On Saturday, May 13th, Chicago Art Department (CAD) will present its second annual Crystal Ball, the organization’s yearly fundraising event at their location in Pilsen. The evening is a celebration of CAD’s resident artists, vibrant community, and vision for the coming year. As the event falls on Mother’s Day weekend, the celebration will tie into maternal themes celebrating artists who are mothers and work connected to motherhood and feminine identity.

At the ball, CAD is particularly excited to be honoring one of their favorite mothers, artist Amanda Williams, whose socially conscious and multi-disciplinary work has involved projects as varied as painting vacant houses in Englewood vibrant colors and a recent appointment to help design the Obama Foundation’s Chicago library.

The fundraiser is integral in subsidizing residency costs, furthering CAD’s education and outreach programming, and raising capital necessary to support organizational operating costs, but the night is far from a traditional gala. The colorful event will closely match the character and passions of CAD and its community through extraordinary art, music, workshops, and plenty of food and drink. Guests will be able to participate in a silent auction featuring items from Thompson Chicago, Southwest Airlines, Boka Restaurant Group, Goodman Theatre, and the Chicago White Sox, as well as art curated from some of the city’s most prominent voices.

Additionally, the night will feature a site-specific installation and crystal readings by artist Dana Major, live music curated by resident AMFM, making opportunities and takeaways from Delicious Design League, custom poetry from Poems While You Wait, future reports by Documents Bureau, tarot readings from Rhonda Wheatley, and a host of other activities from CAD’s residents and friends.

The Crystal Ball will feature work and activities from:

Alex Prexta, AMFM, Brandon Breaux, Candace Hunter, Caroline Liu, Charles Heppner, Dana Major, Delicious Design League + Tyler Deal, Dud Lawson, Edyta Stepien, Free Write Arts & Literacy, Galina Shevchenko, Georgina Valverde + Documents Bureau, Gunjan Kumar, John Preus, Jordan Bosman, Jorge Hinojosa, Kahala Elizabeth, DJ LO Kari, Poems While You Wait, Katie Wallace Clark, Kent Henderson, Kim Alpert, Marta Sasinowska, Melissa Bradley, Nat Soti, Norman Teague, oOrn, Rachel L.S. Harper, Raub Welch, Rhonda Wheatley, Rodrigo Lara Zendejas, Chef Ryan Bockenfeld, DJ SEARCHL1TE, John A. Walsh Math and Science Academ, Yomí, Zach Overstreet

Official Website

More events on this date

Tags: 2017 Crystal Ball, Alex Prexta, Amanda Williams, AMFM, Brandon Breaux, Candace Hunter, Caroline Liu, Charles Heppner, Chef Ryan Bockenfeld, Chicago, Chicago Art Department, Dana Major, Delicious Design League + Tyler Deal, DJ LO Kari, DJ SEARCHL1TE, Dud Lawson, Edyta Stepien, Free Write Arts & Literacy, Galina Shevchenko, Georgina Valverde + Documents Bureau, Gunjan Kumar, John A. Walsh Math and Science Academ, John Preus, Jordan Bosman, Jorge Hinojosa, Kahala Elizabeth, Katie Wallace Clark, Kent Henderson, Kim Alpert, Lower West Side, Marta Sasinowska, Melissa Bradley, Nat Soti, Norman Teague, oOrn, Poems While You Wait, Rachel L S Harper, Raub Welch, Rhonda Wheatley, Rodrigo Lara Zendejas, Yomí, Zach Overstreet