Author: Linda Brickey | Gem Numerics

Jazz Institute of Chicago hosted their annual Gala on May 18, 2023, at the Park West with a meaningful evening to celebrate and support the joy and power of jazz music. Our “Gems” Blake Foster and Mark Finke were delighted to attend this amazing event.

Promoting and nurturing jazz in Chicago since 1969, Jazz Institute of Chicago’s mission is to nurture and promote jazz in all its forms. JIC seeks to keep jazz music thriving and expanding by celebrating the work of musicians past, shining a light on musicians present, and making the way brighter for musicians of the future. This is realized through community and education programs, 90% of which are free.

Jazz Institute of Chicago’s pillars include providing jazz education, preserving the legacy of jazz, developing and supporting Chicago musicians, building Chicago’s jazz community, and fostering a thriving Chicago jazz scene.

Gem Numerics client, Chicago Architecture Biennial, announces the citywide event’s return in fall 2023.

“The fifth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, CAB 5: This is a Rehearsal, curated by the interdisciplinary arts collective the Floating Museum, takes an expansive view of design as an iterative rehearsal process to explore architecture, cities, and the different social, ecological, economic and political forces that shape them. From artists, architects, engineers, performers, poets, and others, the practitioners represented in CAB 5 collectively set the stage for the cross-pollination of ideas in order to challenge and envision alternatives for the following: how we understand and address the needs of a city, who plays a role in imagining and making the city, and how our potential solutions attend to the overlapping crises that now inform our everyday lives.

“Cities are always evolving—continuously shaped and reshaped by the millions of people who inhabit them through a process of action and reaction. Over time, the accumulation of buildings and infrastructure creates a layered index of the ideals and policies of past generations. Rehearsal invites new possibilities through open dialogue, creative invention, and a generative process of discovery to understand how hope and care can emerge in architecture. Harnessing dialogue is paramount to CAB 5’s conception of rehearsal. It is a productive tool that establishes new lines of thinking that question the status quo through modes ranging from conversations and performances to installations, drawings, and new technologies. In this sense, CAB 5 welcomes alternative ways of making architecture and engages everyone to rethink, rework, and reimagine the present and future of cities.

“The Biennial will open on September 21, 2023, and run through January 2, 2024, with major installations and programming at the Chicago Cultural Center and at sites across the city. The opening preview will take place September 21–24, 2023, with a schedule of public and special events. The citywide exhibition will feature an extensive network of creative practitioners and community partners whose programs in art, architecture, design, and performance will provide a strong foundation for CAB’s dynamic return.”

See more from the Chicago Sun Times: Chicago Architecture Biennial will be a chance to show the world our city’s better side, April 18, 2023.