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By Nick Roman
By Charlie Wein
By its nature, the world of art is abstract. There’s no right or wrong form of artistic style and everyone has the right to express their work in whichever way they like. For a performing artist, the hardest part is finding a means of getting their work out for the public to see, and it’s a difficult task. Presenting art can be incredibly time consuming, very expensive, and all comes without knowing if anyone will actually come to see it. As a performing artist today, it’s easy to become disheartened by the lack of support provided to the arts, so it’s always nice to be reminded that there are those who understand the importance of the arts and culture. And not just as a means of expression, but as one of the most valuable tools for connecting people and making a real impact on the world.
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By Danny Bittker
What started as a phone call for me turned into an incredible experience culminating in a cast of more than 25 talented alumni taking a bow on stage in the Ryan Fieldhouse. CommFest: A Starry Night was a years-long effort by Northwestern University’s School of Communication to bring together students, alumni, staff, donors and friends for one night to celebrate. The production was hosted by Stephen Colbert and helmed behind the scenes by alumni Don Weiner, the Executive Producer and Dave Harding, the Co-Executive Producer who both became mentors of mine as I worked with them for over 8 months as their assistant.
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By Tate Glover
For our final winter quarter Arts, Public Purpose, and Policy class meeting, Dr. Jennifer Novak-Leonard set up a visit to Washington Park to see the work being done by Place Lab and Theaster Gates. Place Lab is an initiative developed by collaboration within the University of Chicago and led by professor and renowned artist Theaster Gates. We started out our trip by meeting up at the Currency Exchange Cafe, a business started by Theaster Gates and operated in partnership with a nonprofit he founded, Rebuild Foundation, which is located on the developing Arts Block and run and staffed entirely by south side locals. Although serving coffee and food is central to operations, it is not the primary purpose of the cafe. The mission of the cafe is twofold: provide a place for creatives and innovators to meet and to support the local community. These goals were interlaced not only with the cafe’s purpose, but also with the mission of Place Lab.
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By: Nick Roman
Picture a DJ, part-time web designer, musician, and record label owner in your mind. You probably did not picture a clean-shaven businessman suited up to create jobs in Chicago’s global landscape. However, Creative Director Jake Trussell is a comprehensive leader in today’s sector through his vast background with side hustles, which ultimately led him to his role with World Business Chicago. Trussell recently sat down with the Northwestern community to discuss career trajectories, initiatives of World Business Chicago, and how to navigate the professional waters of creative enterprises.
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By Jacob Nelson
On Feb. 1, Criss Henderson acknowledged a unique quirk of his professional career to an audience of MSLCE students and other members of the Northwestern community: “I have one of the greatest jobs in American theater, but I have one of worst resumes.”
By “worst” Henderson really means “shortest.” That’s because he’s held the same job for the past 28 years as the Executive Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater. During the MSLCE program’s most recent Speaker Series event, Henderson told the audience how a person with little interest in the world’s most renowned playwright became the head of an organization dedicated to his work, and how he’s managed to keep that work exciting over the course of nearly three decades. (more…)
By Nick Roman
How many cultural institutions reap the benefits of 45,000 steps of foot traffic every day? Lyric Opera of Chicago is uniquely set apart from other opera and cultural institutions because of its location in the heart of downtown Chicago.
MSLCE students got an exclusive look into the organization on a site visit with Lyric’s top management that included a rare opportunity to see backstage.
By Jacob Nelson
Deana Haggag is the president and CEO of United States Artists (USA), a fundraising organization that grants fellowships to artists in different fields and from different backgrounds across the country. (USA recently announced its 2018 awards.)
During Thursday night’s first Speaker Series event of 2018, Haggag described the origins of USA. The nonprofit began in 2006 as a response to conservative politicians threatening to cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
“The government wanted them to defund the artists entirely,” Haggag said, “And foundations were really disturbed.” (more…)
By Jacob Nelson
What makes an arts organization successful? According to Joffrey Ballet Executive Director Greg Cameron, an organization’s success depends on three points: leaning towards the mission, developing an aligned team, and creating collaborations with external partners.
“The minute the mission of the organization becomes compromised in anyway is when trouble creeps in,” Cameron said during last Thursday’s MSLCE Speaker Series event. “Developing an aligned team is not always as easy as it may sound.” (more…)
By Charlie Wein
