Queer Radical Fair Interview with Medill Reports

The Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia department, the Chicago Park District’s Queering the Parks and Sky Cubacub of Rebirth Garments teamed up to create a Queer Radical Fair in August 2021. This outdoor event was a summer celebration of queerness, craft, community, nature and well-being. Programming at the event featured LGBTQIA+ resource tables, live music, a fashion show, drag performances, a photobooth, screenprinting and more! The event was all ages and free to the public.

This video was filmed, produced and edited by Quinn Clark for Medill Reports.

This event was created and informed by the following organizations:

About YOUmedia and Radical Fit:
Chicago Public Library’s YOUmedia department offers teen digital learning spaces at 12 Chicago Public Library locations. With an emphasis on digital media and the maker movement, teens engage in projects across a variety of core content areas including music, 2D/3D design, STEM and hands-on making. Radical Fit is a YOUmedia program series that offers teens opportunities and resources to develop skills in DIY fashion, craft and e-commerce while providing a safe space to discuss gender equity, and to dream and create through personal expressions of style.

About Queering the Parks:
Queering the Parks is a joyful and affirming celebration of LGBTQIA+ youth and families. Co-created in partnership with the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks, this initiative is led by queer-identified youth. Queering the Parks creates uncontested public space by and for queer and trans youth of color.

About Sky Cubacub and Rebirth Garments:
Sky Cubacub is a Chicago based designer and founder of Rebirth Garments, a clothing line for people on the full spectrum of gender, size and ability. In their work, Sky has written a manifesto, Radical Visibility, that outlines the philosophy behind their fashion reform movement. Sky identifies as a non-binary queer and disabled Filipinx human.

Supporting Agencies and Funders:

Night Out in the Parks activates parks across the city with robust cultural events – bringing neighbors together to laugh, dance, sing, and engage. The Chicago Park District, in partnership with over 100 local artists and organizations, presents engaging events and performances to amplify the artistic and cultural vibrancy of our city in every neighborhood and enhance quality of life across Chicago. Through theater, music, movies, dance, site-specific performances, nature programs, and community festivals, the series supports Chicago-based artists, facilitates community-based partnerships and programs, cultivates civic engagement, and ensures equity in access to the arts for all Chicagoans.

Radical Fit is funded through a grant from the Illinois State Library as part of Project Next Generation (PNG), an educational technology initiative of Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian, Jesse White. The PNG Program offers grant funding to libraries for establishing technology based after-school programs. A central focus of the program is to educate at-risk students and bridge the digital divide by providing funding for technology education, mentorship, and safe and friendly environments.

Видео Queer Radical Fair Interview with Medill Reports канала YOUmediaChicago