Beating a Drum for the Arts

Welcome to Artbeat, Chicago Tonight’s blog on arts & culture. It’s a privilege to be the curator and share my enthusiasms, but this is a two-way street: help me out, and I’ll return the favor.

Unless you’re a devoted reader of the credit crawl, my name is probably unfamiliar to you. I’m not an on-camera correspondent and prefer working behind the scenes.

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In 20-plus years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories for WTTW11. Most were arts-related additions to Artbeat Chicago and Chicago Tonight.

One thing I know about the arts in Chicago is that I don’t know everything. We all have our blind spots, and old news to you might be hot off the presses for me. Please share your thoughts and ideas with me.

If I find something surprising and wonderful, I’ll blog about it. That could be a preview of something to look forward to (see “A Bloody Good Painting,”) or an odd fact from the past (see “A Guitar God Comes to Skokie.”) My goal is to blog every day Chicago Tonight is on the air.

Favorite arts experiences include – Sweeney Todd at the Lyric, Robert Capa photography at the Terra Museum, Afrobeat band Antibalas at the Hothouse, every visit to the Art Institute, Lee Bontecou sculptures at the MCA, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Steppenwolf, interviewing Gwen Verdon about Bob Fosse, and a studio visit with painter Kerry James Marshall.

Looking forward to sharing the next round of experiences with you, and I hope you you'll join me and help inspire some of those memorable moments. See you at the show.

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