Mayor Harold Washington’s Legacy To The Arts

This year, 2013, marks the 30th anniversary of the election of Harold Washington, Chicago's first Black mayor. I thought about the significance of that watershed event as I participated in a panel at the DuSable Museum. As a member of Mayor Washington’s  first cabinet, I was asked to talk about importance of Mayor Washington’s legacy to the arts in Chicago. 

I first met Harold Washington in 1982, while working tirelessly in his historic campaign. I was a member of Artists for Washington, and we lobbied to assure the arts would win more respect and greater funding. As a result of our efforts, Washington included in his campaign promises, a pledge to create a new cabinet level Department of Cultural Affairs. 

In December, 1983, he appointed me Executive Director of the Chicago Office of Fine Arts. His charge to me was to make the arts more inclusive. The Department of Cultural Affairs was created a year later, with Fred Fine was its first Commissioner. His first task was to establish the new Department of Cultural Affairs. It joined The Office of Fine Arts, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events and the Film Office under one umbrella.

The Chicago Office of Fine Arts was located in what was then the original Chicago Public Library. While the new Harold Washington library was being built we successfully lobbied to make the former library, The Cultural Center and the official home of the Department of Cultural Affairs.  During those years we held free public programs there and in Daley Plaza, hosted and curated more than 25 art exhibits.  

We expanded grant-making programs for the very largest to smallest arts organizations and individual artists through out the entire city, and increased the percent for the Public Art Program. DCA wrote the city’s first Cultural Plan. The budget grew from 1.2 million dollars to more than 4 million. 

When it became apparent small neighborhood art groups and individual artists rarely got funding, my department upended longstanding procedures for reviewing grant applicants. We created community workshops and diversified the grant review panels.  Our efforts grew and became more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming to artists, the community, and the public. It was no longer business as usual.

I had not thought about those revolutionary and heady years in a long while. Harold Washington was a fair, fearless, inclusive leader, who inspired and empowered those of us who had the priveledge of working for him.

Over the years Department of Cultural Affairs has gone through changes in leadership and  priorities. The result has been devastating budget cuts, painful changes, and huge staffing cuts. Michelle Boone, the new commissioner has huge challenges facing the Department of Cultural Affairs.  All of these memories flooded me as I saw one of the most stunning exhibitions at the Cultrual Center. Called, "Rising Up: Hale Woodruff's Murals at Talladega College," the exhibit “features six monumentally-scaled murals painted in 1939-42 by African American artist Hale Woodruff. Never before seen outside of Alabama's Talladega College, the murals depict the 1839 mutiny by slaves on the Spanish ship La Amistad and its aftermath. Newly restored to their original, vibrant colors, the murals are accompanied by 30 paintings and prints that document Woodruff's work from the 1920s to the 1940s, making this exhibition a rare opportunity to see this important Harlem Renaissance artist's work in depth.”

I believe Mayor Washington would be especially proud of the current exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center, which and runs through June 16. Why not bring some friends to see the exhibit and tell me what you think.