MUSEUM DEBUTS THREE-STORY DOTS OBSESSION INFINITY ROOM INSTALLATION BY YAYOI KUSAMA

CHICAGO – WNDR Museum, Chicago’s original immersive art and technology experience, located in the city’s West Loop, has announced the U.S. debut of the yellow Dots Obsession, a three-story immersive infinity installation by the globally iconic Yayoi Kusama, on Friday, May 12.

Featuring a series of floating yellow and black polka dots alongside walk-in and peep-in installations, Dots Obsession will fill WNDR’s atrium and transport visitors into Kusama’s obsession with polka dots, repetition, celestial bodies and the experience of the infinite.

“Since my childhood, I have always made works with polka dots. Earth, moon, sun and human beings all represent dots; a single particle among billions,” Yayoi Kusama has said. spirit, we’re thrilled to bring these iconic Kusama infinity room installations to WNDR guests in Chicago and across the country.”

The collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Kusama, first in 2012 and then again in 2023, has further expanded attention and affection of the 94-year-old renowned artist. While Yayoi Kusama fans in New York City are anticipating her upcoming May 2023 show featuring new work at David Zwirner, the presentation of yellow Dots Obsession at WNDR Museum offers the unique opportunity for an up-close and personal experience of the artist’s vision.

Dots Obsession was created by Yayoi Kusama in 2008 and has been exhibited around the world. After making its debut in London, the work has appeared in Lithuania, Singapore and Australia, and was most recently on view at Museum MACAN in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018. This will be the first time that yellow Dots Obsession will be installed in the United States.

The installation of Dots Obsession furthers WNDR Museum’s commitment to making fine art accessible and approachable, notably featuring the Midwest’s only Kusama Infinity Room, Let’s Survive Forever, since WNDR’s inception in 2018. Serving as a longtime centerpiece of its flagship Chicago location, Let’s Survive Forever is slated to close at WNDR Museum Chicago on April 30 before traveling to WNDR Boston which opens this summer at 500 Washington Street.

In addition to Dots Obsession in Chicago and Let’s Survive Forever soon to be arriving in Boston, visitors to WNDR Museum’s recently opened Seattle location will find Starry Pumpkin (2016), an iconic work of Kusama’s pumpkin sculpture series.

WNDR Museum offers an unparalleled art and technology experience. WNDR guests are immersed in a multi-dimensional journey in which they participate and engage in the artworks, interacting with various installations through motion, sound, taste, smell and more. WNDR Museum is home to more than 20 installations that are designed to awaken guests’ senses through mind-expanding experience and provocation.

Open seven days a week, WNDR Museum was recently voted one of the top five immersive art experiences in the country by USA Today’s 2022 Reader Poll. The original WNDR Museum is located in Chicago’s West Loop, and WNDR Museum San Diego and WNDR Museum Seattle are now open, with WNDR Museum Boston opening in early summer 2023. Additional locations of WNDR Museum will be announced in the coming months. Tickets are timed entry and should be purchased in advance.

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BOOMING GAINS IN GOVERNMENT PENSION FUNDS LIKELY SHORT-LIVED; AIRPORTS BOOST ECONOMY WITHOUT BURDENING PROPERTY TAXPAYERS, REPORT FINDS

A once-in-a-generation investment market for government worker pension funds likely will be fleeting, according to a Cook County Treasurer’s Office report of local government debt.

The office’s latest analysis shows overall local government debt in Cook County rose 1.6% to $160.5 million from fiscal 2020 to 2021 — a modest increase held in check by the exceptional investment performance of the pension funds. But those gains are expected to be diminished by investment losses in fiscal 2022 that have yet to be fully recorded.

The report, based on data submitted to Treasurer Maria Pappas under the Debt Disclosure Ordinance enacted at Pappas’ urging in 2009, also explains how the region’s primary economic engines — its two airports — rack up significant debt that is no burden on Chicago property taxpayers. Although billions of dollars of debt stem from work at O’Hare and Midway airports, all of it is paid off with federal revenue and from fees and taxes paid by airline travelers.

That’s just one way some types of local debt don’t push up property taxes. That’s also the case for water and sewer line upgrade debt, which is paid off with water and sewer fees, and bonds backed by sales taxes instead of property taxes. Those alternate debt-funding sources help explain why Chicago has one of the lowest tax rates in Cook County despite having one of the highest debt levels.

The report also explains why some predominantly minority south suburbs have high property tax rates despite relatively low amounts of overall debt. That occurs when troubled finances constrain the ability to borrow, forcing local leaders to instead raise property taxes to fund government.

In addition, this report includes dozens of governments previously excluded for lack of adequate assessment data, including 13 additional municipalities, 17 more school districts and 50 other local governments.

“This is the ultimate in government accountability,” Pappas said. “It opens government books that were previously closed. People can now see where their tax money goes and how much debt their governments have incurred.” The latest debt report can be found at cookcountytreasurer.com.

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Created by Kusama in 2017 and considered to be one of her masterpieces, Let’s Survive Forever features stainless steel balls suspended from the ceiling and arranged on the floor; an enclosed column within the room offers yet another mirrored environment accessible through peepholes. A sense of infinity is offered through the play of reflections between the circular shapes and the surrounding mirrors on the room’s walls.

“Yayoi Kusama is perhaps the most prolific and celebrated living artist with a truly inspiring history of creative genius, and we are committed to the idea that her work should be experienced by the public as a source of awe and inspiration,” said WNDR Museum Creative Director David Allen. “At WNDR Museum, we are disrupting the sense of exclusivity and distance that too often has marked the experience of art, and we are redefining the museum as a source of engagement and inspirational playfulness – in that

General admission tickets to WNDR Museum Chicago start at $32 and must be purchased in advance at www.wndrchicago.com. Children’s tickets are available for ages 12 and under starting at $22. Children under ages two and under receive free admission. Those looking to elevate their WNDR Museum experience can take advantage of WNDR’s new Premium Pack for $50 per ticket. The Premium Pack includes expedited entry into WNDR Museum, a limited-edition, collector pin (which rotates designs seasonally), WNDR photo memory, 10 percent off at The WNDR Store and a WNDR re-run, allowing them to enjoy a second lap through WNDR Museum to revisit their favorite installations before exiting.

Chicago Hours of Operation:

Monday - Thursday: 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Friday - Saturday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. For more information, visit www. wndrmuseum.com and follow WNDR Museum on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok.

SENATOR VAN PELT ANNOUNCES $1 MILLION INVESTMENT IN UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO’S EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM

State Senator Patricia Van Pelt announced that the University of Chicago will receive a $1 million Early Childhood Faculty Preparation grant to increase the number of early childhood providers and faculty diversity in the field.

“Providing early childhood education workers with more applicable resources and tools allows our community to become stronger and our children to have a better chance at success,” said Van Pelt (D-Chicago). “This funding will provide students seeking to enter the early childhood workforce better opportunities to do so.”

The Illinois Board of Higher Education awarded $3.37 million in Early Childhood Faculty Preparation grants to four universities, including $1,027,989 to the University of Chicago. This funding is designed to implement programs of study for working adults from diverse backgrounds and those who work with diverse populations interested in becoming early childhood faculty. The grants will fund scholarships and other academic and holistic supports for 78 students to earn master’s degrees.

“This funding allows us to provide a diversified education curriculum and faculty that can meet the needs of all students from an early age,” said Van Pelt. “We owe it to our youth to enrich their early childhood experience while making sure educators feel secure in doing their jobs at the highest level.”

The Early Childhood Faculty Preparation Grants are a part of the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity initiative, a key strategy in A Thriving Illinois, the state’s strategic plan for higher education. Those who enroll in the programs are expected to graduate by the summer of 2024.