A solo exhibition of drawings, and a new book

Historically, Chicago common bricks were known as the ugliest bricks in the world. Made from glacial clay deposits that the city sits atop of, production of Chicago commons dramatically expanded after the Great Fire and helped the city rebuild with fire-resistant materials. Today you can spot Chicago commons all over the city but most often you will see them lining the side of an old apartment building. Designers had a knack for hiding Chicago commons where they’d be harder to see and used nicer looking face bricks from Philadelphia or other cities to enhance curb appeal. Because Chicago commons have a very specific look, the contrast between the bricks on the front of a building and the bricks on the side could be quite stark. Credit: Will Quam, Brick of Chicago For more pictures of beautiful bricks and buildings be sure to follow Brick of Chicago on Instagram: @brickofchicago. Credit: Will Quam, Brick of Chicago

What to do when your child’s ethics don’t match your own.

Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.

CHICAGO — Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit, reader-funded newsroom focused on Chicago’s neighborhoods, was honored with the 2026 Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the organization announced this week. The newsroom was recognized for our “extraordinary courage” in covering the 2025 federal immigration crackdown in Chicago, and for its persistent defense of First Amendment rights while covering Operation Midway Blitz. After four of our journalists were tear-gassed and shot with pepper-spray bullets by federal agents at the Broadview detention facility last fall, Block Club joined the Chicago Headline Club and others to sue the federal government challenging the attacks on journalists. The groups were represented pro-bono by attorneys with Loevy + Loevy, the ACLU of Illinois and other firms. As a result of the October 2025 lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order affirming journalists’ First Amendment protections and restricting federal agents from using force against journalists covering protests, protecting reporters across a dozen Northern Illinois counties. Ellis also found the federal government repeatedly lied and misled the public about agents’ excessive use of force. Earlier in the year, in May 2025, Block Club sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for failing to comply with the Freedom of Information Act after the agencies ignored our requests for Chicago immigration arrest records for months. While some records have since been released, that lawsuit is ongoing. Despite the challenges, Block Club reporters went on to publish more than 230 stories during the operation, including reporting that attorneys used to help secure the release of at least 17 detained people, and records released under our lawsuits informed our reporting. “Their reporters faced powerful institutions and real pressure, yet continued to pursue stories their communities needed,” said Society for Professional Journalists Foundation President Hagit Limor. “We are proud to stand with them, celebrate their work and defend the First Amendment freedoms that make it possible.” The Society of Professional Journalists Foundation also honored Stocktonia, a newsroom serving Stockton, California, for its reporting exposing unproven allegations used by the government to obtain a warrant to search a school board member’s home during a corruption investigation. The Pulliam Award is named after the late Eugene S. Pulliam, who was publisher of The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News until his death in 1999 and was known for championing First Amendment rights and values. Block Club and Stocktonia will be recognized at the Society of Professional Journalists’ national convention Oct. 1-4 in Columbus, Ohio. Scenes from a standoff at 105th and Avenue N on Chicago’s East Side between federal agents and residents on Oct. 14, 2025. Credit: Matthew Kaplan for Block Club Chicago ## More Midway Blitz Awards In July, Block Club’s project “Chicago Under Siege: How Operation Midway Blitz Changed Our City” — which combined investigative, archival and analysis techniques to create a permanent record of what happened in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz — won the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting. Building on Block Club’s on-the-ground reporting during the operation, “Chicago Under Siege” investigated 16 key events from the fall’s unprecedented federal immigration enforcement action, documenting the fear people lived in, the ways they sought to organize and resist, and the heartbreak they experienced. Block Club reporters, led by Francia Garcia Hernandez and Madison Savedra, spoke to more than 60 people, reviewed hundreds of pages of records and court documents and watched and analyzed hours of video to bring the project to light. What emerged was that the federal government’s version of events, in ways big and small, did not match Chicagoans’ experiences. “Chicago Under Siege” and Block Club’s related coverage of Operation Midway Blitz reporting has also been recognized as a finalist for the Scripps Distinguished Service to the First Amendment Award, as well as a winner of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Investigative Reporting and three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club. It is also nominated for two LION Publishers’ Sustainability Awards in the Public Service and Community Engagement categories. U.S. Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino and agents gather for a photo at Millennium Park and the Cloud Gate after the winter storm overnight in Chicago on Nov. 10, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago Garcia Hernandez, who covers Southwest Side immigrant neighborhoods for Block Club, was honored with the Uplifting Voices Award from Public Narrative and the Nonprofit Newcomer of the Year Award from the Institute for Nonprofit News for her Midway Blitz reporting. Director of Photography Colin Boyle won the LoSAH Center for Hope Community Champion Award for his work documenting the operation. Block Club launched in 2018 with eight reporters and editors and has grown sustainably to a staff of 42, publishing more than 32,000 stories and growing to cover dozens of new neighborhoods in that time. The newsroom has been named Editor & Publisher’s Best News Site, Local Independent Online News Publishers’ Business of the Year and Publisher of the Year, the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Community Champion of the Year and the city’s Best Newsletter six years in a row by the Chicago Reader. * * * **Support Local News!** **Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, **an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? **Click here to gift a subscription** , or you can **support Block Club with atax-deductible donation.** **Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:** ## Yes, Mayor Johnson Can Win Re-Election. Here's How. – The Block Club Chicago Podcast 1. Yes, Mayor Johnson Can Win Re-Election. Here's How. 35:16 2. It's Never Been Harder To Be A Kid. How Chicago Parents Can Help. 32:13 3. Why One Chicago Non-Profit Wants All Your Amazon Boxes 16:40 4. Will The Wettest Summer In South Side History Impact The Fall Election? 16:45 5. Turns Out You Can Be Discriminated Against At Work. Here's How. 24:45