Lois Weisberg (May 6, 1925 – January 13, 2016)[1] was the first Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of Chicago, from 1989 until January 2011.
She was profiled by writer Malcolm Gladwell in a 1999 New Yorker essay, "Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg"; Gladwell, called Weisberg a "connector" for her ability to connect people from differing communities, and included the essay about her in his book The Tipping Point. He asked, "She's a grandmother, she lives in a big house in Chicago, and you've never heard of her. Does she run the world?"[2]
Weisberg was appointed by Mayor Harold Washington to head the city's Office of Event Planning (in the Department of Cultural Affairs) in 1983. She helped establish the Gallery 37 program, which gathered Chicago youths to a vacant block in downtown Chicago to make art; she also created the Chicago Blues Festival, the Chicago Gospel Festival, multiple citywide neighborhood festivals, and the Chicago Holiday Sharing It Program. She launched Chicago's Cows on Parade exhibit, the first in the US. Before her appointment in city government, she helped found the Chicago Cultural Center and Friends of the Park. She was given many civic and arts awards, including the League of Women Voters Civic Contribution Award, Governing Magazine's Public Official of the Year Award, the Harold Washington History Maker Award, an honorary Doctorate from Chicago's Spertus Institute, and the Chicago Tribune "Chicagoan of the Year" award.
^Kogan, Rick (January 16, 2016). "Lois Weisberg dead at 90: Tireless champion of city's cultural life". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
^Weber, Bruce (January 22, 2016). "Lois Weisberg, Chicago's Cultural Connector, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
LoisWeisberg (May 6, 1925 – January 13, 2016) was the first Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of Chicago, from 1989 until January 2011. She...
Ellison. His mother is LoisWeisberg. His brother is former CIA officer and television writer and producer Joe Weisberg. Weisberg graduated from Yale University...
Weisberg grew up in a Jewish family in Chicago, the son of civil rights attorney Bernard Weisberg and former Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg...
Jacob Weisberg (born 1964), American political journalist LoisWeisberg (1925–2016), Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for Chicago Michael Weisberg (born...
Bacon" trivia game, Dallas businessman Roger Horchow, and Chicagoan LoisWeisberg, a person who understands the concept of the weak tie. Gladwell attributes...
culture center at the instigation of Commissioner of Cultural Affairs LoisWeisberg. The city's central library is now located across the Loop in the spacious...
memorialized with front-page obituaries are Milton J. Rosenberg, Hugh Hefner, LoisWeisberg, Dennis Farina, Roger Ebert, former Chicago first lady Maggie Daley...
possibilities for musicians. Created by Commissioner of Cultural Affairs LoisWeisberg, the festival began in 1984, a year after the death of McKinley Morganfield...
Theater program) as choreographer, and future Cultural Commissioner, LoisWeisberg, in drama. The studio curriculum focused primarily on musical theater...
traced to haphazard planning, design snafus and cronyism". According to LoisWeisberg, commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and James Law,...
Evanston, Illinois Harold Washington, first black mayor of Chicago LoisWeisberg (B.S. 1946), commissioner, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Mary...
Fire Sale, the first-ever citywide eBay auction led by Commissioner LoisWeisberg and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The auction grossed...
businessman Peter Hanig, along with Commissioner of Cultural Affairs LoisWeisberg, organized an event in Chicago in 1999 called Cows on Parade. A Swiss...
Center. Under the current commissioner of cultural affairs at that time, LoisWeisberg, Hedwig Dances offered community events such as performances, dance...
(2012). G. A. Vadivelu, 90, Indian independence activist and politician. LoisWeisberg, 90, American civil servant and socialite. Tera Wray, 33, American pornographic...
37 was created in 1991 by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs' LoisWeisberg and Maggie Daley, wife of the city's former mayor, Richard M. Daley...
sculptor Cornelis Zitman, 89, Dutch born Venezuelan sculptor. January 13 - LoisWeisberg, 90, Cultural affairs commissioner of Chicago (1988-2011) January 14...
After LoisWeisberg, one of the group's founders, wrote a personal check to cover the cost, the railroad agreed to pay in exchange for Weisberg moderating...
Lewis Tan in the romantic comedy About Fate, directed by Marius Balčiūnas-Weisberg. In October 2021, she was set to star in and produce thriller film Abandoned...
1968" (PDF). April 17, 1968. Retrieved January 11, 2024 – via The Harold Weisberg Archive. Sides 2010, pp. 118–120. Sides 2010, pp. 128–129. "Martin Luther...
Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields, Graham Yost, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Chris Long, Stephen Schiff, Mary Rae Thewlis, Joshua Brand Nominees: Joe Weisberg, Joel...
founded by journalist Malcolm Gladwell and former Slate executive Jacob Weisberg. On January 12, 2020, Lewis appeared as one of the castaways on BBC Radio...
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