I’ve written about free little libraries and free little art galleries, and now I’ve noticed the idea is growing. Probably to the consternation of one of Chicago’s Alderman who introduced an ordinance last summer to regulate them. Alderman Raymond Lopez thinks the little libraries should be subject to permits and should be run only by authorized nonprofit groups. “These bookcases have been popping up all throughout the city completely unregulated,” he complained to Block Club Chicago. A Chicago Tribune editorial on the ridiculousness of the proposed ordinance mentioned another take on the free little libraries – Spencer’s Garage where people can take or leave toy cars rather than books.
At the beginning of the pandemic, some little libraries started requesting food items rather than books, and I noticed recently that one in our neighborhood has been permanently converted into a little food pantry.
I haven’t seen one in person yet, but I saw on Instagram that there are now also Little Free Puzzle Libraries.
They don’t just have an Instagram presence. They have their own website that includes a map of locations.
There seems to be only one in Illinois so far, but I bet it won’t be long until I see one in person. Well, as long as the proposed ordinance, which was sent back to committee last October, doesn’t come back up for a vote and pass.
I didn’t just get the one water bottle for my birthday, I mentioned in my last post. I actually got two water bottles. The second one from my daughter was more about the image on the bottle than the bottle itself, which doesn’t have the right top for a water bottle as far as I’m concerned. It will make a good container for cranberry juice, though, and most importantly, sports a beautiful Starbucks two tailed mermaid.
I needed to compose a triptych to show both tails. My daughter said that this one wasn’t for stickers, but I did put on the mermaid gang one my granddaughters had given me from one of their sticker stashes.
Speaking of Starbucks mermaids, I found a new one at a rest area on our girl’s trip – a two tailed mermaid as a constellation!
Our girl’s trip included a “three girl” birthday celebration at my sister’s with my niece and youngest granddaughter, where I received my favorite birthday gift. My niece gave me a “vintage” rubber stamp set with celestial images from artwork in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Almost as soon as I got home, I unpacked it and made a little book for her.
Then, I made a birthday card for my husband using the sun stamps along with some other sun stamps I had been given in the past.
Additions to my collections are the best gifts!
I got a new water bottle for my birthday and while I really needed a new one since my old one was all wobbly, I was sad to say goodbye to it’s sticker collection so I took some photos to memorialize them.
One of the first stickers I put on when my water bottle was new was the Picasso sticker we got from our real estate agent. They actually send us two of everything, so this sticker is also the first sticker on my new water bottle!
The mermaid sticker came with a 2022 Christmas gift from my Missouri niece.
Turning the bottle reveals an octopus that Chicago Children’s Museum Liz gave me last Christmas. I stuck it over a sticker from Rosa’s Lounge that had almost completely disintegrated. At first, I liked the way it was weathering. I thought it looked like an old poster when I posted the picture below on Instagram right after I bought the guitar with flowers sticker from @beksstitches.
The sticker I was saddest to lose was the Support Live Music sticker, which I got on the first day of the 2022 Chicago Jazz Festival.
I picked up the two blues stickers at the 2023 Chicago Blues Festival.
Since the water bottle was becoming a kind of catalog of things I like – art, music, mermaids – I thought it needed a book sticker, so I ordered one from @b.z.creations. That sticker below it from the Lakeview Festival of Arts held up extremely well. While I’m sad to let this water bottle go, I’m excited to see how my new one turns out!
They don’t just do owls in Coxsackie (last post) they also do cats in Catskill, so while we were in New York we were glad to find out that we were going out to dinner in Catskill. We saw lots of them as we drove down the street to the restaurant, and when we got there, they said they needed a minute to set the table, so we grabbed a brochure and my youngest granddaughter set out to see how many we could “get.”
There were two different styles of cats. Standing cats like “Painter Cat” above and sitting ones like “Liza Mewnelli.”
They were so many on Main Street that we “got” quite a lot. While my granddaughter was checking them off on her brochure, I took pictures of a few.
Christie Hicks & Karen Robinson
I had to take two shots of this one because it was so clever. “Honoring the Catskill Game Farm” was by Pamela Quick-Antonette.
We heard that in nearby Cairo, they did bears, but we decided we were happy with the owls and the cats we got!
Our girl’s trip this year included a visit to my sister’s Hudson, N.Y. home, but since the young girls require a pool, we stayed at a hotel in Coxsackie. As we left the restaurant on our first night, I glimpsed a painted owl. And when we drove across the street to the urgent care clinic to get my oldest granddaughter’s stitches removed (ice skating fall), we saw another one.
When I mentioned the owls to the receptionist at the clinic, she told us they were all around town and suggested that we drive down to the river to find more. So the next morning, we did, and we passed many more owls on the way there. There was a sign at the river park that explained why “in Coxsackie they do owls” – Coxsackie means Place of Owls.
We also found some more owls and a brochure that listed all 39 of them. My youngest granddaughter was excited to check out all the owls we “got.” Here are some of the ones we saw:
The two book ones were my favorites. Owl Moon was in front of the library, and Archimedes was featured on the brochure, so we made a special point of seeking him out. And speaking of the brochure…
The first lucky discovery happened when I found a copy of “New City” in one of the newspaper corrals. These corrals, which I so loved when I first saw them that I wanted to take a picture to share with our Northampton mayor, have become an eyesore and often are filled with empty coffee cups and people’s belongings rather than newspapers or free magazines. I was happy to find a “New City” in one as we left the Christina Ramberg exhibition because I had read an article online about it, and I was hoping to find a hard copy.
Unfortunately, it was not the right issue, but it did include a review of a show called “Moscoso Magic” at a place called Instituto Cervantes that was closing soon. Victor Moscoso was one of the main five San Francisco psychedelic poster designers, and the exhibit included his most recognizable posters created during an eight month stretch from 1966 to 1997. A visit to the exhibit seemed like the perfect birthday excursion.
On the way to the exhibit, the next serendipitous event occurred. After our bus got to the first Michigan Avenue stop, it didn’t start going again, and after a few minutes, we had to get off the bus. We decided to walk rather than get on another bus, which gave us the opportunity to go into a church on Michigan I’ve been curious about since I’ve noticed from the bus that it is open to visitors. When we walked in, we were directed to a brochure titled “A Guide to the Architecture of Fourth Presbyterian Church,” and I can see why because it’s amazing!
I was especially drawn to the ceiling. The brochure states, “The ceilings of churches often look like an inverted ship. The main area of the church is called the ‘nave’ from the Latin word for ‘ship’ [as in ‘navy’ and ‘navigate’]” So I didn’t just get to see a beautiful building, I got to learn something new!
We also got to see more butterflies on the way to the exhibit.
And then we got to Moscoso Magic. And it was magical!
That’s Victor Moscoso behind Janis. He has said, “The idea was to hang someone up in front of the poster for as long as you could.” He was definitely successful as it was difficult to leave but it was time to go get my birthday treat!
Since we became aware of the Chicago Imagist artists, we have taken every opportunity to learn more about them and see their work, so we were excited to see the Art Institute’s new Christina Ramberg retrospective. While we were there, we walked over to check out the revamped Ryan Learning Center.
It looks more like a library than an art studio! The art project that day was to make a miniature room inspired by the museum’s Thorne Minature Rooms.
I was especially interested in the system they had to display 3D pieces because that has been a challenge with the 3D flea circuses we have been making at the Chicago Children’s Museum.
I also think the building materials on the tables are a great art studio provision.
There was a toddler area as well.
The Trott Gallery featured a hands-on exhibit about art restoration.
I’d like to take a closer look at some other areas and see the newest art project which is inspired by the current Georgia O’Keefe exhibit so when I go to that I will definitely stop by the Ryan Learning Center again!
A few posts ago, I wrote about having to find a place for the things we happen to acquire. There are also the things acquired precisely because there is a space waiting for them. For example, a wooden mushroom I found at Marshalls recently.
It has such great grain patterns, but I don’t know what kind of wood it is since its pretty label just identifies where it’s from.
Of course, now it lives with the other wooden mushrooms.
Looks like there’s room for a few more!
Our older daughter was a frequent visitor to a second-hand shop here in Chicago called Brown Elephant, so I was excited when one opened up in our neighborhood. When I stopped by the other day, I found a handpainted martryoshka set for only $3.00.
When I put them up with the other martryoshka dolls, I realized that the faces had been painted a little further up the doll than on the others, but I love the details.
I also found a handpainted gourd and it was an even bigger bargain at $1.00!
I wasn’t exactly sure where it went, but I knew it belonged in my collection! And I think I found the perfect place for it.
I doubt I’ll be as lucky again, but I’ll definitely be stopping by the Brown Elephant again.
One of the things I enjoy about Chicago is the way art pops up around the city. A few weeks ago, when I arrived at the children’s museum, I saw some large round sculptures that looked intriguing. They didn’t look finished, so I waited till the next week to walk over to them to see what they were.
The last two smaller ones didn’t have any artist information, and one wasn’t finished, but I’m glad I went over to look at them then because they were gone by the next week. I’m sad that I didn’t try to find out why they were there because they were part of Mexico Fest, which was at Navy Pier, and it looks like it would have been great. (It is a pet peeve of mine that Navy Pier doesn’t have a physical “This Week at Navy Pier” poster sign or screen at the entrance. There are some screens throughout the Pier that feature some events, but you have to catch them at the right moment.)
I researched the sculptures, and it turns out that these “monumental ceramic inspired figures from Chihuahua” are in the Mata Ortiz Style. Mata Ortiz pottery is a “recreation of the Mongolian pottery found in and around the archeological site of Casa Grandes (Paquilé) in the Mexican state of Chihuahua” Its too bad they didn’t get to stay in Chicago for awhile.
But there’s always something new. One morning, as my daughter was driving to work and talking to me on the phone (as she does) exclaimed “Ooh somewhere in the city is getting a bunch of butterflies. A truck just passed me with a whole bunch of butterflies in the back.” And then the next time I was going to the children’s museum, I saw one from the bus window and another one when I got off the bus.
It turns out they are part of Flight of the Butterflies, an initiative of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and that they are appearing throughout the city so I’ll be keeping an eye out for them!
I didn’t know what to expect during my recent visit to the DuSable museum, but what I didn’t expect was to come around a corner and see what looked like a children’s museum.
I don’t think it is permanent – the website lists it as a current exhibit but with no dates. I hope lots of people visit it because not only does it have a great message, it looks like so much fun! Look at all the food in the store section! The babies were my favorite part – there were probably twenty cribs, and each baby had a name stenciled on their crib.
Collections and Other Stuff I Like 