Vol. 72 - Good Grants, Good ChiBrations: 90-day outlook + Cohort Spotlight

Today’s Collective Catalyst Cohort Spotlight - Reintroducing Sam,000 of ChiBrations!

You’ve definitely seen this cat before - not only laying down killer horn sets across the city and beyond, but he’s also been partnering with Bustling Spaces since the company’s inception, using his platform to amplify funding and resources while building an artist-led hub that helps create the infrastructure to sustain and circulate those resources. If you don’t know about Sam and ChiBrations, it’s time to tap in!

Sam Thousand is an award-winning performing artist, curator, and social entrepreneur whose multidisciplinary practice bridges performance art, curation, education, and arts advocacy. On any given day, you might find Sam performing, teaching youth, creating meditative soundscapes through the Leave A Message series, or kicking it live on lumpen radio with special guests on Soundboard Saturdays . No matter how great or small, if there’s an initiative brewing that’s meant to serve artists and uplift the arts sector overall - you’ll probably find Sam in there, making sure to keep artists’ needs at the center.

One of the ways he’s done this is through founding ChiBrations, an artist-led media platform designed to celebrate and centralize performing artists of Greater Chicago. ChiBrations helps advance artist-centered infrastructure through programming, storytelling, and the ChiBrations App, a free mobile platform that serves as a hub where performers, organizers, and fans can discover, connect to, and amplify events happening throughout the city.

One of ChiBrations’ can’t-miss programs is THE PORTAL, a monthly artist-led series that combines performance, play, resource-sharing, a vendor marketplace, and more into a central community event that supports and informs creatives while feeding the soul.

Don’t miss the next one coming up Tuesday, September 29th, where Creative Measures, a joint venture between Bustling Spaces and Maekeen Room, will present on how we can use data to demonstrate the impact of the Creative Economy of the South Side. If you haven’t attended before to experienced the infectious energy and empowerment - be sure to get in the space.

Want to find out more? Follow @chi_brations on Instagram and head to their chibrations.app for more information.

Need to get the app? Download for iOS or Android at chibrations.app/mobile-app