Saturday, July 27 at 7PM
Eugene Williams Memorial Marker
125 Fort Dearborn Drive, Chicago 60615
1/4 mile north of 31st Street Beach
Free public event

Sunset 1919 is an annual community Art ritual performed in honor of Eugene Williams, a Black teenager who was killed for crossing an imaginary racial line on the waves of Mishigami (from Ojibwa “Great Water”). Sunset 1919 was first curated and coordinated in 2020 by Ensemble Member and Creative Producer Kareem Bandealy and Ensemble Member and Mellon Playwright in Residence J. Nicole Brooks and it offers a communal moment to acknowledge our Indigenous roots and for Black artists to merge Movement, Music, and Word in a free, spirit-guided ritual. 

This ritual is free and all are welcome to attend. 

RSVP FOR SUNSET 1919

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Artists

 

Lookingglass Artists

Lookingglass is an ensemble based company, with a dedicated group of artists composing its roster of Ensemble Members, Artistic Associates, and Teaching Artists

 

 

Getting There & Parking

This year, thanks to the efforts of our co-curators, our generous donors, and 3Arts, we are able to provide a shuttle service to and from the Eugene Williams Memorial Marker. Shuttles will make stops at McCormick Place and the 31st Street Beach. If you would like to take advantage of this service, please follow the instructions below depending on your transportation preferences.

Public Transportation
If arriving by public transportation (CTA or Bus), take the #35 bus to the 31st Street Beach stop. Meet the Lookingglass Volunteer at the 31st Street Beach stop to board the Sunset 1919 Shuttle.
Get Directions to the 31 Street Beach Stop

Paid Parking
Paid garage parking is available at McCormick Place, Lot C. Park in the pink or green lot and then meet the Lookingglass Volunteer at Gate 30 to board the Sunset 1919 Shuttle.
Get Directions to Lot C
Pre-pay for parking at McCormick Place, Lot C here.

Ride Share
If arriving by ride share, use the 31st Street Beach as your destination. Find the Lookingglass Volunteer at the ride share pick-up/drop-off location to board the Sunset 1919 Shuttle.

Cycling
Cyclists can access the site by biking to McCormick Lot C or the 31st Street Beach and taking the Sunset 1919 Shuttle as listed above. Cyclists can also access the site directly by taking the Lakefront Trail to roughly 2900 S, however there are no bike racks in the immediate vicinity of the Eugene Williams Memorial Marker.

 

Learn More

• City On Fire: Chicago Race Riot 1919 (WBEZ)
• Chicago 1919- Winner of the 2020 Outstanding Public History Project Award National Council on Public History (Newberry)
• Chicago Race Riot of 1919 Commemoration Project
• Ensuring the Chicago Race Riot Is Not Forgotten (TIME Magazine)
• Mapping the 1919 Chicago Race Riots (U Chicago)
• Red Chicago (PBS)
• The Red Summer of 1919 (National WWI Museum and Memorial)

 

This project was made possible through a grant from 3Arts and donors to 3AP (3Arts Projects). This grant makes it possible for us to:

• hire an artist to create a permanent mural in the space
• raise the pay for all artist-participants
• place an ADA-accessible portable restroom at the site
• hire a shuttle service to transport participants and make Eugene Williams Memorial Square accessible to all

Thank you for your support!

 

Community Partners

Englewood Arts Collective, Firebird Community Arts, Organic Oneness, CRR-19, First Nations Garden, Read and Run Chicago