The Persephone Project photo by Eileen Ryan
Water Music on the Beach: Persephone
September 17, 2023 on Lane Beach, 5915 N Sheridan Rd
Water Music on the Beach is an annual series of live performances in Edgewater. Water Music on the Beach: Persephone is a collaboration between 6018North and Tria Smith, as part of ongoing research in sustainable strategies for Art Design Chicago 2024, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art investigating and elevating Chicago’s rich visual art and design histories and creative communities.
On Sunday, September 17 the performance begins at 5:30 PM at Lane Beach with a sound wash by Sakai Parker. Neighbors who have been transforming trash into lanterns, gathered from monthly cleanups with Edgewater Environmental Coalition, will meet at 5:00 PM at the Broadway Armory and begin a procession to Lane Beach at 5:15 PM.
Performers include Simon Anderson, Braeden Barnes and Michelle Meltzer, Whitney Bradshaw and OUTCRY participants, Coco Elysses, Elaine Lemieux, Ella Schultz, Angie Tillges, and Trevor Nicholas and the Senn High School Choir.
Initiated in 2012, Water Music on the Beach series highlights Chicago’s proximity to Lake Michigan through compositions and scores that reflect, react to, or personify the sounds of water. Free and open to the public – just like the lakeshore in Chicago – this event features experimental musicians and artists. Performances happen without a formal platform – the sand is our stage, the water and sky our backdrop.
Tria Smith is an artist creating work that brings together performance, writing, and design to facilitate deep engagement and promote community. She trained as an actress at the Piven Theater, Interlochen, Oberlin, Northwestern University, and was a principal collaborator at Redmoon Theater since its inception. For 25 years Redmoon pursued Spectacle + Wonder through adaptations of great novels, pageantry + circus. She creates programming and produces events at Guild Row Chicago, a social club for people who Give a Damn. She's the co-creator of The Persephone Project which uses the Persephone myth to create pageants to address climate change.
6018North thanks The Puffin Foundation for their support of Water Music on the Beach: Persephone.
And thank you to Emanuel Congregation for sharing power to the beach!
6018North is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the promotion of culture and the arts in Chicago. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency through an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. This program is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. 6018North projects are partially supported by a Gen Ops Plus Grant from the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, IL Humanities, The MacArthur Funds for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art, and individual donations.
Water Music on the Beach events in past have featured performances by Josh Abrams, Alejandro T. Acierto, Madeleine Aguilar, Lisa Alvarado, Gwyneth Anderson, Simon Anderson, Arthur Black, Rich Blackson, Janet Bean, EdBrass Brasil, Jim Bosing, Shane Calvin, Marie Casimir, Jeff Chan, Jonathan Chen, Diane Christiansen, Matthew Hale Clark, Tyler Damon, Meg Duguid, Ryan Dunn, Alexandria Eregbu, Rob Frye, Ben Lamar Gay, Carol Genetti, Helen Gillet, Anton Hatwich, Anni Holm, Emerson Hunton, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Jamie Kempkers, Quin Kirchner, Katinka Kleijn, Kofi the Kyd, Lia Kohl, Jeff Kowalkowski, Damon Locks, Norman W. Long, Lou Mallozzi, Jesse Malmed, Steve Marquette, Alexander Massa, AJ McClenon, Meida McNeal, Jasmine Mendoza, Nick Meryhew, Zach Moore, Alex and Ricky Munguia-Mueller, Aurora Nealand, William Jason Raynovich, Frank Rosaly, Harlen Rosen, Moises Salazar, Carlos Salazar Lermont, Brian Sandstrom, Hannah Santistevan, Fred Sasaki with Pearl and Rose, Sam Scranton, James Singleton, Corey Douglas Smith, Jess Smoot, Akeem Soyen, Isaiah Spencer, Marko Stats, Matt Stevenson, Mai Sugimoto, Paul Thibodeaux, Trellyo, Dylan–Thomas–Wyatt Walsh, Anna Martine Whitehead, Sadie Woods, Sara Zalek, Aaron Zarzutzki, Michael Zerang, with group performances by a.pe.ri.od.ic, Balas and Wax, Baywatch, Benelux, Chicago Phonographers, Extraordinary Popular Delusions, The Green Brothers, In the Spirit with Paula Hooper, Move Me Soul, Rebirth Poetry Ensemble, and Suburban Piano Quartet. Presenting art organizations from the series have included Boulevard Dreamers, Comfort Station, Djaspora Productions, Homeroom, and Roman Susan Art Foundation.
Press
Art Design Chicago “6018North, Trash to Treasure,” October 25, 2023 by Kaitlin Rikala (pdf)