Celebrating our 15FORWARD Anniversary Season!
Join us on Thursday August 3rd for the annual Paint the Town RED: Red Hot Summer Nights Fundraiser! This end of summer soiree kicks off our year long anniversary celebration and celebrates Black Philanthropy Month.
Guests will enjoy 3-levels of ACTIVATION at the historic IVY ROOM, right in the heart of Chicago’s River North neighborhood. This unforgettable event will feature a special performance during the VIP reception by the Touring Company, signature cocktails, exquisite bites, AND a dance party to the hypnotic sounds of DJ Duane Powell to close out this celebration the Red Clay Dance way!
As we continue to build the legacy and impact of Red Clay Dance Company, we maintain our tradition of honoring an individual from our community that is not only a phenomenal arts advocate, but a true shapeshifter and creator of culture with our 2023 Culture Creator Award. This year’s awardee is one of Chicago’s rising cultural leaders, Social Justice Artist and Community Activist, Tonika Johnson Lewis. So please join us in celebrating the beginning of our 15FORWARD Anniversary Season!
Dress for this affair is Summer Sophisticated with a pop of RED!
Thursday, August 3, 2023
VIP Reception Starts at 6:00 PM
Doors open at 6:45 PM
Culture Creator Presentation begins promptly at 7PM
Single Admission: $150
Red Hot VIP: $225
Host Committee
Ann Carter
Sara Coleman
Catrina Franklin
Yewande Maduekwe
Vershawn Sanders-Ward
SPONSORSHIP LEVELS
-
$2,000
• VIP Branded Table (6)
• Red Hot Pre-Reception
• Verbal Recognition at reception
• Highlight on Red Clay Dance Company Event webpage
• Highlight in Red Clay Dance Email Communications to over 3,000 subscribers
-
$3,500
• VIP Branded Table (6)
• Red Hot Pre-Reception
• Verbal Recognition at reception
• Highlight on Red Clay Dance Company Event webpage
• Highlight in Red Clay Dance Email Communications to over 3,000 subscribers
• Branded Bar Signage
• Red Clay Dance 15Foward Museum Display Branded Signage
• 90-minutes Corporate Workshop for your company or organization
OUR 2023 CULTURE CREATOR AWARDEE:
TONIKA LEWIS JOHNSON
Tonika Johnson is a photographer, social justice artist and life-long resident of Chicago’s southside Englewood neighborhood. Her art explores urban segregation and celebrates the nuanced richness of the Black community, countering media depictions of Chicago’s violence. Tonika’s work reveals injustices and inequities, past and present, evidenced in the built environment and enshrined in real estate and land use practices, including historic preservation. Her Folded Map Project™ brings residents who live at similar addresses but miles apart on Chicago’s racially segregated South and North sides together in conversation about the city’s racial and economic divides. The Folded Map Project™ questions how everyone is socially impacted by racial and institutional conditions segregating the city and challenges viewers to contribute to a solution. Tonika was selected as the National Public Housing Museum’s 2021 Artist as Instigator to expand her investigation through “Inequity for Sale,” a project highlighting the living history and legacy of greater Englewood homes sold through Land Sale Contracts in the 1950s and 1960s, which led to the unscrupulous loss of people’s homes and equity preventing the generational transfer and building of Black wealth. In 2022, Landmark Illinois' named her one of their Influencers for her "Inequity For Sale.” Tonika’s artistic contributions have gained citywide recognition in the last seven years, including being named a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, being exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Rootwork Gallery in Pilsen, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Harold Washington Library Center and at Loyola University’s Museum of Art. She is a 2019 Field Foundation “Leader for a New Chicago” and a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Cultural Advisory Council member. In 2022, Tonika is the co-founder of the Englewood Arts Collective and Resident Association of Greater Englewood, and she now serves as the Creative Executive Officer of the Folded Map Project™ nonprofit organization. Visit her www.tonikaj.com to learn more.
THANK YOU
To our friends, partners and sponsors for celebrating 15 years of Red Clay Dance Company’s Artivism!
Preservation of Affordable Housing-Chicago
Pamela Crutchfield