The City of Chicago and tourism organization Choose Chicago on Thursday announced a plan for how the city will participate in America 250, this year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Though the announcement was light on specifics, cultural programs contained so far in the initiative include a concert series with the CSO, preexisting events such as the annual Chicago Air & Water Show, events with the Chicago Public Library and Park District, and cooperation with the Illinois America 250 Commission, a statewide commemoration presented by the nonprofit Illinois Humanities.
“For 250 years, progress in this country has come when working people stood in common purpose, organizing, demanding fairness, and pushing this nation closer to its founding promise,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in part in a statement. “That spirit lives in Chicago.”
Choose Chicago has a website (choosechicago.com/america-250) devoted to tourism draws such as the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and upcoming International Jazz Day, with more information promised about additional Chicago250 programs.
“America 250: A Musical Journey” is a June series at Symphony Center that includes concerts by the CSO, a visit from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on June 2, and Copland’s “Lincoln Portrait,” narrated by actor Harry Lennix on June 18-21 (cso.org).
The Chicago Public Library will host events across its branches and Harold Washington Library Center, including the biennial American Writers Festival on June 7 in collaboration with the American Writers Museum, a book event and podcast taping on July 16 for “The Living Declaration: A Biography of America’s Founding Text” by Ted Widmer, an installation by artist Nick Cave and a series of performances and workshops (chipublib.org/chicago250).
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com
