Program

National Conversation on Race: Chicago

September 20-28, 2024
city scape

Chicago's collaborating museums and cultural organizations will immerse attendees in neighborhood explorations, thought-provoking conversations, film screenings, and artist-led workshops, all aiming to deepen participants' understanding of how race is woven into every aspect of daily life. The National Conversation on Race - Chicago program is hosted by, and in collaboration with: Center for Native Futures, National Museum of Mexican Art, National Public Housing Museum, and South Side Community Art Center.

Partner organization logos
Map of Chicago

Kick-off Neighborhood Tours

Join all four Chicago museums and cultural organizations in a free citywide experiential immersion program with guided tours in various neighborhoods, encouraging Chicagoans to explore unfamiliar communities, foster understanding and disrupt segregation. Request your spot via links below.

Friday 9/20

 

Saturday 9/21

  • Bronzeville: Featuring Sherman “Dilla” Thomas
  • Englewood: Inequity for Sale by Tonika Lewis Johnson (self guided)
  • Humboldt Park: Paseo Boricua with Eduardo Arocho
  • Lincoln Park: Stories from the Redline: Fire Fire Gentrifier (self guided)
  • Loop: Native and Indigenous Chicago
  • Pilsen: Mural Tours with NMMA's Mario Hernandez, featuring a visit with artist Hector Duarte

 

Image Credit: Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative.

September 21- Future Chicago: Creative Roundtable

After meeting new neighbors, all are welcomed to join at the National Museum of Mexican Art from 6-8pm for a free event including live performances by poet Harold Green and Sicangu-Lakota hip-hop artist Frank Waln, art-making with William Estrada, and other interactive activities designed to foster greater understanding of Chicago, ourselves, and those who are building its future. Registration encouraged. 

Reserve your spot!
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Be a part of Bronzeville is Beautiful: A Living Archive - through the creation of a dynamic, participatory archive. There you can also hop on the Bronzeville Art Trolley Tour.
drawn woman in braids, smiling
Sibling artists Monica Rickert-Bolter and Joel Rickert will speak about their Kitihawa and Jean Baptiste DuSable’s  (founders of Chicago) graphic novel and upcoming exhibition at the National Public Housing Museum.
group of people outside under tent
Remembering Taylor Street: Join an interactive oral history listening and mapping session, featuring excerpts from a recorded conversation between two former residents of the Jane Addams Homes.  
imagining the indian
Accompanying “The Upsetters,” exhibition, CfNF will screen "Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting"  followed by a conversation with director Ben West, artist April Holder, and clinical and community psychologist Angela Walden, PhD.
person with bear tattoo, smiling at viewer. Black and white.
Adults ages 55 and up are invited to join a writing circle workshop with poet and librarian, C.T. Salazar, utilizing Nuestra “Calidad” as inspiration to map life geographies. Registration is required.
delilah casta
Join artist Delilah Montoya speaking about her exhibition Contemporary Casta Portraiture: Nuestra “Calidad.” mimicking the18th century New Spain colonial casta paintings.   Image Credit: Courtesy of artist.
Brownstone building
Join director Bridgett M. Davis, film scholar Maya Cade, and curator and programs manager Jada-Amina H. for a dialogue on exploring the challenges of preserving and promoting Black women’s artistic expressions. A screening of Naked Acts (1996) will follow. 
two men dancing
Through Chicago Footwork (an electronic dance music genre), storytelling, reenactments, and other creative forms of expression and historical preservation, Dr. ShaDawn "Boobie" Battle and the Place, Space, Werkz crew highlight Chicago’s complex history of housing injustice and contribute to the ongoing resistance movement.