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

Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

CAREERS IN NONPROFITS

Panelists:

Phoebe Yates is the Curator at the Swedish American Museum. She has BAs in Anthropology and Mathematics from DePaul University and an MA in Mediterranean Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London (UCL). For her Masters dissertation she studied trade interactions between Crete and the Aegean Islands in the Bronze Age through evidence of the adoption of the potter’s wheel at six different sites. Her background in anthropology and interest in material culture is what eventually led her to museum work! She has been working in museums for the past six years and in that time have worked at the National Hellenic Museum, Collections at the Institute of Archaeology (UCL), and Field Museum.

Klára Moldová serves as the vice-president and teacher at the T. G. Masaryk School, a century-old community-based Czech language and cultural center in Cicero, Illinois. Besides teaching Czech to children and adults, Klára enjoys organizing cultural projects and utilizes her musical background to work as a Czech diction coach at various opera houses in the US.

Josee Starr is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes from Fort Berthold, North Dakota. She is also Omaha from Macy, NE and Odawa from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Currently, she is the Director of Operations at the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

Josee has years of experience working with her community both as a participant in programming and as a facilitator. She has worked as an independent artist and her background is in cultural education. She grew up in the Chicago Native community and has a passion for Native arts.

Leah Rauch (she/her) is the Director of Education at Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, whose mission is to preserve the legacy of the Holocaust by honoring the memories of those who were lost and by teaching universal lessons that combat hatred, prejudice, and indifference. She previously worked as an adjunct professor, teaching history and Holocaust courses at the Council on International Educational Exchange in Berlin. She also worked as an educator at Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum. She has presented at international academic conferences in France and Germany and published her work in The Journal for Holocaust Research.

Moderator: Sarah Cameron – Chicago Cultural Alliance

Activating Heritage 2023 – March 6

IMPACTFUL PROGRAMMING AND SERVICES TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY-BASED TRAUMA

Panelists:

Kaoru Watanabe is a nurse by training and has worked in various multidisciplinary environments throughout her professional career in Japan, Egypt, and the United States. She is currently the Associate Director at the National Cambodian Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial, where she integrates understanding of holistic approach to health; knowledge of intergenerational transmission of culture, history, and trauma; and strong belief in the power of the arts in healing into the museum practice and programs. She was one of the project members, who developed the museum’s permanent exhibition, “Remembering the Killing Fields.” The exhibit was a collaborative work among the community, academics (NIU), artists and filmmakers, museum professionals, and many other supporters. The exhibition, which opened in 2011, continues to provide a forum for intergenerational dialogues among Cambodians and a unique environment for students from local and regional schools and universities to learn Cambodian history and culture.    

Maria Klimchak,  a philologist, author, and educator, has been the curator and creative force of Chicago’s Ukrainian National Museum (UNM) for two decades. Born and raised in Lviv, Ukraine, she was always fascinated by art and storytelling. Maria decided to study languages and literature, and she holds a Master’s Degree in French Philology from Lviv University, Ukraine, and speaks Ukrainian, Russian, French, Polish, and English. In 1993, Maria started a new chapter by immigrating to the United States. Maria received her Artifact Collection Care Certificate from the University of Chicago. Her work as a curator of the Ukrainian National Museum is multidisciplinary, she manages exhibitions, writes museums newsletters, plans, and hosts most museum events. Ms. Klimchak is highly knowledgeable in Ukrainian folk art, history, and the vast museum collections of historical artifacts. Maria is also in charge of the museum’s social media presence.

She and her husband have hosted the Ukrainian Wave Radio program on WSBC Chicago since 1993. She co-produced with Motria Melnyk four documentary films on the history of the parish of St. Volodymyr and Olha in Chicago, the film “Shevchenko and the Maidan” (2021), as well as produced the films “Museum’s Pathway” and “From the Museum Chest” (17,096 views), dedicated to the history of the Ukrainian National Museum in Chicago.

Maria is a member of the Ukrainian Heritage Consortium of North America Ukrainian National Women’s League of America and is in charge of the cultural connections of the Chicago City Sisters Chicago-Kyiv Committee. She is an active volunteer and community fundraiser and has collaborated with volunteer organizations in Ukraine to help the Ukrainian Army and orphanages. She was awarded a commemorative medal for the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Navy from the Ukrainian Volunteers Organization.

Moderator: Briana Thomas – Abrahamic Center for Cultural Education