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Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Spider-Man spins a complicated web. This new exhibit at Griffin MSI is just for fun.
Just inside the first gallery devoted to 'Marvel's Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing — The Exhibit' at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, there is a life-size Spider-Man statue or mannequin. I don't know what you call this, but he looks real. He's not, because he's Spider-Man and Spider-Man is not real. But Spider-Man may as well be real. Most of us have never known a world without a web crawler patrolling Queens. Here, he's bursting out of a comic book as if blasted out of a Spider-Cannon, fingers on his left hand curled into the universal symbol of web-based travel. As I entered this room, I found myself unable to move on, as if hypnotized by the overlords of Marvel who have licensed it, or just the clever people who put together this somewhat thin but charming character celebration. Every patron in the exhibition is unable to move on. Most take a picture with Spider-Man, and everyone who does, , shapes their own fingers into that Ozzy devil-horn thing and, as Spider-Man would, pretend to blast out a tendril of spider fluid. 'Give mommy the Spidey thing, baby,' a mom says. Her daughter, so young she looks a step away from plopping backward, instinctively pulls her fingers into the iconic web-shooting pose and, being a Spider-Ham, adds a determined scowl. 'Do the finger thing,' says the next parent. 'Crouch down and give me a good web,' instructs the parent after that, and so on. During a brief lull in preschoolers, a couple, probably in their 20s, furtively, quickly, with Spidey-esque dexterity, shoot pictures of themselves with Spider-Man best described as R-rated. Oh, Mary Jane! Only then did they add a sordid web-slinging gesture and bolt out of the gallery, giggling. Spider-Man, see, means a lot of things to a lot of people. Some of it just happens to be disgusting. The exhibit — which doesn't feature what you'd assume it might (there are no clips from Spidey films, only a handful of props and no halfhearted arguments for 'the science of Spider-Man') — is smartly centered on the endless interpretations of Spider-Man the Character who, despite being 64 years old, yet still a teenage spider, has remained remarkably mutable, able to bring in new generations of admirers many, many decades after his sell-by expiration date. Spider-Man is joined here, through archival artworks, trinkets, interactive kiosks and even more statues, by Spider-Rex, Spider-Ham, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ben, Spider-Byte, Spider-Woman, Spider-Girl, Miles Morales, Madame Web, Spider-Zero, Victorian Spider-Man, Venom, Silk, Spider-UK, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Wolf, Peni Parker, etc. You see, Spider-Man, explained curator Patrick A. Reed — nicely articulating the endurance of any pop juggernaut — 'is a long-form communal work of art.' Or, in this case, 'a Spider-Mythos.' What is not included here in that mythos — strangely for a show committed wisely to the construction of a character and the artists who shepherded it — is the decades-old debate over who Spider-Man. Let me back up: It's there silently, between well-chosen comic-book panels and reams of wall text. This, I guess, is the problem with museum shows in need of corporate permissions to deliver even an outline of their story: You're never sure how the sausage gets made. Spider-Man the Exhibit, through test drawings and uncompleted comic pages and some breezy writing, smartly illustrates how Spidey became a watershed in pop culture, even something of a progressive: Peter Parker answered to a Black boss in 1967 (Robbie Robertson, editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle, and not to be confused with Robbie Robertson, the late guitarist/songwriter of the Band). Peter Parker was a teen hero at a time when comic books portrayed teens as sidekicks. Peter Parker, bitten by a radioactive spider and made unimaginatively strong and nimble, still can't outrun money issues, problems with school, philosophical questions about what it means to be so blessed. Even among more respectable children's literature from its time, Peter was a thoughtful creation, his architects never hesitating to use his famous credo: 'Beyond Amazing' is centered on milestones and mythology, including that line: We see (again, using archival drawings and lots of description) how a cry of decency was never so clear to Peter. We see how, again and again and again, he gives up the Spider-Man costume. The irony being, real-world decency was even harder to come by behind the scenes. The exhibit is divided into two large rooms. The first is dedicated to building the character; the other to its ripening and expansion. But the best part comes early, in a series of original comics and art that illuminate the tentative steps to Spider-Man. There's an issue of 'Journey Into Mystery' No. 73, featuring a classic '50s radioactive invertebrate. (The cover screams: 'WHERE WILL YOU BE WHEN THE SPIDER STRIKES?') Alongside that, sample images of Aunt May and Uncle Ben in a different comic, months before Spider-Man's debut. We see Stan Lee asked artist Steve Ditko to work on a comic now awkwardly-titled 'Amazing Adult Fantasy,' sold as 'The magazine that respects your intelligence.' We notice Lee and Ditko listed as co-creators throughout, but nothing on the lingering animosity that credit caused: Lee, a master showman and promoter of Stan Lee, would accept decades of praise for Spider-Man (and other Marvel heroes). Meanwhile, artists such as Ditko (who created the costume and look of Spidey and much of the basic mythology) were mostly known to die-hards. We hear nothing about the years of lawsuits. We do get a single hilariously revealing page of notes from Lee to an artist that says more about the early Marvel assembly lines than nearly anything else in 'Beyond Amazing.' Lee was an editor, writer, ringleader and often the initial spark for a new character: What about a blind lawyer who fights crime using his other hypersensitive senses and was kind of a ? What about a family of transformed into crime fighters? Lee would write a synopsis of an issue and send it to an artist, who would then interpret it into a comic. The page on display at the MSI, from 1969, shows how Lee evaluated an issue then, after picking over images, he filled in dialogue. He also offered directions such as: A museum staffer told me the exhibit fits well in the museum because it's a show partly about the publishing and industry is in the very name of the building itself. And that's not wrong. But what this sole page of notes suggests, and what is missing from much of 'Beyond Amazing,' is a sense of the heat and friction generated when imagination gets shaped by a committee. Indeed, for so long, the Marvel company (like its main competitor, DC Comics) showed so little reverence for its own output, there's astonishingly little material from the process itself, beyond interviews with artists. A lot of the salvaged original art and mock-up covers that survived the first decades of superheroes are not held by Marvel or DC but a few prescient art collectors. The archival objects in this exhibit, Reed said, came courtesy of about eight collectors. Film props, of course, are another story. There's one of Doc Ock's eight hands. Willem Dafoe's Kabuki-like Green Goblin mask. Tom Holland's Spidey suit. The camera Tobey Mcguire carried when he played Peter Parker. By the time the superhero movie bonanza began, no one in this business held their noses around a gold mine any longer. (So much so that one reason there are no film clips in 'Beyond Amazing' is because of the harrowing cost and complication around nailing down likeness rights for movie stars.) For the record, I like a good pop-culture museum show. This isn't a bad one. MSI returns to the well often: Walt Disney archives. Jim Henson archives. Charles Schulz archives. James Bond. The Spider-Man show is its second Marvel show in five years. The Field Museum has a Pokémon show next year; the Museum of Contemporary Art, which had a blockbuster with David Bowie, has Yoko Ono coming in October. All of those brand names are enduring examples of a creative vision. And yet, not one emerged from a vacuum. Now that hand-wringing over whether pop culture belongs in esteemed institutions has subsided, or just been steamrolled by the persistence of museum administrators, it's fair to expect these institutions to bring more blood, sweat and tears to stories of how intellectual properties are assembled. 'Beyond Amazing' makes an admirable point overlooked in other shows like this: A character as ubiquitous as Spider-Man, whose balloon has floated across Manhattan every Thanksgiving Day for nearly 40 years now, transcends ownership — . A cynic would say that's what licensing is for. And sure, one of the best parts of the exhibit is a display of merchandising and international translations and night lights and action figures and Ben Cooper costumes and even the very first Marvel-approved Spidey artifact — strangely enough, a 1965 jazz album by Freddie McCoy. But then every doodad is a riff on a conversation started in 1961 by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. So are the drawings abandoned by visitors at the end of the exhibit. Look for them. Four drawing tables, baskets of pencils and paper, Marvel artists on video illustrating how to draw your own Wall Crawler. The day I was there, some people left behind artworks good enough for Marvel, and some left behind the sketchiest of sketches. Spidey in a White Sox uniform. Darth Spidey. Those tables were , everyone quietly interpreting Spider-Man. That so many drawings would be left behind suggests not everyone was satisfied with their performance. Most weren't. They had a vision, they executed it. The plan didn't pan out. To make anything that lasts, never mind endures after seven decades, is improbable. To explain just how improbable demands great power and responsibility. Otherwise, it's marketing.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Yahoo
CTA adds bus service this summer to Navy Pier, Museum of Science and Industry
CHICAGO - Kicking off this Memorial Day weekend, the Chicago Transit Authority says it's adding bus service this summer to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and Navy Pier. What we know Through Labor Day, the No. 10 bus route will take riders all the way from Michigan Avenue to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. But service to Navy Pier will also be extended until midnight on the #124 bus route. People arriving downtown at the West Side Metra stations will be able to connect directly to the Museum Campus using the No. 120 bus. Starting this weekend through mid-August, weekend/holiday beach service will start taking riders directly to Chicago's lakefront on the following bus routes: No. 35 31st/35th No. 63 63rd No. 72 North No. 78 Montrose Buses will start their trips to those beaches around 9 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Weekday beach service will begin on Monday, June 9. Riders can purchase a pass for unlimited rides for one day for $5 or for three days for $15. For more information on updated CTA routes, visit
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
MSI head curator discusses how Star Wars inspired a generation of women to get involved in STEAM
CHICAGO — Sunday is May 4 and for Star Wars Fans, that means it is a day to remember a cinematic classic and for the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, it can be a door for women to explore careers in STEAM. Head Curator and NASA Solar System Ambassador Dr. Voula Saridakis joined WGN News on Saturday morning to discuss how Star Wars changed how people look at science and inspired a generation of women to get involved in STEAM. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
20-04-2025
- Climate
- Chicago Tribune
Chicagoans take part in ‘hanami' cherry blossom viewing at Jackson Park as blooms make long-awaited return
After a few years of underwhelming results, Chicago's cherry blossoms are back in bloom. People from across Chicagoland flocked to Jackson Park over the weekend to see the pink and white trees in bloom, located just south of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry under the shadow of the Obama Presidential Center development. Visitors took advantage of the trees for a nice photo opportunity or to have a moment of tranquility in the park. The successful bloom results are due to the right temperature balance this year, according to Karen Szyjka, operations support manager for the Chicago Park District. In order to have a successful cherry blossom bloom, Szyjka explained, the trees need to experience a certain period of cold temperatures — known as 'chill hours' — to fully break dormancy and produce their flowers. But fluctuating temperatures and earlier springs in recent years have messed up that process, causing many of the buds to go straight into leaf form. 'I was so sad last year when they didn't bloom. So I've definitely made it a point to come out this year to see them,' said Allison Ernst, 28, who drove down from Ravenswood with her fiance, Brendan Hein, to see the trees. The couple had come once before to Jackson Park to see the cherry blossoms when they were in bloom, but they said that time was toward the end of the bloom, when many of the petals had already fallen off the trees. 'It's beautiful,' Ernst said. 'I've been loving seeing all of the trees around Chicago going into bloom, and it gives so much hope that summer is coming and the weather is changing. It's a really good visual indicator of the seasons turning over.' For others, it was their first time seeing the trees in bloom in Chicago. Clarissa Obregon, 28, felt lucky to have a day off during the bloom, despite the gloomy weather Sunday. 'It's still a lovely day, regardless of the rain. (There's a) good amount of people here, enjoying it with me, so that makes it even better,' Obregon said. The Rogers Park resident is a flight attendant, which means that days off can be unpredictable. She decided to use her day off to sit by the Columbia Basin lagoon and sketch the cherry blossoms in a small green notebook she got from Boise, Idaho. 'I'm trying to build up this little notebook that I got,' Obregon said, who just started filling it up with sketches of little flowers. The first set of cherry blossom trees were planted in 2013 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Another 50 trees were added in the three following years by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago in honor of their 50th anniversary and the relationship between Chicago and Japan, according to the Chicago Park District. The Park District planted an additional 34 trees in the fall of 2022 around the Museum of Science and Industry steps, bringing the total to 190. The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago is also funding the planting of 60 additional cherry blossom trees at the grove in honor of the organization's 60th anniversary. In 2024, 20 trees were planted in the southwest Columbia Basin, north Wooded Island and Japanese Garden areas. This year, sites for another 20 will be identified, and the trees will be planted during the spring and fall planting seasons. Regardless of temperatures and bloom, Chicagoans can also appreciate the bloom cycle. The cherry blossom trees, Szyjka explained, are part of a tradition known as hanami, which is the Japanese word for flower viewing. An important aspect of hanami is appreciating not only the bloom itself, but the transient nature of the flowers. 'The important and beautiful aspect of watching and participating in the whole process is that you're never really assured that you're going to have a bloom, that some years may be great and some years might not be — but that's kind of the way life is,' Szyjka said. 'When there's a beautiful bloom and a beautiful season, you embrace it with everything that you have.' Even when the cycle is finished and the heart-shaped petals are on the ground or floating through air, there is still a beauty for people to appreciate, Szyjka said. 'And to me, there's nothing more beautiful than the end stage, when you see these little hearts floating through the air, or you look down in the ground, you see a little pile of hearts — I just think it's lovely,' Szyjka said. While the cycle is not yet finished, others at Jackson Park expressed a similar sentiment Sunday. Elianis Rosado, 28, has lived in Chicago her whole life but had never seen the cherry blossoms before. The Garfield Park resident visited the trees Sunday with a friend to take photos and enjoy the scenery. 'They're a little paler than I expected, but they're so whimsical, and just seeing the petals blow in the wind was almost cathartic in a way, and just so peaceful,' Rosado said. Chicagoans can also participate in an official hanami festival on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. The festival, which is being held in partnership between the Park District and multiple cultural organizations, will include everything from taiko performances to origami folding. Attendance is free, and more details can be found online at
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Will Johnson: What business can — and should — do for Chicago
Say what you will about his politics, but Ken Griffin was good to Chicago. The hedge fund billionaire donated more than $650 million to institutions including the newly renamed Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago Economics Department, Northwestern Medicine, and the lakefront bicycle and pedestrian trail. His influence touched nearly every corner of the city's civic and cultural life. Then, as Griffin lost confidence in progressive local and state political leadership, he tired of Chicago. After handing out $130 million in parting gifts, he moved his home and company headquarters to southern Florida in 2022. Many locals haven't tired of him — or at least of corporate philanthropists like him. In a poll of representative Chicago adults, 44% said businesses and their executives have a duty to give back to the city, as they historically have done. Nearly 1 in 3 residents also said they believe City Hall isn't getting enough outside business-community advice to address Chicago's most pressing issues. Most Chicagoans don't blame business leaders for that shortfall, however. Instead, 3 out of 5 residents said in another recent survey that Mayor Brandon Johnson isn't doing enough to engage the private sector in revitalizing the city. It may be far-fetched to think Johnson will suddenly embrace business as he approaches the second half of his four-year term. If anything, he may feel pressure to lean further left to shore up support from the City Council's progressive caucus and grassroots groups now questioning his priorities and accomplishments. But corporate executives shouldn't make their charitable giving contingent on an invitation from the mayor. Chicago's needs are too great. And they're only going to grow more urgent as President Donald Trump's administration tightens funding for public health and other social safety net services. Chicago has long benefited from the generosity of hometown industrialists and tycoons, dating to the meatpacking era and extending through the 20th century to today, with support from the McCormicks, Fields, Crowns, Pritzkers and many others — including their spouses, whose names are enshrined on institutions such as the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Business leaders also have taken it upon themselves to rally support for the city through such blue chip organizations as the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club and World Business Chicago. Their collaboration may not be unique in the nation, but their commitment has made Chicago stand out as a municipality where the private and public sectors can put politics aside to work shoulder to shoulder to address crucial challenges. Ken Griffin talks about the Illinois pension crisis and a once-secret meeting with Gov. J.B. Pritzker It's no wonder then that Chicagoans view business leaders as a force for good, though there is a slight generational divide. A majority of residents 55 and older (53%) believe local firms have a responsibility to reinvest in the city. Among adults under 35, including Gen Z and younger millennials, about 40% share that view. Throughout Johnson's tenure, however, executives have complained that they've been sidelined — unlike under predecessors who rose through the business ranks themselves: Lori Lightfoot, a longtime corporate attorney, and Rahm Emanuel, who just returned to investment banking after leaving public office. Today, only three of the metro area's 10 wealthiest companies are still contributing to World Business Chicago, the city's public-private business recruitment agency. Meanwhile, the area has lost the global headquarters of three major firms — Boeing, Caterpillar and Citadel — and seen retrenchment from others such as Walgreens. This has occurred despite the city's history of public-private partnerships and its extraordinary physical and cultural assets. But even if they disagree with the mayor's tax-and-spend policies, business leaders can still step up independently — by directly supporting nonprofits and local causes, as Griffin did in such a meaningful way. That's exactly what the next generation of philanthropists is doing. After a successful career in management consulting, Liam Krehbiel, for one, founded A Better Chicago, a nonprofit venture fund that identifies and invests in youth-serving community organizations. Since its launch, A Better Chicago has raised tens of millions of dollars with the goal of freeing children and young adults from intergenerational poverty. Another is serial entrepreneur Pete Kadens, co-founder of Hope Chicago. Backed by more than a dozen family foundations and companies, Hope Chicago fully funds college educations for high school graduates on the West and South sides, along with one of their parents, who wouldn't be able to afford the price tag of a degree on their own. Their generosity seems only fitting. After all, from those to whom much has been given, much is expected.
