Kate Rockwood - Editing

Midwest Current

katerock — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:21:01 -0400

In Fall 2007, I acted as editor-in-chief of Midwest Current, an internationally distributed launch prototype and demonstration website printed by the Medill School of Journalism. The 16-member graduate team produced a bimonthly regional travel publication aimed at smart, sophisticated travelers. In addition to the 58-page prototype and website, we crafted a media kit, business plan, and investment presentation, which we delivered to an editorial panel at the offices of Meredith Corporation.

Little Books in the Prairie

katerock — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:57:17 -0400

Aspiring architects, practicing professionals and design fetishists from around the globe flock to Chicago not just to gawk at the architecture, but to prowl through the stacks at Prairie Avenue Bookshop, dubbed “the best architectural bookshop in the world” by London’s Financial Times. Founded in 1974, the store was the accidental outgrowth of Marilyn and Wilbert R. Hasbrouck’s original business ventures, an architecture and design journal and a publishing company that reprints architecture books.

Written by Clay Dillow. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Flowering Fete

katerock — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:35:17 -0400

For the 100th year, the Garfield Park Conservatory will burst with azaleas during a frozen Chicago spring. The conservatory, which hosts its centennial birthday bash this April, encircles a humid paradise as lush and verdant today as it was at its opening in 1908.

Written by Megan McCormack. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Drifting Through the Driftless Area

katerock — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:08:09 -0400

The Driftless Area may be known as the land the glaciers forgot, but a drive through this emerald valley landscape—drenched in history and oozing with art—is definitely a trip you'll remember. We've mined the area's nooks and crannies, its blockbuster must-sees, and its untapped riches.

Written by Clay Dillow, Phillip Kaplan, Jessica Linn, Christine Pae, and Kate Rockwood. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Girlsterus Americanus

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:44:23 -0400

For the fourth time in a week, I've found myself waiting outside the oversized doors of American Girl Place. This time it's 8:40 a.m. on a Saturday. In a piercing Chicago wind tunnel. With the swirling movement that accompanies slow-motion flashbacks, 80 young girls stir around me wearing velvet dresses, colored tights and patent leather party shoes. Their small arms clutch, on one side, their mothers' arms and, on the other—with closer attention and care—their tiny dolls' hands.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Three for the Road

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:18:00 -0400

Mix together a weekend tour of Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky for the perfect potion of nature and history. Start with a surprising bit of Midwestern terrain: the cypress swamps of southern Illinois. Then on to bird-watching sans binoculars at the Audubon Museum, before traveling through time to New Harmony’s 19th-century utopias.

Written by Kunur Patel. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Kansas City's Sizzling Arts Scene

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:09:56 -0400

I say: KC. You say: Artistic black hole? Think again. Recent urban renewal has transformed the city's gritty downtown district into a blazing arts area, brimming with creativity and community. Our in-the-know look at the artistic revival that's shaking this city's very core.

Written by Lillian Cunningham. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Paradise Lost

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:53:44 -0400

Known as the "Black Eden of Michigan," the rural resort town of Idlewild was once a haven for the nation's middle-class African-Americans during years of intense racism and discrimination. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, however, visitors dwindled and the community fell into disrepair. A few faithful residents are now working to restore the idyllic town to its former splendor.

Written by Yasmin Rammohan. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

Iowa City a la Mode

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:41:49 -0400

From hot-off-the-runway designers to handmade jewelry and custom-mixed perfumes, these shops catapult Iowa City into the world of high fashion. The city's Pedestrian Mall (known as the Ped Mall to locals) is perfectly situated in the center of the Old Capitol Cultural District. With the University of Iowa and its many style conscious students only steps away, modish boutiques and specialty stores have carved quite a niche in the community cobblestone.

Written by Hillary Brylka. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current

It's in the Bag

katerock — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:21:44 -0400

The wrong suitcase is a dangerous thing. Bringing a tiny bag on a shopping bender or snazzy leather to a soggy campout is a sure bet for busted zippers or tragically warped cowhide.

Written by Megan McCormack. Originally published January 2008, Midwest Current