Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

CREATING ONLINE DIGITAL EXHIBITS

Panelists:

Kate Flynn is the Portal Manager for the Chicago Collections Consortium and also the Digital Programs & Metadata Project Librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She previously was a Resident Librarian at the University of Illinois at Chicago for Digital Programs & Services. She earned an MSI from the University Of Michigan School Of Information in 2011, specializing in Preservation of Information and Archives & Records Management. She is most interested in issues around digital preservation, user experience and metadata.

Jacob Campbell (Moderator) is a Cultural Anthropologist with the Keller Science Action Center at The Field Museum, where he leads the social science team for the Chicago region program. His applied research, pedagogy, and collaborative programming has focused on cultural connections to the natural world in cities. He works with partners across Chicago to create more equitable city institutions and green spaces.

Jacob also co-directs the Urban Ecology Field Lab undergraduate summer course at the Field Museum, and is adjunct professor of environmental science at DePaul University. Previously, he worked for 5 years as program manager with the Center for Community Arts Partnerships at Columbia College Chicago. He earned an N.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Arizona.

Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

ENGAGED HUMANITIES: ADAPTING CULTURAL CONTENT FOR NEW AUDIENCES

Panelists:

Young Kim is Associate Professor and Head of Classics and Mediterranean Studies, as well as Associate Professor of History, at UIC. His research and teaching interests focus on the ancient Mediterranean world. Prior to arriving at UIC, he worked as the Director of Education for the Onassis Foundation USA.

On this panel, Young will discuss various engaged humanities projects he has worked on, both at the Onassis Foundation and at UIC, including the Humanities Impact Program and the Luis Alfaro Residency Project. He will also discuss his outreach work to the Greek American community in Chicago.

Adrienne Kochman Adrienne Kochman, PhD is an art historian, curator and educator from Chicago. Formerly Associate Professor of Art History and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University Northwest, she currently teaches at the SAIC and since 2017, is curator at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Projects include Increment: Barbara Cooper, Shona MacDonald, Yoonshin Park (2018); Raw Reckoning: Michael Paxton (2019) and Michel Andreenko: Revisited and Michel Andreenko and Ukrainian Artists in Paris (2022) on the Ukrainian modernist. Agency: Craft in Chicago from the 1970s-80s and Beyond is planned for the Terra Foundation’s Art Design Chicago 2024.

Lisa Dush Lisa Dush is an associate professor in the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse at DePaul University, where she teaches courses in professional and digital writing. She also serves as Faculty Director of HumanitiesX: DePaul’s Experiential Humanities Collaborative and coordinates DePaul’s Graduate Certificate in Strategic Writing and Advancement for Nonprofits.

Moderator: Mónica Félix – Chicago Cultural Alliance

Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

GRANTS & MAJOR GIFTS

Panelists:

Claire Fassnacht is the Development Manager at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, where she has worked for five years. Her responsibilities range from capital campaign fundraiser to Young Professionals Board liaison to fundraising events to grants.  She is also the founder and director of Chicago Balinese Gamelan and a board member, musician and dancer with Friends of the Gamelan, both nonprofits that perform Indonesian music and dance across Chicago. She earned her master’s degree in arts administration from Boston University and completed a one-year fellowship in Indonesia sponsored by its Ministry of Culture. Claire’s greatest passion is introducing audiences to two niche treasures of the world—outsider art and gamelan.

Ellen Placey Wadey is the Program Director for Chicago Artistic Vitality and Collections at the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. Before joining the Foundation in 2013, she was an independent fundraising coach, serving many arts organizations including the Chicago Cultural Alliance and Ragdale Foundation. She was executive director of the Guild Complex – a literary arts organization – for seven years and in that time built the Guild’s impressive artistic accomplishments on a firm foundation of organizational development. Before that, Ellen was the director of marketing and development for the Marwen Foundation. She has reviewed arts proposals on behalf of Prince Charitable Trust and served as a jurist or panelist for the likes of the Illinois Arts Council and the Third Coast Festival New Audio Competition. An accomplished writer, Ellen has two advanced degrees in fiction writing, is the recipient of the Scott Turow Fiction Prize, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Eva Silverman Eva Silverman currently serves as Project Director of Art Design Chicago, a collaborative initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art aimed at highlighting Chicago’s rich visual art and design histories and creative communities. Prior to joining the Terra Foundation, Ms. Silverman was the Associate Director of Arts Alliance Illinois, where she was responsible for fundraising, programming, and stakeholder engagement. Previously, Ms. Silverman was the Director of Arts & Community Engagement for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) and Director of Collaborative Programs for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, where she was a staff member for 18 years.

Teresa Davis is a Program Director for the Illinois Arts Council Agency where she has worked for 6 years. She began working in the Grants Office and then moved over to the Program Office. Teresa is responsible for Arts Service Organizations, Community Arts Access, Individual Artist Support, Local Arts Agencies, and Media Arts. She also serves as the Agency’s ADA 504/Access Coordinator. She enjoys helping Illinois artists and arts organizations and often holds grant writing sessions. She has a background in performing arts to include music and dance and enjoys volunteering in her community.

Moderator: Randy Adamsick – Chicago Cultural Alliance Board of Directors

Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

COLLABORATING WITH INSTITUTIONS ON DEI INITIATIVES

Panelists:

Beatriz Cañas is a youth advocate and urban environmental educator working at the Chicago Botanic Garden as the Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility. Her work is centered on creating positive, safe, and culturally relevant environmental experiences for historically marginalized communities. Currently her work is rooted in organizational culture change including creating equitable decision-making frameworks and strategic planning for non-profits. She advises on several equity centered projects and programs in the Chicagoland area including serving on the Illinois Natural Resource Advisory Board and as part of the Board of Directors for Mujeres Latinas en Accion.

Gabrielle Lyon is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader, educator, and public speaker with experience in launching and leading award-winning social impact organizations and initiatives focused on leveling the playing field of educational access and opportunity. Lyon has extensive experience building sustainable cross-sector networks and leveraging data to inform community-centered program design and strategy.  

She joined Illinois Humanities as the Executive Director in June 2019. Prior to that she served as Vice President of Education and Experience at the Chicago Architecture Center and as a senior researcher at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the founding executive director of Project Exploration, a nonprofit dedicated to changing the face of science for youth and girls of color, recognized under her leadership locally and nationally, including with a Presidential Award for Excellence. Among her honors include being named a National After School Champion by the After School Alliance, Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, and a Leadership Fellow with the Chicago Community Trust. Her current research and writing focus on the ways in which participatory humanities experiences impact civic identity and social change. Lyon is the author of No Small Plans, and Washington By and By, graphic novels that follow the adventures of teens work together to design the places they want, need and deserve. She is a writer and coeditor for A Simple Justice: The Challenge of Small Schools. @LyonGabrielle

Rob Fojtik is the Vice President for Neighborhood Strategy at Choose Chicago, promoting Chicago’s neighborhoods to visitors. Programs include the Neighborhood Content Creator that leverages resident-made digital content, and Chicago Alfresco, an initiative to transform public spaces into community plazas for outdoor enjoyment.

Rob has an M.A. from Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies. He was Senior Advisor to Mayor Lightfoot on economic development, international relations, and LGBTQ+ affairs.

Moderator: Dr. Nitha Nagubadi – Mango Networx