On September 6—Jane Addams' 158th birthday—Jane Addams Hull-House Museum launched a multi-disciplinary exhibition entitled Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change. The exhibition, which is part of the city-wide Art Design Chicago initiative, explores the social reformers influence on visual and performing arts in Chicago through historical and contemporary practices: bookbinding, art therapy, ceramics, and theatre and performance. Starting on October 23, the Hull-House will host a corresponding symposium, Participatory Arts: The Legacy of Chicago's Hull-House Artists. This multi-day symposium will bring together activists, artists, and scholars for a public forum. In addition to the panel discussions, the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum will host four immersive workshops throughout October and November. These workshops are led by scholar-artists and will bring together prominent thinkers and contemporary practitioners to engage with and reinterpret specific collections from the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum.
Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change
Exhibition: September 6, 2018 - July 28, 2019
Participatory Arts: The Legacy of Chicago’s Hull-House Artists
Symposium: October 23 - 25, 2018
Participatory Arts programming, workshop and special events
On Thursday June 20, 2019, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum celebrated the first-ever tribute to improv and theater greats, Viola Spolin, originator of theater games, and her son Paul Sills, co-founder of The Second City and Compass Players. Both were deeply influenced by Hull-House's activist and reform work and commitment to progressive education. The Museum welcomed champions of Chicago's theater history to return where it all began - at Hull-House.
Mojdeh Stoakley will lead a dynamic poetry workshop and performance at Hull-House! Mojdeh is the Education Director of Poets With Class at the Chicago Poetry Center, where she designs unique and innovative programs for young children and adults alike. Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
For five consecutive summers, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum has been home to {shecrew} - a program providing safe-space and expressive platforms for girls and gender-nonconforming youth. After a summer of expressive writing, collaborative creations and communal cooking {shecrew}’s Summer Intensive culminates in Imperfect Truths: A live action self-love guide book. The performance explores coming to terms with oneself, our locations in the world and how we can support each other.
Join us for an storytelling workshop and performance by Lily Be! Lily Be started sharing stories in Chicago and led workshops for The Second City. Now she produces the shows The Stoop and Story Collider throughout Chicago. You don't want to miss out on this opportunity to practice new and innovative storytelling techniques with the one-and-only Lily Be! Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
Come to Jane Addams Hull-House Museum for a theater-themed Participatory Arts Hull-House Family Day! Storyteller Lily Be and girl powered camp {shecrew} will host workshops and performances in the afternoon. Contribute your voice, join the theater games and share your story! Celebrate the legacy of arts at Hull-House and see the current exhibition, Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change on its last day!
For five consecutive summers, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum has been home to {shecrew} - a program providing safe-space and expressive platforms for girls and gender-nonconforming youth. After a summer of expressive writing, collaborative creations and communal cooking {shecrew}’s Summer Intensive culminates in Imperfect Truths: A live action self-love guide book. The performance explores coming to terms with oneself, our locations in the world and how we can support each other.
Ratas de Dos Patas is a collective of four boss women who, in just one year, have taken the Chicago improv scene by storm! Practice improv and play techniques that incorporate dreams, magic, gossip and feminism in every performance with Ratas de Dos Patas at Hull-House! Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
Join us for an open workshop and performance by eccentric writer, actress and Chicago comedian, Adrienne Brandyburg. Adrienne Brandyburg is one third of B.A.P.S. Comedy, a collaborative of three beautiful, melanated, all curl patterns representing Women who believe in creating platforms and opportunities for ALL Women of Color. Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
Join us for an open workshop and performance by eccentric writer, actress and Chicago comedian, Adrienne Brandyburg. Adrienne Brandyburg is one third of B.A.P.S. Comedy, a collaborative of three beautiful, melanated, all curl patterns representing Women who believe in creating platforms and opportunities for ALL Women of Color. Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
This summer, Hull-House will host three free workshops and performances with PREACH! Using a combination of spoken word and long-form improvisation, participants can workshop both poetry and improv techniques among this diverse ensemble of teachers, caregivers and activists. Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
Join us for an storytelling workshop and performance by Lily Be! Lily Be started sharing stories in Chicago and led workshops for The Second City. Now she produces the shows The Stoop and Story Collider throughout Chicago. You don't want to miss out on this opportunity to practice new and innovative storytelling techniques with the one-and-only Lily Be! Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
This summer, Hull-House will host three free workshops and performances with PREACH! Using a combination of spoken word and long-form improvisation, participants can workshop both poetry and improv techniques among this diverse ensemble of teachers, caregivers and activists. Hull-House's Summer of Theater is a new series (June 20 - August 12, 2019) that will take place Sundays in the Hull-House courtyard. It will feature local Chicago-based improv and theater practitioners, learners and innovators. All workshops and performances are FREE and open to the public!
Aretha Sills, daughter of The Second City founder Paul Sills, will lead an three-hour introductory workshop exploring the groundbreaking exercises and concepts of her grandmother Viola Spolin’s books, Improvisation for the Theater. Everyone who wishes to play is invited to attend! Museum and theater educators are strongly encouraged to join us.
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum welcomes Aretha Sills for a presentation and Q&A regarding the work of Neva Boyd, Viola Spolin, Paul Sills and the Origins of Improvisational Theater in America.
Aretha Sills, daughter of The Second City founder Paul Sills, will lead an three-hour introductory workshop exploring the groundbreaking exercises and concepts of her grandmother Viola Spolin’s books, Improvisation for the Theater. Everyone who wishes to play is invited to attend! Museum and theater educators are strongly encouraged to join us.
Join Hull-House with your chosen family for a day of bookbinding with Regin Igloria of North Branch Projects; visit a Read/Write Library Pop-Up of books and zines by youth; and learn about the history of activism and zines in a workshop where you can make your own zines!
Celebrate Women's History Month with your family and chosen family! In conjunction with Hull-House's current exhibition, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum will host an afternoon of participatory theater games, free tours and dance workshops designed to move you in new ways, led by artist and educator, Benji Hart.
Join Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, art therapist Leah Gipson, and A Long Walk Home, LLC. for International Women’s Day! We will explore resistance and resilience of women and girls of color through archives and photography that document community-centered art practices around well-being and activism.
If you missed last Fall’s bookbinding workshop, you have another chance this month! Join Hull-House for a workshop led by featured Participatory Arts Hull-House artist Regin Igloria, founder of North Branch Projects - an organization that approaches community building through bookbinding practices, collective story writing and community archiving.
Join Hull-House for the first Family Day of 2019! In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, come participate in family-friendly activities like theater games, story time, museum tours and more! This event is free and welcome to all ages.
Art Design Chicago is a spirited celebration of the unique and vital role Chicago plays as America’s crossroads of creativity and commerce. Led by the Terra Foundation for American Art, this citywide partnership of cultural organizations explores Chicago’s art and design legacy with more than 30 exhibitions and hundreds of events throughout 2018.
Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change at Hull- House and Participatory Arts: The Legacy of Hull-House Artists is part of Art Design Chicago, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art exploring Chicago’s art and design legacy, with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Participatory Arts is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. The Chicago Community Trust has also provided generous support.
Join Jane Addams Hull-House Museum for the book launch and reception for Ensemble: An Oral History of Chicago Theater with author Mark Larson. Hear sound bites from Larson’s interviews with Chicago theater luminaries at this special event! Enjoy music by DJ Sadie Woods and refreshments in the Hull-House courtyard after the presentation.