Zoe Pharo

Rogers Park

Staff writer for @HydeParkHerald and freelancer. Previously @inthesetimesmag @gonggershowitz. Send tips to: [email protected]

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Articles

XS Tennis founder proposes dual hotel-apartment complex near athletic center

1 week ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

A former U.S. Open coach and the founder of a prominent youth tennis organization is spearheading a new proposal to build a dual hotel-apartment complex in the Washington Park neighborhood. The development, pitched by XS Tennis & Education Foundation founder Kamau Murray, is a two-building project proposed for the vacant lot at 5301 S.
Artists refresh area viaducts with 19 new works

2 weeks ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

Fantasía Ariel Graham carried her 1-year-old daughter, Winter, up close to her large, colorful painting of three Chicagoans newly installed in the 55th Street viaduct. “I don’t get to paint as much with her around, but it’s nice that she sees something that I do,” said Graham, a Woodlawn resident. Her piece, “Colorful Stories,” is a triptych of portraits digitally printed on an eight- by 16-foot steel panel.
Fiber Friends Studios opens shop on 55th Street

2 weeks ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

Fiber Friends Studios, which has for years hosted meet-ups for local knitters, crocheters and other fiber arts crafters around the neighborhood, now has a permanent location on 55th Street. The venture, a combination yarn store and meeting space, opened for business at 1744 E. 55th St. in late April. Its founder, Tina Miklas, said she and her husband moved in and had two weeks to get it ready by Local Yarn Store Day on April 26.
Spring garden fair returns this week in new location

3 weeks ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

The Hyde Park Garden Fair, Chicago’s oldest community garden sale, will bring back hundreds of milkweeds, rare hot peppers, rose bushes and more to the neighborhood this weekend. The 64th annual event will be held May 16 and May 17 at the fair’s new location in Kimbark Plaza, 53rd Street and Kimbark Avenue. Fair hours will be from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Shelter at Heart of Hyde Park Debate Helps Residents Raise Children and Integrate

1 month ago | southsideweekly.com | Zoe Pharo |Jacqueline Serrato

This story is co-published with the Hyde Park Herald. Carlos and Rocío Rojas arrived in Chicago last June with their fifteen-year-old daughter, Yuliana, after a months-long journey through seven countries. Fleeing Venezuela’s collapsed economy and political repression, they often traveled long distances on foot, sometimes sleeping on the streets.
‘It was a blessing’: families get fresh start at Hyde Park shelter

1 month ago | hpherald.com | Jacqueline Serrato |Zoe Pharo

Editor's note: This story is co-published with the South Side Weekly. Carlos and Rocío Rojas arrived in Chicago last June with their 15-year-old daughter, Yuliana, after a months-long journey through seven countries. Fleeing Venezuela’s collapsed economy and political repression, they often traveled long distances on foot, sometimes sleeping on the streets.
KAM II’s green transition

1 month ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

Beneath the intricate stained glass and brickwork of KAM Isaiah Israel’s century-old sanctuary, something hums quietly below the surface — not a pipe organ, but a high-efficiency geothermal system. Geothermal systems utilize an underground grid of pipes to heat and cool rooms. It can pipe in heat from below the earth’s surface in the winter and pump heat out of the building and back into the ground in the summer.
‘It was a blessing’: families get fresh start at Hyde Park shelter

1 month ago | hpherald.com | Jacqueline Serrato |Zoe Pharo

Editor's note: This story is co-published with the South Side Weekly. Carlos and Rocío Rojas arrived in Chicago last June with their 15-year-old daughter, Yuliana, after a months-long journey through seven countries. Fleeing Venezuela’s collapsed economy and political repression, they often traveled long distances on foot, sometimes sleeping on the streets.
Three U. of C. instructors named Guggenheim fellows

1 month ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

Three University of Chicago faculty members are among this year’s Guggenheim fellows. The Guggenheim Foundation offers fellowships to “exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge.” Local awardees are Theaster Gates, an artist and professor; Richie Hofmann, a poet and lecturer; and Marcus Kronforst, a professor of ecology and evolution.
Tenants of troubled Kenwood building served eviction notices amid rent strike

1 month ago | hpherald.com | Zoe Pharo

Tenants of the troubled Ellis Lakeview Apartments are protesting eviction orders served amid a months-long rent strike they’re waging to force management to make repairs and collectively bargain with them. Major repairs have halted and regular maintenance is slow or unresponsive,” said Kimberly Marzette, a resident of 15 years, at a rally outside her Kenwood building.