Chicago Theater Community Mounts Effort to Support Theater Workers
The Chicago theater community is banding together to raise funds for The Chicago Theatre Workers Relief Fund, a League of Chicago Theatres initiative that directly assists theater workers who have lost work as a result of COVID-19 and are facing financial uncertainty.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company has led the effort by securing support from 88 local theater companies to promote a new limited edition “Chicago Acts Together” T-Shirt, which features the names of all participating companies—an incredible showcase of Chicago’s robust and diverse theater community.
“Steppenwolf’s ethos is ensemble—the guiding principle that we are stronger when we act together. With COVID-19 presenting a massive threat to the well-being of not only Steppenwolf but the entire Chicago arts ecosystem, we wanted to meet this challenge as a united front. We reached out to the community with this proposal and were thrilled with how quickly it was embraced,” shares Director of Audience Experience Aaron Aptaker.
Steppenwolf Graphic Designer Christopher Huizar notes, “For this illustration I wanted to depict Chicago in a way that was simultaneously complex and simple. I wanted the many details to reflect how it takes the many aspects of our creative community to reveal the form of our city.”
T-shirts are $30 each with an option to donate more. 100% of the proceeds from sales will go directly to the Workers Relief Fund. To purchase, visit Rowboat Creative and their Creatives Who Care initiative at https://creativeswhocare.org/collections/chicagoactstogether.
Additional information is available on Steppenwolf’s website at steppenwolf.org/about-us/chicago-acts-together.
Established by the League of Chicago Theatres and in recognition of the enormous financial burden on those whose incomes are being adversely impacted by COVID-19, The Chicago Theatre Workers Relief Fund is intended to help replace lost income due to theater closures. The Fund is available to all those who have had to stop work and are not getting paid, including those who were on contract, part time employees and those working on a stipend which was not paid. For more information, visit chicagoplays.com/chicago-theatre-relief-workers-fund/.
