HAMILTON's Thomas Kail and Jeffrey Seller Set for Panel Today at EXPO CHICAGO

EXPO CHICAGO, The International Exposition of Contemporary & Modern Art, and Project& present "An Open Conversation: Social Aesthetics Broadway, Culture and Social Impact" with creative team members of the Broadway musical Hamilton.

Moderated by Chicago Sun-Times and ABC Political Analysis Journalist Laura Washington, Hamilton Producer Jeffrey Seller and Director Thomas Kail will discuss the broader implication of the musical in the context of art and social justice. The featured discussion will take place today, September 24, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm at EXPO CHICAGO, Room 303 of Navy Pier.

*The panel discussion will be open to all EXPO CHICAGO patrons and accredited press. To purchase tickets visit expochicago.com.

"Throughout history, art has been integral to social change and at the center of social and human evolution and revolution," said Project& President and Artistic Director Jane M. Saks. "Art helps us imagine what we cannot otherwise, our greatest risks and ideas and aspirations. Hamilton has created a dynamic experience and cultural movement that helps engage us deeply in our history and our present while also demanding that we engage in our vision and role of the future. The collaboration between EXPO CHICAGO and Project& to bring this unique discussion to the exposition carries through each organizations mission to amplify artistic voices and forge meaningful relationships with those artists."

In an effort to engage a diverse audience of art enthusiasts, Chicago residents and visitors and community groups from across the city, Project& has brought together the guiding forces behind one of the most successful musicals of all-time. "Exploring what it means to create history-past, present and future-this discussion will examine how individuals see themselves as a part of history in the making, whether it be the founding of a country or of a movement, shifts within a society; while also highlighting cultural work that exists in, and impacts the social sphere," added Saks.

This unprecedented discussion marks the second collaboration between EXPO CHICAGO and Project&, following the 2015 presentation of Hank Willis Thomas's Truth Booth as a part of EXPO Projects.

IF YOU GO:

Saturday, September 24

11:30am-12:30pm | EXPO CHICAGO Room 303
Project& and EXPO CHICAGO Present | An Open Conversation: Social Aesthetics Broadway, Culture and Social Impact

Panelists | Jeffrey Seller, Hamilton Producer and Thomas Kail, Hamilton Director. Moderated by Laura Washington, Sun-Times and ABC Political Analysis Journalist; Introduced by Jane M. Saks, Project& President and Artistic Director

In continuation of an annual partnership, Project& and EXPO CHICAGO, present a featured conversation focused on Broadway, Culture and Social Impact with Hamilton Producer Jeffrey Seller, and Director Thomas Kail. The conversation will be in dialogue with Chicago's Sun-Times and ABC Political Analysis Journalist Laura Washington, tracing the broader implications of the musical in the context of art and social justice.

Jeffrey Seller is the winner of four Tony Awards for Best Musical: Hamilton (2016); Rent (1996), both of which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Avenue Q (2004); and In the Heights (2008). Jeffrey has also produced and/or developed De La Guarda (1998), Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party (2000), Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's La Bohème (2002), High Fidelity (2006), the 2009 Revival of West Side Story, and The Last Ship (2014). Seller is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Thomas Kail's credits include; Broadway: In the Heights (Tony nom.), Lombardi, Magic/Bird. Off-Broadway: Hamilton (the Public; Drama Desk, Lortel and Obie Awards), In the Heights (Callaway Award, Drama Desk/OCC noms), Randy Newman's Faust and The Wiz (City Center), Broke-ology and When I Come to Die (LCT), Family Furniture (The Flea, Drama Desk nom), The Tutors (2ST Uptown). Other credits: Broke-ology (Williamstown), Once on This Island (Paper Mill) and In the Heights (national tour). He is the Co-creator/director of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme. He has a Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center and is a graduate of Wesleyan University.

In collaboration with artists, Project& creates new models of cultural participation with social impact. We amplify artistic voices that risk, engage, investigate and inspire, highlighting issues at the forefront of our time including: race, justice, access and equity, identity, gender, cultures of violence, human rights, and economic inequality.

Project& believes art changes the world. We believe that the core of the artistic practice is courage; when unleashed, it creates conditions for collective action that are inspired, resonant, and contagious. Forging expansive connections and engendering trust are fundamental to unleashing the artistic spirit in the work of Project&. As we seed chance through artist collaboration, we spark chain reactions and consequences that set cultural participation in motion in ways we cannot anticipate or predict. The impact of the Project& practice and of our artist/collaborators comes into ever-sharpening focus over the arc of time.

Our extraordinary collaborations with emergent as well as award-winning artists such as MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright Lynn Nottage, MacArthur Fellow and revolutionary flutist Claire Chase, acclaimed visual artist Hank Willis Thomas, accomplished scholar and artist E. Patrick Johnson, award winning filmmaker Yance Ford, and the innovative visual artist Cheryl Pope examines and influences critical policy, social, and community discussions.

EXPO CHICAGO/2016, The International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, is presented by Art Expositions, LLC. Now in its fifth year as a leading international art fair, EXPO CHICAGO (Sept. 22 - 25, 2016) is a four-day art event featuring more than 145 leading international galleries and offering diverse programming including /Dialogues, IN/SITU, IN/SITU Outside, EXPO VIDEO and the Curatorial Forum. In addition, EXPO CHICAGO continues to publish THE SEEN, Chicago's International Journal of Contemporary & Modern Art, following the first printed edition, which launched during the 2015 exposition. Under the leadership of President and Director Tony Karman, EXPO CHICAGO draws upon the city's rich history as a vibrant international cultural destination, while highlighting the region's contemporary arts community and inspiring its collector base. Vernissage, the opening night preview benefiting the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, takes place Thursday, Sept 22, 6 - 9 p.m. General Admission to the exposition is Friday, Sept. 23 - Sunday, Sept. 25 (for hours please visit expochicago.com). Tickets to the exposition are $20 for one day, $30 for three days. Northern Trust is the Presenting Sponsor of EXPO CHICAGO. For more information about EXPO CHICAGO and EXPO ART WEEK (Monday Sept. 19 - Sunday Sept. 25), visit expochicago.com.