Sisters In Cinema Launches Campaign to Build Media Arts Center In South Shore

Founded by award-winning filmmaker Yvonne Welbon, the Sisters In Cinema Media Arts Center will be based in the South Shore neighborhood where Welbon grew up.
Founded by award-winning filmmaker Yvonne Welbon, the Sisters In Cinema Media Arts Center will be based in the South Shore neighborhood where Welbon grew up.

Sisters In Cinema Launches Campaign to Build Media Arts Center In South Shore

The Chicago-based non-profit Sisters in Cinema recently announced the launch of a crowdfunding campaign to raise funding for the rehab and buildout of the Sisters In Cinema Media Arts Center.

Founded by award-winning filmmaker Yvonne Welbon, the Center will be based in the South Shore neighborhood where she grew up.

Sisters in Cinema launched in 1997 as an online resource for and about African American women filmmakers. Today, it is a non-profit with a mission to entertain, educate, develop and celebrate African American sister filmmakers and their audiences.

The Center will be open to the community and offer workshops, courses, screenings, scholar resources and opportunities to network with industry professionals. Sisters in Cinema wants as much of this as possible to be free.

“Representation matters. Who is telling the story matters. And while we are seeing more representations created by African American women media makers, it’s still not enough to begin to represent us in our diversity and complexity.” Welbon explains.

“Supporting the creation of more media and scholarship by and about African American girls and women will begin to change the narrative,” she said.

Sisters in Cinema was recently awarded one of the first Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Neighborhood Opportunity Fund grants. In order receive the funds, they have to match the grant and raise $100,000. Sisters In Cinema seeks support from those aligned with their mission to bring this vision into existence. While the project will primarily support African American woman and girls, it will also provide opportunities for the larger public. Sisters in Cinema’s tagline is Black—Inclusive—Media.

In addition to support from the City of Chicago, Sisters in Cinema is supported by the Community Programs Accelerator at the University of Chicago and the Field Foundation.

To donate to the Sisters in Cinema’s crowdfunding page, visit https://goo.gl/rhwTVK

For more information about Sisters in Cinema visit, www.sistersincinema.com or contact info@sistersincinema.com

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