Rahm Emanuel Vows to Take on Miami in Making Chicago an Art Market Staple

This weekend, following a much needed haircut, this writer accidentally happened to pass by the Coonley Elementary School here in Chicago at roughly the same time that former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was officially entering this city’s mayoral race. While there was some commotion, including dozens of broadcasting trucks and protesters outside yelling about something, it was a relatively subdued affair. But after weeks of travel and not paying any attention to much of anything outside of airplane schedules and what’s on our computer screens, it finally got us thinking about what Chicago would be like with Emanuel as our mayor. In how this relates to UnBeige (we’re trying desperately to make a smooth segue here), ArtNet was on hand to pull out some good details from a recent interview with Emanuel in the local edition of Time Out, wherein, among other arts-specific items, he says “…we should restore the Chicago Art Expo‘s rightful place next to the Basel Expo in Miami.” While we’re not sure when exactly we were ever able to compete with the annual mega-fest down in Florida, it’s positive to see some forward thinking about pushing Chicago’s place in the arts. Though the underlying tone of ArtNet’s synopsis, which is perhaps a better read than the interview itself, seems none too positive about the candidate himself.