Artist Kerry James Marshall creating logo for eta production

Chicago-based artist Kerry James Marshall is a very hot property — flying high on major museum shows of his work during the past year, as well as the recent announcement that he will create a grand-scale mural for an exterior wall of the Chicago Cultural Center.

Now, in what is clearly something of a coup, eta Creative Arts Foundation, which for more than four decades has been a stronghold of African-American theater on the city’s South Side, has snagged the internationally acclaimed artist to create a special logo for its production of “The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves.”

The play is based on the book of the same name by the late Illinois Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), and has been written by Brooks’ daughter, Nora Brooks Blakely. Presented in cooperation with the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation (CTUF), it will be part of the Gwendolyn Brooks Centennial Celebration, and will run Oct. 20 – Dec. 23 at eta Square, 7558 S. South Chicago Ave.

How was the connection made?

In today’s announcement, Kemati J. Porter, producing artistic director at eta, said: “When I read the play, I knew I wanted Kerry James Marshall to create a signature piece of art for the production. It took me two months to find the nerve to ask this busy artist whose works explore black-selfness in a way that provokes, sustains, and makes me laugh out loud.”

For tickets visit www.etacreativearts.org.