Parent teacher conferences will take place on Thursday, October 27, 2022 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM (there will be a break between 3:30-4:00 PM). We will be offering virtual appointments for parents/guardians, but all parents/guardians are welcome to attend in person. Every parent/guardian must make an appointment with a teacher they would like to meet with. ChiArts recommends to prioritize two or three teachers.
To set up an appointment with each staff member, click our newsletter featured here.
We look forward to meeting with all our amazing families!
The ChiArts Production Department is excited to announce a full slate of shows for the 2022-23 season. The Creative Writing Conservatory kicked off the year with the release of ChiArts Writes: Volume 7 featuring original works of poetry and prose, and the School’s first Fall Festival featured the works of students across multiple conservatories. Later this season be sure to catch ChiArts’ own spin on the classic ballet The Nutcracker, an interpretation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play In the Red and Brown Water, the return of First Year, First Look featuring all conservatory first-year students, student-produced cultural showcases, and so much more!
Download the 2022-23 ChiArts production calendar.
ChiArts is thrilled to announce Lauren Wells-Mann as the new Theatre Department Head! Ms. Wells-Mann is a licensed Theatre educator with a strong background in Theatre education, leadership, and as an actor, director, dancer, and choreographer. Ms. Wells-Mann began her leadership at ChiArts on June 27, 2022 and shares, “ChiArts is an amazing institution that I have admired for years. I am so grateful for the opportunity to add to the tradition of excellence and serve students in their quest for success in the world of Theatre. I am looking forward to this upcoming school year that I anticipate will be one of the best years yet!”
Lauren Wells-Mann is a proud company member with MPAACT, where she had the pleasure of directing the following productions: Mother of the Dark Water (Jeff Nominee for Best Ensemble, Black Excellence Nominee for Best Production and Best Direction), By Association by Shepsu Aakhu (Black Excellence Nominee for Best Production) and various podcast plays. Assistant Director credits include: Upstate by Aaron Todd Douglass, directed by Carla Stillwell and Crowns by Regina Taylor, directed by Chuck Smith. Mrs. Wells-Mann holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater/Acting from Columbia College Chicago and a Masters in Secondary Education from University of Phoenix. She began her professional acting career with Eta Creative Arts Foundation. It was here that Lauren had the pleasure of working with esteemed directors such as Ilesa Duncan, Kemati Porter, Runako Jahi, and Cheryl Lynn Bruce. She has also performed with companies such as Lookingglass Theatre Company, Black Ensemble, MPAACT, Harlem Theater Company, Healthworks Theater Company, and Victory Gardens to name a few. Lauren also directed and choreographed for Eta’s summer program, Chicago on the Nile for 3 years, Black Lives Black Words – Chicago and 20% Theater Company, Perceptions Theatre, and Griot Theatre Collective. Lauren attributes her directing prowess to the tutelage of Darcelle Williams, Cheryl Frazier, and Carla Stillwell.
In addition to these accolades, Mrs. Wells-Mann has been coaching competitive acting and speech events for the Illinois High School Association for 19 years. Under her direction, students have won numerous state and national championships in various acting and public speaking activities. Lauren Wells-Mann believes in the power of the arts and the importance of BIPOC artists having autonomy over their own narratives; it is a mission to which she is deeply committed.
We’re excited to welcome all scholar-artists and staff back to Augusta Boulevard. Below is our school-wide calendar for the upcoming year. Our production calendar will be released this fall, stay tuned!
2022-2023_ChiArtsSchoolCalendar
For the first time ever Chicago’s brightest marquee names will light up Navy Pier…
ChiArts is thrilled to announce the ChiArts Jazz Combo will be performing at Chicago Live Again!, Navy Pier’s two-day festival of free outdoor performances from more than 40 of Chicago’s brightest cultural icons, all performing in one place for the very first time. We are honored to join the ranks of performers from Broadway in Chicago, Joffrey Ballet, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Second City, the Lyric Opera and many more!
Join us in celebrating the return of live performance and the brilliant artists—onstage and backstage—finally doing what they do best. All performances are live and free on September 24 and 25 at Navy Pier. The ChiArts Jazz Combo will be performing on Saturday, September 25 at 4:30 PM on the Navy Pier Lake Stage located south of the pier in Polk Bros Park. Huge congratulations to ChiArts Jazz Combo musicians, Jay Cebrero on bass, Leo Milano on saxophone, Austin Nichols on piano, and Chase Wilkins on drums. Visit Navy Pier’s website linked here for more information regarding the schedule, COVID protocols, and admire our amazing ChiArts Jazz Combo featured on the homepage!
Chicago Live Again! will also provide masterclasses to ChiArts scholar-artists from professionals at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Hubbard Street Dance. We are grateful for the opportunities Navy Pier has provided to showcase our scholar-artists’ talent and help grow their pre-professional training.
To learn more about ChiArts’ involvement in Chicago Live Again!, read our press release here.
See ChiArts Artistic Director Tina Boyer Brown on ABC 7’s Chicago Live Again! feature here.
ChiArts’ end-of-year production series CURTAIN CALL launches tomorrow Thursday, May 13. The graduating class of our Creative Writing Conservatory will premiere an original reading-within-a-play! This performance will spotlight both the seniors’ individual accomplishments as writers as well as their strength in collaboration.
PRODUCTION SUMMARY
The year is 2031. ChiArts’ 2021 graduating class of creative writers is celebrating their ten-year reunion by gathering across the globe via Google Meet. They have all seen incredible success in their chosen fields, and they’re meeting to read some of their best works to each other, to share their gifts and reminisce about the olden days. But as the reading begins, things start to go wrong. The writers get strange alerts on their phone that seem to suggest that — can it be?! — the world is ending. What will they do in these dire straits?
CLICK HERE TO WATCH ON CHIARTS’ PRODUCTION WEBSITE STARTING MAY 13
DOWNLOAD ON GUMROAD STARTING MAY 13, CODE: CLASSOF2021
UPCOMING CURTAIN CALL SHOWS
Curtain Call, Dance: May 27, 2021
Senior Showcase Online Exhibition: May 28, 2021 (Curtain Call, Visual Arts)
Curtain Call, Instrumental: June 2, 2021
Curtain Call, Voice: June 3, 2021
Curtain Call, Musical Theatre: June 11, 2021
ChiArts is here to support our scholar-artists, families, and staff as much as possible during our closure due to COVID-19. This page includes resources from CPS and lists the most up-to-date school-wide communications sent to all ChiArts families via email.
APRIL 20, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for the Remote Learning FAQ
APRIL 17, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for Statement from CPS Office of Communications; click here for Statement from Principal and Assistant Principal
APRIL 6, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for the Remote Learning Plan
APRIL 1, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for the district’s updated meal distribution plan beginning April 6, 2020
MARCH 31, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for announcement regarding prolonged school closure through April 30, 2020; haz clic aquí para español
MARCH 22, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for faculty communication schedules
MARCH 19, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for announcement regarding school closure until April 21, 2020
MARCH 18, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for ISBE Guidance Regarding Grading
MARCH 16, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for Official School Policy & Procedure
MARCH 6, 2020 UPDATE: Click here for overview of ChiArts/CPS guidelines for COVID-19
JULY 17, 2020 UPDATE:
Click here for CPS Reopening Framework Press Release
Click here for Preliminary Reopening Framework Packet
AUGUST 5, 2020 UPDATE:
ChiArts will now be starting the upcoming school year in a Remote Learning model. CPS CEO Dr. Jackson announced this morning that the RL model will run through the end of fall quarter, November 6 2020, and then transition to a Hybrid model.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 UPDATE:
Welcome to the first day of online school!
Click here for ChiArts Remote Learning Guide.
+ For academic specific questions, please contact your teacher directly or Ms. Cullen, Assistant Principal.
+ For arts conservatory related questions, please contact your Arts Heads directly or Ms. Boyer Brown, Artistic Director.
CPS FREE MEAL PROGRAM: All students are provided free meals at CPS school locations. Every student in the household will receive a food bag which will contain three days of breakfast and lunch meals. Families can pick up meals at the district school that’s closest to them Monday through Friday, between 9 AM and 1 PM. ChiArts is not a pick-up location for meals, click here to find your nearest school.
For more information from Chicago Public Schools, read this Frequently Asked Questions document.
