FALL 2001

A Gift from the McGraw Foundation

The Northwest Cultural Council is pleased to announce receiving a grant of $10,000.00 from the McGraw Foundation.

The McGraw Foundation was established in 1948 by Max McGraw to provide financial support in the areas of education, social service and especially environmental education. The Foundation favors the Midwestern United States and the strong interest of Max McGraw in conservation of natural resources and preservation of the environment. The McGraw Foundation's primary focus is in the field of education. Mr. McGraw was the founder of the McGraw-Edison Company and Centel Corporation, which is now part of Sprint Corporation.

This generous gift coupled with the continued funding from Square D Schneider Electric Company, Harris Bank Palatine, Kimball Hill Homes, Inc. and The Northern Trust Company will allow the Council to bring its "Kids Meet Art"™ program to 10 schools in School District #15. NWCC artists will present 30 programs in the District during the 2001/2002 school year.

"KIDS MEET ART"™ is an innovative, three day arts education program, that brings professional artists into elementary, junior and high schools, to introduce students to the various art forms. "KMA"™ offers hands-on, one-on-one training in art, music, theater, writing, and dance. Some of the principles, not questions, in the Illinois State Achievement Tests (ISAT) are included in the artists' presentations, without losing the spontaneity and joy of the program.

It is the goal of the Council to expose every school child from O'Hare Airport through Elgin, to "Kids Meet Art"™ presentations. If you, your Corporation or Foundation would like to learn more about how "Kids Meet Art"™ enhances the learning skills of children, and how you can become a sponsor of this enrichment program, call the Council at 847/956-7966.

THANK YOU

The Northwest Cultural Council is deeply grateful to all who donated to the 2001 Annual Contributor's Fund. Your gifts help support the Council's new and established programs.

A MidSummer's Nite Happening                      Sharon Findley Kirmse

Board members, artists, family members and friends joined to welcome the recently juried 2001 Corporate Gallery artists, at a well attended reception at the Kimball Hill Homes, Inc. and Council's galleries. Corporate purchases for the year 2000 were also acknowledged.

Guests arrived to find a delectable buffet awaiting them. Bountiful trays of sandwiches, fruits and cheeses and a variety of wines were provided compliments of Kimball Hill Homes, Inc and The Northern Trust Company.

Volunteer help is vital to the operation of the Council. All activities, from setting up the corporate gallery exhibits to cleaning up after our guests leave, require extra hands. Our thanks to Gale Kuffel, Joan Brinkworth, Jeanine Hill-Soldner, Deanna Goldberg, and Sherrie Kirmse.

Newly installed Council President, JoAnn Peterson, welcomed guests to the event. Peterson, long dedicated to the mission of the NWCC, most recently served as Treasurer. She thanked David Hill for providing space for the Council over the years and announced her intention to devote her tenure as President to the establishment of a permanent home for the Council.

North Suburban Library System                       Sharon Findley Kirmse

If there can be kindred spirits among organizations, then the North Suburban Library System surely must be ours. It shares with the Northwest Cultural Council a mission to bring enlightenment, pleasure and personal enrichment to the community we both serve.

The NSLS also assists the Council in a very concrete way. Each quarter they permit us to use their courier service to deliver copies of "Spotlights" to each of the municipal libraries they serve. This extends our reach to many who would not otherwise hear of our programs and services.

The NSLS, a vital partner for the NWCC, is a state-funded consortium of over 650 libraries serving an area of nearly a thousand square miles in northern Illinois outside of Chicago. The organization serves the community through a number of different avenues. The System is composed of four kinds of libraries: Public (municipal), Academic (colleges and universities), Schools (grades K through 12) and Special (organizations and corporations). With such a broad reach, it serves a critical role as a facilitator in the exchange of information across our area.

The North Suburban Library Foundation grew out of the NSLS and is a collection of philanthropic funds and resources that support quality programming for the benefit of member libraries. It is one of 400 organizations in the United States structured as a community foundation, giving it the advantage of both a public charity and a private foundation. Member libraries compete each year for grants made available through Foundation funding.

The Foundation is currently offering its sixth annual Literary Circle, an author lecture series and the primary fund raiser of the year. Sarah Long, Director of the North Suburban Library System and recent past president of the American Library Association, brought the concept with her from Portland, OR. This kind of series was a west coast phenomenon that obviously had a willing audience waiting in our area.

Long explains that the prototype required aiming high from the outset. A venue which seated at least 1000 people would be needed, along with substantial sponsors to cover expenses and, most importantly, the program demanded first-rate authors. Tickets are sold by series subscription, with a limited number of individual tickets available only after the subscription sales are completed. Long credits NSLS' Miriam Pollack with pulling it all together for an early success.

The series is offered at the Glenbrook South High School auditorium (Glenview) which seats over 1400. Major sponsors include the Chicago Tribune, Graphic Solutions and Barnes & Noble. This season they are welcoming WBEZ to their list of sponsors. And in just six years the series has built a large enough following to sell out most subscriptions. As for first-rate authors, organizers have outdone themselves.

Anne Johnson, Director of the North Suburban Library Foundation, speaks with justified pride about this year's series, which features a stellar line-up. The season opens with John Irving on October 8. The noted author of The World According to Garp won an Academy Award for his screen adaptation of his own work, The Cider House Rules.

Annie Proulx follows on November 8. Her novel The Shipping News won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Johnson is very excited about a departure in presentation for the second half of the series. Mark Salzman will appear on January 28. Acclaimed for both fiction and non-fiction work, his latest best seller is The Soloist. The author, who is also an accomplished cellist, will incorporate music into his presentation.

The final presentation of the series will feature popular National Public Radio commentators David Sedaris and Bailey White on April 9. Sedaris has been described as the most brilliantly witty New Yorker since Dorothy Parker and White lauded for her quirky and irreverent sense of humor. This will be the first time that humorist/authors have been included. The evening will feature a presentation by each author and then dialogue between the two. It promises to be an evening of scintillating wit.

In conjunction with Literary Circle, the Foundation offers an extraordinary opportunity for aspiring young writers. Prior to the appearance of each author, high school students may compete in a writing contest offered through their school libraries.

Not only does each teen winner have the chance to meet a nationally acclaimed author, but they are able to chat one-on-one with them over dinner. And the content of their winning entry is posted on the web site.

Each presentation in the series is scheduled from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., with the last half hour available for audience discussion. A meet-the-author reception takes place after the presentation each evening of the series.

For detailed information on ticket prices and availability call Anne Johnson at (847)353-7143. You may also access their web site at www.nslfoundation.org.

NWCC Welcomes New Treasurer

We are pleased to welcome Steven J. Krause as the Council's new Treasurer. He is a Vice President at The Northern Trust Company; and serves as the Relationship Manager for the Trust Department at the Schaumburg Financial Center. Prior to moving to the Schaumburg Financial Center in April of 2000, Steve managed Trust Relationships in the Chicago office. Steve has been on the Council's Board since 1992 and was instrumental in establishing the Corporate Gallery at the O'Hare branch of The Northern Trust Company on Higgins Road.