Logan Square residents, neighbors and art enthusiasts took to the Milwaukee Avenue Arts Fest (MAAF) during the weekend to celebrate art, music and food.
While art was the showcase of the festival, thirsty patrons were sated with Lemon Shakeups from Marian’s Sweet Tooth, and sangria from Lula Cafe (@lulacafe, 2537 N. Kedzie Ave.) and beer from sponsor Goose Island, likely paired with tacos from Tixteco’s (@TixtecoMexicanR, 3334 N. Milwaukee Ave), dogs from food truck Haute Sausage (@hautesausage) and “links” of a different sort from Ćevapčići (@cevaps) who grilled up its special brand of beef-lamb-pork-garlic-spices sausage served on a flatbread that savvy samplers top with onions and the available zesty red pepper sauce.
A Little Cartoony Love Story
In a bit of “cartoon improv” set up on the sidewalk at MAAF, LoganSquarist found two artists from Logan Square’s Beauty & Brawn Gallery (3501 W. Fullerton Ave.). A classic story of girl meets boy on the Blue Line train: Alex Nall struck up a conversation with Rachel Foss about the bag she was toting from the Center for Cartoon Studies (yes, a cartoon school, located in Vermont).
The two Logan Square residents put the finishing touches on a canvas piece that told their story in cartoon panels. Foss made the panels on the left, while Nall handled the right. Neither commented on the other’s individual efforts.
There were some “musts,” according to Foss.
“I insisted she walk out of the theater with popcorn,” Foss says of the image of the girl walking out of the Logan Theater in a panel. “We both love this neighborhood, so we incorporated it.”
The middle story parts are where they came together. Big fans of Johnny’s Grill on Logan and Kedzie, the two felt it was important to pay homage to the now-shuttered greasy spoon. And the final bit of the story shows the two characters—one male, one female—at a table, drawing.
Other Pop-ups along Milwaukee
Art popped up in several unused storefronts as well, curated by I Am Logan Square (@IAmLoganSquare, 2644 N. Milwaukee Ave.). South Logan Arts Coalition artists populated a space near Diversey Avenue with a sign warning visitors to beware of exposed nails.
The spaces were really the perfect place for pieces such as the Flesh Pocket series from Raeleen Kao and the Rorschach-reminiscent ensemble from Timothy McMullen.
Dubbed “Urban Wild,” a garden-like installation was described as “a small intervention in the urban fabric that helps us imagine nature coming into the city and flourishing through breaks in the asphalt.”
The Whistler (@WhistlerChicago, 2421 N. Milwaukee Ave.) even had a take on the pop-up by offering fest goers a Pop-Up Cocktail Bar.
Craft-loving people were able to participate in art making at Missio Dei Chicago’s button making station. Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (@intuitartcenter, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave.) also hosted volunteers ready to introduce kids to print making. In this pop-up space, Intuit also showed works that aren’t permanently on display in its gallery, like Frank Signoretti’s (Untitled) Madonna and Child, a piece Signoretti created by sewing a collection of buttons to velvet. Illustrations and acrylic paintings from Migdalia Galarza, an associate of Puerto Rican Arts Alliance were also displayed.
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