7 February 2015: In the Ice Palace

The ice formations at the lakefront are spectacular. If you are in Chicago, do yourself a favor and take a little trip to the beaches in Rogers Park for an unforgettable view of winter in all it's brutal beauty.

The ice-hills along the edge of the lake look like foothills on the edge of a vast plain:

Looking towards downtown Chicago. The skyline is dimly visible in the background, but tall ice-cliffs line the edge of the lake.

The ice balls on the frozen surface of the lake aren't as huge as the ones seen during the polar vortex of 2014, but they're still an impressive sight. *

* Just a reminder: in less frigid times, this area that looks like a rock-covered field  
is actually part of Lake Michigan. 

July 2013

Ice cave at Farwell Pier:

The Farwell Pier lighthouse:
The fence along the edges of the pier is visible here, but the pier itself is buried under a hill of ice.

2 February 2014: Lake-cicle

Lake Michigan was looking especially dramatic today, with huge ice formations and lethally sharp-looking shards catching the glint of the low afternoon sun. These pictures were taken at the recently renamed Tobey Prinz Beach at the eastern end of Pratt Boulevard. 

"Windform" by Lynn Takata

9 November 2013: More from the Mile of Murals

Three segments of the mural on Glenwood between Estes and Greenleaf, 

showing the history of Rogers Park.

16 June 2013, Artists of the Wall

This weekend marks the 20th annual Artists of the Wall Festival along the lakefront in Rogers Park, and today was a perfect day for it. This press release gives some of the history behind the festival.

Two of the young artists from Kilmer School

Even the ubiquitous Grumpy Cat made an appearance 

Artists at work

Applying some finishing touches

Commentary on the dismantling of our public school system

There's nothing like some good live music on a sunny afternoon.

The Meisha Herron Band

And a bit off the beaten path, a young man strums a banjo on his porch, filling Pratt Blvd. with some fine music. 

25 September 2012, Day 112

How is it possible that among all the many pictures of Rogers Park that i have posted on this blog, there was not a single one of the legendary Heartland Café?  Consider that oversight corrected.

3 September 2012, Day 90

Artists hard at work on this Labor Day in Rogers Park. 

I'm feeling very lazy and have spent most of the day avoiding anything that suggests productive activity, but i'm glad that there are other people, like these artists, who are out there getting things done. The first two pictures show the progress made by the artists painting the retaining wall next to the L tracks on the east side of Glenwood Avenue just south of Morse. I photographed this project on the first day of work less than two weeks ago. They've accomplished a lot in a short time. This mural has a strange, sic-fi, dystopian vibe, which i think will give me plenty to ponder in the future; and on a purely superficial level, every addition of color to this drab stretch of alley is a very welcome sight. The artist in the third picture is working on the west side of Glenwood, just past the sculpture garden that i photographed on 22 and 23 July.

22 August 2012, Day 78, Pt. 1

Work in Progress

This is the beginning of the large-scale transformation of the ugly concrete retaining wall on the east side of Glenwood Avenue between Farwell and Morse. Yesterday it was whitewashed, by this morning a large segment had been roughly sketched in, and by this evening it had begun to be painted in with lot of lovely vibrant blues and purples. The artists were nice enough to stop and chat with me for a few minutes, and i look forward to seeing their work take shape over the course of the next few weeks. 

1 July 2012, Day 26

Scenes from Morse-pocalypse

Considering that the Morse Station was closed for construction only 36 hours ago, this job is going like gangbusters. Here are a few shots of Morse Avenue and the now-gutted station entrance. There's lots of noise and mayhem, and it's totally thrilling. Note how quickly--like a puppy or a small child--my attention has been deflected from melancholy nostalgia for the charming old station to an almost uncontrollable urge to plead with the guy operating the Bobcat to let me get behind the wheel and crash into a few things. 

Scroll down or click here to see what the station looked like two days ago.

24 June 2012, Day 19, Pt. 1

Greetings from the Peoples Republic of Rogers Park!

This is our currency.

This is what it buys.

Have a lovely Sunday!

17 June 2012, Day 12

It was a gorgeous day today, and i returned to the beach for the conclusion of the Artist of the Wall Festival. Here is another picture taken from the same vantage point as the ones posted yesterday and 13 June. 

Here is a random sampling of some of the paintings: 

This was my favorite. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do it justice. There was a lot of gilding and the colors were much more vibrant in the sunlight.

One of two variations on Van Gogh's "Starry Night"

In these trying times, even Marlin has been radicalized.

Parody of Magritte's "The Treachery of Images" (translation: "this is not a shoe")