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The Chicago Cultural Center
-By Renata Biernat
Like a solitary flower blossom
peeking out of a crack in the city's sidewalk, the South Side
Cultural Center strives to provide a variety of cultural programs,
performances, exhibits and arts oriented towards education and
activities for the community.
A component of the Chicago Park
District, the Center offers more than thirty cultural programs
and classes per session (there are four sessions per year). Ranging
from Ballet for Beginners, Traditional West African Dance and
Belly Dancing to Painting on Silk, Beginning Sight Singing and
Percussion 4 Kids, the Center boasts an array of community activities
and artistic expression.
"We provide an outlet for small
artists… to express their work," says Program Director, Malki
Brown.
The Center provides opportunities
for community children that they might not have in South Side
neighborhoods. This is a motivating factor for tap instructor
MADD Rhythms director, Bril Barrett. Tap dancing since the age
of five, Barrett spent a number of years working for the Chicago
Park District as an independent artist. After establishing the
necessary contacts, he was inspired to give back to the community
and MADD Rhythms (Making A Difference Dancing) was born. At the
same time, Barrett was invited to work as an "arts partner" at
the Center, which provided practice space in exchange for tap
lessons.
"Someone took an interest in me
as a kid… I wanted to do that same kind of thing. That's what
I get out of it," says Barrett when asked about his involvement
with the Center. "I had to learn things the hard way."
In addition to the variety of dance
classes offered by the Center, a Fine Arts Gallery showcases local,
up-and-coming artists each month. Opening receptions provide South
Side residents with a free opportunity to experience various forms
of art and the chance to work with the artists to hear a synopsis
of their works. The main lobby also features works from other
local artists.
The Center is also a major venue
for popular Chicago events like Jazz Fest, Kwanza celebration
and occasional performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Nightly poetry slams, comedy routines and other stage performances
keep the arts calendar full.
The Center is also home to an after-school
program that provides neighborhood children an often much-needed
outlet. From paper-maché to dance, the program is quite extensive,
says Marketing Assistant Tennille Jones.
An extension of the after-school
programs, the Center offers an annual "South Shore Summer School
of the Arts". In these intensive four week camps, children ages
6-12 experience programs in visual arts, dance, drama, sports,
French and Spanish, and etiquette and charm.
The goal of the program is that
every child have an opportunity to appreciate the arts. The children
experience art is all of its' facets and forms, learning to realize
how important it is to the world and their lives.
"It's very Julliard-like and extremely
competitive," Jones says. Per age bracket, only 100 children,
500 total, will be accepted this summer.
As the largest of all of the cultural
centers in Chicago, the Center is open to the public, but also
offers its large variety of rooms for wedding receptions, radio
station broadcasts, board meetings, dances, and numerous stage
performances.
"This summer we will be hosting
a month-long production of one-woman acts," Brown said. "One is
called, 'Big butt women and other fantasies'," he chuckles.
Depending on the type of class
or event, program costs vary from free to $300 for intensive summer
language programs. Rentals of the Center cost more. "Art partners"
of the Cultural Center, like MADD Rhythms, often defray much of
the program costs. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, also a partner,
is one of the oldest and most generous of the Center's partners.
Most interesting to some of the
Center's employees is the history behind the Cultural Center.
Originally constructed as the South Shore Country Club, the 60-acre
facility served as a playground for Chicago's rich, complete with
horse stables, a golf club and a shooting club, Built to resemble
an Italian Resort, the ballroom is the only remaining portion
of the original building.
The Club was abandoned during the
1960s and in 1974, the Chicago Park District purchased the estate
for $10 million. Ten years later, the club was reopened as the
South Shore Cultural Center.
Today, the Center serves communities
such as Avalon, Chatham, Hyde Park, South Shore and Woodlawn.
During its duration as a country club, African-Americans were
not allowed past the front gate, Brown remarked. Today, however,
the center is run by and serves predominately the African-American
community.
The South Shore Cultural Center
is open Monday-Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 9:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and located at 7059 South Shore Drive; Chicago,
IL 60649. For additional Information, please check out the following
websites: www.Brilbarrett.com
and www.chicagosymphony.com
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