Industry, my new neighbor.

A view of the Museum's Caryatids as you walk up the stairs.

The entrance way to the museum, I was memorized by the intricate detailing in the stone.

 



SOLVED 1 STRESS!

Progress, my friends! Did you read my previous post? Then you'll know why this video is SO EXCITING.

---Silvia
Email silvia.foster.frau@gmail.com for questions/comments

My Bank Account and Other Complaints

While life is all well and dandy here, with all this learning and growing and experiencing and stuff, this is not to say that stresses don't exist. Not to be an utter Debbie-downer (have you ever wondered who Debbie is and feel bad for her? No? Ehem, anyway), but this is what's going on in my mind, so to write a post about anything otherwise would just be dishonest! Here is a list of the current stresses in the life of me. This is in no particular order.

1.     My bank account

2.     What am I making for dinner tonight? (COOKING IS HARD).

3.     My bank account

4.     How the * beep* do I get there? (I say while I squint at google maps in middle of street, sucking up my limited cell phone data)

5.     What’s that one editor at my internship’s name again? SHE’S TOLD ME 3 TIMES ALREADY.

6.     Grocery shopping decisions: should I get this cereal, or one of the other 2938539870 options? Can I afford this? And do I even like tea that much or do I just like the idea of it?

7.     Being a coffee addict without a coffee maker

8.     Am I trying to do too much at once? Or not enough?

9.     ISP. What am I going to do.

10.  My bank account

After seeing my stresses visually represented, I suppooooose you could say these stresses aren't just a separate entity from the program, but are just another integral part of the learning and growing and experiencing and stuff. 

Either way, I reserve the right to keep complaining. With these stresses, I'll continue searching for answers and with enough time they'll sort of solve themselves. 

Either that, or I'll end up homeless on the street. 

It's a cruel world out there folks. Just think of poor Debbie. She started complaining about her stresses, trying to mentally cope with them as I have done, and she got a colloquial expression named after her and her woes. Poor Debbie.

--Silvia

 

It's all about the food!

Hi Everyone! Liane here to share my recent experiences with Chicago's food systems.

A component of the Chicago Program is an Independent Study Project (ISP). Before the students get turned loose on the city to do their independent projects, we meet twice a week for a class. Typically these sessions are "off-campus" to give us the chance to network with local Chicago organizations. For the students in the Urban Studies track we are exploring the topic of food justice.

What is food justice you ask?

There are many different ways to define food justice. However, I find the definition provided by Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi from their book Food Justice to be the best. The authors explain,
"Food justice seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where, what, and how food is grown, produced, transported, distributed, accessed and eaten are shared fairly. Food justice represents a transformation of the current food system, including but not limited to eliminating disparities and inequities."

(See more at: http://www.foodjusticebook.org/?page_id=6#sthash.ysiemUAL.dpuf)

Perhaps you have heard about the trend of Urban Gardening or Urban Farming? These are perfect examples of a actions being taken within the Food Justice Movement!

For one of our ISP class sessions we visited Growing Power. A non-profit urban farming organization, founded in Milwaukee and since spread to Chicago, that is doing excellent work within Chicago's Food Justice Movement.  Take a look at the pictures below from our visit with Growing Power:

The entrance way to Growing Power.



On our way into the building which is home to the organization.
 

Learning about how challenging it is for a large portion urban residents to get access to healthy fresh foods is quite upsetting. Food security is not something most people think  about until they are facing food insecurity. In areas struggling with poverty, access to nutritional food is very limited and sometimes even absent. This is primarily because food stores hesitate to invest in opening in areas of poverty. Growing Power's mission is to help bring produce back into areas with food scarcity by developing partnerships with local corner stores. Growing Power provides fresh produce to their partners so people have easier access to these foods.  The organization also delivers their produce around to local neighborhoods via food stands and bikes.

The foundation of Growing Power's success is high quality soil, which they produce on their own through very well tended compost bins. Here is one located in their entrance way:

One of Growing Power's many compost bins.

 

So next time you think about Chicago's food scene, don't just focus on the restaurants! Pay attention to all of the work being done promote food justice in this great city.

A quilt hanging in the stairwell of Growing Power's building.

Jerome

ALL MY SINGLE FEMALES. (Didn't want to have to call Beyonce for permission)

Girl, I hope he told Kim. If not, here is a "wikiHow" page with 4 ways to get your crush to like you: 

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Your-Crush-(for-Boys-and-Girls)

That letter is a piece I saw this week in the Museum of Contemporary Photography. If you're a boy who's received a love letter from me, please don't send it to a museum for display. It's bad enough that you didn't write back or even tell Kim.

I found out at this museum that there's an artist within us all.

Make sure you watch until the end, which is when he...well, you'll see. (SPOILER: He smells his lil' cupcakes burning.)

I started my internship at ComedySportz this week, and during lunch one day I found time to tan my ankles.

I threw a selfie in there for my fans anxious for Flag Day 2014. Yes, I read all your letters!

This week I also went to Jan Tichy's exhibition aroundcenter at the Chicago Cultural Center, which has nice ceilings.

Then I went to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Okay so my roommates are currently playing really sad music (Ed Sheeran, one of my favorite reds), so the rest of this post might get emotional.

That's a picture I took during a self-publishing distribution tour led by a cool guy named Alex Nall. It's this thing where anyone can create stuff like comics and books and whatever, and then they can sell it for money at different bookstores.

<- Found out the title of my upcoming autobio is already taken.










Went to a tarot card reading. Found out about the future. The exact plot of 'Her' is what happens, so if you're not Joaquin Pheonix or Scarlett Johansson, you're just one of those background characters.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: BLAM!

Bonnaroo lineup was released. I found a BLAM! location in Chicago, so all Chicagoan Roo'ers got together to recreate that feeling of being on the farm. If you haven't gone to Bonnaroo, cry a good long cry, and then go to Bonnaroo this year.

On the way to the event, I met two guys on the train who were going too. I took a creeper photo of them.

I actually ran into a few Bonnaroo performers the other day. I guess they were hanging out? Idk it was weird I was just trying to cross the street.

I'm going to end with a picture of this cute kid who ate all the frosting off her doughnut then told her mom, "K I'm done."

By the way, this was Katie.

AM Exploration

Saturday, Feb. 22nd.

I woke up at 9:30am with lines from my sheets on my cheek. It was early for a Saturday but I was ready to get my day started--maybe it had to do with the square of light on my pillow. There's a window in my room that is right at the level of my bed, and my pillow rests right next to the sill, so when it's sunny the light streams right onto my bed. I got up to find my roommate David also up, and planning to go to an indoor farmer's market. One of our homework assignments for core course is called hte Neighborhood Learning Summary. We're supposed to attend 3 locations in our neighborhood and reflect on them. The farmer's market is one of David's assigned locations, and I went with. It was 47 degrees, with clear, cold, calm air. The market was hidden along this small road. We found our way there by people clues--we saw couples walking from it with bags full of apples and bread, and a trail of people ahead of us with empty cloth bags and pushing strollers. A heavy, nondescript door marked the entrance. We bought market dollars and explored three rooms of food stands. I put a dollar in a jar for a mug of coffee to take with me as I wandered. I saw stands with cute little packets of soup ingredients, homemade breads and pastries, an apple stand, an icecream stand with flavors like "sweet potato and brown sugar", and stands with stacks of jams and preserves. The vendors were eager to talk to me about their products and describe how this food fit into their lives. I bought a jar of salsa and David bought a loaf of bread and some jam. We headed back home.

My second neighborhood exploration ocurred shortly after, when I took my first run outside in Chicago. After so much treadmill jogging, I had forgotten how much just being outside is a part of the running experience. My route was simple: up the lake coast, took the bridge west, and a wandering path back South. I could see the city from my trail on the lakeside. I'd never looked at downtown Chicago from that perspective. The lake was so serene and little old men, gazing and reading, dotted the benches along the path. In the silence between songs from my ipod, I could hear cars and birds. I felt like I was in a movie.

The run in the neighborhood gave me the chance to really admire the architecture of some of the old houses. I also got a good look at Kenwood neighborhood and ran through parts of Hyde Park that I'd never been to, discovering some new shopping areas and stores. After a few wrong turns and looping back, I got a better map in my head of how my neighborhood is laid out. I came back to the neighborhood feeling completely refreshed. "MY RUN WAS BALLIN'!!" I announced upon my arrival to the apartment, incorrectly using Ebonics I most likely picked up from a hip-hop song I heard omce. But, I assure you, the words came straight from the heart.

--Silvia

Restorative Practices in the City

Hi everyone! Liane here to talk to you about this week's Urban Studies Seminar topic of Restorative Justice.

For those of you who do not know what Restorative Justice is, like me before this week of classes, it is a new and holistic approach to the traditional justice system. The practice involves the victim, offender, and community members coming together to discuss everyone's needs after the crime was committed. Often times, victims of crimes do not feel like their needs are fully addressed by our traditional justice system. This practice also helps to teach offenders to hold themselves accountable for their actions. Usually people with repeated offenses feel like no one cares about them, and therefore it doesn't matter what they do. The primary role of the community is to provide support for both the victim and the offender.

Restorative Justice utilizes Peace Circles lead by a person trained in keeping the peace within the circle. Their duty involves creating a safe space for everyone to come together in, ensuring that order is maintained in the circle so voices are heard, and assisting to resolve conflicts when they arise.

In the center of a Peace Circle are talking pieces, and other meaningful memorabilia specific to each circle. Below is a photo from the center of a Peace Circle that the Urban Studies Seminar participated in.

 

Having the opportunity to meet with community leaders involved in promoting the practice of Restorative Justice was a very eye opening experience. This practice holds so much potential for rebuilding the lives of individuals hurt by crime, and their communities!

Went to the Art Institute today...

It's legit.

--Silvia

Trippy Tuesday

Dear ACM-ers, potential ACM-ers, family of ACM-ers, and random strangers who stumbled upon this blog...

HI!

It's Silvia again. Here to give you the latest news on what happenin' in the Windy Blizzard. I mean City. Windy City. Excuse my #BrainFreeze.

Tuesday was one eventful day. And NO you awful people, the word "trippy" in my title does not mean substance (ab)use, it means that this Tuesday was full of TRIPS! You know how in normal academia, class time is 90% and field trips are 10% ? Well ACM Chicago is an educational program where the percentages are REVERSED. AND IT'S GREAT.

Here's a photoblog of my Tuesday.

Woke up, Flawless.

My Breakfast! It's the little things.

First stop:
Museum of Contemporary Photography

 

Found items in detroit

Then the Center for Book and Paper arts "Social Paper" exhibition

Coffee & lunch at Overflow Café with Anna. Check it out sometime.

Then a hop on the train...

Chicago Cultural Center: Jan Tichy (Turns out its not pronunced like Jan Tich-y, but like Yan Teekey)

Tiffany dome

Preach. Emerson= Mah Main Squeeze

After we left, Mohammad rapped with this homeless dude #newfriend

Meanwhile in the city, building lights replace stars,

which are then reflected by the lake

Well, that's my Tuesday of Trips, and I'm barely awake. Good night!

A Delicious Weekend Recap

Hello everyone! It's Liane, here to brag about what a wonderfully sweet weekend I had in Chicago.

During our Friday Core Course, all of the students in the Chicago Program had the opportunity to spend our morning on Valentines Day meeting with Alderman Joe Moore. We met with him at Chicago City Hall, a building with an interior as impressive as Moore's Participatory Budget (I'll explain this more). Take a look at a few of the shots I was able to snap while waiting for the elevator.

 

 

Now, getting back to our meeting with Alderman Moore...

 

He hails from Chicago's 49th Ward, and defies any concept of a corrupt Chicago politician. In fact, he has such a passion for taking care of his constituents that he has become somewhat of a celebrity for his efforts in promoting civic engagement throughout his ward.

 

The work he is most recognized for is an innovative method for budgeting, known as Participatory Budgeting, which utilizes community meetings and voting to develop a budget for the ward's annual capital project money provided by the city. His Participatory Budget has inspired other politicians and council members across the nation, and is even had recognition in Europe! Leave it to a Chicago Politician to stir things up, this time for the better. 

 

After a very informative presentation by Alderman Moore about the way Chicago politics are carried out, specifically the unique situation of Aldermen, and a discussion of the history of Chicago's infamous politicians, our class was brought into the Chicago City Hall Council Chamber for a Q & A session. The photo below is of Alderman Moore standing behind the chair that seats Mayor Emanuel during City Council Meetings.

 

 

The experience of being able to meet with an Alderman, and to have the chance to sit in Chicago's City Council Chambers for a private Q & A session with him, is a perfect example of how unique the ACM Chicago Program is.

 

After class finished on Friday afternoon, our weekend officially began! My roommates and I decided to celebrate Valentines Day by having dinner together at our apartment. It was a fun way for a bunch of single people to enjoy a holiday reserved for those blissful people in relationships. Why should they have all the fun?

 

The next day a few of us went out for brunch in Wicker Park to a place called The Bongo Room. If you ever find yourself looking for a good place to go for brunch in Chicago, PLEAE GO HERE!!! I have never before in my life been more satisfied by a meal.... hands down.

 

The menu is organized into categories of sweet and savory, where you order a savory dish for yourself and split a sweet dish among the table. I decided on a Croissant Breakfast Sandwich for myself, and the table shared the Chocolate Stack: a generous serving of chocolate French Toast topped with shaved white and milk chocolate, surrounded by a warm sauce consisting of chocolate, banana, and mascarpone.

 



After finishing brunch, we needed to walk around to help commence the digestion of such a rich meal. Wicker Park is definitely a great place to aimlessly wander about, as there are so many unique shops to explore. When it was time to head back to Hyde Park, we were treated to a musical performance at the Blue Line stop at Jackson. These guys were fantastic!!! I hope I get to hear them again.

 



 

On this week's agenda for the Urban Studies students is a trip to Growing Power for a field visit and a meeting with an assistant states attorney for Cook County. We will be exploring the topic of Restorative Justice, something that I know very little about. So be on the lookout for posts exploring that topic in the days ahead.

Philosophical Questions

Right now my roommates are playing Cards Against Humanity. I tried to take a picture of the group, but the camera only likes Emma:

This is Katie, by the way. This week was cool. I got an internship with ComedySportz, and I'm working out another opportunity with iO. My first day is tomorrow, even though I typically get wild for Presidents Day.

On Tuesday, I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. On the bus ride back, I learned of a new hairstyle that's trending:

I also brought shame to the world of comedy this week. Despite Nathan Fielder's genius in founding Dumb Starbucks, I needed caffeine. I had a Nyquil hangover. But I want to plug Comedy Central's "Nathan For You." WATCH IT.

We got to meet Alderman Joe Moore, who is an ACM alum. He talked about "participatory budgeting" and how Mayer Daley was a d-bag and vetoed his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10 for large retail businesses.

The coolest thing I did this week was visit The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA). It's the largest non-profit service center in the Midwest, and it's the most amazing functional, forward-thinking organization I've ever experienced in real life. I want to live there. (That's actually possible, because the seventh floor is an "intentional community" where "green" people live. Yeah, this place started as a commune.) More importantly, a cute boy was growing plants there. And another guy makes biofuel. And there's banana trees in the women's restroom. This place is wild.

Then it was Valentine's Day. My neighbors blasted sexy-times music all night. It started again early the next morning, but I could hardly be mad when I heard, "I love it when you call me big pop-pa."

Real highlight of the week: watching Dazed and Confused in the weight room. That t.v. has cable, so I'll be really buff by the end of the semester.

Too many pictures? Post an angry comment. Trying too hard to be funny? Post an angry comment. You're the girl with the hair from Whoville? POST AN ANGRY COMMENT.

Thanks, fans! Love you. I would be nothing without you.

xoxo

SiLvIa In ChIcAgO

HELLO!

My name is Silvia Foster-Frau and I'm here typing live from Café 53, a small coffee shop in Hyde Park's Harper Court. I was yelping coffee shops in the area and decided to go for this one because of the especially delicious-looking pics of baked goods. So even though my table is rickety and I'm sitting right next to the door, the ginger cream scone and hot coffee has curbed any lurking discontentment.

...And now my post is sounding like one of those quirky Yelp reviews. Back to business.

Welcome! To the official blog of ACM Chicago and particularly to the first official post by yours truly! Here's where you can get all the deets on the chicago program, without the formality.
My name is Silvia, I'm an English major @ Grinnell College, I'm from Galesburg, Illinois (G-TOWN, 'SUP), and I'm doing the arts track in the Chicago program. This means I'm taking an arts seminar class with Susannah Papish, working on an artsy Independent Study Project (ISP) under the mentor-ship of Jason Pallas, taking the core course along with everyone else, and working at an internship site.

First let me gush about my internship. I'm interning at a latino/bilingual newspaper called Extra. I started last week and my article made the front cover of this weeks newspaper! Talk about hands-on internhips. To write the article, I got to interview the governor of the state of Mexico Eruviel Ávila, and shake the hand of Gov. Pat Quinn (of IL)! Look up my articles at extranews.net 


The breadth of experiences I've had just in these past two weeks is breath-taking. Breadth-taking.

Here are some notables: 

• history museum (including Ebony mag. fashion exhbition)
• contemporary art museum
• sandwich at Uber lunch place in loop (European style--we're talking baguette and manchego cheese) 
• Green Mill jazz lounge (ghost of Al Capone spotted)
• Bongo Room brunch (ordered the "Chocolate Tower". It's even better than it sounds)
• Wicker park/Bucktown wandering (including Filter café and Recycled, a cool thrift store)
• Casa Estado de México (this is what my article was about)
• IO (previously called Improve Olympics) alumn show
• citizenship workshops at Pius Parish (I was reporting on new loan system for ppl applying for citizenship)
• Walnut Room in Macy's tower (super fancy)
• city council building and alderman Joe Moore (he's a Knox grad! And he has really cool community participation projects in his ward).

Last night we went to the UChicago Winter Art Soirée and it was on the 9th floor. I'd like to leave you with this night view of hyde park.

 Oh, Chicago. You dry my skin, freeze my body, but still manage to warm my heart.



 If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at silvia.foster.frau@gmail.com