Chicago Humanities Fall Festival

Schedule of Events:

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm: Shannon Downey Pre-Show Dinner

Join us for a pre-event dining experience featuring a delightful menu.

Limited space available. Please plan to arrive by the dinner's start time to ensure seating. Seating ends at 6:00pm.

Humanist members receive complimentary tickets. Ticket prices include gratuity. Beverages are sold separately. For dietary restrictions, dishes can be replaced by items from the regular Chop Shop menu.

Check out the pre-show dinner menu here!

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7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: In Stitches with Shannon Downey and Greta Johnsen

Active crafting for crafting activism and change

Join Greta Johnsen as she talks to Shannon Downey, the author of Let's Move the Needle An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers; Build Community and Make Change! The crafter, activist, and creative force behind Badass Cross Stitch will empower you to make positive change with creativity and grit. Stick around for a crafty happy hour, where you can bring your own project or start something new while getting to know other people in your community.

Shannon Downey:
Activist, Artist

Shannon Downey is the founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and is an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and general instigator. Her work moves people from passive consumers of art into engaged creators and leverages craft-based art forms to bring people together, present opportunities to transition from makers to change makers, and inspire radical hope for what is possible. Her award-winning work can be found in galleries, museums, and private collections around the world and has been featured in outlets including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Atlas Obscura, Fast Company, and i-D, and books including Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Signs of Resistance: A Visual History of Protest in America. She is on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Greta Johnsen:

Greta Johnsen is an interviewer, podcast host, and book person. She is the co-host of HBO's Official Game of Thrones Podcast and writes the GRETAGRAM newsletter on Substack. For eleven years, she hosted WBEZ's Nerdette podcast, an interview show with a book club. She can also be heard on podcasts like Pop Culture Happy Hour and City Cast Chicago. In her free time, she likes to read as many books as possible, cook food that is only occasionally photogenic, knit squishy apparel, and hang out with her corgi.

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