Kerry Cardoza

Chicago

Culture Editor at Chicago Reader

culture editor @Chicago_Reader, intellectual genie. organizing @FSP_NWU @Reader_Union

Articles

Prism/Prison uplifts the work of incarcerated artists - Chicago Reader

1 week ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

In general, maps aren’t allowed. Neither are annotations. Some prohibit coloring books or books with blank pages. Others ban anime or calendars or books on astrology. Several ban books that mention gender or sexuality or depict violence or nudity. These are just a few of the seemingly random mail restrictions at the prisons served by Chicago Books to Women in Prison (CBWP).
Good luck hunting

2 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

Matt & Ben begins with the audacious presumption that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, then Hollywood nobodies, couldn’t possibly have written the screenplay for Good Will Hunting—which ultimately garnered them an Academy Award. Written by Mindy Kaling (then a fellow Cambridge-raised unknown) and her college bestie Brenda Withers, Matt & Ben is a riotously funny journey to early 90s Somerville, Massachusetts.
Bombón at Cadinho Bakery & Cafe

3 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

Reader Bites celebrates dishes, drinks, and atmospheres from the Chicagoland food scene. Have you had a recent food or drink experience that you can’t stop thinking about? Share it with us at [email protected]. McKinley Park’s Cadinho Bakery & Cafe is inspired by the culinary delights of Portugal. But the idea for its mouthwatering bombón espresso drink—technically of Spanish origin—actually came from a visit that proprietor Alejandra Rivera made to her hometown of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Is SAIC trying to stifle free speech?

3 weeks ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

Kelly Xi became an artist by chance. As an undergraduate, her focus was initially on molecular biology. But a scheduling conflict landed her in a Photoshop class instead of the molecular genetics class she’d intended to take, and her life course was forever changed. “From that first interface I was like, ‘Oh I could do this,’” Xi said.
Locals only - Chicago Reader

2 months ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

My tenure in Chicago dates back almost precisely to EXPO Chicago’s launch in 2012. While I haven’t had the privilege of attending every year, I have caught quite a few, and without fail, my favorite presentations are always from local institutions. There was Paige Taul’s indelible short film 7-7-94 For my babe, shown at Chicago Artists Coalition’s booth in 2022. That same year, everyone was buzzing about local artist Soumya Netrabile’s rich, kinetic paintings presented by Andrew Rafacz.
You are on Native land

2 months ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

The Block Museum’s monumental “Woven Being” is expansive yet concise, not so much a group exhibition as a mapping of diverse but related Indigenous art. To put it together, four artists with connections to Chicagoland—Andrea Carlson, Kelly Church, Nora Moore Lloyd, and Jason Wesaw—worked with the museum to choose works to feature alongside their own. The result, which includes mostly but not exclusively contemporary Indigenous artists, is rich and generous with perspective.
Review: Out of the Picture

2 months ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

More than a decade ago, journalist Deborah Solomon opined that there were fewer than ten full-time art critics employed in the U.S. While it’s hard to get a precise count, odds are that number is even lower now, as media outlets across the country have shed more than 20,000 jobs since then. (And, no, Chicago doesn’t have one.)Longtime art critic Mary Louise Schumacher tackles this free fall in her new documentary, Out of the Picture.
The legacy of Marty Goddard

2 months ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

Content note: This story contains descriptions of police violence and sexual assault. In the 1970s, as today, sexual assault was among the least reported violent crime in the U.S. Marital rape was still legal (it wasn’t made a crime in all 50 states until 1993). In Chicago, when people did report a sexual assault to law enforcement, the response from police or medical examiners could be traumatizing in itself and rarely resulted in a conviction.
Demystifying death

2 months ago | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

“This is a computer. It’s a wooden computer made of wood and metal.” I’m at the cozy home studio of artist Anders Zanichkowsky, who is explaining the complicated basics of their canopy-bed-sized, 24-harness AVL mechanical dobby production loom, on which they weave gorgeous, luxurious blankets by hand—most of which are intended for burial. Zanichkowsky launched Burial Blankets, as his business is known, in the fall of 2021. It was the perfect melding of several longtime interests.
Inside the vibrant, joy-filled world of Arts of Life

Mar 19, 2025 | chicagoreader.com | Kerry Cardoza

An artist in paint-splattered black clothes puts the finishing touches on a busy, vibrant acrylic scene on an oversize canvas. Nearby another artist—a face mask tucked beneath her chin—leans over a comic-like illustration, carefully coloring in the black outlined drawing with green marker.