Our Mission
We bring artists and residents together to enrich our lives through the joy of art.
TELLERS
Dr. Ada Cheng, educator and performer, is committed to amplifying and uplifting marginalized voices. She uses storytelling to illustrate structural inequities, raise critical awareness, and build intimate communities. She was one of the Illinois Humanities Public Humanities Award honorees in 2024.
Maria Kosta facilitates storytelling workshops for Women in Custody and is still standing as a special event bartender at the beautiful Artifact Events venue. Her stories are sometimes entertaining, or historical, perhaps insightful and often very personal. She is working on a solo show for 2025!
Luisa Melton is a native of sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico. After years as an elementary bilingual teacher, she took a full turn and now works helping seniors navigate the downsizing/transition process at this stage in their lives. She's been married for 26 years and has two awesome kids.
Kim Scott spends her days running a busy public services department at a suburban library. At night she performs improv at her local theater. She also hosts As I Was Saying, a storytelling show in Wheaton, and on Saturday mornings, you’ll find her cheering loudest at her second-grader’s basketball games.
Margaret Burk co-produces Tellers' Night and Back Room Stories OUTSIDE! in the summer months on the front lawn of Christ Episcopal Church, 515 Franklin in River Forest. This season's Back Room Stories OUTSIDE! are Sunday evenings June 22, July 27 and August 24 6:30 - 8:00 pm.
Susan Rohde co- hosts Tellers' Night. She has won four Moth StorySLAMS, participated in three Moth GrandSLAMS, and has had a story air on WBEZ’s Moth Radio House. She has had careers in both Professional Development and Clinical Research and currently teaches at Triton College. Susan and her husband have been licensed foster parents for 25 years.
Tuesday, May 13
Robert's Westside
7321 Madison, Forest Park
$15 at the door.
$10 AAFP members.
Doors open at 6:30.
Show starts at 7:00.
Great Bar!
Food can be brought in.
Visit Constitution Court, 7426 Madison Street, to see a public art project supported by the Arts Alliance Forest Park & Forest Park Chamber & Village of Forest
Additional Information
Look inside a box that will be displayed on top of the fountain at Constitution Court, 7426 Madison Street (while the fountain is still off for winter).
From the outside, the box will look interesting, an art piece in its own right, but the actual “art project” will exist inside. The box’s interior will feature an intricate diorama, depicting several scenes. However, the diorama as a whole will never be seen, instead, only parts of it will be visible through several viewing ports and periscopes mounted on the outside of the box.
In the same way that a filmmaker chooses “shots” to film a movie, these viewing ports will reveal the interior diorama from a variety of angles. Each of these chosen perspectives will show a different part of the scenes inside.
What’s actually happening in there will be completely subjective based on the order in which someone looks through the viewing ports.
Are the scenes related to each other? Is there a specific order to look into the box? Is there is a mystery? Is there a message? Is it funny in there? Did something terrible happen?
It’s all entirely up to the viewer to decide. Everyone who looks into these boxes will have different answers to these questions, even though they all saw the same thing.
About the Artist
Ian Pfaff has worked as a professional artist in a variety of mediums since graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2006. Working primarily as a director and editor in the TV and film industries, Ian has also built a wide variety of props and sets for commercials, movies and tv shows.
As a member of the Forest Park Community he has participated in GarageGalleries, displaying an array of miniature dioramas that he’s made. He and his family create films for the Arts Alliance 48-Hour Film Festival and Red Carpet Gala and he has participated in the Casket Races, building four different caskets with his team The Dead Last.
ABOUT US
Our Board and Volunteers
Our all-volunteer board brings diverse experiences to promote the arts so that the Forest Park Arts Alliance makes a positive, cultural impact for artists, residents, and visitors of Forest Park.
Our History
This is the brainchild of long time Forest Park resident, Sally Cody, who's vision to celebrate the arts in Forest Park started with painting a rusty bridge with original artwork. Now, the Arts Alliance, a 501c3 non-profit organization, broadens its scope to bring to the joy of art to Forest Park residents and beyond .