CHICAGO — A Chicago couple decided to give back to the Pilsen community by creating arts programming for children.
Daniel and Katrise Chavez created the People’s Center for Cultural and Contemporary Arts at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. They are operating out of the Pilsen Food Pantry and are offering music, dance and photography classes at other locations like The Resurrection Project and the Chicago Park District.
The project has been successful with students who were clamoring for more opportunities to showcase their talents.
“There’s not a lot of jazz education in Pilsen,” Co-founder Daniel Chavez said. “We are trying to fill that gap.”
The Pilsen Food Pantry is one of the partners, but there are others throughout the West Side neighborhood,.
There is a small fee to enroll. It’s under $10 in many cases.