Institute of Cultural Affairs | October 5, 2018
ICA E-News – October 2018
In this issue:
  • Plans and Places on the Uptown Garden Walk
  • Open House Chicago to Return to ICA GreenRise
  • Cross-Cultural Series to Ride through South Chicago
  • Fourth Conference to Strengthen West African ICAs
  • Fall Archives Sojourn to Ready Website Launch
Plans and Places on the Uptown Garden Walk
Trees of Uptown Tour
Garden Gathering
No Small Plans Tour
“I never paid any attention to this space until I was asked to get involved,” says Ian Whiting of the humble garden plot in Uptown’s Sunnyside Mall, adopted in 2016 by students at Courtenay Elementary’s Budding Gardeners program. Ian was one of several enthusiastic Uptown residents representing their neighborhood gardens during ICA’s Third Annual Uptown Garden Walk earlier this month. His hospitality was visible by a table full of flyers, pamphlets, and Sunnyside Mall beverage koozies. His favorite item, however, was a binder showing how the space has changed over the years. Flipping excitedly to an image of the Mall from the 1970s, Ian remarked that it’s almost unrecognizable now. He hopes that the changes keep coming in the form of neighbors adopting more of the available plots and attending festivities he’s planning for families in the neighborhood.

Ian’s enthusiasm and deep concern for his neighborhood epitomize the spirit of the Uptown Garden Walk...
ICA GreenRise Returns to Open House Chicago
Open House Chicago
ICA GreenRise
October 13th–14th
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
For a building like ICA GreenRise , which hosts social service providers that reach over a thousand people weekly, every day seems like an open house. However, during Chicago Architecture Foundation ’s annual Open House Chicago tour, architecture buffs, curiosity seekers, and passersby alike are drawn from across Chicago to marvel at buildings which might otherwise remain a mystery. ICA GreenRise is featured on the tour for the fifth time this year, and on the weekend of October 13th and 14th, visitors are invited to tour the Lumumba Room, Guild Suite, community kitchen, and more!

ICA GreenRise will also host Pivot Arts that weekend for a special performance. Written, choreographed, and performed by Anna Martine Whitehead, Notes on Territory uses movement, sound, video, and text to raise questions about prisons and freedom.
Cross-Cultural Series to Ride through South Chicago
Nourish (comm)Unity: Biking
South Side Chicago
October 13th
Saturday 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
For many, words like sustainability and environmental justice conjure familiar images: solar panels glimmering on rooftops, recyclables tucked neatly in bins, fish freed from plastic soda rings. Nourish (comm)Unity , a series curated by Chicago Sustainability Leaders Network , aims to bring less familiar images into focus. Past events have celebrated indigenous youth who search Lakeshore Trail for native herbs, a blues singer teaching her craft to the next generation, young girls who care for goats at a local garden, and other connections that weave together Chicago communities.

On October 13th, the third event in the series will focus on Biking and take attendees through bike trails and Metra rails from Chicago’s far South Side to local organizations with innovative programming, including Bronzeville Bike Box , Plant Chicago , Bike a Bee , and Working Bikes . The fourth and final event in the series will happen on November 10th and focus on Civic Technology in South Shore, Chicago. All events in the series are free and open to the public.
Fourth Conference to Strengthen West African ICAs
ICAI West Africa
Regional Conference
EPDI Nigeria
October 28th–November 3rd
“Strengthening ICAs for greater effectiveness and sustainability in West Africa” will be the theme of the fourth annual ICA in West Africa Conference. ICA Côte d’Ivoire first hosted the regional gathering in 2015, followed by ICA Togo in 2016, Lambassa ICA Benin in 2017, and now EPDI Nigeria .

Following ICA tradition, attendees can expect to learn, share, connect, and strengthen peer-to-peer approaches. Notably, this conference will produce a collective action plan for the year ahead, part of a larger three-year strategic plan.
Fall Archives Sojourn to Ready Website Launch
Global Archives Sojourn
ICA GreenRise
October 21st–27th
The upcoming bi-annual ICA Global Archives Sojourn, from October 21st through October 27th, will be a time to engage with the current work of the Archives, focusing on the content of three collections—Social Process, Imaginal Education, and Other World—ahead of the launch of the first ICA Global Archives website. This grand effort will preserve and make available to the public the amazing insights and programs created by ICA colleagues across the organization's history.

All are welcome to attend! To register, please email Jean Long with the name, email, phone number, dates of arrival and departure of those registering. Please also consider in which collection you would like to work. Find a complete list of collections and more details on the official Invitation Letter.
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