On Thursday, April 29th, over 150 people gathered in the beautiful Erin Ballroom at the Irish American Heritage Center for MOSAIC: A Celebration of Chicago's ethnic communities. This was the Alliance's first fundraiser, and the night was an enormous success! Guests began arriving at 6 pm to enjoy drinks, sushi, and conversation in the Fifth Province. Dazzling performances by American Indian flautist Bill Buchholtz, Scottish Highland dancers Melanie and Kristen Williams, and Ethiopian dancer Yaasha Abraham began to establish the evening as a true multi-cultural celebration. Then, the party moved to the ballroom on the fourth floor. While guests sampled a meldey of international cuisines, they bid on amazing packages donated by Core Members in the silent auction (featuring items like handmade mittens and earrings from the Latvian Folk Art Museum, handwoven Indian shawls from the Indo-American Heritage Museum, and a package from the Chinese-American Museum that included a one-year membership, a walking tour of Chinatown, a restaurant gift certificate, a framed photogrpah of the Great Wall, and much more!). They also enjoyed additional perfomances by African drummers Simba Tayari and Valroy Dawkins, Irish tenor Mark Piekarz, and Indian dancer Susan Abraham.
The Alliance was thrilled that John McCarter, President of one of our founding partners, the Field Museum, was there to address the guests and express the importance of the Alliance and our Core Members. One of the amazing things about Core Members is how many dedicated and largely unsung leaders reside in their communities. For that reason, we were thrilled to present our first "Outstanding Community Leader" awards to two amazing champions of their cultures: Frank Glesson from the Irish American Heritage Center, and Angie DeCorah from the American Indian Center.
The cherry on top of this marvelous event was the presence of artist Gerry Lang, who created a bricolage (mosaic) in honor of the event and the Alliance. Gerry invited guests to add their own piece to the mosaic, making it a true cross-cultural, community collaboration. |
