The Chicago scene is very diverse yet the “official” recognition of that diversity — and the quality it fosters — is puny and demeaning. And yet, ironically, Chicago has always favored strong individualist go-it-alone- artists, writers and musicians, at least, and some of them have altered the history of modernist life.

In recent decades the sensibility of the individualist “Chicago Style” — not a regional but a universal trait — has been almost destroyed by a marketer-cum-curator partnership that nourishes facile, soup-of-the soup “international” trends as genuine innovation. Strong original art is easily overlooked in such a climate.

I applaud your efforts to give artists a stronger voice through your site.