THE POWER OF WE

A look back at 2020 and what’s in store for 2021

S is for Soul Sister Exhibition Opening, January 17, 2020, image: Daris Jasper

“Unexpected, unprecedented, unruly—2020 nearly had us undone. While the COVID-19 pandemic pulled us apart and waves of racial reckoning reverberated across the country, the power of our collective resilience was undeniable. As artists, neighbors, students, audiences, entrepreneurs, co-creators, instructors, and family, we relied on our creativity and interconnectedness to weather this tumultuous time together. We built new platforms to stay connected, created new models to share our stories, made new art to speak to the moment, crafted new language to express renewed urgency.

Together, we found ways to close the gaps created by social distance - we collaborated from our homes near and far, building intimacy through technology and forming a new sense of community that transcended proximity. We took care of each other.

Arts + Public Life (APL) looks back at a year of upheaval and innovation with tremendous gratitude to all of you, and renewed dedication to building and sustaining community through arts and culture.”

—Jacqueline Stewart, Arts + Public Life Director

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Arts + Public Life and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture (CSPRC) 2019-20 Artists-in-Residence

For the past 9 years, APL has supported 33 artists through the APL/CSRPC Artist-in-Residence 10-month paid residency program. The pandemic, uprising, and ongoing struggle for racial justice resulted in a transformed residency program for the 2019-2020 cohort of artists—Delano Dunn, Ben Lamar Gay, and Anna Martine Whitehead. APL and CSRPC continued to work with and amplify these three artists’ work in addition to dozens of other local artists through a pivot to virtual programs and exhibitions that began in March.

Delano Dunn

Sui Generis was intended to be an open studio with a pot of gumbo available to all the guests. When the pandemic forced us to close down our facilities, Delano transformed the event into an eight-hour virtual gumbo making session where people were invited virtually in the kitchen with Delano and his family as he made his family’s gumbo under the watchful eye of his mother. People from his network dropped by to spend time with him, and the audience watching live on Facebook throughout the day.

Ben Lamar Gay

Ben produced a series of virtual penmanship jams, titled “Write On”, where he invited fellow artists to participate in meditative writing sessions while he played a sonic backdrop. Throughout the remainder of the residency, Ben produced a total of four “Write On’s.”

Anna Martine Whitehead

Martine convened a virtual dialogue titled, “What Are We Rehearsing For? Politics and Praxis of Rehearsal in a State of Emergency”. Bringing together the cast from “Force!” and other notable choreographers, Martine investigated how the role of rehearsing for public performance shifts when public performances are not an option.

“The world is burning--but our worlds have always been burning—and how do we make sense of that as movers?” —Anna Martine Whitehead

 

2020 Artist-in-Residence Virtual Exhibition

The 10-month APL/CSRPC residency traditionally concludes with a culminating in-person exhibition of the resident’s work at APL’s Arts Incubator. This year, our annual exhibition was no longer a culmination but an opportunity to share works in progress. The exhibition was intended for viewers to intimately engage with each artwork, and hear directly from the artists about work they are currently making and planning to create in the future. All three artists invited us to engage, reflect, and confront the world around us.

 

Delano Dunn, Rue Series, Untitled #2

PERFORMANCE RESIDENCY AT THE GREEN LINE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Arts + Public Life’s Theater Residency Program workshops and develops new productions with theater ensembles and performance collectives at the Green Line Performing Arts Center.

Fatty Bum Bum, February 29, 2020. Image: Daris Jasper

Fehinty African Theatre Ensemble (Nov 2019 - March 2020)

APL was pleased to invite Fehinty African Theatre Ensemble as the inaugural 2019/20 Theater Company-in-Residence. In collaboration with the Green Line Performing Arts Center and the students from APL’s Backstage Production Program, Fehinty created three productions—Fatty Bum Bum, Dem Beats, Word Dey!, and the Fehinty Marketplace—as part of Diaspora Monologues 2020: VA-NA-KU-LA (February 21 - March 8, 2020). Diaspora Monologues is the theatre ensemble’s annual performance series that explores Diaspora as a dynamic concept mapping journeys, encounters, and transformations in and across cultural communities. The program features community “monologues” broadly conceived as oral history, personal narrative, spoken word, staged readings, short plays, visual art, music, dance/movement, and other expressive forms.

 

Definition Theatre (April 2020 - Current)

APL provided Definition Theatre with administrative, production, and communications support for two projects, America v2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of the American Negro and AMPLIFY, as well as professional development opportunities for young theater professionals through APL’s Backstage Production Program.

Between April - July 2020, Definition Theatre hosted regular designer and pre-production meetings remotely for the Chicago premiere of America v 2.1. Additionally, Definition Theatre worked closely with APL production staff to provide opportunities within pre-production for Backstage Production students to question working professionals about production and design. Students were encouraged to draft their own concepts and designs around America v2.1 and share them for feedback.

In early Fall, Definition Theatre utilized Green Line Performing Arts Center as a filming studio (in accordance with COVID-19 safety guidelines) to record selections of eight new plays as part of their play commissioning program AMPLIFY. Definition Theatre will co-present with APL the recorded selections together online in 2021.

“As our world paused due to the current pandemic, we found ourselves asking honest questions around the accessibility of culture through the arts and specifically theatre. We witnessed our entire industry search to find ways to respond to the work we do as we were not able to physically gather to share our stories. We, at Definition, have come to the conclusion that theatre has never been truly accessible, especially when it comes to representing the value of the lives and stories shared in our Black and Brown communities and have plans in-store to create a new connection.”

 

EXHIBITIONS AND PROGRAMS

2020 Exhibitions

The Arts Incubator Gallery, on the corner of Prairie Avenue and Garfield Blvd, is a window into the world of Arts + Public Life programming. While APL could not invite curators into our space since March of 2020, the APL exhibitions team still curated dynamic, Chicago-relevant exhibitions to be viewed both virtually and by passers-by. We curated and hosted two exhibitions this year: S is for Soul Sister and On the Record.

S is for Soul Sister

(January 17-March 20, 2020)

In January, APL worked with photographer and scientist Okunola Jeyifous, to photograph and showcase the stories of the “Black ABCs.” 2020 marked fifty years since children living in the Harold Ickes Homes sat for portraits that were used as visual aides in Chicago classrooms and libraries. Inspired by those portraits taken in 1970, Jeyifous found and photographed the children of the “Black ABCs” as adults and overlaid their cells as part of the portraiture. The exhibition brought out hundreds of people, including individuals who took part in the “Black ABC’s” project as children.

View photos from the January 17, 2020 opening reception

Download the exhibition catalogue

“S is for Soul Sister” In the News:

 

On the Record

(October 9 - November 13, 2020)

On the Record, which included the works of Gregory Bae, Savannah Jubic, and Brittney Leeanne Williams, was exhibited virtually in October and November 2020.

These artists have worked as artist assistants to notable Chicago artists, and this common and accepted practice of making work for an artist without being named raises questions about labor, visibility, and ethics in the art world. The exhibition focused on the practices of the artists, which ranged in medium, including textiles, painting, and sculpture.

2020 Programming Highlights (Virtual and In-Person)

Arts + Public Life partnered with over 50 artists and art organizations to present more than 100 in-person and virtual programs in 2020, ranging from weekly and family yoga classes, writing workshops, storytelling, discussions, screenings, and performances. Arts + Public Life is excited to celebrate both established and new partnerships with notable community partners including The Silver Room, kids jamm Family yoga, Washington Park Camera Club, Committed Knitters, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, Second City, PO Box Collective, Night Gallery, Soundrotation/Brain Trust Management, and Scribe Video Center.

2020 Programming Highlights include:

First Monday Jazz with Meagan McNeal at the Green Line Performing Arts Center, February 3, 2020. Image: Daris Jasper

First (Virtual) Monday Jazz

When 2020 started, First Monday Jazz was wrapping up an entire year of programming for women artists and women-led musical projects and programs. Hanami kicked things off by painting dynamic soundscapes with jazz rhythms and exploratory improvisations, followed by powerhouse singer/songwriter and recording artist Meagan McNeal. Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few picked up the beat and played a packed house in early March. When the pandemic locked down our theater, we moved First Monday Jazz to a virtual space and started working with musicians to find creative solutions for performance.

At the start of the lockdown, Tatsu Aoki and Rami Atassi opened up the Virtual Monday Jazz experience by playing a soundtrack to two experimental films. This was followed by GURU TONIC, a quartet of virtuoso musicians from Chicago who played a set with an exciting blend of jazz improvisation and funk, soul, and fusion grooves. LUA recorded their April set in Washington Park next to the butterfly sanctuary. Rashada Dawan kept the momentum going in October with a sonic stroll down music memory lane, crafting an exhilarating set featuring hits from soul, gospel, jazz to classical, blues, and R&B. In November, the Víctor García Trio kept warm while recording in their backyard playing classics from the Great American Jazz Songbook. Angel Bat Dawid and the Sistas of the Nitty Gritty wrapped up another year of celebrating Black brilliance with a special edition as part of our Vends + Vibes programming.

Depth of Field: 65 Years of the Washington Park Camera Club

Opening Reception: February 28, 2020

In 1955, the same year that the Montgomery Bus Boycott began and Jet Magazine published the polarizing photograph of the tortured and mutilated body of 14-year-old Chicagoan Emmett Till, a collective of African American photographers on Chicago’s South Side formed the Washington Park Camera Club. Committed to documenting their neighborhoods, families, and the changing social and economic landscape, the Club established a legacy rooted in community and love for photography. Depth of Field: 65 Years of the Washington Park Camera Club was an eclectic collection of images showcasing current Washington Park Camera Club members’ work, highlighting the varied interests, themes, and subjects that make them such a unique and important community of artists.

Spinning Home Movies was selected as a “Best of 2020” by Chicago Magazine, featured in an ABC 7 News report, and written up by the Chicago Sun-Times and Hyde Park Herald.

Spinning Home Movies

In March 2020, as organizations across the country canceled public events in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, APL and South Side Home Movie Project envisioned new ways to connect with our communities as they sheltered in their homes. Seeking to maintain public access to the home movie collections and provide some comfort to families and supporters, we invited local DJs and performance artists to collaborate with us on setting our silent home movies to music. Each artist explored the video archive in-depth, developing themes and selecting film clips, before designing a custom playlist with a distinctive mix of songs, sounds, and audio clips.

What started as a creative response to the call for online programming has emerged as a new paradigm for meaningful artist/archive partnerships and robust community engagement. Hundreds of viewers joined a lively cross-generational, interdisciplinary conversation with archivists, artists, film donors, and family members, generating the intimate energy of a live performance as audiences stay home. With over 14,000 views and 13 episodes, Spinning Home Movies makes ideal use of the screen as a stage while tapping into a desire for a meaningful shared experience. In this era of isolation and social distancing, this unique program offers a genuine connection between viewers of all ages, South Siders, and viewers from a distance, finding delight in the touchstones of mid-century Black life.

Rear View Mirror Sessions with DJ Duane Powell

May 13, 2020 - Bill Withers Special Edition

Arts Public Life and Soundrotation, in conjunction with Brain Trust Management, presented a virtual version of the Rear View Mirror Sessions + Lecture Series led by music historian and DJ Duane E. Powell, where Powell leads audiences on musical journeys, framed through the life and accomplishments of the featured vocalist, musician, or music industry talent. This special virtual edition of Rear View honored the beloved singer, songwriter, and musician Bill Withers.

Cinema 53 + We Tell Series

In the first three months of 2020, before Covid precautions shuttered cinemas, APL presented two powerful film series that drew audiences from around the city to nine events featuring 44 films and 20+ guest artists and speakers. At the historic Harper Theater in downtown Hyde Park, Cinema 53 presented “Race and American Schools,” a trio of documentaries exploring the central role that race has played in the experience of schooling in America, curated and hosted by writer, artist and UChicago professor Eve Ewing, in conversation with UChicago social studies professor Gina Miranda Samuels, executive director of the American Indian Center in Chicago Heather Miller, and filmmaker Bernardo Ruiz. Cinema 53 was presented with generous support from UChicago’s Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture and Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality

In collaboration with UChicago’s Film Studies Center, APL hosted the 6-part national film exhibition series, We Tell: Fifty Years of Participatory Media, at Green Line Performing Arts Center and the Logan Center for the Arts. This program assembled 41 activist grassroots documentaries made by oppositional groups in the United States over 50 years, chronicling a rich history of political and social engagement by community groups, with each screening followed by conversation with a range of filmmakers, activists, and scholars from across Chicago connecting the issues raised in the films to our own lives. Curated by Louis Massiah of the Scribe Video Center and Patricia Zimmermann of Ithaca College, with discussions moderated by UChicago professors Jacqueline Stewart, Susan Gzesh, Judy Hoffman, Salome Skvirsky and Allyson Field, We Tell was presented with generous support from the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture.

Liberatory Practices by Sadie Woods and Seed Lynn

June 19th, 2020

To commemorate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, artists Seed Lynn and Sadie Woods explored diasporic emancipatory celebrations through photography and music mediums. From slavery abolition through mass migration, this work examined the socio-political roots of carnival, processions, and the Black festival, including work-in-progress for upcoming exhibition Ghoema, media from the Bud Billiken Parade, and interviews around local and historical Juneteenth traditions.

The program concluded with a DJ set by Sadie Woods aka Afrodjia, and the launch of a month-long Virtual Juneteenth Marketplace supporting Black-owned, South Side creative businesses.

 
 

ARTS EDUCATION

Image Credit: Max (DAP I) and Megan (DAP I), Summer 2020.

Weathering a season of change and uncertainty, APL’s education department remained resilient and steadfast in providing Chicago’s South Side youth with in-depth arts education opportunities.  In partnership with After School Matters and with support from the Paul M. Angell Foundation and City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), APL’s four flagship education programs served 156 teens and awarded $74,081 in stipends. 

In the Spring, when the City of Chicago imposed shelter-in-place orders, the education department quickly made the pivot to remote learning while maintaining the quality and rigor of our class offerings. With a commitment to equitable access to resources, APL collaborated with UChicago partners and After School Matters to ensure every student had access to devices, materials, and supplies. This unique moment also provided the opportunity to reflect and consider new opportunities for the future. In pursuit of a more holistic approach to our educational practices, APL’s instructors and education staff partnered with Umoja Student Development Corporation, Mindfulness Practices, and Metropolitan Family Services in a series of experiential learning workshops in crisis interventions, mindfulness, and restorative classroom engagement. 

We welcomed a new cohort of teaching artists whose leadership guided our students to new levels of achievement, artistry, and creativity. Backstage Production Program (BSP) member, Aaliyah Haynes, was awarded the DCASE Rising Star Honor Roll in Theater (Press Release); Elijah Cline, also a BSP student, was hired at ETA Creative Arts as Associate Editor with a Lead Videographer mention; and Community Actors Program (CAP) participant, Marshall Callery, was the first place winner of the SECC Youth Arts Banner contest. His banner will be displayed along Cottage Grove between 61st and 63rd Street (Press Release).

Backstage Production Program

In its second year, the Backstage Production Program (BSP) collaborated with Definition Theater, the resident company at Green Line Performing Arts Center, on the pre-production aspects of their new work America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of the American Negro. Teens also worked with APL’s production team to learn how public programming was being adapted for streamed viewing.

Community Actors Program

Unable to visit theaters, the Community Actors Program (CAP) invited local artists and speakers into their classrooms. Apprentices had the opportunity to learn from casting directors, playwrights, talent agents, and theater professors about non-performing career opportunities in theater.

Design Apprenticeship Program

Apprentices in the Design Apprenticeship Program (DAP) practiced methodologies for making speculative Afro-futurist technologies to meet the demands of 2020. DAP projects ranged from conversational analysis of real-world problems, prototyping in scaled mock-ups, and researching furniture building techniques for when in-person classes can resume. Teens also shared their experiences to inspire flags and mask designs that were featured as part of Terrain Biennial’s participation in Artists Run Chicago 2.0 at the Hyde Park Art Center. For many of the design apprentices, this was the first time they were ever exhibiting their art in public.

Teen Arts Council

This year Teen Arts Council (TAC) members centered their work around storytelling and narrative. In collaboration with Chicago-based artist Rebel Betty, teens engaged in a collage-making workshop and examined ancestral forms of resistance and culture through storytelling. Students also participated in Listening for Narrative, an archiving workshop with Justin Williams, archivist and project manager with South Side Home Movie Project. Employing the knowledge and skills gained from these sessions, students published a magazine addressing the challenges, emotions, and thoughts of living through 2020 as a Chicago teen.

 
 
 

CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

In 2020, Arts + Public Life strengthened its commitment to creative entrepreneurship through the launch of the L1 Creative Business Accelerator. L1 includes a 20-month fellowship program for creative entrepreneurs developed in partnership with Proximity, the urban planning and social impact arm of The Silver Room Foundation, plus resources and collaboration with the UChicago Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Peter Gaona, owner of ReformedSchool, Tiffany Joi, owner of Hemp Heals Body Shop, and Andrea Polk, owner of Solo Noir, were selected for the inaugural cohort from a pool of 55 applicants through an open call application and jury review process. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these three South Side small business owners have been developing sustainable growth models that support both in-person and online sales.

Situated under the Chicago Transit Authority’s Green Line elevated tracks inside the first “L” station built in 1892, the L1 Retail Shop is a commerce-focused addition to the Arts Block and an extension of the arts and culture redevelopment efforts on Garfield Boulevard between Prairie Avenue and King Drive. Arts + Public Life expects to open the L1 Retail Shop in 2021 as the city and University of Chicago move through phased reopening plans. The opening of L1 will allow fellows to move into their first brick-and-mortar space—700 square feet furnished with custom-made millwork designed and fabricated by local master craftsman Norman Teague, and to simultaneously scale their businesses while bolstering the economic vitality of the community.

 

2020 (VIRTUAL) VENDS + VIBES ARTS MARKETPLACE

Vends + Vibes is our annual holiday arts marketplace, traditionally a two-day holiday marketplace that stretched across all of APL’s amenities on the Arts Block along historic Garfield Boulevard in Washington Park. 2020 presented an opportunity for Vends + Vibes, now in its seventh year, to grow to a full month-long celebration of South Side artists and entrepreneurs. This year, we shifted to a virtual platform in order to safely bring the same Vends + Vibes #HolidaySoul experience, complete with 36 South Side vendors, 5 of Chicago’s hottest DJs, celestial events, and family-friendly activities.

2020 Vends + Vibes programs included: a South Side Home Movie Project “Home Movies for the Holidays” Pop-Up Exhibition (also projected at the Arts Incubator Gallery for socially-distanced viewing on the Arts Block) soundtracked with soul-stirring new scores by DJs Rae Chardonnay and Selah Say; Weekly DJ ‘Meteor Mixes’ + Vendor Happy Hours with DJs Peace RTG, Quicktastic, and Cqqchifruit; First Monday Jazz with Angel Bat Dawid; Gathering our Family Stories: A How-To Workshop on Recording and Preserving Oral Histories; A Constellation of Tales: Peace, Love, & Kindness - Story Time presented by Community Actors Program (CAP) teens; and Claiming New Constellations on the December 21st Winter Solstice (plus a downloadable family constellations activity).

“Constellations,” this year’s Vends + Vibes theme, highlighted the connectivity and creativity involved in building our South Side economy. We are extremely proud of all the vendors and artists whose persistence, hopefulness, and flexibility enabled us to innovate not only to survive, but to grow. APL is also very grateful to everyone who joined us virtually this holiday season. Your passion and commitment to supporting Black-owned businesses and South Side artists generated over $15,000 in vendor sales, and will help Arts + Public Life’s creative entrepreneurship program expand resources and develop more platforms like Vends + Vibes and the L1 Creative Business Accelerator program

GROWTH

The Arts Lawn

Arts + Public Life is thrilled to announce the latest phase of the Arts Block: The Arts Lawn. The Arts Lawn transforms the vacant lot next door to the Green Line Performing Arts Center into a beautiful, public green space that will host a variety of community-centered arts programs. With support from the Project for Public Spaces, Arts + Public Life conducted workshops with local community members in 2014 to develop a vision for programs in the open space, and those ideas have formatively driven the planning for this space. By Summer of 2021, if circumstances related to the current pandemic allow, the newly-seeded outdoor space will host a wide array of public programming including film screenings, live theatre, outdoor music, public performances, exhibitions, youth education, and marketplaces. Stay tuned for further updates as we can’t wait to share this new space with you.

A message from Adrienne Brown, APL’s New Interim Director

Welcoming APL’s Interim Director, Adrienne Brown

On October 19, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles announced that APL director Jacqueline Najuma Stewart will be taking a leave of absence from the University of Chicago for the calendar year 2021 to serve as their inaugural Chief Artistic and Programming Officer. We are delighted that the Academy Museum recognizes the extraordinary talents that Jacqueline will bring to this role, and that the museum will benefit from the curatorial imagination, scholarly acumen, and commitment to community that have contributed to the success of Arts + Public Life under her leadership. We want to express our thanks to Jacqueline for all she has accomplished in her tenure as Director of APL and wish her well as she takes time away from her roles at the University to help launch this important new museum.

We are delighted to announce that University of Chicago professor Adrienne Brown has agreed to serve as Interim Director of Arts + Public Life, effective January 2021. Adrienne Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of English and the College and specializes in American and African American cultural production in the twentieth century, with an emphasis on the history of perception as shaped by the built environment. Her teaching and research interests include critical race studies, architecture and urban studies, the Harlem and Chicago Renaissances, popular culture, and sound studies. With Valerie Smith, Adrienne co-edited the volume Race and Real Estate, an interdisciplinary collection rethinking narratives of property and citizenship. Her book, The Black Skyscraper: Architecture and the Perception of Race recovers the skyscraper’s drastic effects not only on the shape of the city but the racial sensorium of its residents. She is currently working on a new book that charts how the impact of the U.S.’s move to mass homeownership in the 20th century impacted Americans’ experience of residential space as a social, spatial, and, most significantly, a racial unit.

Please join us in thanking Adrienne for her willingness to assume this important role, in which she will collaborate closely with APL’s Deputy Director, Alfredo Nieves-Moreno, and the rest of the APL staff, artists, and community partners.

Welcoming APL’s new Deputy Director, Alfredo Nieves-Moreno

On September 28, Alfredo joined the Arts + Public Life team where he is responsible for providing day-to-day senior leadership. As Deputy Director, Alfredo develops and implements APL’s strategic plan, leads the APL team in managing capital development projects, serves as a liaison to academic departments and administrative units of the University, and acts as a key driver of APL partnerships with colleagues and community stakeholders in order to promote the success of APL and ensure the equitable growth of the Arts Block in Washington Park. Alfredo brings a wealth of leadership experience in the arts, academia, creative entrepreneurship, and university/community collaborations. He joined APL from Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, where he served as Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor, and also worked as Director of the Interdisciplinary Faculty of Humanistic and Social Studies and project manager of Nuestro Barrio: Distrito Cultural de Santurce (Our Neighborhood: Santurce Cultural District), a pioneer creative placemaking project in Puerto Rico. On behalf of APL and the entire UChicago Arts team, please join us in welcoming Alfredo, and thanking Lori Berko for her outstanding contributions as former Deputy Director of Arts + Public Life.

 

UP NEXT

"Arts + Public Life’s 2020 Year in Review is an excellent example of how collective strength manifests and how communities and organizations can co-create in challenging times. I am grateful to the Arts + Public Life team for their efforts, to Chicago's South Side community for their trust, and our collaborators and funders for their sustained support during 2020. Looking forward to co-creating and embracing the infinite possibilities of 2021 with all of you. Have a safe, healthy, and productive new year!"

—Alfredo Nieves-Moreno, APL Deputy Director

As a hub of creative activity, the Arts Block (when we can safely reconvene) will be a lively destination throughout 2021 with both daytime and evening arts + culture engagements, resources for emerging and established artists, and creative entrepreneurs.

Highlights to look out for in 2021 include:

  • Arts + Public Life’s 10-Year Anniversary

  • Toward Common Cause: The MacArthur Fellows Program at 40, a multi-site exhibition featuring works by Dawoud Bey

  • APL/CSRPC Artist-in-Residence 2021 Cohort with artists Zakkiyyah Najeebah Dumas-O'Neal, A.J. McClenon, and Lola Ogbara

  • Grand Opening of L1 Creative Business Accelerator and Retail Shop (contingent on City of Chicago and University of Chicago Covid-19 policies)

  • Performing Arts Master Classes and Workshops

  • Expanded Green Line Performing Arts Center Virtual and Streaming Capabilities

  • Art & Science Podcast in partnership with Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics (KICP) at University of Chicago

Arts + Public Life remains committed to providing platforms for artists. 2021 will be filled with both new and long-standing creative connections. We will continue to offer accessible and relevant arts and cultural programming that centers on the concerns, perspectives and diversity of thought present on the South Side.

Join us for this next exciting year on the Arts Block.

Arts + Public Life thrives thanks to the support of a community of generous donors whose gifts have sustained Arts + Public Life, Green Line Performing Arts Center, L1 Creative Business Accelerator, and the vibrant creativity happening every day on the Arts Block. Thank you in particular to:

After School Matters

Paul M. Angell Family Foundation

Bank of America

The Bergman Family

Chicago Community Trust

Jim and Paula Crown

City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

Bernard J. DelGiorno

Efroymson Family Foundation

The Irving Harris Foundation

Illinois Arts Council

Raymond J. Iwanowski

National Endowment for the Arts

Walder Foundation

and all our supporters on the South Side, in Chicago, and around the country.