Chicago Cultural Alliance facts for kids
The Chicago Cultural Alliance is a special group of places in Chicago that celebrate different cultures. It brings together museums, cultural centers, and historical societies from many ethnic backgrounds in the Chicago metropolitan area.
This Alliance started in 2006. Its main goal is to "connect, promote, and support" these cultural heritage centers. This helps make Chicago a more welcoming and understanding city for everyone.
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How the Alliance Started
The Chicago Cultural Alliance began with a program called Cultural Connections at the Field Museum. This program helped different ethnic and cultural groups work together.
The Alliance was created to bring these groups closer. It helps them build connections within Chicago's many ethnic communities. It also helps them show the wider public that they exist and are important. Kerstin Lane, who was the first president of the Alliance, explained why it was needed. She said many people didn't know about the "little jewels of ethnic museums all over the city." The Alliance helps these museums become stronger by telling their stories to the city and beyond.
Who Belongs to the Alliance?
The Chicago Cultural Alliance has many members. These are places that focus on specific cultures and their history.
Core Members
The main members of the Chicago Cultural Alliance include:
- American Indian Center of Chicago
- Arab American Action Network
- Assyrian Cultural Foundation
- Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture
- Bronzeville Children's Museum
- Bronzeville Historical Society
- Casa Michoacan
- Chicago Japanese American Historical Society
- Chicago Scots/Illinois St. Andrew's Society
- Chinese-American Museum of Chicago
- DANK Haus German American Cultural Center
- Dominican-American Midwest Association
- Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago
- Filipino American Historical Society of Chicago
- Haitian American Museum of Chicago
- Indo-American Heritage Museum
- HANA Center
- Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center
- International Latino Cultural Center
- Irish American Heritage Center
- Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago
- Korean Cultural Center of Chicago
- Latvian Folk Art Museum
- Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
- Muslim American Leadership Alliance
- National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial
- National Hellenic Museum
- National Indo-American Museum
- National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture
- OPEN Center for the Arts
- Polish Museum of America
- Puerto Rican Arts Alliance
- Salon for Bulgarian Culture and Spirit
- Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center
- South Side Community Art Center
- Swahili Institute of Chicago
- Swedish American Museum
- Trickster Art Gallery
- Turkish American Cultural Alliance
- Turkish American Society of Chicago
- Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art
- Ukrainian National Museum
Partner Institutions
The Chicago Cultural Alliance also works with many partner organizations. These partners help support the Alliance's mission.
- Art WORKS Projects
- American Writers Museum
- Chicago History Museum
- Chicago Public Media
- Chicago Botanic Gardens
- Choose Chicago
- Crossing Borders Music
- Garfield Park Conservatory
- International Association for World Peace/The Peace School
- Intuit Center for Outsider Art
- Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
- Media Burn Archives
- National Public Housing Museum
- Newberry Library
- The Art Institute of Chicago
- The Field Museum
- TimeLine Theatre Company
- University of Illinois at Chicago Centers for Cultural Understanding
What the Alliance Does
The Chicago Cultural Alliance works hard to support its members and spread awareness.
Helping and Reaching Out
The Alliance helps its members by speaking up for them. They also work to connect with more people. For example, they joined the Arts Power Chicago campaign. This campaign aimed to show Chicago's mayoral candidates in 2011 how important arts and culture are to the city. They wanted to highlight how these cultural places help Chicago's neighborhoods and its image around the world.
