Arts & Business Council

Last winter, when A&BC began thinking about how to celebrate our 25th year of service to the arts community in 2010, we ran smack into a cliché: “silver.”

Whether it commemorates a wedding, signals an organizational milestone or acknowledges an individual with a quarter-century of service (and expectations, perhaps, of a wristwatch), the Silver Anniversary is the universal and accepted celebration of choice. Unless you’re like A&BC and you choose something a bit less expected and, we hope, a lot more interesting.

You see, we have decided to commemorate our 25th year by celebrating our heritage as a capacity-building service organization that in fact interacts with all aspects of the arts community. More specifically, we plan to honor 25 movers and shakers within the city’s arts and culture sector who have made outstanding and lasting contributions to the local arts landscape. These 25 honorees represent the city’s entire arts and culture “ecology” including the performing and visual arts, arts education, arts philanthropy, business sponsorship and volunteerism, arts advocacy and policy, arts capacity-building, arts journalism, arts programming and more.

We know it’s almost impossible to honor only 25 organizations and individuals. “Try 25 times 25 and you might start to get close to the number of groups and people who deserve recognition,” some have said. And, having been actively engaged with the sector for a quarter of a century, we don’t disagree.

In fact, we gave the entire process quite a lot of thought and deliberation. A&BC enlisted the knowledge and expertise of a special nominating committee comprised of experienced outside consultants and practitioners as well as our own senior staff and board. The group carefully considered dozens of potential worthies, giving special attention to established organizations and individuals whose efforts have had a particularly significant, lasting and diversifying impact on the city’s cultural health and wealth.

See if you don’t think our 25@25 honorees does a creditable job of reflecting the many dimensions of Chicago’s arts and culture scene. We are confident that our particular cohort of 25 is quite representative of the countless other unnamed heroes, past and present, who have left their mark on the arts “ecology” we all enjoy.

Finally, if not Silver, a “silver lining” at least—imagine the one-of-a-kind photo op as 25 of Chicago’s most impressive arts leaders and influentials take the stage together to acknowledge their honors. A most impressive sight, to be sure! We hope you’ll join us on October 22 at the Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery as A&BC of Chicago celebrates “25@25”!