DuSable Museum’s 40th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival

Festival, was created by the museum's founder, the late Dr. Margaret Burroughs in 1974

Lee Edwards | As of Friday, July 18, 2014

“Because this is our 40th Anniversary of doing the festival, our theme was “Deeply Rooted in the Community” because the festival has always been a community outreach project. It’s not a fund raiser, it’s a friend raiser. We want the community to come out, we want them to know, this is DuSable Museum and this is what we do.” - Marilyn Hunter, Festival Manager, for the Annual Arts and Crafts Festival.
“Because this is our 40th Anniversary of doing the festival, our theme was “Deeply Rooted in the Community” because the festival has always been a community outreach project. It’s not a fund raiser, it’s a friend raiser. We want the community to come out, we want them to know, this is DuSable Museum and this is what we do.” - Marilyn Hunter, Festival Manager, for the Annual Arts and Crafts Festival. Photo by Lee Edwards.

The DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl., held its 40th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival this past weekend. The Festival, was created by the museum's founder, the late Dr. Margaret Burroughs in 1974, and celebrates her legacy.

photo

Photo by: Lee Edwards

Author Ytasha Womack showcased her books during the 40th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival at the DuSable Museum of African American History this past weekend.

“Because this is our 40th Anniversary of doing the festival, our theme was “Deeply Rooted in the Community” because the festival has always been a community outreach project. It’s not a fund raiser, it’s a friend raiser,” said Marilyn Hunter the festival's manager.

“We want the community to come out, we want them to know, this is DuSable Museum and this is what we do. “As an artist, we honor [Dr. Burroughs] every year by doing the Arts and Crafts Festival,” Hunter continued. “We honor her in every way possible because had it not been for her there would be no DuSable Museum. This year, we’re receiving a special award from Lincoln Motor Company to the museum for Dr. Burroughs.”

The festival boasted free entry into the museum allowing the public to access exhibits such as Funky Turns 40: Black Character Revolution Animation Art from Classic Cartoons of ‘70s and many more. Also during the event, Lincoln Motor Company offered free car test drives of their latest models and several local music artists performed.

Applications to participate in the festival were made available to the public in January.

“Art transforms lives, being a creator can inspire one and take them to new heights. Seeing new art can inspire people to look at things in a new light and try new things,” said author Ytasha Womack, who was a vendor at the Festival for the first time. “Art is a big part of the black diaspora. The art scene in Chicago is really rich, there’s a lot of really talented artists, there’s a lineage of really talented artists, Margaret Burroughs, founder of the DuSable Museum, being one of them.”

For more information visit http://www.dusablemuseum.org/.

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