CHICAGO HUMANITIES SPRING FESTIVAL 2024 To Present Jonathan Van Ness, Amy Tan, and More

From March 18th to June 13th, Chicago Humanities hosts its annual Spring Festival, offering a wide range of events at venues across the city designed to amplify a wide diversity of voices from around the corner and around the world.

This season's line-up offers audiences a chance to sit down for a newsworthy conversation with former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, explore the public housing to prison pipeline with the Prison & Neighborhood Arts/Education Project, hear about Jeanne Gang's passion for architecture, take in a rare solo performance and conversation with celebrated jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, experience the pop art of Bronzeville's own Hebru Brantley… and everything in between.

“Chicago Humanities is a platform for and helps give voice to the broad range of voices that make up Chicago and our nation,” says Executive Director Phillip Bahar. “We welcome artists, authors, social scientists, policy makers, and other idea-makers to our stages to discuss the most pressing civic, social, and cultural issues of our time—from the impacts of climate change on our world to artificial intelligence on our society, from artists reflecting on our past and present to scientists looking to the future.”

“More than ever, we're partnering in Chicago communities to amplify the stories of local voices and partners,” adds Co-Creative Director Lauren Pacheco. “This season—in places like the Ramova Theatre in Bridgeport and on Illinois Tech's iconic campus in Bronzeville—we're exploring the relationship between activism and civil rights through the work of Chicago grassroots organizer Saul Alinsky, working with community advocates to talk about injustice, and celebrating local artists like JB Daniels and Clamor & Lace Noise Brigade, Chicago's first marching band composed solely performers of marginalized genders.”

Co-Creative Director Michael Green gives an insider tip on how to get even more out of the line-up: “We give audiences a chance to dive deep into a single subject by looking at it from a multiplicity of angles. For example, this spring, you can explore feminism and gender politics with one of the field's most defining scholars Judith Butler, consider a life in performance with artist Marina Abramović, and hear  from feminist punk icon Kathleen Hanna of the defining Riot Grrl [sic] band Bikini Kill—each of whom questions the assumptions and norms of their time to find their distinct voice. And such threads are woven throughout the Spring Festival, there for anyone to explore—on injustice, climate change, tech, democracy… This festival is designed to reward those who take a deeper look and follow those threads.”

“And, as always, we'll present some of the most compelling thought leaders of our time, as well as some of the most respected names in the arts, humanities, and journalism,” Bahar adds. “From historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Jon Meacham and political analysts George Stephanopoulos, Jen Psaki, Joy-Ann Reid, Ali Velshi, Bakari Sellers', and Frank Bruni to cultural figures like the legendary ballerinas who helped found the Dance Theatre of Harlem (the Swans of Harlem), multi-hyphenate artist Miranda July, Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness, novelist Michael Ondaatje, and comedians Casey Wilson, Jessica St. Clair, and Tim Meadows. There's something to spark the heart and mind of anyone.”

Tickets and More Information

Chicago Humanities Spring Festival 2024 runs March 18 – June 13. Click here for Information and Tickets.

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