CAIR-Chicago's Cultural Sensitivity Speaker at the Art Institute of Chicago

A teachers' workshop titled, "Word and Image: Islamic Art Teacher Workshop at the Art Institute of Chicago" was held on June 27th. CAIR-Chicago's Cultural Sensitivity Speaker, Veronica Zapata, gave a presentation entitled, "Affirming America's Religious and Cultural Diversity: Understanding Islam and Muslims." Dr. Esmail Koushanpour, the Executive Director of the Islamic Cultural Center of Greater Chicago in Northbrook also took part in the program. Ms. Grace Murray, the Teachers Program Coordinator of the Art Institute, said "Veronica Zapata's presentation to 25 elementary and secondary school teachers was very well received. Teachers commented on how much they learned about Islam and mentioned the presentation as one of the highlights of the day. Several teachers said that this was one of the most informative professional development programs they had attended."

One of instructors at the workshop further added that, "I came home inspired from the workshop and spent the entire rest of the week talking to my family about it, about you (Veronica) and about what I learned. I also told my colleague about it."

In addition to the presentation, the Art Institute's teachers' workshop also included the exhibition tour: Perpetual Glory: Medieval Islamic Ceramics from the Harvey B. Plotnick Collection led by Mrs. Sarah Alvarez, the Assistant Director of Adult Programs. The event closed with a session on art making activities for the classroom, which was taught by Mrs. Leslie Baum.

Should anyone be interested in inviting CAIR-Chicago's Cultural Sensitivity Speaker, please call (312) 212-1520 or email sensitivity@cairchicago.org

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