CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Urban Gateways 50th Anniversary Gala will showcase performance art by pianist, Reginald Robinson, trumpeter, Orbert Davis, founding mother of children’s music, Ella Jenkins, and an interactive routine by DanceWorks Chicago duriing its reception, which starts at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 1, 2011, at Venue One, 1044 W. Randolph St. in Chicago. Dinner, catered by Food for Thought, begins at 7 p.m.
Gala co-chairs Lou Conte, Kristine Green and Ronne Hartfield have invited 50 honorees, individuals who have played a significant role in the development and mission of Urban Gateways, who will be fêted at the Gala.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois and Exelon lead the list of corporate sponsors for the benefit dinner which also will feature silent and live auctions. In 1961, Jessie A. Woods established Urban Gateways with a group of friends on Chicago’s South Side. They believed that access to the arts was imperative for a complete education.
Today, Urban Gateways provides more than 200,000 arts experiences annually for youngsters in Chicago-area schools, community centers and cultural institutions. Regarded as a national leader in integrating arts education with classroom learning and, more recently, community development initiatives, Urban Gateways’ mission is to ignite the creative potential in young people as well as to improve communities through their youngsters.
For more information about sponsorships and to purchase tables of 10 at $3,500 or benefit dinner tickets at $350 and $700, please call 312-445-2757 or visit urbangateways.org.