Like many of you, Tim and I were looking forward to a new year and new decade. Sure a new year is great and everything, but a new decade, now that can expunge a lot of stupidity. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. Fuck fear was the mentality towards pursuing a lifelong dream. As terrifying as it was (and still is) to move forward, it paled in comparison to the regret of not trying.

The D. Gabriel Company: Unparalleled Provisions for Truly Unprecedented Times is a project by visual artist David Gabriel Nasca. Quarantined with an at-home studio, plenty of free time, a slate of cancelled shows, and lots of feelings; he set out on producing multiples in response to this ongoing pandemic. Many have been gifted to local friends or sent in care packages, but now you have the opportunity to order your own.

Alejandro’s writing practice #epicpoem is a conglomeration of correspondences, propositions for languages, affiliations to places, and memories. For this iteration #epicpoem dancing towards futurity in times of isolation, they recall a dream they had last night, the last time they went out dancing, seeing people dancing Cumbia at a park in Mexico City, dancing before and during isolation, and a trend of farewells. 

Darling Shear crafts performances that explore the nature of interpersonal connection often creating immersive environments for and interacting with audiences. Since the stay-at-home order has taken effect Darling has been creating improvised dances in empty public spaces that would normally be populated with people, in the middle of the street and in local parks, and sharing them through social media creating intimate and calming moments that reach through the isolation we are all experiencing.

I am a 40-year-old artist. Recently I bought a house near the Wisconsin border with my husband, but after living in Chicago on and off since I was 16, that city will always feel like my home. I am also a massage therapist and a reiki practitioner, a death midwife and a hospice support volunteer. Right now I feel like I am trapped in a nightmare, facing the battle of my life, trying to strategize in a language I don’t speak, where all my weapons are useless. It’s nice to meet you.

So I ride. Two Friday nights in a row. My adventure took me to the Route of Silence and emptiness, Shhhhhhicago. That is what I wanted to focus on in this mini-series. Being alone, being in my own mind, SILENT in this huge city we call Chicago, but while treading safely. I wanted my photography to portray the impact and effects of what COVID-19 is doing in the city’s live entertainment world. I am not the only one suffering the economic consequences at this time, more people are, and what we do not realize is that there’s a large  industry that matters, waiting patiently to be reconnected with humanity, to be heard or appreciated. In the mid-time, here is my night journal of the new Friday nights in the life of a city.  

Chef Caleb Trahan shares the non-traditional transition his kitchen has faced during the pandemic. From new recipes to an instagram account, his kitchen staff continues to learn and grow through these strange times. The Schwa Chef de Cuisine also shares a comfort food recipe for you to try at home.