A bike tour in Chicago brings riders up close to Chicago's 1919 race riots, honoring the 38 victims and highlighting the riots' impact. By Ben Schamisso July 25, 2023 A somber history lesson on two wheels is taught by visiting sites where people died and places where people...
A series of memorials commemorating the worst instance of racial violence in Chicago history that have yet to be installed on city streets are now temporarily on view as part of a neighborhood art gallery’s final exhibition. The memorials recall the Chicago race riots of 1919, where for...
The Trace —
N’Kosi Barber lost a friend in a shooting. Now, he’s helping Chicagoans who have endured similar losses move on through the craft of glassblowing.
By Justin Agrelo
Jul 7, 2023
Chicago Sun-Times —
Thousands of people pass by Adams Street and Wabash Avenue every day, climbing the stairs to the L, or heading to the Art Institute or other spots in the Loop. Few may know that corner is a murder scene, part of the 1919 riots during which, for...
Please join us for a fun night filled with love, karaoke & cupcakes! There will be glassblowing demonstrations and the opportunity to learn how to sculpt a glass heart for $75. Glass hearts and roses will be for sale as well :) (Limited refreshments will be available) Register...
These are a series of signs and learning tools we have developed for use in our community studio space. Maybe some of them can be of use to you and your community?
Introduction "When we talk about being asset-based we mean eliminating the practice of defining less-protected communities as a culmination of deficits or traumas. Asset-based means first recognizing that all communities, including those often labeled as “marginalized” or “disenfranchised,” are filled with knowledge, skills, ideas, and solutions that if...
This “Public Service Announcement on
Philanthropy and Charitable Giving” is a guide that explains many of the common
misconceptions about giving to nonprofits, and how you can adjust your giving strategy to have the biggest impact.
GATHER 2022 - We came together to give, heal, and empower! Thank you for joining us for an evening filled with tasty treats, drinks, glassblowing, and a silent auction filled with original art and getaways. To see photos from that evening, please click here. Thursday, September 15th | ...
This October, beginning near Indigenous People's Day, Firebird initiated an ongoing conversation with Board, staff, and youth about indigenous land acknowledgements. As we crafted a land acknowledgement to open a Board meeting, the complexity of the task came to the surface. We did not want to make a...
Block Club Chicago —
Firebird Community Arts in Garfield Park was among the groups that received a special grant from LISC after the previous awards were canceled because of the pandemic.
Firebird is located within the East Garfield Park neighborhood of the West Side of Chicago. The students and student interns of our Fireworks teen program collaborated with their instructors to build a list of West Side mutual aid supports. Youth also designed icons to represent the types of...
Things we have done/are doing to dismantle white supremacy: Diversifying our Executive Board from 100% white in 2012 to over half POC currently Prioritizing access of South and West Side youth of color to rarefied art media in schools and in our studio Employing Black and Brown youth...
At Firebird Community Arts, we are struggling along with everyone else about how to think about change. We are discussing our contradictory feelings. We are all shifting wildly between rage, worry, hope, fear, desperation, anxiety, camaraderie.
“In order to rise from its own ashes, a Phoenix first must burn”—Octavia Butler [Enjoy Damon Lock's facebook live Firebird DJ set here while you read]We are all forever changed by our shared global experience. You may be noticing that art — film and tv, music, online drawing...
Canadian Broadcasting Channel —
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary PTSD: Beyond Trauma profiles Project FIRE and the creative approach to trauma recovery.
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