A city-led group hoping to create an “arts roadmap” for Evanston has scheduled five public “listening sessions” to be held in the next few weeks.
The city, along with the Evanston Community Foundation and the Evanston Arts Council, is hoping the sessions will provide valuable input for generating recommendations for advancing the arts in Evanston.
The group plans to supplement the listening sessions with other feedback mechanisms, such as an online survey, stakeholder interviews, and focus groups as it seeks to identify the diverse perspectives on arts and culture from community members who care about the arts in Evanston.
The collaboration is spearheaded by a seven-person working group consisting of representatives of the three entities, along with nonprofit consultant Amina Dickerson.
The working group will conduct the following five public listening sessions:
Thursday, September 20, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Music Institute of Chicago, 1490 Chicago Ave.
Thursday, September 20, 7 to 9 p.m. at Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, 1655 Foster St.
Monday, September 24, 7 to 9 p.m. at Oakton Elementary School, 436 Ridge Ave.
Friday, October 5, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2024 McCormick Blvd.
Saturday, October 6, 10 a.m. to noon at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, on the Northwestern University campus.
Preliminary findings from the public outreach will be shared with the public for comment at two open community meetings in November.
The final report is planned to be issued in January.
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Evanston looks for ‘arts roadmap’