Dear Docents and Volunteers:
Well, our tour season is upon us. It is very exciting to see the red jackets on the street again, in the CAC, and also on the boat. Now all we need are the visitors to come back and the weather to get warm!
The CAC will open our exhibits back up on May 22. We are finishing installing a new housing exhibit called Housing for a Changing Nation. America is changing—and so are our housing needs. This exhibit, sponsored by AARP, explores how shifts in demographics, the economy and the environment call for a profound reexamination of house and home. We have also updated the Current Projects wall, which now includes projects from the new Tribune Tower Residences to Jackie Koo’s new SURGE Esports Arena. There is a lot for you and your friends and family to come and see!
I also wanted to bring your attention to a very important upcoming program titled the Shame of Chicago. It is an exclusive screening of Episode 3 of Bruce Orenstein’s new documentary series, exploring predatory contract home sales in Chicago during the 1950s and ’60s. This discriminatory practice robbed countless Black families of wealth and the dream of homeownership, doing immense harm to communities and leaving deep scars in the urban fabric. After the screening we’ll host a conversation on housing policy and real estate reforms that have addressed and continue to address racist practices with the filmmaker, Chicago Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara and CEO of the Chicago Association of REALTORS Michelle Mills Clement.
Design can unite us or design can divide us. Chicago struggles today with many of the policy and design decisions that were made in the past. At CAC we need to be prepared to have difficult conversations about the role the built environment played and continues to play in the racial inequity of our city. I think this film and subsequent discussion will give us a good foundation for understanding. I hope you will join us on May 13 at 5:30. Register here!
Now – go out and talk up Chicago to the world! Thank you for all that you do.
Lynn
P.S. Remember to tell our guests to rank us on Trip Advisor and other social media channels as this is so critical to our success.
Hello Lynn: looking so forward to exhibits opening…and the changes to the Chicago model studio. Yaaaaay! Is there a possibility the kitchen/library may reopen? Going back there for a water or just a brief sit down was so nice!!
Thanks
Bob Adamshick VEV