2023 schedule of events

JUNE 2023

Oakland Museum and Garden / 4116 S. Lake Park Ave.

June 3, 2PM-6PM

Heliacal Rising of Sothis

Curated by Adam Zanolini

stone temple community Garden / 3612 W. Douglas blvd.

June 7, 6PM-8PM

the aggregation feat. justin dillard

Curated by jumaane taylor

blockhouse gallery / 11137 S. Langley Ave.

June 11, 1PM-3PM

julia danielle quintet

Curated by meagan mcneal

JUly 2023

Oakland Museum and Garden / 4116 S. Lake Park Ave.

July 9, 1PM-3PM

the greenhouse experience

Curated by meagan mcneal

ARTIST CORPS provides financial support to Chicago MUSICIAN Fellows TO curate and PRODUCE PERFORMANCES IN NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE SOUTH AND WEST SIDEs.

The Artist Corps Fellowship program is an initiative that expands the power and potential of community and artist-driven programs in neighborhoods. Artists-in-neighborhoods programs facilitate storytelling and community building; provide opportunities for healing and resilience; and create connections to advocacy, mutual aid, neighborhood health, and equity initiatives. Central to the mission of the Artist Corps program is bringing rich, engaging, artistic experiences to people where they live, particularly in communities without equitable access to cultural programming.

Artist Corps provides financial support for artists creating in and for their communities, provides opportunities for mentorship in producing and programming, and helps generate collaboration with other neighborhood initiatives focused on elements of community health. With the logistical and financial support of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Artist Corps Fellows produce a series of free performances in neighborhood settings across the south/west sides of Chicago between June and September 2023. Concerts are presented on driveways, in parkways and gardens, at community centers, and elsewhere. The concerts are curated/produced by three Artist Corps Fellows chosen for their artistic excellence and commitment to community-building. We are proud to work with these exceptionally creative, generous, and powerful artists. This program is supported in part by the Walder Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts.

2023 ARTISTS

Meagan McNeal is a powerhouse singer, songwriter and recording artist from Chicago, Illinois. She is well versed in the genres of jazz, soul and R&B. Known for her diverse range and soulful voice, she attracted attention on the local circuit and received international acclaim with the release of her debut album entitled “Mindset” in 2014. Gracing the stage of NBC’s “The Voice” in 2017, Meagan’s radiating vocals landed her on the team of Grammy Award winning artist Jennifer Hudson. Those experiences have broadened the scope of her potential and it has furthered her music career.

Meagan has refined her talents throughout the years and shaped her signature style. Described as an embodiment of love; her music effortlessly transcends boundaries and spreads messages of love, peace, righteousness, and truth. Meagan continuously strives for improvement and positive change. Seated at the core of her artistry is the slogan, “Love is King” which serve as the driving force of her unwavering determination, and open-mindedness. 

Jumaane Taylor, a Chicago native, has been tap dancing since the age of 7 beginning at the Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre. He has been part of the ensemble in Imagine Tap! (2006 directed and choreographed by Derick Grant); Tap Into Peace (2009 directed and choreographed by Sarah Savelli and Ayodele Casel); and Rasta Thomas' Tap Stars that premiered in Hamburg, Germany. In 2014, Jumaane created Supreme Love. A dance production honoring John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ and the art of tap with live musicians, premiering at jazz music and dance festivals including Jacob's Pillow in 2017. In 2018 he presented The Jazz Hoofing Quartet, a solo dance performance using improvisation to continue the progressive exploration of live music and tap. Jumaane has received the Chicago Dancemakers Forum 2017 Lab Artist Award, 3Arts 2019 Award, and has premiered his work for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Columbia College-Dance Center and abroad. He teaches at Mayfair Arts Center, Ruth Page School of Dance, and the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Since 2021 Jumaane has also been the artistic director of the Chicago Human Rhythm Project.

Adam Zanolini is a multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusicologist, writer, and arts organizer based in Chicago.  He is the Executive Director of Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago and former Associate Director of Arts for Art, presenter of the annual Vision Festival of avant-jazz in New York City. He is also co-founder of the Participatory Music Coalition. He is an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and he serves on the Board of the Live the Spirit Residency, producer of the annual Englewood Jazz Festival. Adam plays flute, double bass, saxophone, and other instruments, performing regularly with PMC, the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble, Sura Dupart's Sidepocket Experience, with Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood, and Gira Dahnee in addition to his own projects. He received his PhD in music with a certificate in Africana Studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2016. Adam’s highest ambition is to be a community musician: to cultivate and share knowledge through music in order to help heal, strengthen, and empower the Black community.