![]() ![]() ![]() The coloring book, designed by illustrator Diana Nava and produced in both English and Spanish, has a print run of 1,500 copies and is also available /ejcoloringbook.html. Brushwood began the “ Our Future: Youth Voices on Climate Justice and Healing” project working with area youth to explore their perspectives on nature and the environment this work evolved into a partnership with Clean Power Lake County, which is leading a campaign for the safe closing of a coal plant in Waukegan.īrushwood produced a coloring book telling the story of Eddie Flores, a 2020 graduate of Waukegan High School who became civically involved after learning of the high asthma rates in his community, which is adjacent to the plant. Prior to Brushwood, Catherine, an artist, was at Chicago Wilderness as well in the City of Chicago’s Department of the Environment. The work of Brushwood, which centers the belief that nature and art have the power to heal, extends across Lake County. “When I saw the grant notice, I was inspired to create this program to help our kids through a rough time,” Jodi said.Ĭatherine Game, executive director at the Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, located just west of Deerfield, is also heading up a project that centers on youth. This first-time program was supported with an Illinois Humanities project grant. All students received their own copy of the book, read it together in small groups facilitated by a teacher, and met with the author over Zoom. ![]() All 220 6th to 8th graders chose one of three books, reflecting their own life experiences (a book as a ‘mirror’) or helping them to relate to the lived experiences of others (a book as a ‘window’). ![]() This project allowed them to create shared experiences by reading and discussing books together. The school received support for a project called “ Empathy through Literature.” After spending more than a year in relative isolation due to the pandemic, Jodi’s students really struggled to communicate and maintain healthy relationships with their teachers and peers upon returning to school. She enjoys being in a small district: “I know every kid by name, even what books they like,” she says. Jodi previously had a very different career at the Federal Reserve, but after having kids decided to return to school for a master’s degree in library science. Jodi Wortsman is a teacher-librarian at Medinah Middle School in Roselle, in DuPage County to the northwest of Chicago, where she’s been for 5 years. This is exciting work, and there’s much more to come! Collectively these projects reveal the wide, and vibrant, realm of public humanities projects taking place across the state of Illinois. We recently talked with six of the folks leading a handful of these projects and wanted to share out just a little of what we heard about those involved as well as updates on the projects they are leading. Among these 254 grants were some 44 project grants supporting specific cultural initiatives. In September 2021, Illinois Humanities granted $1.4 million in support of cultural groups across the state of Illinois suffering the enduring challenges posed by Covid-19. ![]()
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