CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT WINS 1ST PLACE FOR ARTS IN THE PARK
Chicago Park District Takes Home Two 1st Place Awards from IAPD
Release Date: 08/31/09
The Chicago Park District won the recently announced first place award for the 2009 Illinois Association of Park Districts’ (IAPDs’) “Best of the Best Awards” in the category of Arts in the Park Award. The Chicago Park District also won first place from the IAPD in the category of Best Green Practices and will take the two awards home Friday, Sept. 11 from the ceremony at the Wheeling Park District’s Chevy Chase Country Club.
“Parks serve as vital cultural spaces, and we encourage all Chicagoans to explore and embrace the visual and performing arts and their power to enhance individual quality of life, neighborhood development and community dialogue,” said Timothy J. Mitchell, Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO. “We strive to move patrons from the role of spectator to that of active participant.”
The Department of Environment, Culture and Special Events (ECSE) creates and implements the Chicago Park District's outdoor and environmental education programs, coordinates programs for the District's 13 cultural centers, provides leadership in the development of youth employment and summer programs and produces special events and activities for the whole family.
ECSE provides the following programs and services:
Theater on the Lake
Theater on the Lake is Chicago’s only venue located on the shores of Lake Michigan that has showcased productions since 1952. Theater on the Lake has been home to a variety of theaters including community productions to its current mission of reprising productions by Chicago’s most exciting professional companies.
Words@Play
In partnership with the Chicago Children’s Humanities Festival, this poetry project brings youth ages 8-13 the joy of language and the challenge of expression in underserved areas at 10 cultural centers. Youth work with six of Chicago’s most dynamic poets and spoken word artists. Many of the poems they write are showcased in a performance during the Children’s Humanities Festival by the critically acclaimed theater group, Barrel of Monkeys. In 2008, Words@Play received the Coming Up Taller Award that celebrates the creativity of America's young people.
Kraft Great Kids program
Funded through Kraft Foods, this program serves 12 parks throughout the school year as part of the parks’ after-school programs. The Park District provides staff that helps youth with their homework and provides arts programming focused on reading. The program is a partnership with the Chicago Public Libraries and includes monthly family night activities. In the summer, the Kraft Kidsmobiles travel to citywide playgrounds providing arts, fitness, and nature activities.
Arts Partners In Residency
This nationally recognized partnership model allows not-for-profit arts organizations to be housed in Park District field houses. The program currently involves 17 arts partners who receive free space in the parks in exchange for programming.
TRACE: Teens Re-imagining Arts, Community and Environment
TRACE is a teen internship program where youth study environmental issues at their parks. They attend workshops to develop skills in specific art forms and meet with local artists who concentrate on environmental issues.
Cultural Center Initiative
The Park District has identified 13 parks as cultural centers that provide high quality, wide-ranging and diverse cultural programming, serving residents of every age. Programs include instructional classes, special events, performances, artist residencies and partnerships.
Summer Arts Camps
In partnership with some of Chicago’s best arts organizations and artists, youth ages 12-14 get the chance to dance, sing, play, paint, sculpt, draw, create, choreograph, write, and perform all summer. The camps also include field trips and final events for parents.
Inferno Mobile Recording Studio
In partnership with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Park District has developed Inferno Studio, a mobile recording studio program that provides park youth with the opportunity to write and record original poetry, songs, raps and more.
Teen Arts Expo
The Teen Art Expo showcases the visual and performing arts work that teens, ages 13-19 have created with the Park District cultural instructors and partnering arts organizations. The event is day full of workshops, visual art exhibitions, dance, theater and spoken word performances.
Partnership Programs
ESCE is responsible for a number of concerts in the parks including SummerDance on the Move with the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Jazz City Program with the Jazz Institute of Chicago that brings some of Chicago’s best artists to communities all over the city. The Park District also funds the world-renowned Grant Park Music Festival.
About the Best of the Best Awards
The Illinois Association of Park Districts created the "Best of the Best" Awards Gala in 2007 to thank those who gave their time and talents to help strengthen and further the park, recreation and conservation mission. It is an opportunity to give board members, citizen volunteers, businesses and media the recognition they deserve for doing so much to advance parks, recreation and conservation.
Illinois Association of Park Districts
Established in 1928, IAPD is a nonprofit service, research and educational organization representing more than 415 park districts, forest preserves, conservation, recreation and special recreation agencies throughout Illinois. IAPD’s mission is to advance these agencies in their ability to preserve natural resources and improve the quality of life for all people in Illinois.
- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529
- Publication Date: 08/31/09