Sammy's Canvas Print

Internationally known as a hotbed for gang warfare, poverty, and famous crimes, Cabrini-Green was a CHA public housing development completed in 1962 and totally demolished by 2011. It’s fame was broadcast by the six season 1974 CBS sitcom ‘Good Times’ and the 1992 horror film ‘Candyman’. Yet, all is not bad in this Near North Side Chicago neighborhood for on Division Street in the shadow of Cabrini-Green is Sammy’s, a liquor store hangout and fast food joint famous for its ‘Red Hots’. Sammy’s is memorialized in a song by Grammy award winning rapper R. Kelly in his “We Ride” which has the lyric “When I make cabrini green you know I hit Sammy's”. Of lesser fame is my very own “Urban Nightscape” poem which was inspired by my photographing Sammy’s and has the line “For twenty years I’ve meandered through great cities, camera in tow, prowling the grittiest parts of town. Working quickly to record a vanishing scene and to keep out of harm’s way, after dark, it’s scary and electric.” In 1997...

James Rasmusson is a resident of Holland Michigan who has been creating fine art photographs since the early 80�s. Jim�s photo-art is best known for themes that express the drama and majesty of nature. �I like to underscore the abstract and tease the mind. I am ever alert for juxtapositions that express irony, absurdity, and poignancy. I want people to feel both tension and resolution in my compositions.� Specializing in scenes from the Great Lakes region, the artist�s portfolios also include the Ozarks, Arizona and California, the Florida Keys, River Rouge, Chicago, �Suspended Amusements�, Nightscapes, Winterscapes, Ontario, and the Caribbean. The award-winning photographer�s work has appeared in many publications as...