1. About Face Theatre
1222 W. Wilson, 2nd Floor - Chicago, IL 60640
Artistic Director: Andrew Volkoff
Education Programs Director: Ali Hoefnagel
Email: ali@aboutfacetheatre.com
Phone: 773-784-8565
Mission: About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and
adventurous plays to advance the national dialogue on gender and
sexual identity, and to challenge and entertain audiences in Chicago,
across the country, and around the world.
http://www.aboutfacetheatre.com/
The About Face Theatre group is on the national scene for its work in
political and social change associated with LGBTQA (lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, queer and ally) issues. In its seventeen years,
AFT has accumulated a large amount of support and produced over 60
different productions. They have workshops for both the classroom and
the workspace that address the realities of sexuality and the diverse
stereotypes associated with it. High school writing workshops create a
safe, non-judgmental space for LGBTQA youth to express while the
Youth Task Force allows teens to assert their leadership abilities. About
Face Theater gives marginalized youth the opportunity to affect the
future of theatre through performance and discussion.
2. Access Living
115 W Chicago Ave Chicago, IL 60654
Public Relations Coordinator: Gary Arnold
Email: GArnold@accessliving.org
Phone: 312-640-2199
Development Associate: Vatonna Dunn
Email: vdunn@accessliving.org
Phone: 312-640-2117
Mission: Access Living is a cross-disability organization governed
and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities.
Access Living fosters the dignity, pride and self-esteem of people
with disabilities and enhances the options available to them so they
may choose and maintain individualized and satisfying lifestyles. To
this end, Access Living offers peer-oriented independent living
services; public education, awareness and development;
individualized and systemic advocacy; and enforcement of civil
rights on behalf of people with disabilities. Access Living recognizes
the innate rights, abilities, needs and diversity of people with
disabilities, works toward their full integration into community life
and serves as an agent of social change.
http://www.accessliving.org/
Established in 1980, Access Living is a change agent committed to
fostering an inclusive society that enables Chicagoans with
disabilities to live fully-engaged and self-directed lives. Nationally
recognized as a leading force in the disability advocacy community,
Access Living challenges stereotypes, protects civil rights and champions social reform. Their staff and volunteers combine knowledge and
personal experience to deliver programs and services that equip people with disabilities to advocate for themselves. The services Access Living
offers are changing not only how society views the disability community, but how people with disabilities view themselves. From peer-based
support groups, to independent living training, helping people with disabilities take charge of their lives speaks to the passion and dedication
Access Living has for service, advocacy, and social change.
3. Alternatives
4730 N Sheridan Rd- Chicago, IL 60640
Executive Director: Judy Hall
Director of Youth Development: Carmen Curet
Email: CCuret@alternativesyouth.org
Phone:773-506-7474
Arts, Leadership, and Health Manager: Jake Frelick
Phone: 773-506-7474 x245
Mission: Alternatives Missions is to facilitate personal development,
strengthen family relationships and enhance the community’s well being.
Alternatives’ programs and services use an asset-based model that
focuses on enriching young people's lives by building upon individual
strengths within the context of their family and community. We provide
comprehensive, accessible and affordable programs that increase young
people's opportunities to succeed and grow as individuals and community
members.
http://www.alternativesyouth.org
Alternatives is a comprehensive, multi-cultural youth development agency
serving more than 3,000 young people and their families each year. Our
programs include counseling, leadership development, substance abuse
and violence prevention, and academic enrichment. From our Uptown
Youth Center, Alternatives serves youth and families citywide, with a
particular focus on Chicago's multi-ethnic northeast side. Alternatives values the diversity of the communities we serve and so we partner with over
100 local organizations and schools. Our long-term strategy is to strengthen and expand these partnerships in order to remain responsive to the
needs of our young people and their families.
4. Archi-Treasures
3339 West Division - Chicago IL 60651
Executive Director: Joyce Fernandez
Phone: 773-772-4416
Email: joyce@architreasures.org
Mission: Archi-treasures is an arts-based community
development organization reducing social isolation by creating
grassroots partnerships to build public spaces, empowering
individuals to shape their future and the future of their
community.
http://architreasures.org/
The quote “everyone has something to contribute,” is the
embodiment of every initiative at Archi-treasures. They work
passionately with their constituents to use local experiences of
the past as empowerment for the future. They produce tangible
works through the mediums of restored parks, murals and
movie screenings while encouraging civic engagement. Their
programming includes gardening, public arts, place making and
media arts. Murals in Humboldt Park and the Barbara Jean
Wright Courts Community Cookbook are only two examples of how Archi-treasure’s belief that art can be mobilized for the benefit of
underprivileged communities.
5. Association House of Chicago
1116 N. Kedzie Ave - Chicago, IL 60651
President: Harriet Sadauskas
Email: hsadauskas@associationhouse.org
Phone: 773-772-7170 Ext 9003
Mission: Association House of Chicago serves a multicultural
community by providing comprehensive, collaborative and effective
programs in English and Spanish. Association House of Chicago
promotes health and wellness and creates opportunities for educational
and economic advancement.
http://www.associationhouse.org/
The Association House of Chicago offers a variety of social,
educational, and health programs to the Chicagoland area. Fully
bilingual in both English and Spanish they serve every demographic
and age group as a vital resource to under-served, multicultural
communities. Association House offers out-of-school time programs
ranging from Academic assistance, and Leadership development to
Family Literacy. They also offer open-use computer labs, resume
support sessions, homework and computer related guidance. Since
1899, the Association House of Chicago has worked with family welfare
and public education; they continue in their mission to offer support to
the whole family from children and young adults to working parents and
older persons.
6. Chicago Children’s Choir
78 East Washington, 5th Fl. - Chicago, IL 60602
Executive Director: Josephine Lee
Community Engagement Manager: Pam Shorthall
Email: pshortall@ccchoir.org
Phone: 312-849-8300 ext. 38
Mission: The mission of Chicago Children's Choir is to be a "multiracial,
multicultural choral music education organization, shaping the future by
making a difference in the lives of children and youth through musical
excellence.
http://www.ccchoir.org
The Chicago Children’s Choir is a multiracial, multicultural choral music
education organization providing music education to nearly 3,500 Chicago
children ages 8-18 annually in 60 public schools and 11 after-school
programs. Few choirs can boast the same caliber of achievements as the
Chicago Children’s Choir. The Joffrey Ballet and the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra have both hosted the choir. The Dalai Lama, Quincy Jones and
Nelson Mandela have all been witnesses to the poise and talent it
possesses.
7. Chicago Commons
515 East 50th Street Chicago, IL 60615
President and CEO: Edgar Ramirez
Phone: 773-826-3793
Email: ramireze@chicagocommons.org
Mission: Chicago Commons partners with individuals, families, and
communities to overcome poverty, discrimination, and isolation.
Chicago Commons creates programs that build self-sufficiency,
strengthening individuals at key stages of their lives.
http://www.chicagocommons.org/
Chicago Commons acts as a catalyst for change by building trusting
relationships with neighbors and other organizations in the communities
they serve. Their Adult Education and Senior Care programs offer
community members a sense of belonging, while their Common Ground
for Youth program provides resources for youth to foster leadership
skills. Chicago Commons partners with residents, schools, other social
service agencies, community organizations, churches and political
leaders to address quality-of-life issues prevalent in the neighborhoods
they serve, and beyond. Chicago Commons leads, supports and
participates in community projects to specify problems and develop
proactive responses to overcome poverty, discrimination and isolation.
8. Chicago Park District
7059 S South Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60649
Arts & Culture Manager: Meida McNeal
Email: Meida.McNeal@ChicagoParkDistrict.com
Phone: 773-947-7376
Senior Program Specialist: Angie Tillges
Email: Angela.Tillges@ChicagoParkDistrict.com
Mission: TRACE (Teens Re-Imagining Art, Community and
Environment) cultivates young creative activists who seek to
collaboratively understand and exercise their abilities and shared
responsibility to advocate for and create change within their local
and wider communities. TRACERs do this by using art processes to
engage in dialogue, bridge-building and problem-solving.
http://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/
Serving up to 200,000 patrons every year with more than 8,100
acres of green space make the Chicago Park District is one of the
largest municipal park managers in the nation. The Chicago Park
District offers thousands of sports and physical activities as well as
cultural and environmental programs for youth, adults, and seniors
in its 580 parks and 31 beaches. The Chicago Park District is
responsible for 26 indoor pools, 51 outdoor pools, and 26 miles of
lakefront including 23 swimming beaches plus one inland beach.
From canoeing to batting cages to arts and crafts, there is never a
shortage of activities to participate in Chicago’s parks.
9. Chicago Public Art Group
1259 S. Wabash Ave. - Chicago, IL 60605
Executive Director: Jon Pounds
Email: jonpounds@cpag.net
Phone: 312-427-2724
Mission: The Chicago Public Art Group mission is to unite artists
and communities in partnership to produce quality public art and to
extend and transform the tradition of collaborative, community
involved, public artwork.
www.cpag.net/
The Chicago Public Art Group has facilitated the production of
many public art projects all across the city by connecting
organizations, agencies, and schools with skilled artistic leaders
and the professional management needed to produce these
community landmarks. Chicago Public Art group animates public
space with permanent, safe, meaningful, and beautiful murals,
mosaics, sculptures, seating, banners, and environment design.
Their approach to art making encourages discussion, collective
decision-making, and collaboration from the members of the
community they work with. Through CPAG’s mentorship and
leadership training they help artists understand how to explore and
express community ideas, design on a large scale, manage large
quantities of materials, increase the skills and commitments of volunteers, complete a project on schedule, and how to create an artwork that
enjoys broad popular support.
10. Collaboraction
Flat Iron Arts Building 1579 N Milwaukee, 3rd Floor Chicago, IL
60622
Executive Artistic Director: Anthony Moseley
Email: moseley.a@gmail.com
Managing Director: Jo Cattell
Email: jocattell@gmail.com
Phone: 312-226-9633
Mission: Collaboraction Theatre Company creates original theatrical
experiences that push artistic boundaries in order to explore critical social
issues with a diverse community of Chicagoans.
Our Vision is of a transdiciplinary company that brings people together to
utilize theatre and live events to explore the most pressing issues of our times,
cultivate dialogue and incite change.
http://www.collaboraction.org/#!mission/c2mm
We value the fundamentals of writing, directing, design and acting we
inherited from great Chicago theater tradition. We value ambitious, high
quality work that addresses the interests of our target audience in novel and
entertaining ways. We value the idea of an inclusive artistic community, where
both artist and audience and integral. We value innovative marketing. We are
artistically ambitious yet we have learned true creativity can only be sustained
by fiscal responsibility and sound planning. Finally, we value our brand’s identity, comprised of the following elements: Theater-based / artistic
community / Multi-disciplinary collaboration / Highly networked with other artists and our audience / Focus on a young, urban (Chicago-based)
demographic / High production values / Artistic ambition / novel, interactive experiences, Sound business planning.
11. Elevarte Community Studio (Formerly Pros
Arts Studio)
1119 W Cullerton St - Chicago, Illinois 60608
Executive Director: Giselle Mercier
Phone: 312-226-7767
Email: giselle@elevartestudio.org
Development & Communications Manager: Irasema
Gonzalez
Email: irasema@elevartestudio.org
Youth & Events Manager: Lizette Garza
Email: lizette@elevarestudio.org
Mission: Elevarte (formerly Pros Arts Studio) is a communitybased organization, which uses the arts as a means for youth
development. A dedicated cadre of teaching artists and youth
inspire and support each other as art makers and active citizens.
We create youth-activated safe spaces through three core
programs: In- School Residencies, Out-of-School-Time
Programs, and Community Celebrations.
http://elevartestudio.org/
ElevArte Community Studio provides arts education programs
including out-of-school time youth art labs, in-school art
residencies, and a mentorship program. They offer classes such
as knitting and crocheting,photography, and even have a ceramics studio. One of ElevArte’s community celebrations includes a Dia de Muertos
community processions that is the longest running Day of the Dead event in Pilsen. ElevArte engages youth as agents of change and demonstrates
this core value via their We Are Hip Hop Festival with activities conceived and curated by community youth.
12. Free Spirit Media
1327 W Washington Blvd, Chicago, IL, 60607
Executive Director: Jeff McCarter
Email: jeff@freespiritmedia.org
Phone: 312.526.3187
Director of Programs: Elizabeth Czekner
Email: elizabeth@freespiritmedia.org
Production and Technology Manger: Lucia Palmarini
Email: lucia@freespiritmedia.org
Mission: Free Spirit Media partners with schools and organizations
to provide education, access, and opportunity in media production
to under-served urban youth.
http://www.freespiritmedia.org/
Free Spirit Media (FSM) has developed an innovative education
and youth development model that uses youth media creation as
the context for holistic youth development. This model builds
bridges between academics, arts, civic engagement, higher
education, and the media industry. Through hands-on and projectbased media productions, Free Spirit Media helps young people
develop to be informed and engaged civically, connected to and
prepared for higher education and careers, able to build strong
relationships and networks for support beyond their programs, and
empowered with a strong sense of self. Programs like Hoops HIGH
and the Flash Forward Initiative directly align students with media
professionals and experience they would not have gotten anywhere
else. Free Spirit Media exposes their students to professional
writing, editing, networking and allows for self-expression.
13. Free Street Theater
1419 W. Blackhawk - Chicago, IL 60622
Executive Director: Caroline O’Boyle
Phone: 773-772-7248
Email: carolinefreestreet@gmail.com
Artisitic Director: Coya Paz
Email: coyapaz@gmail.com
Mission: Free Street Theater teaches acting and writing skills to youth
so they can open their potential to be creative, active participants in
their own lives.
http://freestreet.org
Free Street Theatre’s programs are designed to provide opportunities
of artistic engagement to youths who are commonly excluded from
mainstream programming. Free Street’s programs consist of: a twoyear advanced-acting training program called Performance
Ensembles; Theater Residencies offered to under-resourced youth in
Chicago Public Schools and Park Districts and internships offered to
college-level students who seek hands-on opportunities to work in
community-based arts, youth development and/or theater.
Additionally, the young actors in the Performance Ensembles develop
three original performances that are presented as Free Street’s
Season Productions. An audience base of approximately 4,000 each
year attends the productions. The UpsideDown School is a new
summer arts camp for youth ages 5-10 that is led by master teachingartists who combine elements of theater, music, dance and visual art
to explore the sciences.
14. Gary Comer Youth Center
7200 South Ingleside Avenue- Chicago, IL 60619
Executive Director: Greg Mooney
Center Director: Ayoka Samuels
Email: asamuels@gcychome.org
Phone: 773-358-4082
Mission: The Gary Comer Youth Center mission is to provide the
support for all of our students to graduate from high school,
prepared to pursue college and careers. The Youth Center draws its
primary membership from youth on Chicago's South side.
http://www.gcychome.org
The Gary Comer Youth Center offers positive extracurricular
education in a welcoming and safe environment. Programs within
the 80,000 square-foot facility include college readiness, athletics,
academic tutoring, performing and visual arts, health and wellness,
culinary arts, technology, media and horticulture. The Youth Center
draws its primary membership from the immediate neighborhood as
well as youth from throughout the South Side. It also serves as the
home of the South Shore Drill Team, a group of more than 250
young people who perform unique flag, rifle and dance routines. In
addition, the Youth Center is home to Gary Comer College Prep
(GCCP). The state-of-the-art high school building, opened in
August 2010, and Youth Center form an integrated campus that has
expanded to include a middle school. GCCP students participate in
Youth Center programming after school, on weekends, and during
the summer.
15. Intonation Music School
345 N. Loomis, Suite 409- Chicago, IL 60607
Founder and Executive Director- Michael Simons
Email: mike@intonationmusicworkshop.org
Phone: 312-IMW-0554
Community Engagement and Special Projects: Hannah
Shefsky
Email: hannah@intonationmusicworkshop.org
Mission: Intonation Music Workshop (IMW) empowers children to
become rock stars on every stage of life through innovative music
education. IMW’s in-school, after-school, and summer programs
provide year-round access to instruments, instruction, performance
opportunities, and mentorship to youth age 6-17 in Chicago who
wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity. Through the process of
learning to play instruments and working together with their peers,
IMW students have the chance to get involved, learn new skills,
express their creativity, and find their niche by playing in a pop band.
http://www.intonationmusicworkshop.org
IMW was founded in 2006 by Mike Simons with a car full of
instruments, a volunteer gig at a neighborhood social service agency,
and a hunch that a pop-music education program would be a fun and
effective way to keep youth productively engaged during after-school
hours. He quickly discovered that such a program also develops life
skills, builds self-esteem, establishes a sense of belonging, and
creates community.
16. J-Def Peace Project
1436 W 18th St
Executive Director: Jeff Maldonado
Email: jdefpeaceproject@gmail.com
Phone: 312-912-7734
Mission: The J-Def Peace Project is in the early stages of becoming a
multi faceted non-for-profit in an effort to continue the legacy of our
cherished son, Jeff Abbey Maldonado, Jr. Jeff, Jr. was an aspiring,
conscious hip hop artist who went by the name of J-Def, and worked to
bring his music and message into the Pilsen neighborhood.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-J-DEF-PeaceProject/171459632918845?sk=photos_stream&ref=page_internal
Our one and only son was taken away from us just one day after his
nineteenth birthday, in a senseless act of gang violence. He wrote about
the socio-political issues and gang violence of his environment, as well
as the pride and cultural beauty of his beloved barrio. We feel the
knowledge and wisdom of J-Def is a powerful, educational message
that must be shared the world over. The J-Def Peace Project works with
youth, adults, churches, schools, educators, city officials, community
activists and community organizations citywide. Our projects include
public art works, film screening workshops, performing arts and
speaking engagements.
17. Kuumba Lynx
4501 North Clarendon Avenue - Chicago, IL 60640
Co-Executive Director: Jacinda Bullie
Phone: 773-550-3849
Email: kuumbalynx@yahoo.com
Co-Executive Director: Jaquanda Villgas
Email: kuumbalynxjae@gmail.com
Mission: Kuumba Lynx has a mission of working to provide access
to programs that preserve, promote and present urban arts &
culture.
http://www.kuumbalynx.org
Kuumba Lynx (KL) brings together leading educators, professors,
artists, and activists utilizing the media of Hip-Hop as relevant,
dynamic and necessary educational tools to engage students
across multi-disciplinary curricula with the primary goal of using
Performance Art/Exhibitions and the learning process of various
urban art aesthetics as a means to artistically and creatively
express and engage the opinions of young people and their
communities on topics that are relevant to their lives. While both
edutaining (educating through entertaining) and serving as a
catalyst for education advocacy and other societal concerns
essential to the well being of youth and their communities, KL
curriculum includes: study of original urban street art form
techniques, researching of and knowledge building of global
history, burning issue discussions, story-telling, improvisation, team building exercises, character development, playwriting, visual urban street art,
music study, and choreography. Kuumba Lynx offers drop in Hip Hop arts classes at Clarendon Park, holds workshops and art residencies in
partnership with Chicago schools and community organizations, and has an award winning performance ensemble.
18. Latinos Progresando
3047 W Cermak Rd. Chicago, IL 60623
Exectutive Director: Luis Gutierrez
Email: luis@latinospro.org
Office: 773-542-7077
Mission: Latinos Progresando serves immigrants with the highest
quality, low-cost legal immigration services, community education
and engagement, and advocacy/organizing around policy that
affects immigrants.
http://latinospro.org
Latinos Progresando (LP) serves their community through many
different initiatives. Teatro Americano LP’s theater ensemble
provides opportunities for local youth to think and act in creative
ways that counter negative stereotypes of Latino youth and
communities. The Dr. Angela Perez Miller Scholarship Fund
promotes educational attainment in the Latino and immigrant
community and assists youth to cover their tuition costs. They offer
leadership development programs for youth, young professionals,
and the nonprofit leaders in the 15-organization collaborative called
the Marshall Square Resource Network. Latinos Progresando also
offers high-quality, affordable immigration legal services, including
an initiative that reaches victims of domestic violence. Latinos
Progresando convenes keys stakeholders to affect high-level
changes with a real impact on the quality of life for families in their
community.
19. Little Black Pearl
1060 E. 47th Street - Chicago, IL 60653
Executive Director: Monica Haslip
Senior Program Manager: Chinyera Moody
Phone: 773-285-1211
Email: cmoody@blackpearl.org
Mission: The missions of Little Black Pearl is to create opportunities
for youth and adults to deepen their creative involvement through the
arts, cultivate their entrepreneurial skills and use the arts as a means
for economic empowerment and community transformation.
http://blackpearl.org/little-black-pearl/
Little Black Pearl is a 40,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility in the heart
of the Kenwood/Oakland community. This cultural arts center
provides opportunities in art, culture and entrepreneurship to youth,
adults and families across Chicago. LBP marries art and education
through their Little Black Pearl Art and Design Academy High School.
Little Black Pearl works diligently to counter the challenges urban
youth face by providing a safe environment, positive role models, and
rigorous program and skill development activities and opportunities.
Their 18-year history has successfully proven that it is possible to
marry art and entrepreneurship through real life application of talent,
interest and skills. At Little Black Pearl, youth feel safe and open to
exploring, expressing and challenging their ideas and feelings
through art. The combination of art and business bring out innate
talents and shows youth the value of their work. They learn lifelong
skills; enhance their self-esteem and benefit from the sale of their art.
A wide array of works of art created by youth in programs and workshops provided by Little Black Pearl are available for purchase through the Art
and Design Center. Glassblowing, ceramics, music, multi-media and painting are all mediums taught at LBP.
20. Lupe Fiasco Foundation
700 E. Oakwood Office 521- Chicago, IL 60653
Executive Director: Ayesha Jaco
Email: aajaco@yahoo.com
Phone:773.256.2034
Mission: Lupe’s own mission to provide warm meals and coats to families in
need quickly expanded to include music education, curriculum and a host of
other arts-based initiatives in Chicago inner-city communities. By 2009, Lupe
and co-founder Ayesha Jaco realized the need to organize and expand this
outreach, and the Lupe Fiasco Foundation was born with the mission of
empowering inner-city youth as artists, activists and global citizens.
http://www.lupefiascofoundation.org/
Lupe Fiasco Foundation seeks empower inner-city youth through a variety of
projects and programs that focus of three key areas: food justice, creation and
implementation of hip-hop curriculum, and youth empowerment funding. They
participate and support community engaging events, forums, campaigns
against violence, scholarships, and cultural exchange trips.
21. ‘Matli Dance Academy
4355 West Ford City Drive Chicago, IL 60652
Executive Director: Marlin Estrada
Email: marlin@vivamati.org
Phone: 773-336-2854
Mission: To provide our youth and their communities with
experiences in dance and the arts that inspire and nurture passion,
artistry, and creativity, leading them through a path to uncover their
full potential as performers, individuals, and visionaries.
http://vivamatli.org
‘Matli Dance Academy provides accessible and affordable dance
classes and programs for youth in the Southwest Chicago area. ‘Matli
Dance Academy utilizes a curriculum and structure based on bestpractice dance education and youth development principles, as well
as rooted in cultural relevancy to the community they serve. They
offer extensive dance training for children and youth ages 3 to 18
years old, including Beginning and Advanced Ballet, Jazz,
Gymnastics, Hip-Hop, Breakdance, and Tap. Their advanced training
classes lead into the opportunity to be a member of ‘Matli Dance
Crew- their resident Youth Performance Troupe- which performs at
area events and competitions. Younger students who demonstrate
potential also have an opportunity to join ‘Matli Junior or ‘Matli Minis –
the younger performance troupes at the dance academy.
22. Najwa Dance Corps
1900 W. Van Buren, Room 0505 - Chicago, IL 60612
Executive Director: Sheila Walker-Wilkens
Phone: 312-850-7224
Email: walkwilks@yahoo.com
Mission: "A living archive of dance history", Najwa Dance Corps
presents an exciting repertoire that spans the eras of the AfricanAmerican heritage. Always entertaining, the company's performances
showcase a breathtaking diversity of dance styles.
http://www.najwadance.org
Following a lifetime of dance, Chicago native Najwa I. founded the
dance group in 1977. Her award winning knowledge of West African
and Caribbean dance is partnered with contemporary AfricanAmerican dance, making for a passionate performance program.
Concerts, workshops and artist residencies are coupled with beautiful
costuming, energetic dancing and international influences making
them available to audiences everywhere.
23. Parent Power Chicago
Outreach and Recruitment: Terrell Campbell
Email: tcampbell@parentpowerchicago.com
Phone: 773-717-8774
Mission: ParentPowerChicago, Inc. was formed to help parents take
charge of their children’s academic and cultural development and
guide them toward success.
http://www.parentpowerchicago.org/
The mission of ParentPowerChicago is to equip parents throughout the
Chicagoland area with the information, inspiration, support and resources
they need to help their children succeed in school and in life. The primary
goal of our work is to build a community of support around parents that will
make engagement and leadership more fun and less time consuming while
filling in many of the gaps (real and perceived) that hinder parents by
connecting them to resources, information and relationships. Through the
Resource Hub, parents can access a wide range of resources: tutoring and
homework help, on-line teaching, mentoring, music and arts programs,
sports and recreational activities and more. In the Parent Network we create
spaces for parents to connect, support each other while they learn, have fun
and succeed together. Our Communications efforts are focused on making
sure that parents have all of the information they need about
ParentPowerChicago, resources in the city and the tips and news that
parents can use to help their children.
Brochures
24. People’s Music School
931 W. Eastwood - Chicago, IL 60622
Executive Director: Jennifer Matsuzawa
Email: jennifer.matsuzawa@peoplesmusicschool.org
Phone: 773-784-7032
Director of Community Programs: Carolyn Sybesma
Email: carolyn.sybesma@peoplesmusicschool.org
Mission: The People's Music School is one of the only free community
music schools in the U.S. As a student of the School, your child will
receive a comprehensive musical education on the instrument of their
choice, with a heavy emphasis on Music theory.
http://www.peoplesmusicschool.org
The People's Music School is the only free, community music schools in
the United States. They provide free music education with an emphasis in
classical music. Their curriculum includes music theory as well as
instruction in the particular instrument of the child's choice. In addition to
classes and lessons, students also have numerous opportunities to
perform, whether as soloists or as members of one of our ensembles.
Students also often have the opportunity to learn from established
professional musicians and to attend the various concerts hosted by the
school featuring Chicago's premier musicians.
25. Public Media Institute/Co-Prosperity Sphere
3219 S Morgan Street Chicago IL 60608
Co-Director: Ed Marszewski
Email: edmarlumpen@gmail.com
Phone: 773-837-0145
Mission: PMI is a non-profit 501(c) 3, community based, art & culture
organization located in the neighborhood of Bridgeport in the city of
Chicago. Our mission is to create, incubate and sustain innovative cultural
programming through the production of socially engaged projects, arts
festivals, spaces, exhibitions, and media.
http://www.publicmediainstitute.com/?page_id=4
Public Media Institute is committed to the region’s cultural ecology and is
evident through our series of programs, spaces and
projects. Programming includes two annual international arts festival,
Version and the MDW Fair. With over 1000 participants a year, the
festivals act as filters for experiencing a wide variety of cultural programs,
artist-run initiatives and projects.
26. Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
3000 N. Elbridge Chicago, IL 60618
Executive Director: Carlos Hernandez
Email: carlos@praachicago.org
Phone: 773-342-8740
Mission: The Puerto Rican Arts Alliance is dedicated to preserving
Puerto Rican culture by maintaining our traditions, promoting our
arts, providing educational opportunities in arts programming and
cultivating pride in our heritage for future generations.
http://www.praachicago.org/
PRAA was founded in 1998 to increase awareness, knowledge and
access to the arts by the Puerto Rican community and to provide a
venue for emerging artists and musicians to showcase their talents.
At the core of PRAA programming is to provide access to free
multidisciplinary arts programming to underserved youth. From free
music lessons in their Cuatro & Spanish Guitar Program, and Violin
classes or exploring historical and cultural traditions in their Taíno
Project and Three Kings Program, to experimenting with a variety
of media and art forms in our Studio Arts Program; PRAA uses the
arts as a vehicle to promote cross-cultural understanding among
youth.
27. Residents Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.)
6623 S. Union Ave., 1st Fl, Chicago, IL 60621
Contact: Asiaha Butler
Email: aysha75@gmail.com
Phone: 773-744-8849
Mission: Resident Association of Greater Englewood is working to mobilize
people and resources to force a change in the community of Englewood by
breaking down barriers in communication and promoting positivity through
solution-based approaches.
http://ragenglewood.org/
Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.) is a resident-led
association that consists of members that reside in all 6 wards of the Greater
Englewood area to fight against the stigma associated with their neighborhood
and holistically empower the community. R.A.G.E. seeks to address
redistricting issues, voting, and violence to name a few. Their goals are to
educate and empower the Greater Englewood community through forums,
beautification efforts, events and programming, and council meetings.
28. Redmoon Theater
2120 S Jefferson St, Chicago, IL 60616
Producing Artistic Director: Jim Lasko
Phone: 312-850-8440
Co-Artistic Director: Frank Maugeri
Email: fmaugeri@redmoon.org
Education Programs Director: Jillian Gryzlak
Email: jgryzlak@redmoon.org
Mission: Transform the experience of our urban landscape through
ephemeral events that disrupt everyday life and provide opportunities for
public engagement, community building and recognition of the possibility
of change.
http://www.redmoon.org/
Redmoon was founded in 1990 to promote a unique brand of
performance committed to the highest quality artistic product and to civic
well-being. Pulling with conviction from contemporary art forms and
ancient theatrical forms, Redmoon has created a performance style that
is equal parts pageantry, gadgetry, acrobatics, and ephemera. Redmoon
has created theatre productions, community projects and large-scale,
site-specific performances that have been experienced across Chicago
from Belmont Harbor and the Jackson Park Lagoon to the façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Redmoon has also worked in traditional
theatre venues from the stage of Harris Theater to Steppenwolf. Through their Neighborhood Arts Program, Redmoon provides in-depth, artmaking experiences to Chicago’s underserved youth by partnering with Schools and other community organizations to create meaningful and
effective learning opportunities for students and teachers by integrating spectacle theater into the classroom and the school community.
29. Snow City Arts
630 S. Hermitage, K103 - Chicago, IL 60612
Executive Director: Carrie Spitler
Email: carrie@snowcityarts.org
Phone: 312-942-6991
Mission: Snow City Arts educates and inspires children in hospitals through
the arts.
http://www.snowcityarts.org/
Snow City Arts provides one-on-one instruction in the visual arts, creative
writing, music, theater, and film making to patients at Rush Children’s
Hospital, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, John H.
Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, and Children’s Hospital University of
Illinois. As doctors and nurses care for a child’s medical needs, Child Life
specialists, therapists, social workers and other hospital employees address
the psychosocial needs of hospitalized children. Snow City Arts augments
those services in each hospital they serve by addressing a child’s
developmental and educational needs through the arts. Their teaching
artists typically work with an individual child at his or her bedside. While
they are arts-based, they put the focus on learning and integrate state and
national standards in Social Studies, Math, Science, Fine Arts, and
Language Arts into both the student workshops and their evaluation
systems. They include both the Illinois Department of Education learning standards, as well as national standards for arts education from the
federal education legislation. By integrating these standards into lesson planning and assessment, Snow City Arts is able to ensure that the
hospitalized children are learning skills that are in line with their regular school’s classroom.
30. Storycatchers Theatre
920 N Franklin St # 302 - Chicago, IL 60610
Artitic Director and Founder: Meade Palidofsky
Executive Director: Nancy McCarty
Email: nmccarty@storycatcherstheatre.org
Phone: 312-280-4772
Program Manager: Aimee Stahlberg
Email: astahlberg@storycatcherstheatre.org
Mission: Storycatchers Theatre is a youth development arts organization
that prepares young people to make positive life choices through the
process of writing, producing, and performing original musical theatre
inspired by personal stories.
http://www.storycatcherstheatre.org/
Storycatchers Theatre is a youth development arts organization that
prepares young people to make positive life choices through the process
of writing, producing, and performing original musical theatre inspired by
personal stories. Storycatchers’ productions express participants’
challenges and life experiences, their dreams and aspirations. By using
performing arts to help youth find their own voices, connect to their own
life stories, and learn from their peers, Storycatchers enables them to set
goals, link decisions to consequences, and develop a roadmap to success. Staffed by talented teaching artists, Storycatchers Theatre conducts
ongoing multi-week programs with groups of youth who live in underserved urban neighborhoods or who are incarcerated in the juvenile justice
system – where they have few opportunities to develop their gifts and talents. Storycatchers staff adapt the program model to the setting and to
participants’ needs. The model includes coaching young people through a cycle of story-writing assignments; leadership development exercises;
reflections, readings, and critiques; planning sessions and rehearsals. These activities culminate in performances of a musical play built on a
unified theme and story line. In this group process, participants learn writing and performance skills, achieve personal development goals, improve
peer and family relationships, and acquire practical knowledge that can promote success in school, at home and, in their communities.
31. Street-Level Youth Media
1856 W. Chicago, 1st Fl. - Chicago, IL 60622
Executive Director: Manwah Lee
Email:manwah@street-level.org
Phone: 773-862-5331
Mission: Street-Level Youth Media educates Chicago's urban youth in
media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression,
communication, and social change. Street-Level's programs build critical
thinking skills for young people who have been historically neglected by
public policy makers and mass media. Using video and audio production,
computer art and the Internet, Street-Level's youth address community
issues, access advanced communication technology and gain inclusion in
our information-based society.
http://www.street-level.org/
Street-Level empowers urban youth through media and digital arts by
offering free after-school and summer media arts programming year-round
for youth ages 8 to 22. Youth have access to Professional teaching artists
that lead workshops in audio, video, digital photography, and graphic
design. Street-Level is the ONLY professional-level, community-based
recording studio open to all youth in Chicago. They have two computer labs
with over 30 Macs and industry-standard software. Street-Level also offers
schoolbased programming for Chicago elementary & high schools.
32. True Star
1130 South Wabash, Suite 302, Chicago, IL 60605
Co-Executive: DeAnna McLeary
Email: dmcleary@truestarmagazine.com
Co-Executive: Na-Tae’ Thompson
Email: nthompson@truestarmagazine.com
Phone: 312.588.0100
Mission: True Star Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides a
creative outlet in the form of literary and professional development
programs for youth. We welcome you in joining us on our mission to
demonstrate healthy transitions for youth entering early adulthood by
exposing them to positive real world experiences.
http://www.truestarfoundation.org/
True Star programs are hosted in conjunction with After School Matters
and Chicago Public Schools. True Star offers Chicago teen’s innovative
out-of-school activities. Their programs are designed to teach valuable
skills that are transferable to the workplace and ultimately raise the bar for
future expectations. True Star serves a minimal of 150 students during
each 10-week session throughout all its programs. True Star’s most
notable creation is the True Star Media program, which produces True
Star Magazine, True Star Radio, Truestaris.com and True Star Jr.
Magazine. As a whole, True Star's is to inform, entertain and educate.
True Star serves as the voice of
urban youth and the issues they face in our ever-changing world.
33. Yollocalli Arts Reach
2801 S. Ridgeway Avenue- Chicago, IL 60623
Executive Director: Vanessa Sanchez
Phone: 312-455-9652 ext. 204
Email: vsanchez@nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org
Mission: Yollocalli Arts Reach, a youth initiative of the National Museum of
Mexican Art, is an arts education and career-training program for teens and
young adults. The Yollocalli model is based on creating a space for youth to
partner with practicing artists; access the tools necessary to realize their
own vision; and build skills as emerging artists. Located in the heart of
Pilsen, Yollocalli is an open forum for experimentation in art-making based
on issues in art, history, and youth culture. http://yollocalli.org/
Yollocalli Arts Reach believes that youth culture is at the forefront of
contemporary cultural practices; over the years it has developed a variety of
programs that allow youth to explore their creative potentials while allowing
them to just be teens. Yollocalli’s youth art programs are offered during the
fall and spring after school, with longer sessions during the summer. They
also host workshops, teen exhibitions, and special events throughout the
year. Yollocali’s youth art programs are taught by community artists whose
personal artistic practice reflects the interests of youth culture and
contemporary art. Programs range in technical skills and themes from basic
drawing and painting, to public performance, blogging, comic and zine
making, quinceañera aesthetics, mural and graffiti courses just to
name a few.
34. Young Chicago Authors
2049 W. Division, 2nd Fl. - Chicago, IL 60622
Executive Director: Rebecca Hunter
Phone: 773-486-4331 ext. 14
Email: rebecca@youngchicagoauthors.org
Artistic Director: Kevin Coval
Phone: 773-486-4331 ext. 12
Email: kc@kevincoval.com
Director of Programs: Anna Festa
Phone: 773.486.4331 ext. 17
Email: anna@youngchicagoauthors.org
Mission: Young Chicago Authors transforms the lives of young people by
cultivating their voices through writing, publication, and performance
education.
http://youngchicagoauthors.org/
Young Chicago Authors offers free weekly programming, workshops and inschool residencies throughout the city of Chicago and Chicago land. YCA
directly serves 4,500 teens a year through workshops, performance and
publication programs, and reaches 10,000 young people and adults through
readership of its publications and audiences at its events. YCA has also
begun its expansion of the Louder Than A Bomb brand into cities across the nation. Young Chicago Authors programs cultivate artistic voice,
develop critical thinkers, and empower youth to be civically engaged. All programs are FREE, include bus passes and snacks for participants, and
can be taken as drop-in classes or on an on-going basis. Workshops are taught by Young Chicago Authors Core Teaching Artists and are
appropriate for youth grades 6 – College with varying skill levels—beginner to advanced. Young Chicago Authors provides a safe space where no
racist, sexist, homophobic or anti-group language is allowed. Above all things YCA is a place where participants can come together, share their art
and create bridges across the city.