Our friends at StoryCorps (and their StoryBooth at the Chicago Cultural Center, currently closed) know that it’s hard to be without the people we care about during COVID-19. So, they have developed a way for you to spend meaningful time with a loved one: you can now record a StoryCorps conversation virtually, with the step-by-step guidance of a trained facilitator. It's an opportunity to remotely interview a family member or friend about their life, using StoryCorps' new "virtual recording booth". StoryCorps Chicago has opened a limited number of appointments to the public so book yours today. Learn more: storycorps.org/chicago
Tune in for New Virtual Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts
(photo credit Elliot Mandel)
The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, programmed by the International Music Foundation, feature solo and ensemble performance by emerging classical musicians. While the Chicago Cultural Center remains closed, the weekly series is continuing to broadcast live virtually. The concerts may be viewed from the International Music Foundations website at imfchicago.org or heard on WFMT 98.7FM each Wednesday at 12:15pm.
Tour the Historic Chicago Cultural Center (Virtually)
The historic Chicago Cultural Center remains closed to the public due to COVID-19, so DCASE is piloting new virtual tours of "The People's Palace". Public tours are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month at 11am. A limited number of private virtual tours are available on-demand to groups of 10 or more, schedule at least 2 weeks in advance. Request your free tour today at DCASEvoluntours.org. (And don't miss new video tours available anytime at YouTube.com/ChicagoDCASE.)
Shop for Chicago-made Art and Design
Shop for Chicago-made art, objects and more at Buddy — a new store created by the Public Media Institute to give Chicago's artists and small manufacturers a place to showcase and sell their goods and artwork. The extraordinary selection of curated art, jewelry, publications, music and toys is now available online at Hi-Buddy.org in anticipation of the store that will be in the Chicago Cultural Center when it reopens.
And show off your Chicago pride with artist-designed Official Summer Festival Merchandise for the Chicago House Music Festival, Chicago Gospel Music Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Taste of Chicago, Chicago Jazz Festival and the City of Chicago itself — available at DCASE.TSMGI.net. Each T-shirt was designed by a local artist in collaboration with the Design Museum of Chicago, and a portion of sales benefit the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund.
Chicago Monuments Project
Monuments and memorials have become a focal point for conversation, protest and activism in the city of Chicago. In response, the City has created a committee to review the city’s collection of monuments and recommend solutions. The Chicago Monuments Project intends to grapple with the often unacknowledged – or forgotten – history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections and provides a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history, confront the ways in which that history has and has not been memorialized and develop a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s true and complete history. To learn more and share your thoughts, please visit www.ChicagoMonuments.org – and join the conversation on social media using #ChicagoMonuments.
