ESTABLISHED DECEMBER 26, 1916

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Waukegan Park District | Cultural Arts General Information

 

• Music
• Dance
• Theatre
• Art
• Special Events
• General Donations

 

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.

 

Private Music Instruction

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

 

Dance Studio

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 Chih, and other classes are offered to meet the needs for movement and body awareness.

Dance Classes Online Registration

Dance Instructor Biographies

 

Theatre

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

 

Art

Our Visual Arts Center is located at 533 Grand Avenue. This facility has a spacious art studio and gallery. Art studios are also available for rent.

Click HERE to go to the Visual Arts page on our website for more information.

 

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.

 

Green Town – Through the Eyes of the Artist
Waukegan has some of the most beautiful parks in the area. The Cultural Arts Division and the Marketing Department of the Waukegan Park District offers a contest to artists young and old. Area artists are invited to grab a camera or take out the oils, pastels, watercolors, colored pencils, pen & ink or cloth and create a work of art based on one of the parks within the Waukegan Park District. The only requirement is it must be able to be hung on a wall. This event is offered every five years.

 

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 the Saturday prior to Christmas at 7pm at a local venue Admission is $10 and 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