“Our bold moves to grow culture in our city are no accident. They are happening because civic leaders, philanthropists, and the private sector are aligning around a shared belief that culture is essential city infrastructure. It drives tourism, fuels economic growth, strengthens communities, and shapes the way the world sees our city.”—Donna Lasinski, Chicago Cultural Stadium President.
How many times have you been invited to participate in a life-changing project for the city you love? What if you could have an impact on Chicago that would bring brand new ideas to our landscape for millions to enjoy? The Cultural Stadium, united by a single vision: to inspire, guide, and harness the power of arts and culture to shape a downtown that unites people, sparks creativity, and embodies the heartbeat of the city is an opportunity for us all. It is the whole downtown district, currently being termed stadium.
Over the next months, Classic Chicago will focus on different aspects of Chicago’s Cultural Stadium where barren and overlooked alleys will offer poetry and theater, rooftop murals add joy, the river welcomes a floating farmers market or food truck barges, museum collections are brought out of the dark of storage, new lighting shines, artist studios at modest, subsidized rents, LaSalle street and even Lower Wacker come to life with the vibrancy of galleries, pocket parks and more. In all, there will be 120 pieces of public art, 13 major cultural locations and dozens of new galleries. This public and private initiative grows out of the innovation hub which is Chicago, and we want to be a part of it.
Recalled photos of the World’s Fair of 1893, the wonders of seeing Millenium Park the first time, fueled the anticipation of guests at a Chicago Cultural Stadium rollout recently at the Driehaus Museum where Lou Raizin, the visionary and mastermind of this ambitious project, and Donna Lasinski, named President last week, got buy in from cultural leaders.
Organized by Abby O’Neil and Carroll Joynes and conjuring up what 1893 World’s Fair planners and Millenium Park advocates must have felt, the evening echoed what Greg Cameron, Joffrey Ballet President and CEO said recently:
“I want to fall in love with Chicago all over again.”
Lou Raizin is the person who persuaded Mayor Daley to say “let’s do it” regarding Millennium Park a quarter century ago, and before that, created the Downtown Theater District, led off the evening, telling the audience that there are many component projects, but one vision. “It needs to be everyone’s downtown, where cultural voids are filled at reasonable prices.”
Donna Lasinski, just named President of the Cultural Stadium last week, is Raizin’s perfect partner in pulling off the multi-faceted project. In pulling off this complex and ambitious project, she reminded the audience: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Under her experienced leadership massive initiatives will be broken down into manageable steps which we as a magazine look forward to celebrating.
“Chicago has always had a vibrant arts and culture community - we’ve all enjoyed living in a city that offers so much. The Cultural Stadium is about expanding on that community by taking the infrastructure of our city and transforming it in big and small ways to further position the arts and culture as an economic driver.”
"We are about putting joy in residents', workers', and tourists'’ days as they move about the city. It is not about a million people coming during a set period of time to see or experience one specific thing or event. It’s about turning a corner and seeing color, discovering a surprise, and falling in love with a vibrant city."
Carroll Joynes told the audience of cultural leaders at the Driehaus:
“When I first heard last March I thought not only of a huge visionary idea that was being floated; it was just so obvious that this plan should be implemented. Chicago has such a wide range of organizations and creative people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and help, and the need is clearly there. As Brian Hieggelke, the editor and publisher of New City magazine said: "in Chicago, Team Culture is a marching band, but it is not a marching band that is walking behind any one person; this is a band that’s walking arm in arm.”
Abby O’Neil added:
“It will take both business and artistic support but it will bring audiences to town to enjoy what we adore about living in our city. I am so jazzed about this and think that we should tell all our friends about it. Culture is what makes Chicago Chicago. We must all stay eager and let our arts community drive this.”
Every project has its own set of partners and this is a project where we all can get involved as volunteers, donors, audiences and communicators.
“Why should we do this now,” Lasinski asked guests. “Everything has a moment and the need right now is acute. And there will be economic returns as well as increasing evidence of cultural vitality.”
For further information visit: culturalstadium.com
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