Museum Monday: Jan 5 2026

So many wonderful things happened this last week – I’ve been surprised and spoken about the age of visitors to the Museum – surprised, but have grown used to how young the visitors are becoming and the massive interest in an era that happened before many of them were born.

During the New Years Day Brunch, we actually had three generations of a family AND father, son, and daughter too. Quite something, and a moment to sit and realize the work of preservation and just the Museum existing feels more important than just a reliving of moments past. I love these events – of course I’m happy to tell stories and share whatever bits of knowledge I’ve accumulated (Howie Pyro snorted Sid Vicious’s ashes at Sid’s funeral…with Sid’s mom? – thanks Justin), but it’s the other vibes that I’m really enjoying at the moment: sitting around the table enjoying Katrina’s amazing vanilla pancakes, or knowing that people are upstairs in the Museum Airbnb absorbing things at their own pace. Speaking of which, dates are filling up in the apartment – if you are a Founder, you should have received a special e mail with information about your discount on a stay – if you didn’t plz let me know!

Lots of events coming up – a screen printing workshop on Tuesday night and museum tours with me most days

 

Great to see this list of the Top 50 Post-Punk Albums Ever citing the beginning of PiL just one year after the Sex Pistols as a useful starting point. So many of the artists – Gang Of Four, Killing Joke, Cabaret Voltaire, Bauhaus, Durutti Column, Slits, Mission Of Burma, Throbbing Gristle are represented at the Museum.

If you haven’t visited, please do. If you aren’t a Founder yet – you can become one by signing up for the shirt and pass (and get a $400 discount on the apartment!) here, you can also suggest an item to donate here – that makes you a founder too.

The world is a mess it seems, if history has taught us anything it is that these times help to create great art – it seems like a very high price to pay. Joe Strummer said “All the best ideas come from pressure. Comfort kills creativity.” Well, it’s going to get interesting then.

Meanwhile, we are doing what we can to try and take the edge off with some education (let me know if you want to come to Tuesday’s Screen Printing Workshop, but need help to do so – we gotcha with a code!) Free Shirt Weekend will keep going all day today.

Please, in the face of all of this shit, be as nice as you possibly can. And I’m just realizing it would’ve been great to make Tuesday’s workshop a livestream…. I’ll do that next time!

Martin Atkins

Chicago

ILLANNOYS