Cabinet of Curiosity continues to eagerly, responsibly, and bravely serve our city with ritual and celebration
and not shy away from the truth of facts and our civic obligation.
Institutions of any and every scale have had to standup for what they authentically believed.
Statements meant little, though.
Action was the only true act of support.
Since our origin three years ago,
our commitment has been to respect our artists of color
and stand beside them as equal collaborators
while dedicating ourselves to raising the funds
to amplify their creative voices and produce our work.
We will continue to pay our partners a fair and respectable wage,
embrace them as authors and not simply contributors or photo opp’s,
and provide whatever platform we can to share their experience and visions.
2020 is harsh.
What was looking to be our most successful year became a tremendous struggle.
But with every challenge comes great lesson, and sometimes, greater unity.
We created
Farewell Fables
DIGITAL RITUALS. At the onset of COVID, we immediately longed to keep art makers, community galvanizers and ritual enthusiasts active, so we organized 37 artists from 9 states to collaboratively develop short healing rituals For our community. They can be found on our website!
Messages of Hope
Opens August 1. a partnership with The Cook County Forest Preserve, 80 artists from 26 neighborhoods, Little Red School House Nature Preserve, Enlace and Quetzal Xochitl Aztec Dance
IN OCTOBER
panoramic poems
PRAYERS OF PROTEST: An intimate spectacle.
Collaboration with Blu Rhythm Collective at the Epiphany Center for the Arts. Ticket information at cocechicago.com
Commissioned events came to a standstill though.
Ticket sales were not an option.
We chose not to sell our production(s) via live stream, and instead gave the work away-
as an expression of community and hope.
We chose not to create viral classes and instead the Board hunkered down and focused on our School of Celebration, our internal operations, board growth, our website and our cultural priorities.
We paid our bills, protected our performers, and will still end the year without debt or credit cards.
When 2020 comes to a close, we hope Cabinet is a group who desire you will support.
In this difficult savage year, Cabinet hired many artists to make work and provide artists an opportunity to express their hope.
Frank continues to develop an even greater Illumination event
and develop relationships with authentic civic contributors
along with inspiring and training
the next generation of celebration makers.
In the name of
Culture. Community. Celebration. Curiosity.
THE 2020 CABINET COMMUNITY
Brandin Hurley
Kasey Foster
Lindsey Nowel Whiting
Time Brickey
Jasmine Richman
Allyce Torrece
John MacGaffey
Diane Mair
Sully Rathke
Matthew Yee
Sydney Lynne Thomas
Milam Smith
Camryn Rose
Carolyn Rose Ratke
Tracy Weisman
Ellie Terrell
Tom Rossiter
Tom Robinson
Sam Linda
Antoinette Maugeri
Mike Coon
Jillian Gryzlak
Xiaoyu Wang
Cynthia Kerby
Shawn Ketchum Johnson
Rachel Jacobs
Anna Zahn
Shery Doyel
Samantha Marie Adams
Joseph Jones
Kass Copeland
Tirzah Lawson
Reagan Brown
Oran Lazar
Rochelle Borrett
Deborah Hawkins
Cecilia Sheppard
Anya Elsbeth
Indira Johnson
Jessica Thebus
Drew Boyce
Cynthia Castilone
Rebecca Husk
Dan Wheeler
Ana Kuzmanic
Odile Compagnon
Xiaoyu Wang
Annabelle J Gross
Fletcher Wolfe
Shayne Taylor
Milam Smith
Sydney Lynne
Joanie Friedman
Jeremy Andersen
Brian Hungerford
Amy Ribbon
Dean Hacker
Lissa Dysart