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20 events found.

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  • March 2022

  • Mon 7
    March 7, 2022 @ 4:00 am - 6:00 am

    Pulaski Day Virtual Celebration

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Celebrate Pulaski Day virtually with the Polish Museum of America (PMA) on Monday, March 7, 2022. Top officials from national, state, county, and city governments and leaders of Polonian organizations […]

    FREE
  • Thu 10
    March 10, 2022 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

    Artecito Virtual: Coquis

    • Online Events
    • Workshops and Classes
    Online Event

    ¿Sabías que los Coquis son los anfibios más ruidosos que conocemos? ¡Cuando cantan juntos es tan fuerte como una motocicleta! ¡Únase a nosotros mientras exploramos más sobre los coquis con […]

    FREE
  • Thu 10
    March 10, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

    Chicago Book Premiere: Woman on Fire

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Illinois Holocaust Museum 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL, United States

    On-Site & Virtual Join the Women’s Leadership Committee in conversation with Deerfield resident and author Lisa Barr at the Chicago premiere of her multi-award-winning novel, Woman On Fire, a gripping story about a […]

    $10 – $45
  • Sat 12
    March 12, 2022 @ 8:00 am - 9:00 am

    Balzekas Book Club: Lithuanians in Springfield

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Writer Sandy Baksys discusses the roots and legacy of Springfield, Illinois, Lithuanian-American community (A Balzekas Museum Zoom Event) About this event On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2pm, Lithuanian American […]

    $5 – $12
  • Sun 13
    March 13, 2022 @ 5:00 am - 3:00 pm

    JCC Jewish Film Festival

    • Music, Film, and Theater
    • Online Events
    Illinois Holocaust Museum 9603 Woods Drive, Skokie, IL, United States

    The highly-anticipated JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival is returning to Illinois Holocaust Museum to host four film screenings with audience discussions. This year, attendees can gather together in the Museum’s […]

    $15
  • Sun 13
    March 13, 2022 @ 5:30 am - 6:30 am

    Unfolding: How Artists Shape Diaspora

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Engage with our Panel of Artists, Curators, Writers and Creators in a 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 immersive discourse on zoom. Listen to the first-hand narratives from the diasporic creators of contemporary Indian art. Date: Sunday, […]

    FREE
  • Tue 15
    March 15, 2022 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am

    Online Artist Talk: Keren Rosales-Medina

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Trickster Cultural Center would like to present our upcoming monthly pop-up exhibit the "Art of Keren Rosales-Medina". In youth, Keren took up art as an outlook on health & self-exploration […]

    FREE
  • Thu 17
    March 17, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

    COMING TO THE TABLE: In Conversation with Skyla Hearn

    • Member Events
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Archivist Skyla Hearn and SSCAC Public Engagement lead Zakkiyyah Najeebah Dumas-O'neal kick off 3831/VOICES to engage in an informal conversation that traverses Skyla Hearn’s archiving practice, their intersecting connections to […]

    FREE
  • Thu 17
    March 17, 2022 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

    NHM Virtual Book Club: Daughter of Sparta

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    On Thursday, March 17th at 7 PM we will be discussing Daughter of Sparta by Claire M. Andrews Virtually via Zoom About this event Join the National Hellenic Museum’s Virtual Book […]

    FREE
  • Tue 22
    March 22, 2022 @ 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

    Documentary Screening of “Madan Sara”

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    • Online Events
    Virtual Chicago, IL, United States

    Join HAMOC and Etant Dupain for a documentary screening of Madan Sara and Q&A following the screening. Madan Sara is an award winning documentary from director and producer Etant Dupain, which […]

    $5
  • Thu 24
    March 24, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

    Artecito Virtual – Frutas y Verduras de Temporada

    • Online Events
    • Workshops and Classes
    Online Event

    La generosa abundancia de frutas y verduras de la temporada nos brinda los nutrientes necesarios para la vida, ¡y también para nuestros amigos animales! ¡Únase a nosotros mientras exploramos más […]

    FREE
  • Thu 24
    March 24, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm

    PROMPT/ DREAM/ BUILD: Andrea Yarbrough & ebere agwuncha

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Member Events
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    A virtual conversation from South Side Community Art Center's 3831/Voices Series. 3831/VOICES is a new program series of conversations and lectures featuring Black artists, scholars, curators, historians, and arts workers […]

    FREE
  • Fri 25
    March 25, 2022 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

    Greek Independence Day: The Struggle for Freedom

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    On March 25th, we commemorate Greek Independence Day. Two hundred and one years ago, the Greek struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire began. The Greek fight to end four […]

    Free
  • Sun 27
    March 27, 2022 @ 8:00 am - 9:30 am

    Voices of the Proud: LGBT+ Composers

    • Music, Film, and Theater
    • Online Events
    Online Event

    On the Sunday before Transgender Day of Visibility, join us to celebrate LGBT+ culture with "Voices of the Proud: LGBT+ Composers"! The program features the beauty, love, grief, playfulness, creativity, […]

    FREE
  • Thu 31
    March 31, 2022 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

    Irish Art in Practice: Demands of Hope

    • Music, Film, and Theater
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    The Irish American Heritage Center, in partnership with the Consulate General of Ireland, Midwest, presents Irish Art in Practice. Join Jennifer Keating, Ph.D. as she brings us through the world […]

    FREE
  • April 2022

  • Sat 2
    April 2, 2022 @ 5:00 am - 6:00 am

    Scottish American History Forum

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Topic: The Council, the Union and the ‘Patriot’: The Scottish Privy Council, Anglo-Scottish, Union and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun Presenter: Alastair J. Mann, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Department of History, University […]

    FREE
  • Sat 2
    April 2, 2022 @ 7:30 am - 8:30 am

    April Call to Peace with Peter Magai Bul

    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    Join us to send peace and love to all countries and meet our inspirational special guest Peter Magai Bul. https://theimmigrantstory.org/lost-boy/ We met Peter when he started representing South Sudan in the […]

    FREE
  • Sun 3
    April 3, 2022 @ 8:30 am - 10:30 am

    Scandinavian Jam Online

    • Music, Film, and Theater
    • Online Events
    Online Event

    Scandinavian Jam, where we practice what we teach. Join Mary Allsopp and Paul Tyler online on the first and third Sunday of every month. Enjoy an afternoon of traditional roots […]

    FREE
  • Tue 5
    April 5, 2022 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

    Online Curator Talk: Tova Brandt

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Online Events
    • Talks and Gatherings
    Online Event

    New Nordic Cuisine is currently on display at the Swedish American Museum. In this virtual talk we get to meet with Tova Brandt who is the Executive Director of the […]

    FREE
  • Thu 7
    April 7, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

    Artecito Virtual: Arboles, hojas y semillas

    • Online Events
    • Workshops and Classes
    Online Event

    Comienza con una semilla, crece hasta convertirse en árboles y brotan hojas. ¡Estos organismos que dan vida vienen en muchas variedades diferentes, y algunas de las cuales son exclusivas de […]

    FREE
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J. Gibran Villalobos

Board Member

J. Gibran Villalobos is an arts administrator, educator, and cultural worker. He has served as Senior Program Officer for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, as the Interim Executive Director of the Chicago Artists Coalition, and faculty lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Previously, he has held posts as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Partnerships and Community Engagement Manager for the Chicago Architecture Biennial, Cultural Liaison for the Chicago Park District, and Curator-in-Residence for the Chicago Cultural Center. In 2016 he attended the Advocacy Leadership Institute and was invited to the White House Office of Public Engagement, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to speak to issues affecting Latinos in Chicago. In 2017 he launched an inaugural summit of Latinx artists and administrators across the U.S; for this project he was awarded the Act Up Award by the Chicago Community Trust. His work has been presented at the Fabrica de Arte Cubano during the 2017 Havana Biennial. In 2019 he was an inaugural recipient of the Field Foundation’s Leaders for a New Chicago Award as well as the Americans for the Arts 2019 Leaders of Color Fellowship. In 2020, he joined the Civic Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy where he worked with government and nonprofit sector participants to think about effective policy for Chicago’s cultural industries. He helped establish the Auxiliary Board at the National Museum of Mexican Art. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the Department of Arts Administration & Policy.

Gibran holds a BA in Art History and a BS in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University and an MA in Arts Administration & Policy and MA in Modern Art History & Theory from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

He has contributed to exhibitions such as Direct Message, presenting the artwork of Chicago artistic collectives and their relation to language and civic engagement. As part of an international project, he has convened the MCA Chicago with the Tate Modern, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Queens Museum and other institutions to create dialogue on civic engagement within contemporary art institutions. He has written catalog entries for Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Rodrigo Lara Zendejas, and Jeremiah Hulsebos-Spofford. In 2021, he is contributing to the upcoming retrospective on the work by artist Andrea Bowers focusing on the activism and archives of Emma Lozano. He is curator of the symposium Fractures: Creating Around Devastation focusing on water ecology, civic engagement, activism, and architecture.

Loreal Robertson

Board Member

Loreal Robertson is a native Chicagoan who recently returned home in 2021 where she began working at the University of Chicago. In her role she oversees and monitors a range of programs, services, and resources to support the retention, wellness, belonging, and success of graduate students. Additionally, her role includes informing strategic priorities, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, professional development, student advancement and the support of students who may be experiencing financial academic, or personal challenges, including students with disabilities and international students.

Loreal has over 10 years of experience in higher education and student affairs. In 2021 she received the Inclusion and Diversity Champion Award from Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK), where she was previously employed. Loreal’s personal and professional philosophy is creating and promoting spaces and opportunities where everyone can see themselves as part of an experience and feels represented.

Loreal holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Arkansas, a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from TAMUK.

Loreal is a financial and active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc, an avid reader, and enjoys traveling with family and friends.

Warren Frank

Treasurer

Warren Frank is a retired CPA and CFO, and current Adjunct Professor at Columbia College.

Warren worked at such CPA firms as KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte, and Not For Profit organizations as National Association of Realtors, Chicago Associations of Realtors, Anixter Center, and Chinese American Service League.

Warren is a Chicago resident in the Lakeview neighborhood. He attended Loyola University of Chicago for his bachelor degree and Northwestern University for his master degree.

Colleen McGaughey

Board Member

Colleen McGaughey (she/her) is the director of development at the National Public Housing Museum, where she leads the strategic direction of the museum’s fundraising efforts with a focus on creative and community-centric approaches.

Mario Longoni

Board Member

Mario Longoni is a cultural anthropologist (“Lead Environmental Social Scientist”) in the Keller Science Action Center at the Field Museum. For over 20 years, he has worked with individuals and organizations to surface and activate cultural and natural assets (specific strengths and characteristics) to help communities meet the challenges they face.

Rob Fojtik

Board Member
Rob Fojtik is Vice President for Neighborhood Strategy at Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism and convention promotion bureau. In this capacity, Rob oversees efforts to promote and support Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods to visitors from near and far. Programs include the award-winning Neighborhood Content Creator program that leverages resident-made digital content, and Chicago Alfresco, a $2.5 million placemaking initiative created in partnership with the Chicago Department of Transportation to transform public spaces into community plazas for outdoor enjoyment.

Before coming to Choose Chicago, Rob was a Senior Advisor to Mayor Lightfoot on economic development and international relations at City Hall, as well as LGTBQ+ affairs and the expanded outdoor dining program. In this role, he also worked to recommend and place over 150 civic leaders and residents onto City boards and commissions. Prior to government service in the Lightfoot administration, Rob ran her winning campaign in the crowded 2019 Chicago mayoral race as Chief of Staff. In past lives, Rob has worked as a public affairs manager for a Fortune 500 company downtown; had misadventures in management consulting, art sales, and personal cheffing; and spent time in Washington DC working for former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Rob also served a one-year appointment at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence as a policy advisor on Central and Eastern Europe. In this role, he was part of the NSC’s interagency process to develop a comprehensive sanctions regime on Russia as a consequence of its 2014 invasion of Crimea and Eastern Ukraine.

After receiving his BA in Slavic Languages and Literature at Northwestern University, Rob lived and worked in the Czech Republic teaching English and tending bar before moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue a MA from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CERES). He enjoys cooking, learning foreign languages, hiking with his partner and their dog, and visiting Chicago’s many neighborhoods.

Paul Durica

Board Member

Dr. Paul Durica is the Director of Exhibitions at the Chicago History Museums and worked in a similar capacity at The Newberry Library. From 2015-2020, he served as the Director of Programs and Exhibitions with Illinois Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Prior to that he drew upon his work as a writer, researcher, and teacher to produce a series of free and interactive talks, walks, and reenactments focused on narratives from Chicago’s past that resonate with its present.

These public history programs led to collaborations with cultural institutions in the city such as the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Chicago History Museum, Newberry Library, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Chicago Cultural Center among others.

Each program made use of both his original research and the skills of the arts organizations, community groups, local businesses, and publications that acted as my partners. Some of these programs, such as the full-scale reenactment of the Haymarket Affair in 2011, involved recruiting and directing over 300 volunteers and 1,000 participants.

To produce these programs successfully, he wrote grants; managed budgets; generated web content; worked closely with program partners of varying sizes and resources; and identified, engaged, and sustained a diverse multi-generational audience.

Lynessa Rico

Board Member

Dr. Lynessa M. Rico is the Associate Chair of the Business Psychology Department at the The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Chicago campus. She is also a business mentor at 1871.

Lynessa is a results-driven Strategic Consultant with over 25 years of experience enabling leaders to meet strategic business objectives by identifying and aligning business growth opportunities with strategic direction of culturally diverse organizations. By leveraging her strategic experience in identifying and impacting business growth opportunities and maximizing profits in retail firms and higher education institutions, Lynessa leads workshops focused on the creative mindset, women’s entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, and the value and application of design thinking within entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Her services also include consulting with and educating leadership on emotional intelligence, the power of design thinking and the creative mindset, and leadership styles to support inclusive, creative workplaces. She has presented to leadership and innovation teams in small, mid-size, and Fortune 500 companies.

Lynessa received her undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Management from Wichita State University. She then went on to earn a master’s degree in Business Administration from Wichita State University with a focus in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. After earning her master’s degree, Lynessa received her doctorate in Business Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology where she successfully completed her dissertation titled, “The Relationship Between Personality Types and Color Preference for Color Combinations.” Her current research interests include women’s entrepreneurship, design thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, and entrepreneurship self-efficacy.

Outside of work and research, Lynessa enjoys mentoring start-ups and judging pitch competitions. Lynessa currently resides in Chicago, Illinois with her four cats. She is an avid long-distance runner, having completed 5 full marathons (and counting), and enjoys watching musical theater.

Briana Thomas

Board Member

Briana Thomas is the Museum Associate at the Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education (a core member of the Chicago Cultural Alliance). She wears many hats including developing exhibition content, facilitating community programs (children and adults), liaising with visitor artists, and other responsibilities. Her previous experience in the nonprofit space includes her tenure as the Financial Empowerment Coordinator at AMERICORPS Sharing Life Center as well as engaging with the public at the Dallas Arboretum. Her past professional experience has remained rooted in marginalized communities. It is their needs, discourse and histories that she has routinely been tasked with protecting and showcasing in the face of poor infrastructure, and willing ignorance. Creating safe spaces is an ancestral practice she has inherited.