As part of the programming for our solo show Spectacular Vernacular at the Chicago Cultural Center, we asked creative practitioners from Chicago to reveal what inspires them in a quick-fire, show and tell format. There was only one rule – guests could only talk about other people’s work and not their own, allowing them to wax lyrical about the muses that motivate their practice. Participants included writer Lee Ann Norman, designer and educator Helen Maria Nugent, Synthetic biologist and educator Andrew Scarpelli, artist and writer Ilona Gaynor, artist and co-founder of Luftwerk Petra Bachmaier and architect, urban designer, and director of MAS Studio, Iker Gil.