Growing up in Louisville, KY, I always felt a strong connection with Chicago. In high school, I was incredibly active in the local music scene. With my friends, I played in bands, booked shows, and ran our self-funded "record label" into the ground. One of the primary reasons I moved to Chicago from Louisville was the music scene. For me the most influential musicians and labels were mainly from the powerhouses of Chicago, Washington DC, and Louisville. The history that Louisville and Chicago shared made it almost impossible for me to consider moving anywhere else for college.
It is my belief that where a person lives can be one of the most important positive or negative factors in their growth, creativity, and overall happiness. Recently I have noticed a lot of people around me, particularly other students, forgetting why they came to Chicago. Many of them are unaware how important of a role Chicago plays in music, business, technology, design, art, and more. For this reason, many students have taken for granted the amount of history and culture around Chicago.
Please help me remind the people of Chicago why we live here. Take a moment to fill out the form below. I am going to use the responses to create a visual art piece to convey what Chicago means to all of us.