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Special Events 
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Jack Benny Center for the Arts
39 Jack Benny Dr., Waukegan, IL 60087
847-360-4740
Fax: 847-662-0592
Hours: Monday-Thursday 10am-9pm,
Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 9am-4pm
Waukegan Park District | Cultural Arts General Information
The Waukegan Park District through its Cultural Arts Division offers fine and cultural arts programs through Jack Benny Center for the Arts, Bowen Heritage Circle/Waukegan History Museum, Schornick Theatre, and the Visual Arts Center. Arts programming includes special events, dance, music, theatre, and visual arts, as well as, a professional theatre, a community symphony orchestra and a concert chorus, each providing enrichment to the lives of those who attend. Programs allow students, lecturers, artists, musicians, and actors opportunities to contribute to the culturally diverse community. The park district works cooperatively with the historical society’s volunteer board by providing a museum supervisor, a research library and museum. Historically significant archives, events, tours, programs, and exhibits provide opportunities to learn about the community and its history.
The fine arts programming of the Jack Benny Center for the Arts (including Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus, the Bowen Park Theatre Company) is supported by the Waukegan Park District, partial support through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the State of Illinois and a marketing exchange with Yellow Book.
To go straight to section, click: • Music |
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Upcoming Cultural Arts Programs and Events: |
Acts to Follow May 17, 18, 24, 25, 26*
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| Click image to download the 2012/2013 schedule (.pdf) |
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Come to the Dr. Lynn Schornick Theatre at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts to laugh at The Highly Improvables as they perform on the first and third Sundays of the month at 7pm. |
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Private music lessons are available at the Waukegan Park District’s Jack Benny Center for the Arts located in beautiful Bowen Park, 39 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan, Illinois. One-on-one lessons offer focused attention and individualized study for each music student. Music lessons are offered in guitar, violin, viola, cello, string bass, Suzuki violin, woodwinds, Suzuki flute, piano, and voice. Private lessons are one of the most effective ways of musical advancement. Lessons are 30-60 minutes in length and meet once a week. Those interested should call Jack Benny Center for the Arts at 847-360-4740 for fees and availability. Private music lessons are an activity that offers immediate evaluation and assessment between teacher and student/parent.
Private and Group Music Online Registration
Private and Group Music Instructor Biographies
Summer lessons begin June 3, year but lessons may start at any time during a session.
Click here for flyer.
Our spacious 29’ x 49’ dance studio is the home to the Cultural Arts dance program and a variety of other dance and movement classes throughout the year. Classes are held for toddlers through adults. The dance studio is on the lower level of the Jack Benny Center for the Arts at 39 Jack Benny Drive in Bowen Park. From Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop, a variety of classes are offered to meet dance needs while Yoga, Tai Chi Chuan, and other classes are offered to meet the needs for movement and body awareness.
Dance Classes Online Registration
The Dr. Lynn Schornick Theatre is the home of the Bowen Park Theatre Company, but is also the stage for a variety of classes, workshops, and performances. Classes in theatre arts are held year-round for youth through adult. Classes include Stage One-theatre for youth, Roundtree Players-theatre ensemble group for teens, Acting 101 for Adults, Stage Make-up, Scene Study, Improvisation classes and workshops, and Audition Clinics. Classes and workshops are taught by Chicago/Milwaukee area actors and directors as well as workshops offered through Second City Chicago. The theatre space seats up to 100 and is the home to our Summer, Spring, and Holiday Shows for Young Audiences.
Theatre Classes Online Registration
Theatre Instructor Biographies
Our Visual Arts Center is located at 533 Grand Avenue. This facility has a spacious artstudio and gallery. Art studios are also available for rent.
Click HERE to go to the Visual Arts page on our website for more information.
For a map to the Visual Arts Center, click HERE.
Special Events
Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival
Mr. Jim Harrington, a local artist, had a dream of a festival celebrating the arts in Waukegan. A fine arts component was added to the 2000 “Beach Bash!” held at the Waukegan lakefront. The event worked out beautifully when the organizers of the art portion of the event offered sand sculptures and sand art as the project for the artists. The event was successful and no longer needed to piggyback on another event---with that, Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival was created.
The book Dandelion Wine was written by one of Waukegan’s favorite sons, Ray Bradbury. This story takes the reader through the ravines and up and down the streets of Green Town (Waukegan) as seen by a young Douglas Spaulding. The City of Waukegan, Art, Etc., and the Cultural Arts Division of the Waukegan Park District honors Mr. Bradbury and Green Town with the Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival each year. The festival celebrates art, music, drama, and dance through art demonstrations, an open microphone program, musicians, and storytellers. Past Dandelion Wine Festivals have included: a community drum circle; the Lake County Art League setting up their tents with artists discussing their artwork and techniques with those strolling through the park; musicians young and old playing music for an audience that ranges from infant to senior citizen; and storytellers drawing people in with stories of far away lands or a tale about a ravine only two miles away.
The first Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival had Waukegan Public School students from 1st to 8th grade visiting Bowen Park to work with professional artists on a team project based on the story Dandelion Wine. When the students were done with their creations they enjoyed a lunch provided by the Waukegan School District and 
then participated in a drama workshop. The second year of the event had professional artists from Chicago and Waukegan visit schools and worked with the students painting canvases based on the theme-“The Rhythms of Our Cultures” as a way to celebrate not only the arts but also the diversity of our community. Each year a theme is presented to the participants for the community art project.
Mr. Ray Bradbury is the honorary chairman for this event and was quite pleased that the group chose Dandelion Wine as its theme.
Event day:
June 1, 2013
Event time:
10 am - 4 pm
Event
location:
Bowen Park
Click here for the 2013 Vendor Information Packet for Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival
Click here for the 2013 Dandelion Wine Fine Arts Festival flyer
Tour of Homes
The Tour of Homes is an annual event that showcases the beautiful homes of Waukegan. Participants are able to learn the history of some of the finest homes in the city as well as tour their interiors. The Tour of Homes, started in 1969, is the main fundraiser of the Waukegan Historical Society.
Date: June 23, 2013
Ticket Prices:
Advance $10
Day of - tickets may be purchased at any tour site for $15 each
Advance ticket purchasing Locations:
Waukegan History Museum, 1917 N Sheridan Road, Waukegan, IL 60087, 847-336-1859
Research Library in Lilac Cottage, 1911 N Sheridan Rd, Waukegan, IL 60087
Jack Benny Center, 39 Jack Benny Dr, Waukegan, IL 60087, 847-360-4740
Exact cash or checks made out to “Waukegan Historical Society” only!
Oakwood Cemetery Walk
Oakwood Cemetery Walk, an annual event that began in 1995, takes the participants through the city cemetery (1851). Visitors to Oakwood have been taken back to a time and place that has ranged from pre- Civil War to as recent as 1979. Four to six “residents” are portrayed by local “actors” each year. There has always been diversity among the characters portrayed. Finding information about women and minorities has been challenging but rewarding. The cemetery walk has featured the first female physician in Waukegan and George Washington Bell, a former slave turned Union soldier. This annual event is a cooperative program between the Waukegan Park District, City of Waukegan, and the Waukegan Historical Society.
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2013
The Joseph A. Favero Memorial Do-It-Yourself Messiah and Carol Sing-Along
Join the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus for the annual Joseph A. Favero Memorial Do-It-Yourself Messiah and Carol Sing-Along on Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 7pm at a local venue. Admission tickets and scores may be purchased at the Jack Benny Center for the Arts in advance or at the door.
The Benefits of an ARTS Education. . .are Endless!
The arts teach the importance of teamwork and cooperation ...a music student’s skill in reading, writing and mathematics are improved ...throughout history, all the arts have served to connect our imaginations with questions about life ...students studying performing arts build their imagination, communication skills, self-esteem, and self-confidence...the arts teach self-discipline...our personal, social, economic, and cultural environments are shaped by the arts ...music education fosters discipline and commitment...arts offer a unique
source of enjoyment and refreshment for the imagination.
General Donations
The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus, Bowen Park Theatre and scholarship fund would greatly appreciate your contribution. To download a contribution form in .pdf format, please click here.
Jack Benny Center for the Arts
39 Jack Benny Drive
Waukegan, IL 60087
847-360-4740 Fax: 847-662-0592