Looking Forward

A letter from Phillip Bahar, Executive Director of the Chicago Humanities Festival.

As we approach our Fall Season, I want to thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm for and commitment to the Chicago Humanities Festival. We are truly part of an extraordinary moment in history—a global pandemic, an economic crisis, an election year, and a reckoning with America’s long history of racism and social inequity. Especially at this moment, our mission of connecting people and ideas to cultivate a more informed, inspired, empathetic and participatory society feels ever-more essential.

We believe that the arts and humanities play a vital role in understanding the pressing civic and social issues of our time, and it is a privilege to be able to present remarkable authors, journalists, poets, artists and performers on our digital stages.

Over the past year, with your support, we have considered the global economy and climate change, anti-racism and the prison-industrial-complex, nuclear power and the power of ideas. This Fall Season we’ll explore morality, higher-education and “safe enough spaces”, and the transformative power of big data. In addition, we will be joined by some of today’s most vital authors and creators and reconsider Chicago’s Great Fire on the evolution of our city.

We look forward to having you with us for our expanded Fall Season, featuring weekly programs from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. I also invite you to join the Festival in celebrating Chicago’s creative community and Elizabeth Glassman (President Emerita, Terra Foundation for American Art) at our annual benefit and digital celebration on October 20, featuring a conversation with Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates about the power of art to build community.

If you have yet to renew your Festival membership or make your annual contribution, please consider doing so today—it makes all the difference in our ability to bring the vital programs you love to life and to play our part in today’s dynamic civic conversations.

Thank you for your ongoing and generous support. We’ll see you online all Fall!

Sincerely,

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Phillip Bahar

Executive Director

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Member and donor support drives 100% of our free digital programming. These inspiring and vital conversations are possible because of people like you. Thank you!