Join OPEN Center for the Arts as we celebrate our 8th anniversary with an open house. Free and open to the public, come by the gallery as we remember the creativity that has filled the last 8 years and dream about what is still to come! An evening of music, friends, and all around good […]
New York Times bestselling author Sudhir Venkatesh discusses his new book The Tomorrow Game, a gripping account of a Chicago community coming together to save a group of teens from gun violence. In the tradition of works like Random Family and Behind The Beautiful Forevers, The Tomorrow Game is a deeply reported chronicle of families […]
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! COME OUT FOR A (FREE – KOSTENLOS) EVENT WITH TODAY'S HOTTEST GERMAN/EURO/U.S. HITS, FOOD, DRINKS, AND MORE. This event will be fun for college students, young professionals, au pairs, exchange students, and young adults interested in contemporary German culture or wants to have a fun night out! We'll have ping pong, […]
Organizers: DANK Haus German American Cultural Center
Free entry; drinks and food available for purchase
The LAWNDALE Block Party hosted by Sinai Chicago is meant to bring people from North Lawndale and South Lawndale together to promote Wellness and Unity in our community. The event is FREE and open to the community! We invite you to join us on July 9th from 10am to 2pm at Ogden Commons Parking Lot […]
Organizers: OPEN Center for the Arts, Sinai Chicago
Artist Discussion and Q&A with Mohegan Director, Playwright, and Actor, Madeline Sayet Join us on Sunday, July 10 at 6:00 p.m. as we welcome award-winning Mohegan director, writer, actor, and educator Madeline Sayet to the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. We invite you to this in-person conversation and Q&A to celebrate Sayet’s work and the production of […]
Organizers: Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
At a challenging time for religious dialogue and healing, join us online with Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, Director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College and author of “Shoah Through Muslim Eyes,” as she explores the rejection of myths about the Holocaust and Jews, and offers new ways of creating an understanding […]
Through a generous grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC) was able to hire a Collection Specialist, Eve Mangurten, to catalog the museum's Haitian-specific Collection of art and artifacts. Join HAMOC and Eve in two events: July 12: Presentation - Learn about Eve's process of cataloging the […]
Through a generous grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Haitian American Museum of Chicago (HAMOC) was able to hire a Collection Specialist, Eve Mangurten, to catalog the museum's Haitian-specific Collection of art and artifacts. Join HAMOC and Eve in two events: July 12: Presentation - Learn about Eve's process of cataloging the […]
Thank you for joining us for the 8th Annual Gathering of Veterans, which honors all veterans and military personnel of all cultures, eras and branches in a Native Way that is open to all. This event is a 3-day event that will be held from Friday, July 15th to Sunday, July 17th at Cantigny Park […]
Growing up in Germany, Anke Fachmann was influenced by remarkable artist movements such as The Bridge (Die Brücke) and The Blue Rider (Der Blaue Reiter). A passion for art, culture, and design led her to initially study graphic design. She received a Bachelors in Graphic Design at the Freie Hochschule für Grafik-Design & Bildende Kunst in Freiburg, Southern […]
Organizers: DANK Haus German American Cultural Center
https://www.dankhaus.com/event-4865226 Put on your acid washed jeans, neon t-shirts and dark sun glasses and join us for a blast from the past! Our monthly Open Haus Stammtisch will take you back in time to the 80s! Neue Deutsche Welle 80's Music Night will rock you to the Casbah and back with German and American […]
Organizers: DANK Haus German American Cultural Center
Free admission; drinks and food available for purchase
Renowned physician, scientist, and author, Dr. Azra Raza, recites a selection of Mirza Ghalib's powerful poetry. She translates and interprets the powerful lyrics in her very distinctive style that has endeared to her audiences all over the US and overseas.
Reading of poems by Afro-Puerto Rican writer Mayra Santos-Febres in dialogue with the Alejandro Salazar Quartet. This multimedia event will feature video projections by Jose Arturo Ballester Panelli. The Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center invites you to share with our resident artists and learn about the work of one of the most critically-acclaimed and influential […]
Save the date for our upcoming exhibit "Te Hokinga Mai, Return of the Ancestors" an exhibit honoring the 2007 repatriation of 14 Māori remains back to New Zealand. We will have a special preview showing at our 8th National Gathering Sunday, July 17th (registration here: https://bit.ly/Tng2022). The exhibition will be open to the public July 21st.
Between 1869 and the 1960s, hundreds of thousands of Native American children were forcibly abducted from their homes and families and placed in more than 350 government-funded, and often church-run, Indian Boarding schools. These children were subjected to horrendous conditions, suffering physical, sexual, cultural, and spiritual abuse and torture. They were banned from speaking their […]
The LAWNDALE Peace Party hosted by the MSRN Peace Committee is an event to bring people from North Lawndale and South Lawndale together to promote Peace, Love and Unity in our community. We invite you to join us on July 23rd from 11am to 2pm at Douglass Park (2950 W 19th St, Chicago) for an […]
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.