Masshall

I will admit; I first read Kattie M's blog about Mass Hall - and then I went to their web...there's LOT of stuff in there. But I like it, even though I first though it was alittle too busy. Their home page basically describes who and what they are about: everything is right there (Faqs, Calendar etc). And if the links are too much, there's a brief description (with pictures)of what they do and how they do it . Another reason why I think it is pretty easy to navigate is the fact that I am a visual learner- and they have a perfect mixture of text and visual-based information (i hope that makes sense). Both their home page and their "mapping" link include images that illustrate their information without using much text.
Big issues: i do not know if it was the computers i was using to look at their web, but the "Map" looked a bit pixilated (that's an illustrator/graphic designer being too picky). I also wanted to see their recent "messy Archives" but i couldn't get it (are they currently working on their archives?).
Over all, it's an informative (non-bureaucratic) organization, it also introduces a lot of other indi Art organizations within the city.
I have one question though . . . and this is just me being slow: what is an "501C3"?

Prosrts Arts

Pros Arts Studios seems to be really grounded on their community of focus (the Pilsen / Little Village neighborhoods). My thesis is based around this idea of integrating culture in a classroom (given the diversity of Chicago), so I think their program would be very useful as part of my research because they inter grade cultural celebrations into the arts. What I would like to know more about are their activities for middle to high school age kids (the kinds of art programs they have for these age groups).

CAD

I really like the set up for CAD, It would be a helpful resource to young and upcoming artists. I say this because as an undergrad student I was not exposed to enough online resources to explore options for exhibiting or showing my portfolio. CAD's web gallery links you directly to flicker and youtube - two FREE, user friendly resource that a starting artist can access through their website. The one thing I'm curious about, though, is the size their actual exhibition space it did not seem to be that much from their web photos.

Vid History

I like the idea behind the Video History project. i think of it in terms of finding early video clips from old documentaries by artists, news reports etc. I can also see something like that becoming an awesome resource for contemporary artists and teachers who want to use old videos for showing students interviews about what their predecessors thought about their times and their work.

Experimental Sound Studio

The Experimental Sound's web site is pretty direct and easy to use. I also got to talk a little with my sister in-law who actually used their studio a couple of times for some school projects (3 or 4 years ago), and she remembers that they were pretty helpful. Their services are expensive, though, especially when you are not a member or a student.

Web Crit

Dig. Literacy: The nice thing about this web is that they are not pointing out a problem, they also offer a solution in full detail, it sounds paranoid at times, but very informative and practical. For example they give info about how students can best use the images they find to illustrate text.

Stockyard: Stock yard is loaded with some worthwhile info and activities that really form a strong support for learning technology and art. Social activism in really embedded in their ideas and their work, and they seem to always work in connection to community life.