Here in the midst of a hard economy many Not For Profits are looking for alternative funding to help bridge the gaps. My daughter is 5 years old and goes to a Chicago Public School. With horrible budget cuts looming the parents of the school have really taken the reins and found ways to reach the schools goals and needs. Sometimes with fundraisers, sometimes “vote for us” type contests (her school won $100,000 from US Cellular), sometimes through creative donations (all of the artwork around the school was donated by various neighborhood artists). But it is obvious why these parents would fight so hard for there children to get a quality education.
A lot of discussion has been flying around the Theater blog/facebook world about recent fundraising efforts by Theater in Chicago. Many people don’t even know Theater is a charity. Some flat out deny it is, no matter what the government has deemed it. Some only see the value of arts if they give back to education programs (my daughters school for example again has writes grants to have various artists come and teach special things to the kids. My daughter had a whole quarter of bucket drum classes and she LOVED it!)
So I ask you, dear friends, fans, and fellow artists…why is CIC important to you? Is it the low cost high quality entertainment? Is it the chance to perform when you cant find a break to cut your teeth? Is it the many different styles of Comedy you will see under one roof? Is it the fact that we raise money for battered women every week after our 2 year old show Pimprov?
Please share with us why CIC is important to you…and thanks for the support.