Salvage One - Not Your Average Store

Arts Entertainment ventured to the warehouse district of Chicago to check out Salvage One, a store that sells everything old that is new again. If you're a fan of nostalgia or are looking for that old time piece for your home that you haven't found anywhere else - look no further. Salvage One is more than likely to have it. 

It is difficult to explain this store other than a brick building that houses all things old and recovered. From sinks, to vintage ovens, to full service bars that can be moved to your home, Salvage One is an eclectic warehouse with things you never knew you needed. If you are in the market for some perfect finishing touches to your place, check this place out. 

The vast space with three total floors is available to rent out for parties, weddings, and special events. It is truly a unique venue that will set your party apart from others. 

Don't Press Send - Round Table with Chuck Swirsky

We had another great round table discussion talking all things Bulls, Lebron, and play-offs with the Bulls' Play-by-Play man himself, Chuck Swirsky.

Make sure to visit www.ArtsEntertainment.com to hear the interview and to watch musical performances. 

Arts Entertainment Does Lichtenstein

Arts Entertainment made a visit to The Art Institute of Chicago to see the Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. When we arrived we were stunned by how many pieces there were. Not only does the exhibit feature some of his most famous works, but also sculpture, installation art, and sketches from his personal sketchbook. 

The Studebaker and Playhouse Theaters

Little known fact, The Fine Arts Building of Chicago houses some of the city's oldest theatres. They are not functioning just yet, but we thought we'd let you have sneak peek of them. Imagine- it's 1925, can you imagine all of the greats that have played these venues. These theaters ooze personality and history. Some say they are even haunted.... you decide.

Here is a snapshot of the Studebaker Theatre. 

Here is the view from the rafters of the Playhouse Theatre.

More to come soon! 

Stay on the lookout, and remember to visit www.ArtsEntertainment.com.

Around the Coyote

The Flat Iron Arts Building in Chicago, IL held their annual 3-day open studio event, Around the Coyote.


Here are some pictures from the event.

Lang Lang at the Chicago Cultural Center

On July 8th international piano superstar, Lang Lang, gave a concert for children and classical music enthusiasts at the Chicago Cultural Center.

Lang Lang's foundation, The Lang Lang International Music Foundation, has set out to educate and inspire the young generation of budding classical music artists.

He shared the stage with three of his most gifted students, Anna Larsen, who played Sonata No. 2, II, by Sergei Prokofiev and her own composition, Prelude. Charlie Lui played Etude No. 10, by Mortiz Moszkowski and Prelude & Fugue No. 10 in E minor, by J.S. Bach. Derek Wang played Polonaise Op. 53, "Heroic," by Frederick Chopin. All of the kids displayed their musical talent and certainly impressed the audience.

Lang Lang then took the stage with President & CEO of Ravinia, Welz Kauffman, and the three young musicians to take questions from the audience.

After the Q&A session Lang Lang performed a solo piece.

After being swarmed by fans Lang Lang granted Arts Entertainment an exclusive interview that can be seen at www.ArtsEntertainment.com and www.ArtsEntertainment.asia.

Chicago Reader's Best Of

Take a look at the "Best Of" Edition for mentions of the Fine Arts Building and the Flatiron Building.

Celebrating 2 mentions for the Fine Arts Building in this week's Reader issue:  Best of Chicago!

ANDREA BAUER

FINE ARTS BUILDING

410 S. Michigan

There are no buttons outside the elevators in the Fine Arts Building—you have to wait in view of the glass doors, because if the operators don't see you as they go by, they're not likely to stop. Once in a while an elevator will shoot past a floor before the operator notices the people standing there, at which point he cranks the wheel back around and retreats to pick them up. The three elevators are original to the building, which opened in 1885 as a factory and showroom for Studebaker carriages and was remodeled in 1898 to house artists' studios and galleries. In the lobby is a plaque for Tommy Durkin, who was an elevator operator there for 55 years until he retired in 2010. "Operators never wanted to leave," says a building maintenance man. The two on duty the day I visited had been working there for 18 and 25 years, respectively. They're likely to catch on quickly if your intent is to go joyriding in their elevators—but they probably won't care. —Julia Thiel

BEST 100-YEAR-OLD MURALS 

FINE ARTS BUILDING

Did they ever think we would look at them enviously a century later and try to imagine being them—artists and writers and social reformers, all occupying Chicago's first artists colony, downtown? Harriet Monroe started Poetry: A Magazine of Verse here, where others were working on the Dial, the Little Review, the Saturday Evening Post. This was the home of the state suffrage group. Portrait painter Ralph Clarkson started a salon called the Little Room in his studio, joined by author Hamlin Garland, architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, and commercial artists Frank X. and Joseph C. Leyendecker. The brothers organized the painting of eight murals, all art nouveau-esque, featuring nymphs, angels, scantily clad outdoorswomen, and Greek figures. You can still take the human-operated elevator up to the tenth floor and see the murals. Stroll down the hallway, accompanied, as I was the other day, by violin playing on one side of the hall and notes from a cello on the other, and you'll see plaques marking the studios of famous former tenants: Frank Lloyd Wright, illustrator John T. McCutcheon, sculptor Lorado Taft. One night in April this year musicians presented an evening of poetry in the Fine Arts. In a hundred years, will wistful artists look back at that performance and yearn for the cross-pollination in the arts of 21st century Chicago, when the building tenanted visual artists, music and voice teachers, photographers, dancers, designers, and architects? —S.L. Wisenberg