Lisa Degliantoni
Using my life experience to make a difference for artists in my community. As the Founder and co-director of the nonprofit arts organization, Evanston Made, I work with a team to create programs and events that bring visibility and opportunity to the artists in Evanston, IL.
Black Lives Matters Witness
COMMUNITY ART
My six-years as a citizen volunteer for the City of Evanston Arts Council (Christopher Guest-type movie TBD) taught me the needs of the Evanston visual arts community; support, community, connection, celebration and elevation!
Learning what visual artists in my community needed inspired me to work on Community Art Projects with artists, arts institutions, organizations, private citizens.
Top Image: Ben and Melissa Blount at the Black Lives Matter Witness Quilt unveiling at the Frances Willard House
Witness Quilt Project: 1100 Florence, Evanston Made and the Frances Willard House partnered with Melissa Blount on the Witness Quilt, bringing together hundreds of community members to create a memorial to black women who lost their lives to gun violence in Chicago. Key partners like the Frances Willard House, Evanston Art Center, Evanston Arts Council and the Block Museum at Northwestern, connected this project to the community through funding, space donations, curatorial assistance and more. To learn more about this impactful and important community art project. SEE IT
Video produced by the Block Museum
Bottom Image: Founding Members of Evanston Made
Evanston Made won the Mayor's Arts Award in 2019, thanks to the hard work of our founding members, who worked tirelessly for a year to build out and submit the application for our 501(c)3 status. Evanston Made was awarded nonprofit status in November 2019. INFO.
Left to right: Kathy Halper, Evan Finamore, Lisa Degliantoni, Angela Lyonsmith, Melissa Raman Molitor, Mayor Steve Hagerty, Liz Cramer.