BATIK Workshop at the Department of Aging

       

Stimulus Packages for Artists and Arts Organizations

Artists have been looking for economic stimulus during this economic downturn, and Chicago arts organizations received part of the $50 million that the NEA got as part of the stimulus package. A recent survey co-sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the NEA found that the current recession has been difficult for artists and arts organizations. Artists and arts organizations should be eligible for more funding, during this rough economic time.

Currently an exhibition entitled 1934: A New Deal for Artists is at the Smithsonian Institution, which provides an historical perspective to how the federal government proactively took initiative during the Great Depression.

Long Time Arts Activist Runs For Cook COunty Board President

Long time cultural activist, organizer and educator Tom Tresser is running for the office of President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners (to replace Todd Stroger). He needs help to get on the ballot. He is running as a Green Party candidate. If you would like to circulate petitions for Tom, please call 312-276-5432, email tom@tom2010.us. The deadline for turning petitions in is November 3. You can download a petition from his web site.

Tom Tresser was the managing director at Pegasus Players from 1985 to 1990 and created the Chicago Young Playwrights Festival there (now in its 23rd season!). He organized an innovative community arts program at Peoples Housing in the mid-1990s that combined culture, training and micro-enterprise. He did cultural programming for the Chicago Park District in the late-1990s and led the effort that established community arts programming at Douglas Park.
He established Greater Chicago Citizens for the Arts in 1990 to elect candidates who supported the arts and freedome of expression. In 2004 he developed the Creative America Project to inspire and prepare creative workers to run for local office. He wrote a book based on his work, "America Needs You! Why You Should Become a Creativity Champion" [download text for free].

"Arts & Activism in the Midwest" Panel Discussion

Thursday, October 1, 2009 (7:00-9:00 p.m.)

You are invited to attend this “Arts and Activism in St. Louis, Detroit, and Chicago” panel discussion, which is part of the “Arts and Activism in the Midwest” Series. This panel discussion focuses on the arts scenes in these three Midwestern cities, and it is also part of the Fourth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival.

The panelists include James McAnally, Amanda Mueller, Andrew James, and Tony Renner in St. Louis; Rebecca Mazzei, Emily Linn, Jenenne Whitfield, and Joel Peterson in Detroit; and Lindsay Obermeyer, Carol Ng-He, Theaster Gates, Jennifer Karmin, and Dan Godston in Chicago. The panelists will be connected over the internet, via skype, so the panelists and other participants will be able to see and hear each other.

free and open to the public

Chicago location: Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center (7-9 p.m. CST)
1060 E. 47th St.
Chicago, IL 60653-3600
773.285.1633

St. Louis location: The Luminary Center for the Arts (7-9 p.m. CST)
location: 4900 Reber Place
Saint Louis, MO 63139
314.807.5984

Detroit location: Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit (8-10 p.m. EST)
5141 Rosa Parks Blvd.
Detroit MI 48208

* * *

“Arts and Activism in the Midwest” Series

"Arts and Activism in the Midwest" is an ongoing forum which happens four times in 2009 and 2010. Each event involves Chicago and two other Midwestern cities. The purposes of the "Arts & Activism in the Midwest" series include:
* discussion about strengths and challenges regarding independently run arts, education, and activism efforts throughout the Midwest region -- in relation to the cities, towns, and rural areas in which they exist
* ideas about opening up more communication & setting up possible collaborations between organizations and individual artists living in different Midwestern cities
* discussion regarding cultural dynamics in Midwestern cities (relations with legislators, community involvement, funding opportunities, etc.)

* * *

BIOS:
Theaster Gates

Dan Godston teaches and lives in Chicago. His writings have appeared in Chase Park, After Hours, Versal, Drunken Boat, 580 Split, Kyoto Journal, Eratica, The Smoking Poet, Horse Less Review, Apparatus Magazine, and other print publications and online journals. His poem “Mask to Skin to Blood to Heart to Bone and Back” was nominated by the editors of 580 Split for the Pushcart Prize. He also composes and performs music, and he works with the Borderbend Arts Collective to organize the annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival.

Andrew James is an artist originally born in Knoxville, TN. He completed his MFA at The University of California in Berkeley in 2003, relocated to St. Louis in 2004, and in 2005 bought an 100 + year old building that he has been renovating ever since. In 2008, the first floor of 2247 Gravois was renovated into Good Citizen Gallery, which opened its doors in November of that year.
The Gallery, under the direction of James along with a considerable amount of aid from Amanda Gray-Swain, is dedicated to showcasing contemporary artists working in a variety of styles and mediums. The gallery is committed to presenting work in both traditional and non-traditional formats, which tackle a variety of concepts and perspectives. Since opening, many of their shows have received glowing reviews from both the Riverfront Times and The St. Louis Beacon, and St. Louis Magazine put Good Citizen on their A-List for Best New Gallery.
Along with the gallery, the 14’ x 48’ billboard that sits atop 2247 Gravois has been used to expand artist’s visibility into the public realm. This public project has so far given four different artists the chance to work on a grand scale usually reserved for advertising. The billboard project has so far included, Deborah McClary (Jan. – March), Jennifer Flores (April – June), Alison Ouellette-Kirby (July – Sept.), and Greg Pond (October – Dec.).

Jennifer Karmin is a poet, artist, and educator who has published, performed, exhibited, taught, and experimented with language throughout the U.S. and Japan. She teaches creative writing, literature, and media literacy to immigrants in Truman College's Adult Education Program. The recipient of a Gwendolyn Brooks Teaching Award, she also works as a Poet-in-Residence for the Chicago Public Schools. In 2009, Flim Forum Press will publish her text-sound epic Aaaaaaaaaaalice. Jennifer curates the Red Rover reading series and is a founding member of the public art group Anti Gravity Surprise. Her multidisciplinary projects have been presented nationally at festivals, artist-run spaces, community centers, and on city streets. Past grants and residencies include funding from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Djerassi Program, the Joseph Kellman Family Foundation, the Poetry Center of Chicago, Poets & Writers, Rochester Community Savings Bank, and the Synapses Foundation. She earned her B.A. in the Poetics Program at the University of Buffalo and M.F.A. in the Writing Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Web links to her writing, publications, and projects are listed below.

James McAnally, Director of The Luminary | Center for the Arts, is a writer, artist and musician educated at Washington University in St. Louis. Since founding The Luminary in 2007, he has worked to establish an international residency program, an award-winning concert series, and a challenging exhibition schedule that promotes interactivity and offers emerging artists the opportunity to thrive. With this multi-disciplinary emphasis, he has sought to bring together different expressions of contemporary art into a public dialogue with a new generation of art appreciators.

Amanda Mueller is a local artist and arts education professional. While employed full-time by one of St. Louis’s central arts institutions, Amanda still manages/tries to find time on the side to get involved with other projects, artists, and organizations in St. Louis and beyond. Examples of Amanda’s unofficial ‘work’ on the side include her own (very) sporadic art shows and projects, getting involved with children’s art activities and shows hosted by a smattering of local venues, and Uncle Envelope, a monthly children’s mail art project based in NY, but distributed to subscribers throughout the US.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Carol Ng-He is a Chicago-based artist and art educator. She received a Master’s degree of Arts in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Columbia College Chicago. She performed and exhibited locally at Mess Hall, Links Hall, the Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts in Chicago, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Koehnline Museum of Art at Oakton Community College. Currently Carol teaches at Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University and Oakton Community College. She also freelances as a teaching artist at Silk Road Theater Project, and Young Asians With Power! (YAWP!), and Chicago Teen Museum.

Lindsay Obermeyer has exhibited her art at venues in the UK, Canada, Italy, Australia, Denmark and Colombia as well as throughout the United States at galleries and museums including the Museum of Art and Design, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Milwaukee Museum of Art. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Fiberarts, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She is a project designer for Lark Books and the visual arts researcher for Chicago Artists Resource.

Tony Renner is a visual artist who has lived in St. Louis since 1981. Renner has taken photographs for years but his interest blossomed after purchasing a digital camera in 2005. Renner started painting in 2007 shortly after writing his Master's (in American Culture Studies) thesis. "Painting was as far from writing as I could get," Renner says. St. Louis print-maker Tom Huck has called Renner "a man of mystery." Renner has exhibited work at various locations throughout St. Louis and he received an award of excellence from Art St. Louis jurors in 2007.
Renner began playing electric guitar in public performance in the mid-1990s, and he has continuing playing solo gigs and in groups such as Tiger Mountain, Ne Plus Ultra, Cenozoic, and, currently, Learn, Artist!

Jenenne Whitfield has served as the Executive Director of the critically acclaimed Heidelberg Project for the last 16 years. Under Ms. Whitfield’s direction, The Heidelberg Project (Founded by Tyree Guyton) has expanded its goals to include acquisition and restoration of property in the Heidelberg area, development of an artist-in-residence program and implementation of community art and education programs. Her leadership and commitment have enabled the project to extend its reach by participating in joint projects with museums, universities and other educational organizations. Her relentless enthusiasm and tireless efforts have won increasing support and respect for this often-controversial endeavor. Her persistence has been rewarded by a growing worldwide interest in the message she embraced on that summer afternoon when she asked “what is all this?” and felt the answer resonate inside her.
Organizational Awards and achievements received under her leadership include: Michigan Notable Book Award, Connecting the Dots, Tyree Guyton’s Heidelberg Project (2008); Outstanding Community Achievement (2006); Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (2005); Environmental Design Research Association (2004); Emmy Award Winning Documentary, Come Unto Me, the faces of Tyree Guyton (2000). In addition to her role as executive director for the Heidelberg Project, Whitfield lectures regularly with Guyton and teaches a course at Wayne State University, “Topics in Art and Community.”

* * *

The Fourth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival (CCAF4) takes place October 1-11, 2009, featuring Chicago-based artists collaborating in performances and projects with artists living in other locations -- both here in the U.S. and abroad. These collaborations will be prepared or improvised, and some performances will involve live feeds between Chicago and elsewhere. CCAF4 venues include: Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center, Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center, The Velvet Lounge, Elastic Sound & Vision Gallery, Epiphany Church, Columbia College Concert Hall, WNUR, Mercury Café, WLUW, Myopic Bookstore, Café Ballou, Quaker House, Hotti Biscotti, Brown Rice, and other venues.

CCAF4 is being organized by the Borderbend Arts Collective, a not for profit organization. Borderbend’s mission is to promote the arts, to create opportunities for artists to explore new directions in and between art forms, and to engage the community.

Chicago Calling is part of Chicago Artists Month, the fourteenth annual celebration of Chicago’s vibrant visual art community. In October, more than 200 exhibitions of emerging and established artists, openings, demonstrations, tours, open studios and neighborhood art walks take place at galleries, cultural centers and arts buildings throughout the city. For more information, call 312.744.6630. Chicago Artists Month is coordinated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and is sponsored by the Chicago Office of Tourism with additional support from 3Arts.

Bauhaus9090 Performance Event in Chicago's Bauhaus District

Lake Meadows Park
3117 S Rhodes Ave.
Chicago, IL 60616

You are invited to attend a Bauhaus9090 performance event, which will happen on Saturday, September 12, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Jamie Kazay, Matthew Barton, Amanda Marbais, Kevin Kilroy, and Dan Godston will read selections of their poetry. Alpha Bruton will be painting in performance. Other performers TBA.

soundwalk in Bronzeville on September 12

You are invited to join the World Listening Project, during a soundwalk which will happen by and around the Michael Reese Hospital campus on Saturday, September 12 (10 a.m.-11 a.m.). Soundmarks during this soundwalk will include the chainlink fence along the perimeter of the Michael Reese Hospital campus; the wind in the trees in front of the Singer Pavilion; a security guard’s car tires rolling over gravel on the MRH campus; traffic on Lake Shore Drive; demolition and earthmoving equipment being operated at MRH; bikers, pedestrians, and automobile drivers/passengers on the streets by MRH; and trains traveling the north-south tracks (between MRH and LSD).

This soundwalk will start on the northwest corner of 31st St. and Cottage Grove Dr. We will walk along the fenced-in perimeter of the MRH campus in a clockwise direction, and then we will turn around and return to the soundwalk’s starting point. This soundwalk is free and open to the public; it is being organized by Chad Clark, Jennifer Mosier, Norman Long, Eric Leonardson, and Dan Godston.

For more info, please email dgodston@gmail.com. More info about soundwalks and other initiatives can be found on the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology website.

sustainability forum

Thursday, September 10, 2009 (6-8 p.m.)

Back Story Café and Social Center
6100 S Blackstone Ave
Chicago, IL 60637-2912
(773) 324-9987

You are invited to attend a forum about sustainability, with a focus on the Chicago region. Topics include: eco-friendly lifestyles, exploring creative adaptive reuse of architecture, getting involved with community gardening and farmers markets, and celebrating the value of our public parks. This event is free and open to the public.

The panelists include Aaron Swanton (Blackstone Bicycle Works), Joyce Fernandes (Archi-treasures), LaLuce Mitchell and Grahm Balkany (Gropius in Chicago Coalition), and Robert Rudner (Chicago Greens). Robert Rudner will talk about rebuilding cities, building whole cities in balance with nature, Paolo Soleri’s arcology concept, and Richard Register’s eco-cities concept. LaLuce Mitchell and Grahm Balkany will talk about the Michael Reese Hospital and relationship between adaptive reuse of architecture and sustainable living.

"SPC in Chicago's Neighborhoods" panel discussion

Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (6-8 p.m.)
Hyde Park Art Center

You are invited to attend an event during which Annie Heckman, Carol Ng-He,
James Jankowiak, Sarah Bendix, and Daniel Godston talk about connections with Chicago’s neighborhoods -- as they relate to The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago. Carol will focus on ways by which her installation piece, entitled “C(l/r)aving,” relates to Chinatown. James will talk about his installation piece, entitled “Bubbly Creek,” relates to the Back of the Yards, Bridgeport, and McKinley Park areas. Annie and Daniel will talk about other ways by which SPC relates to Chicago’s neighborhoods, including how SPC modules have been traveling to “satellite locations,” including the Hyde Park Art Center, Mess Hall, Faie African Art Gallery, Little Black Pearl Art & Design Center, Myopic Books, and other Chicago locations. This event is free and open to the public.

THE SYNESTHETIC PLAN OF CHICAGO:
2009 is the centenary of the publication of The Plan of Chicago. The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago: A Multi-Sensory Journey Through Chicago and Its Neighborhoods corresponds with the celebration of this historic event. An interactive installation at the Chicago Cultural Center Visitor Information Center (77 E. Randolph Street), The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago is part of the citywide summer tourism initiative, Explore Chicago: Take A Neighborhood Vacation (June 1–September 30). More than 40 artists and organizations have joined in creating this exploration of Chicago through the five senses. Visitors and locals can experience Chicago imagery, sounds, fragrances, flavors and textures captured in miniature neighborhood scenes such as a mapping of the tastes and recipes of Chinatown, and an exploration of East Garfield Park candy. SPC’s participating artists and organizations have designed installation pieces which invite people to interact with the sensory “artifacts” of Chicago in creative and imaginative ways, and to think about synesthetic connections with things that relate to Chicago. The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago is commissioned by the City of Chicago, and it is co-curated by Annie Heckman and Daniel Godston.

Explore Chicago: Take A Neighborhood Vacation showcases the city’s famous enclaves through over 100 insider events and activities including this special exhibition. Presented in collaboration with Chicago cultural and neighborhood organizations, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago Office of Tourism and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism.

Hyde Park Art Center
5020 S. Cornell Ave.
Chicago, IL 60615
773.324.5520

Open Streets -- August 1st

Open Streets happens tomorrow. Here's a video about Open Streets. Ciclovia (Bogota, Colombia) is one source of inspiration for Open Streets.

from the Active Transportation Alliance website:
See what it’s like when streets are filled with people and the street becomes your playground.

From 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug 1, Open Streets will give friends and families the chance to enjoy the streets the way they want: biking, dancing, playing, walking and more!

The free event combines last year’s two Sunday Parkways event into one huge eight-mile event. Like last year, Open Streets will span from Logan Square to Little Village, passing through Humboldt Park, North Lawndale and Garfield Park along the way.

There is no event registration, and participants can join in at any point along the route.

Take a step off the route at any of the community-run activities. The lively scenes will display each community’s flavor with performances, children’s games, art activities, workout classes, music and much more.

Soundwalks in East Garfield Park

EVENT: Soundwalks in East Garfield Park -- at the Chicago Center for Green Technology and the Garfield Park Conservatory

WHEN: Saturday, August 1, 2009 (10 a.m.-12 noon)

LOCATIONS:
Chicago Center for Green Technology (10:00-10:50 a.m., 1st location)
445 N. Sacramento Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60612
312.746.9642, greentech@cityofchicago.org

Garfield Park Conservatory (11:15 a.m.-12:00 noon, 2nd location)
300 N Central Park Ave
Chicago, IL 60624-1996
312.746.5100

You are invited to join the World Listening Project, during two soundwalks which happen in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood on Saturday, August 1. During a soundwalk, people explore their soundscape, using a score as a guide. These soundwalks are being facilitated by Dan Godston and Fereshte Toosi; they are free and open to the public, all ages.

We meet at CCGT at 10 a.m. for a brief tour of the premises, then the soundwalk starts. This soundwalk, which is being co-organized by WLP and CCGT, happens inside and outside the building -- through the Resource Center, on the CCGT roof, past the rain cisterns, through the “Elementhouse” designed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the Solar Decathlon, to the eastern part of the property where they keep the solar berm and green roof test plots, and along a path in the field to the south of the CCGT building.

Then we travel to the Garfield Park Conservatory, where we reconvene. The soundwalk there starts at 11:15, and it happens inside and outside of GPC – through the Palm Room and the Show House, into the Monet Garden, to the labyrinth, by the beehives, and over the lily pool. (The beekeepers open the beehives on Saturdays for a few hours.)

THE WORLD LISTENING PROJECT (WLP) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to understanding the world and its natural environment, societies and cultures through the practices of listening and field recording. WLP maintains and develops a repository of sound recordings and provides access to this information via web-based technologies, workshops, forums, lectures, and festivals. WLP hereby seeks to encourage worldwide opportunities for collaboration, education, curation, research and experimentation across the disciplines of the arts, humanities, and the social and natural sciences.

THE CENTER FOR GREEN TECHNOLOGY is the first rehabilitated municipal building in the nation to receive the LEED™ Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. Mayor Richard M. Daley dedicated the building in 2002 and it has gone on to become a national model for sustainable design and technology.
The Center serves as the most comprehensive green design educational resource in the Midwest. We promote and advance sustainable homes, workplaces and communities to enhance the quality of urban life. We work to facilitate this through educational programming and training, research and demonstration and by acting as a resource network.

THE GARFIELD PARK CONSERVATORY ALLIANCE, a non-profit organization, strengthens community through the unique combination of the Garfield Park Conservatory Campus, other botanical resources, and the engagement of community members.
With its innovative programs, the Alliance enhances the environmental, social and economic vitality of Chicago’s West Side and encourages the larger community to explore the fundamental connection between plants and life. Membership in the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance supports one of Chicago's great botanical resources.


photo of a rabbit sitting on a solar berm, behind CCGT


"Elementhouse" designed by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Behind the Chicago Center for Green Technology.

additional links:
Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology
World Soundscape Project
Chicago Phonography

"The Arts on Chicago's South Side" panel discussion -- Thu., July 23 (7-9 p.m.)

You are invited to attend an event during which Felicia Grant Preston, Timuel Black, and Patrick McCoy talk about the arts on Chicago’s South Side. Timuel Black will focus on Bronzeville -- an historical perspective, and what’s happening in Bronzeville now; Felicia Grant Preston will talk about the Sapphire and Crystals group and her artistic contributions to “The Synesthetic Plan of Chicago,” which include 3D miniatures of significant landmarks in Bronzeville; and Patrick McCoy will talk about Chicago’s South Side art scene, a collectors perspective. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided, donations appreciated.

Felicia Grant Preston is an artist and educator, and she is the founder of the Sapphire and Crystals group; Timuel Black is Bronzeville’s historian; and Patrick McCoy is founder of the Diaspora Rhythms Collectors Group.

Faie African Art Gallery
4317 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
Chicago, IL 60653
773.268.2889

Chicago-related books

Here's a short list of books that relate to Chicago -- especially Chicago history and arts.

art
Art for the People: The Rediscovery and Preservation of Progressive- and WPA-Era Murals in the Chicago Public Schools, 1904-1943, by Heather Becker

* * *

history
Inspired by Nature: The Garfield Park Conservatory and Chicago's West Side, by Julia Sniderman Bachrach and Jo Ann Nathan

The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, by Carl Smith

The Rise & Falll of the Dil Pickle: Jazz-Age Chicago's Wildest & Most Outrageously Creative Hobohemian Nightspot, edited by Franklin Rosemont

Twenty Years at Hull-House, by Jane Addams

* * *

music
I Am the Blues, by Willie Dixon

Moanin' at Midnight: The Life and Times of Howlin' Wolf, by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman

A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music, by George Lewis

Space Is the Place: The Life and Music of Sun Ra, by John Szwed

* * *

fiction
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson

Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan

Sin in the Second City, by Karen Abbott

* * *

If you'd like to suggest that any other titles be included, please mention those in a comment, and I'd be happy to include those.

The State of the Arts

I am wondering about what the "state of the arts" is right now, and where the arts are heading. Last month NPR reported that the NEA was scheduled to receive $50 million in the stimulus package which Obama signed into law last week, but I don't know what the real numbers are. The economy stinks all around. Local funding has been hit hard. Illinois' budget has been slashed, Chicago's budget has too. It seems that a lot of organizations and individuals are trying to decide how/if they want to reconfigure/change direction.

Artists have contributed a lot to neighborhoods like those on Chicago's West Side, and that will continue into the future. But more funding is needed. A lot of artists don't get the kind of monetary compensation that they deserve -- for their roles as educators, curators of cultural programs, and other aspects of their involvement in the community. Artists are part of the "new economy"; Chris Carlsson writes about this phenomenon in his excellent book Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists, and Vacant-lot Gardeners Are Inventing the Future Today. (Incidentally Richard Florida, who has written extensively about role of the arts in society, will be giving a talk at Columbia College at the end of April.)

It will be interesting to see how things progress, with the Obama administration. How will decisions on the federal level wend their way down to the state and local levels? We can be certain that the days of "trickle down" Reaganomics are over, but still it's hard to see how the funding will hit the streets in constructive ways. And artists / creative types can't just rely on federal funding. However it is pretty remarkable that only a month into his presidency, Obama and his administration have set a tone which have positive ripple effects through different layers of society.

Going back to the role of the arts in society and how that relates to Chicago's West Side (as well as its other neighborhoods), I'm wondering what are the latest developments with Obama's National Arts Policy. A year ago Obama released information about the National Arts Policy Committee, but I'd like to hear about how much of these ideas have been implemented as initiatives. Does anyone reading this blog know about recent developments?

Throughout history creative types have questioned the system and offered up alternative approaches. Here in Chicago and elsewhere in the U.S. there has been lots of evidence of this. Individuals, loose associations, and formalized organizations have been playing around with structures for a long time. It will be interesting to see how change happens.

Seeking Artists X 2016 Olympic Bid

Fellow artists, activists, hackivists, community organizers and lovers of green things and economic justice --

HELP US STOP THE 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES FROM COMING TO CHICAGO!

Chicago is $420 million in debt and rife with corruption and incompetence. Basic services suck and our public schools are failing to serve our children:

• Only 6 of 100 Black and Latino high school freshmen males will graduate from a four year college.
• Between 2003 and 2007, white students' reading scores went up while African American, Hispanic and low-incomes student's scores went down.
• Money spent in Illinois on: Housing an adult prisoner: $21,000 Educating a child in Chicago: $10,000
• Only 9% of African American 4th graders ranked proficient or above in reading, ranking Illinois 38 out of 41 states.
• Illinois has the largest unaddressed district-to-district funding gap in the nation.
• 2005-2006 School Year Graduation Rates in Chicago
  - Black males - 37%
  - White males - 62% (source for these stats: http://www.saveourschoolsnow.com/facts.html)
  

SPENDING $100 MILLION TO CAMPAIGN FOR THE 2016 GAMES IS A HUGE WASTE OF PRECIOUS FUNDS. ACTUALLY GETTING THE GAMES WOULD BE THE BIGGEST BOONDOGGLE IN CHICAGO'S LONG HISTORY OF CORRUPT AND BLOATED CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS. NOT TO MENTION BUILDING OLYMPIC VENUES IN PUBLIC PARKS WOULD DESTROY DOZENS OF ACRES OF PRICELESS PARK LAND AND ACCELERATE GENTRIFICATION ON THE NEAR SOUTH AND WEST SIDE.

Join the Artists Anti-Olympic Brigade! Create graphics, street art and online work to help us explain and dramatize what a MISERABLE plan this is for Chicago's future. For example,
we're thinking about a campaign "How Would Spend $2 billion?" - the conservative estimate of how much money Chicago could loose building and running the 2016 games.

Come to a public forum on Saturday, January 31st, at 6pm at UIC Student Center, 750 S. Halsted, #605

For more information: www.nogameschicago.com
Contact: 312-235-2873
Email: nogameschicago@gmail.com

---please pass this message on to your networks, fellow travelers, allies, colleagues, lovers and MySpace lurkers ---

Day 55 - Barack Obama Mural in Houston Texas (Houston Graffiti Art)

Day 55 - Barack Obama Mural in Houston Texas (Houston Graffiti Art),
originally uploaded by Marco From Houston.