Chicago Case Studies Overview
New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India
Assembled in 2007 by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs with help from Boeing, the exhibition, "New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India," included more than 60 pieces of work from 24 Indian artists in a variety of media including painting, sculpture, photography and video.
The artists selected for the show include some of the more prominent and important contemporary Indian artists. While not household names to American audiences, they are well known throughout India and in the contemporary art world. The exhibition had an enthusiastic reception and successful run at the downtown Chicago Cultural Center during the summer of 2007, and is on the road throughout 2008 with extended stops in Kansas and New Jersey.
In organizing the exhibition and surrounding events, the Department of Cultural Affairs engaged local and international experts and established an advisory committee of local Indian-American gallery owners and collectors. The Cultural Center also reached out to the Delhi/Chicago Sister Cities Committee and the local Indian-American community.
To help celebrate and publicize the exhibition, the Chicago Cultural Center also presented a variety of programs that showcased all the contemporary arts of India, including music, dance, fashion, cuisine, film and the spoken word. The exhibition and its accompanying programs were all free of charge to residents and visiting travelers, thanks in part to Boeing's financial support.
Chicago Jazz Partnership
In 2005, Boeing, JP Morgan Chase, Kraft Foods and The Chicago Community Trust formed an informal partnership to broaden participation in Chicago's jazz music scene. Since then, the Joyce Foundation, and other major foundations as well as civic partners like the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs have joined the Partnership. The major goal of the consortium is to increase awareness of the accomplished musicians and exciting jazz organizations and venues in Chicago promoting the uniquely American art form.
The members of the Chicago Jazz Partnership, as of 2008 numbering more than a dozen, have agreed to coordinate their existing efforts for greater impact, while joining forces to create other opportunities for connection and continuing participation among key audiences.
The centerpiece of the effort is a "Made in Chicago", series of free jazz concerts performed each summer in Millennium Park's Jay Pritzker Pavilion. In the past, the series has featured Kurt Elling, Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Mambo 911, and the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, among other world-renowned Chicago jazz artists.
In 2008, the Chicago Jazz Partnership joined forces with Chicago to be the lead sponsor of the world-renowned Chicago Jazz Festival, leveraging the "jazz assets" in the city to make the festival even stronger in its 30th year.
The Festival, summer series and the broader "happenings" around the city are supported by "Jazz in Chicago," a free booklet produced by the Jazz Institute of Chicago geared toward people who like jazz but may not be familiar with the quality and variety offered by local jazz performers and venues. The guide invites more active participation in the local jazz scene by identifying opportunities to enjoy the varied local styles of jazz through live performances, educational programs or recorded music.
The strategy of the partnership includes working with existing organizations in a way that will result in better coordination and increased, more focused activity to allow the Chicago jazz community to market the music in innovative ways, develop new audiences, encourage up-and-coming talent, and ultimately feed longer-term and more sustainable growth for this valuable art form.