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Chicago-born artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn sits in his recreated childhood living room on May 20, 2026, at the National Public Housing Museum as part of his exhibit, “Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter to My Mother.” The exhibit runs until Aug. 23. (Eunice Alpasan / WTTW News)
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Chicago-born artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn described his experience growing up in public housing at the Robert Taylor Homes as a cycle of pain and violence with a lack of resources.
But the walls of the apartment also served as his first drawing pad.
Quinn, now based in Brooklyn, is opening his first museum show in Chicago this week.
“Nathaniel Mary Quinn: A Love Letter to My Mother” opens at the National Public Housing Museum on Thursday and runs until Aug. 23. The exhibit is dedicated to his late mother.
“I always say that Robert Taylor Homes were incredibly efficient at killing dreams,” Quinn said. “If it had not been for my mother, that community surely would have killed my dream.”
Quinn will celebrate the opening of his exhibit Thursday with a free neighborhood picnic and an artist conversation from 5-8 p.m. at the museum. The opening comes on the heels of Quinn — known for his style of collage-like portraits — creating the album cover for the upcoming Rolling Stones album, “Foreign Tongues.”
His exhibit at the National Public Housing Museum features 10 artworks, along with a recreation of his childhood living room at the Robert Taylor Homes as he remembered it.
After initial disapproval, Quinn said his mother eventually allowed him to draw on the walls and would even wash the walls down to create a new canvas for him. Quinn also remembered his mother’s physical disabilities following two strokes. He recalled memories of her folding clothes, cooking meals, mopping the floor and even mounting a curtain in the window — all while only using one arm.
“That’s why all the works look so disjointed, but to me that’s beautiful because that was my mother’s body, so I’m trying to reflect her body in all of my works,” Quinn said. “That’s what I’m constantly pursuing: to recreate my mother somehow."
The museum will host a series of conversations about the history of the Robert Taylor Homes. Speakers include community organizer and former Robert Taylor Homes resident Ron Carter on May 31; and Brad Hunt, Loyola history professor and author of “Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing,” on June 14.
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The CTA’s South Terminal at 95th/Dan Ryan on the Red Line opened in April 2018. A plan to extend the Red Line would connect the terminal to 130th Street. (Chicago Transit Authority / Flickr)
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It’s nearly the fifth anniversary of Chicago’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) Policy Plan.
The 2021 strategy made between the city and Elevated Chicago was devised to increase the number of developments built near public transit while prioritizing affordability, accessibility, anti-displacement efforts and community leadership.
A new report by Elevated Chicago examined the last five years of ETOD policy and found the city has made significant progress in its push to increase the number of ETODs, but warned investment remains deeply uneven with many South and West Side neighborhoods still lacking the same benefits as their northern counterparts.
Previous transit-oriented development policies disproportionately benefited wealthier, mostly white neighborhoods, according to the report. Between 2016 and 2020, nearly 90% of traditional transit-oriented developments were on the North Side.
“When we’re thinking about neighborhoods that have been structurally put out of place or disinvested in, we’re thinking of Black and Brown neighborhoods,” said Nina Idemudia, CEO of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). “Depending on the ZIP code, a bank won’t make a loan to you or an investor won’t take a chance on you just because of where you want to put your business, which puts the vulnerable communities that CNT and Elevated Chicago cares about at a disadvantage.”
The report cites the 2022 Connected Communities Ordinance as the city’s greatest reform to equitable transit-oriented developments. It reduced, or eliminated in some cases, parking minimums near transit; incentivized the creation of affordable housing units; and promoted pedestrian-friendly designs, among other structural changes.
“We co-convened with the city and that really has been the driver of all of this success,” said Juan Sebastian Arias, executive director at Elevated Chicago. “There are some barriers that we still see, challenges we see in our zoning and how our city is zoned and what kind of developments we allow to have near transit.”
Arias sees opportunities for greater expansion along the upcoming CTA Red Line extension project and around the Orange Line on the Southwest Side of the city.
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(WTTW News)
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The tipped minimum wage will stay on the books in Chicago for an additional two years — until 2030 — under a measure approved Wednesday by the Chicago City Council.
The measure, crafted by Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett (27th Ward), means that tipped workers in Chicago would not get another city-ordered wage boost as scheduled on July 1, 2026, or July 1, 2027.
While supporters of the measure depicted it as a compromise designed to protect the health of Chicago’s hospitality industry, Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) called the measure “an economic betrayal and moral failure” that would harm the most vulnerable Chicagoans.
“There is a difference between a compromise and a cave-in,” Ervin said. “This is a cave-in on the people on the South and West sides of Chicago. We know your rent is skyrocketing. Inflation is up. You don’t have access to the same healthcare things as other communities do. But we’ll catch up with you in 11 years. We’ll catch up with you down the road.”
Ervin cast the only dissenting vote. That ensures that even if Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed the measure, the City Council could easily override his effort to prevent the measure — which was crafted without the mayor’s input — from becoming law.
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Back in the Day: May 21, 2021 - Hundreds March in Loop Following Ceasefire of the 2021 Israel-Palestine Crisis
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On this day five years ago, Israel and Hamas signed a mutual, unconditional ceasefire ending 11 days of fighting that killed more than 250 people. After the news broke, hundreds of people gathered in downtown Chicago to support the Palestinian people and celebrate the temporary armistice. The rally started in Congress Plaza Garden and marchers moved north on Michigan Avenue toward Wacker Drive before ending at Federal Plaza. Among the speakers at the march was U.S. Rep. Marie Newman. “We just want to live in prosperity, with generations of kids growing up just like we are in America,” an attendee told ABC 7 Chicago. Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Gaza War has killed more than 75,000 Palestinians and more than 2,000 Israelis.
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This Week’s Arts and Culture Events
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Every Thursday, WTTW News newsletter producer Josh Terry highlights his picks for the week’s must-see cultural events.
It’s a long holiday weekend, which can mean several things: more time to rest and relax, an extra day off from work, and more opportunities to explore the city’s rich cultural offerings. Whether your favorite medium is film, theater, music or fine art, Chicago will be able to provide for your entertainment this Memorial Day weekend.
Film: “Screening & Talk | 4×4: Contemporary Art in Chicago” — MCA Chicago
On Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the MCA Chicago, Pentimenti Productions is hosting "4×4: Contemporary Art in Chicago," a screening of four short documentary films about Chicago artists, all of which are directed by local filmmakers. Here's a list of the shorts on the docket: director cai thomas' "we are two," Erin Babbin & Michael Sullivan's "Errol Ortiz: Headspace," Alex Morelli's "Beneath the Surface of the Everyday" and Kevin Shaw's "I Dreamt of Cowboys, Cottonfields, and Clouds – Bernard Williams." For tickets and more info, click here.
Theater: “Monty Python's Spamalot” — CIBC Theatre
What you need to know about "Monty Python's Spamalot" is in its subtitle, "A New Musical (Lovingly) Ripped Off From the Motion Picture 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.'" The musical, which was penned by comedian Eric Idle along with composer John Du Prez first premiered in Chicago in 2004 at the Shubert Theatre. It’s back for another engagement at the CIBC Theatre. For tickets, click here.
Performance: “Sound & Fury” — Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Conductor James Gaffigan (not the comedian) leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this weekend in a program called "Sound & Fury." Among the pieces slated to be performed include Grieg's "Holberg Suite," Kreisler's "Violin Concerto in C Major (In the Style of Vivaldi)," Clyne's "Sound and Fury" and Haydn's "Symphony No. 101 in D Major (The Clock)." For more information and tickets, click here.
Art: St. Charles Fine Art Show — Downtown St. Charles
Head to the north suburbs Saturday and Sunday for a two-day art show and fair in downtown St. Charles. It’ll happen from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday on Riverside Avenue between Main Street and Illinois Avenue. The event will boast more than 110 artists showcasing their work. For more information, click here.
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What's your favorite sandwich shop in the city? Tell us what to order.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published.
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Lucha libre, or “free wrestling,” is woven into the fabric of Mexico’s cultural identity. A look into how Luchadoras — female lucha libre wrestlers — challenge this machismo culture and break barriers.
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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