December Artist News

published: Dec. 4, 2024

JESSIE FISHER (2017 Make a Wave Awardee)

Now through January 5, Every Brillant Thing starring Jessie, plays at the Writers Theatre. “By shining a hilarious and compassionate light on life’s small abundant joys, this big-hearted play— told in gentle collaboration with the audience— is a loving tribute to resilience and the lengths we will go to for those we love.”

 

CRISTAL J. SABBAGH (2021 Make a Wave Awardee), DAMON LOCKS (2019 3Arts/Reva & David Logan Foundation Awardee), SARA ZALEK (2017 Make a Wave Awardee), SHALAKA KULKARNI (2024 Make a Wave Awardee), LUCY VURUSIC RINER (2023 Make a Wave Awardee), and AYANNA WOODS (2017 Make a Wave Awardee)

On December 7, Freedom From and Freedom To organized by Cristal will feature sound and movement collaborations as an exploration and celebration of artistic circumstance. Movement and sound improvisers from Chicago will gather in front of a live audience to perform an improvised set, displaying their unique and diverse artistic backgrounds. 

 

TULI BERA (2021 Make a Wave Awardee) and ASHWATY CHENNAT (2020 Make a Wave Awardee) 

On December 8, Tuli continues her 3AP (3Arts Projects) funded workshop series Ballet Unboxed. The workshops reexamine relationships with ballet through an exploration of the emotional, physical, and artistic dimensions of the dance form. Featuring Ashwaty, this workshop involves recalling dance through the senses, sharing early theatre and performance memories, and learning nostalgic choreography. 

 

JUMAANE TAYLOR (2019 3Arts/Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee) and DEE ALEXANDER (2012 3Arts/Southwest Airlines Awardee)

On December 9 and 16, the Chicago Human Rhythm Project hosts Holiday Rhythms, a jazz showcase of seasonal favorites. Jumaane performs with the Stone Soup Rhythms and the Eric Hochberg Trio, featuring Dee for two performances in December. “See and hear this joyful holiday performance connecting us to the marriage of tap dance with live music at the best jazz venue in the south loop…” Proceeds benefit Chicago House Rhythm Project’s Mayfair Arts Center, a new arts incubator-education space on Chicago’s South Side.  

 

CRISTAL J. SABBAGH (2021 Make a Wave Awardee)

On December 12, Cristal performs in Elastic Arts’ Improvised Music Series with fellow artists Sharon Udoh and the Matthew Davis Quintet. Cristal and Sharon will perform a powerful multidisciplinary opening of the space, and Matthew Davis’ quintet “continues the journey with deep grooves drawing on traditions the world over.

 

CANDACE HUNTER (2021 Next Level Awardee) 

On December 12, Candace participates in Conversation with 2024 Arts and Public Life Artists-In-Residence: Ayanah Moor, Candace Hunter, and Johnaé Strong as the closing exhibition event for Remembering Ghosts. Remembering Ghosts “critically examines the intersections of history, memory, and identity as the artists navigate the residual traces of the past with the present. Through diverse media and conceptual lenses, the works presented in this exhibition explore the complexities of historical erasure, resilience, and the spectral influence of collective and personal memory.” 

 

TERRI LYNNE HUDSON (2024 Bodies of Work Artist)

On December 12, Terri will present a multimedia solo performance exploring isolation and the nondisabled gaze on disabled life. “Her performance investigates the internal life, imagination, and creativity that can happen both when accommodations are offered and when they are denied as disabled people carve out their own worlds apart from general public life.” 

 

DONNETTA ‘LILBIT’ JACKSON (2023 3Arts/Walder Foundation Awardee)

On December 14, Donnetta performs with Chicago Tap Allstars, a collective of Tap dance artists and organizations brought together by M.A.D.D. Rhythms and Chicago Tap Theatre in Winter Wonderland at the Harold Washington Cultural Center. The artists will gather with some of the finest jazz musicians to share Tap pieces that celebrate the winter and holiday seasons in Chicago.