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The gig poster of the week is about a real gig again! At least for now! This week’s poster incorporates an undated photograph from the Rebuild Foundation’s Edward J. Williams Collection, which was donated to the cultural arts organization by Williams, a banker and Chicagoan. The collection contains thousands of objects and artifacts that depict stereotypical images of Black people.
Rebuild Foundation and Experimental Sound Studio collaborated to present this livestream concert, curated by musician and Rebuild artist in residence Yaw Agyeman. Proceeds from the show will support the Tamir Rice Foundation’s work to create the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The concert will be filmed in and around the gazebo where Tamir Rice was killed by police, which Rebuild Foundation has reconstructed in a reflection garden on the grounds of the Stony Island Arts Bank.
Though this poster is for a real gig, it’s the first time this space has featured a virtual or streaming concert. We’re sure to see more as restrictions on live music continue because of COVID-19, and we welcome submissions for consideration. We’re also continuing to accept your fantasy gig poster designs.
To participate, please e-mail [email protected] with your name, contact information, and your original design or drawing (you can attach a JPG or PNG file or provide a download link). We won’t be able to publish everything we receive, but we’ll feature as many as possible while the crisis continues. Your e-mail should include details about the real or fantasy concert and about any nonprofit, fundraiser, or action campaign that you’d like to bring to the attention of our readers.
Not everybody can make a fantasy gig poster, of course, but it’s simple and free to take action through the website of the National Independent Venue Association–click here to tell your representatives to save our homegrown music ecosystems. And anybody with a few bucks to spare can support the out-of-work staffers at Chicago’s venues–here’s our list of fundraisers. Lastly, don’t forget record stores! The Reader has published a list of local stores that will let you shop remotely.
ARTIST: Julie Yost for the Rebuild Foundation
GIG: A Juneteenth Quarantine Concert curated by Yaw Agyeman and featuring Krista Franklin, Meagan McNeal, YAW, Avery R. Young, and Duane Powell, livestreamed via Experimental Sound Studio’s website on Fri 6/19 at 5:30 PM
REBUILD FOUNDATION INFO: rebuild-foundation.org
NPO TO KNOW: The Tamir Rice Foundation
