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20 events found.

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  • July 2022

  • Fri 29
    July 29, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 6:00 pm 2022 Newberry Book Fair

    2022 Newberry Book Fair

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Newberry Library 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL, United States

    Chicago’s most popular used-book sale is back! Browse through thousands of books in dozens of genres, including fiction, philosophy, history, art, cooking, children’s literature, and much, much more. With many […]

  • Fri 29
    July 29, 2022 @ 11:30 am - 3:00 pm Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    • Food and Drink
    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    Pop by the Museum today or tomorrow for fika in our main gallery space on the first floor. Enjoy some Swedish coffee and cinnamon rolls while you relax and enjoy […]

  • Fri 29
    July 29, 2022 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

    Opening: DESI Roots and Wings

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Member Events
    National Indo-American Museum 815 S Main St, Lombard, IL, United States

    The exhibition is an exploration of the heritage and experiences of Indian Immigrants to the United States, addressing such topics as: The meaning of the word “desi” representing a collective […]

    $5
  • Fri 29
    July 29, 2022 @ 7:00 pm

    Documentary: “Laisvės varpas“ (The Liberty Bell)

    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture 6500 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL, United States

    IN COMMEMORATION OF THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED STATES RECOGNITION OF LITHUANIAN INDEPENDENCE, PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE PREMIERE OF THE NEW LITHUANIAN DOCUMENTARY FILM! The Lithuanian American Community […]

  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 6:00 pm 2022 Newberry Book Fair

    2022 Newberry Book Fair

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Newberry Library 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL, United States

    Chicago’s most popular used-book sale is back! Browse through thousands of books in dozens of genres, including fiction, philosophy, history, art, cooking, children’s literature, and much, much more. With many […]

  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Sidewalk and Tantalizing Treasure Sale

    Sidewalk and Tantalizing Treasure Sale

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    The Museum is taking part in the Andersonville Sidewalk Sale. Participating businesses from 4800 to 5800 N. Clark St. and the adjacent side streets will expand their storefronts to line […]

  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 11:30 am - 3:00 pm Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    • Food and Drink
    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    Pop by the Museum today or tomorrow for fika in our main gallery space on the first floor. Enjoy some Swedish coffee and cinnamon rolls while you relax and enjoy […]

  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 1:00 pm

    Community Cook-out

    • Food and Drink
    • Member Events
    Foster Beach 5200 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, United States

    The Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago invites you to our annual Community Cook-out! The Community Cook-out will be on Saturday, July 30th, from 1 PM at Foster Beach. Come and […]

    FREE
  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

    Shaun B: Unadulterated Comedy at Bronzeville Historical Society

    • Member Events
    Bronzeville Historical Society 4455 S King Dr. - Suite 103, Chicago, IL, United States

    Shaun B is the best comedian in town... PERIOD. Check him out at his ONE MAN show for a Private Adult Audience on Sun. Dec. 19 RSVP Today! Chicago's own […]

    $20
  • Sat 30
    July 30, 2022 @ 7:30 pm

    Funkadesi: “An Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories”

    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    South Asia Institute 1925 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, United States

    A special evening of music and conversation with Chicago's celebrated musical supergroup, Funkadesi. Known for their own high-energy blend of music that ranges from South Asian classical, folk and film […]

    $10 – $15
  • Sun 31
    July 31, 2022 @ 10:00 am - 6:00 pm 2022 Newberry Book Fair

    2022 Newberry Book Fair

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Newberry Library 60 West Walton Street, Chicago, IL, United States

    Chicago’s most popular used-book sale is back! Browse through thousands of books in dozens of genres, including fiction, philosophy, history, art, cooking, children’s literature, and much, much more. With many […]

  • Sun 31
    July 31, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm Sidewalk and Tantalizing Treasure Sale

    Sidewalk and Tantalizing Treasure Sale

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    The Museum is taking part in the Andersonville Sidewalk Sale. Participating businesses from 4800 to 5800 N. Clark St. and the adjacent side streets will expand their storefronts to line […]

  • August 2022

  • Wed 3
    August 3, 2022 @ 8:30 pm - 9:45 pm Film in the Park / Cine en el Parque

    Film in the Park / Cine en el Parque

    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Multiple Venues Chicago, IL, United States

    Enjoy summertime Chi with our annual Film in the Park/Cine en el Parque! In partnership with the Chicago Park District, the series runs family-friendly films projected on large screens in […]

    FREE
  • Thu 4
    August 4, 2022 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

    JASC Legacy Center Screening Event

    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Japanese American Service Committee 4427 N Clark St, Chicago, IL, United States

    Join the Japanese American Service Committee for a free screening event on Thursday, August 4th, 6:00-7:30 p.m.! Our amazing Legacy Center interns will be premiering their audio and video projects […]

  • Fri 5
    August 5, 2022 @ 11:30 am - 3:00 pm Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    • Food and Drink
    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    Pop by the Museum today or tomorrow for fika in our main gallery space on the first floor. Enjoy some Swedish coffee and cinnamon rolls while you relax and enjoy […]

  • Sat 6
    August 6, 2022 - December 10, 2022

    Exhibition: “Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories”: Partition Anti-Memorial Project

    • Exhibitions and Gallery Events
    • Member Events
    South Asia Institute 1925 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL, United States

    Through experiential art installations “Unbearable Memories, Unspeakable Histories” investigates the Partition of India in 1947. This year marks 75 years since the Partition of India in 1947, which created Pakistan, […]

    $5 – $10
  • Sat 6
    August 6, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 3:00 pm

    The 106th Scottish Home Picnic

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Caledonia Senior Living and Memory Care (Heritage Hall) 2800 Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, IL, United States

    All are welcome to join residents, families and staff on Saturday, August 6th for our 106th Annual Summer Picnic. Live music, food, Highland Dancing, bagpipes, kids games and much more!

    FREE
  • Sat 6
    August 6, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

    LAWNDALE Arts Festival

    • Cultural Festivals and Fairs
    • Member Events
    Douglass Park Community and Cultural Center 1401 S Sacramento Dr, Chicago, IL, United States

    The LAWNDALE Arts Festival hosted by the NLCCC Arts and Culture Committee is a festival to bring artists and entrepreneurs from North Lawndale and South Lawndale together to showcase the […]

    FREE
  • Sat 6
    August 6, 2022 @ 11:30 am - 3:00 pm Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    Pop-Up Café at the Swedish American Museum

    • Food and Drink
    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Swedish American Museum 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL, United States

    Pop by the Museum today or tomorrow for fika in our main gallery space on the first floor. Enjoy some Swedish coffee and cinnamon rolls while you relax and enjoy […]

  • Sat 6
    August 6, 2022 @ 7:00 pm

    Sonidos De Mi Isla / Sounds of My Island

    • Member Events
    • Music, Film, and Theater
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra 220 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, United States

    This historic performance is the first appearance of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra in Chicago in 20 years. Through the rigorous training of its members, the balance between youth and […]

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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.