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Participate Locally  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Make time this month to attend or host an Illinois AH! Month event.
Illinois AH! Month Events Calendar: The vast Illinois AH! Month calendar of events is live online at www.prairie.org/ah, listing pages and pages of arts and humanities activities for all tastes. Search by day or zip code to find hundreds upon hundreds of AH! worthy events happening statewide this October. If you would like to be listed on this calendar, it's not too late! Simply fill out and submit this online form. Q uestions about calendar submissions? Contact Maggie Berndt at the Illinois Humanities Council by e-mail or at 312.422.5585 x239.
Creative Conversations: Attend or host a Creative Conversation in your community this October and connect with others who want to make a difference for the arts in your community. Creative Conversations are local gatherings of emerging leaders in communities across the country and are part of a grassroots movement to elevate the profile of arts in America during National Arts & Humanities Month every October. Started in 2004, some of these local convenings have grown into cohesive, organized emerging leader networks. This local tool empowers emerging leaders to take a leadership role in their own community by both designing programming and galvanizing their peers to connect professionally. To host a Creative Conversation in your community, review the Creative Conversation Toolkit online and contact Scarlett Swerdlow at the Illinois Arts Alliance. |
Get Involved
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Say AH! Parents, teachers, children, artists, arts organizations, and patrons: Add your voice to the choir! Find resources in the Illinois AH! Month PR Toolkit for expanding your publicity repertoire, making Illinois AH! Month your own, and employing social media to get the word out around the arts and humanities. While you're at it, why not make it a "click & mortar" production this year by following this link to request hardcopy promotional materials? Eager participants can even apply for "Ambassador of AH!" status, free t-shirt and all...
Boldly Proclaim! Illinois AH! Month is a golden opportunity to put the arts and humanities in the spotlight. Accentuate the positive by inviting your mayor or town or village board president to issue a proclamation officially designating October as Arts & Humanities Month. A sample proclamation is available online: Get your Do-It-Yourself Proclamation here.
Get with the Illinois AH! Month Facebook Group: Share videos, photos, and commentary from Illinois AH! Month events around the state or just join up to see what happens. Nearly 150 fans of the arts and humanities in Illinois have already joined this group and are ready to welcome you to the party. All that's needed to join Facebook is a valid email address. To join the Illinois AH! Month group, follow this link or type "Illinois Arts & Humanities (AH!) Month" into the Facebook search field and look under the "Groups" tab. Be sure to leave a message on the Wall and feel free to post your own news! |
| The "Illinois AH! Month" Challenge
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Who's got what it takes to make the most creative, fruitful, and "AH! inspiring" partnership this October? YOU?
It has been a true pleasure for the Illinois Arts Council and Illinois Humanities Council to work together this year in creating the first ever Illinois AH! Month. Not to toot our own horns too much, but we've been so impressed by what's come of the combined forces that we're issuing a special challenge to the field: Who will go farthest to reach beyond the "usual suspects" by engaging local businesses, civic leaders, media outlets, schools, senior centers, park districts, and especially the underserved populations in your communities to participate in, learn from, and enjoy firsthand the "AH! inspiring" power of arts and humanities? Through collaboration, we can grow stronger and better connected to each other and the broader community - and use this new strength and these new connections to advance a fertile creative landscape for Illinois.
The Rules: Eligible partnerships and collaborations are those efforts exemplifying the spirit of AH! which either begin, expand, deepen, or see results in the month of October. Entry for consideration opens October 1st and closes November 1st. Send links or stories or whatever form your documentation takes to Alex A.G. Shapiro at the Illinois Arts Council. Respect and honor will be heaped upon every submission, and the top ten will have the opportunity to be featured in future Illinois Arts Council or Illinois Humanities Council publications. |
Live, Free & Second to None: Free Night of Theater ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free tickets for performances at more than forty-five Chicago area theater companies this October... Collaboration extraordinaire, and just in time for Illinois AH! Month!
During the entire month of October, people can see a production for free at a Chicago theater they've never previously attended. Made possible by the Theatre Communications Group and the League of Chicago Theatres, this unprecedented campaign to attract new audiences to live theatre will open in Chicago for the first-time in during Illinois AH! Month, October 2008.
More than forty-five Chicago area companies are offering absolutely free tickets to their performances, including: 16th Street Theater, American Theater Company, Babes With Blades, BackStage Theatre Company, Bailiwick Repertory, Barrel of Monkeys, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Chicago Children's Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, ComedySportz, Dog and Pony Theatre, First Folio Theatre, Hell in a Handbag Productions, The House Theatre of Chicago, Infamous Commonwealth Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Light Opera Works, LiveWire Chicago Theatre, Loyola University Chicago, Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, New World Repertory, Next Theatre, Noble Fool Theatricals, Northlight Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Premiere Theatre and Performance, Prop Thtr, Quade/Donovan Entertainment, Red Tape Theatre, Redmoon Theater, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Saint Sebastian Players, Shattered Globe Theatre, Silk Road Theatre Project, Stage Left Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Stockyards Theatre Project, The Neo-Futurists, The Second City, The Theatre School at DePaul University, TimeLine Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Village Players Theatre and more. Free Night of Theater was conceived in 2003 as a way to remove perceived barriers that have historically prevented audiences from attending theater. This year more than 110 cities and 700 theaters nationwide are participating. Reservations for Chicago performances will begin September 23 at www.freenightoftheater.net. |
| Register to Attend the Illinois Artist Showcase
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Register to attend the Illinois Arts Council's 18th Annual Artist Showcase! Scheduled for November 7, 2008, in Tinley Park, the showcase features artists from the IAC's Art-In-Education and Artstour Artist Rosters. Enjoy a full-day display of artistic activity, explore opportunities to bring artists to your community, and discover for yourself how these artists' performances and residency programs can be tailored especially for your organization and specific population. For more information and to register, visit: http://www.state.il.us/agency/iac/showcase/intro.htm . |
| One State: Together in the Arts
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Mark your calendars now and spread the word! The next One State: Together in the Arts conference, co-produced by the Illinois Arts Council and the Illinois Arts Alliance, will be held in Peoria on June 1 and 2, 2009. It is a tremendous moment for us to come together to connect, share, learn, and celebrate our work and the impact we have on our communities. We look forward to seeing you there. | |
