Recently appointed DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth shares her vision for an inclusive, accessible Chicago arts scene, shaped by the legacy of cultural icons and driven by community engagement (Photo Credit: City of Chicago).
Clinée Hedspeth is deeply passionate about art, the City of Chicago, its people, and Margaret Burroughs, the legendary artist, writer, educator and co-founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History.
Hedspeth, who was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) this Spring, takes each of these to heart, as they serve as fuel for her mission:
To reshape Chicago’s cultural narrative by fostering inclusivity and breaking down historical barriers.
She is doing so through one of the city’s most visible and influential departments, which oversees everything from presenting events and managing public art to funding artists and supporting film and television.
Hedspeth recently spoke with Tacuma Roeback, managing editor of the Chicago Defender, and shared her vision of making Chicago’s creative scene more accessible, authentic and genuinely inclusive.
Tacuma Roeback: How would you describe this past summer’s events, from Millennium Park’s 20th anniversary to the various music festivals, like the Blues Fest, the House Music Fest, and Jazz Fest? What’s your assessment of how those events went?
Clinée Hedspeth: Those are anchoring events and they’re going to do well, regardless of who’s in the seat. Let’s be very clear. They can be enhanced, and I think they have been, and they can be expanded. But those are really, truly opportunities for Chicago just to show up. It’s by Chicagoans for Chicagoans, and then the world participates. So when at the Blues [Fest] or Jazz [Fest], I walk through and meet people from Finland and South Africa, and they’re here for us, right? What we create, what we’re doing.
I think [the festivals] went well. We’re back. That speaks to something: the citizens wanting to participate more, and it speaks to the world wanting a little bit more after the pandemic. There’s this resurgence of community and celebration, and that’s what we had this summer.
Roeback: When we talked a couple of months ago, before the 20th anniversary, you had mentioned that you wanted Millennium Park to be a park for the public, a park for the city of Chicago.
Hedspeth: People’s Park.
Roeback: A people’s park. Do you think you’ve accomplished that with the programming that’s been there?
Hedspeth: The programming that’s there obviously precedes all of us in this room and this administration. What I will say is reminding everyone they’re all welcome is what’s different, right? It’s not going to be the status quo. You actually can go to the park and hear classical music and Common. But this is your park. So, reminding people that this is a public space. You can go in and out, enjoy how you want it to be, and experience how you want it. That is important. So, if that were my goal, I would say we accomplish that. And we’re going to continue to do that.
We’re going to continue to encourage everyone to use this park. I want the demographics to look a little different. Right now, people utilize the park. And from the data I’ve seen from previous years, they utilize the park specifically for events.
But the day-to-day person actively engaging in green space—a lot of them don’t look like us in this room. So, we’re making sure that people far west, south, and north know that this is their park.
Roeback: How are you shaping DCASE’s upcoming programming to address some of the challenges that you mentioned? I wouldn’t call them barriers per se, physically, but when you talk about going downtown to enjoy different events, there’s a belief that it’s only for a certain kind of person. Some people believe that downtown is inaccessible. How do you address some of those challenges that may have historical roots?
Hedspeth: Listen, DCASE can’t do it by itself. I can’t do it by myself. It’s working with the aldermanic offices. It’s working with [the Chicago Police Department]. It’s working with the [Chicago Park District]. Nobody wants to go into a green space and have officers and security swarming around when they’re trying to enjoy a picnic with their kids, right?
We’ve had different conversations with different leaders and different partnering agencies about even the barriers. What does that look like, right? But recognizing safety is a concern for citizens. So I would say continue to have conversations with those who are part of the decision-making for the park, not just Millennium Park but all parks. Because the city activates parks, we’ve got to look at old policies that are deeply rooted and make those changes.
What I can speak to is people’s experiences in the park, making sure we have enough activities, and welcoming people there to make sure the other experts figure out what it looks like not to have barriers up. If that means having planters or other green elements like landscaping, then we’re ready to go. So we’re looking at that.
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Roeback: What’s your mission statement as the DCASE commissioner regarding laying out your plans for next year?
Hedspeth: We will have more direct-to-artist funding. For many, many years and as someone who has worked in the field in both areas — museums where I was working at the DuSable with people in the community versus Park Avenue, working with million-dollar-plus collections. What I can say, and what we do know, is that artists themselves are often jumping through hoops to get the simplest kind of support. That’s across the board.
If you break it down even further to people of color and even further to Black people, so many of our artists have to do hardcore nine-to-fives — and not even nine-to-fives. They’re working several jobs to secure supplies, let alone a studio, right?
What if the city actually provides direct funding to you, what we do already, but in a very small amount? One thing that is very foundational for me is that we are going to have a significant increase financially for artists who can come directly to the city and get funding.
Roeback: Can you give me an assessment of the film and TV aspect of Chicago shows filming here? Where is that now? And where would you like to see that go?
Hedspeth: First of all, it’s always important to remember that at DCASE we process permits. A lot of people think that we’re the ones doing X, Y, Z. No, we process the permit. So, we don’t have insights on scripts or anything. I will say we have issued permits in all 50 wards. So, to this day, right now, all 50 wards have received permits. Now, if the studios actually fill those, we don’t know if there is a follow-up; we do know that people understand that Chicago is so diverse in its communities you can film pretty much anywhere in the world. With that said, there are more opportunities.
Roeback: Where do those opportunities lie?
Hedspeth: The opportunities lie in Toronto still bringing in more than we do. I don’t want that because we have pretty much the same climate. So, if you’re going up there to film a winter wonderland experience, I want you here.
Are we going to be able to bump New York and LA? It’s a good goal, but I want to make it very enticing for them. So, three weeks ago, I announced we’re going to have a panel of eight people. I’ll sit on the panel, too, because we need experts from the actual field, not politicians, people from the field. We sent out three invites for people in the field to see where we can exactly make improvements to make it more enticing. If that means we do something through an ordinance, let’s explore that. If that means we market in a different way, let’s explore that. If that means we send a delegation, whatever we need to do, we’re happy to explore. But it needs to come from [people] in the [film] industry.
Roeback: What is the greatest challenge that you have in your seat?
Hedspeth: One challenge is realizing how deeply rooted anti-Black policies and procedures and players are. I’m going to be 100% honest, even those who say they’re our allies and that they represent arts councils and arts organizations. But realizing when you ask them to really put the money where it really should go, they’re not going to do it.
The upper kind of high cotton problem or challenge for me is that people say they want change, but they’re not willing to explore how change looks across the board.
People don’t like change. They say they want change, but then you ask them, the ones at the table, ‘These are my thoughts about change, and we’re going to invite a couple more people at the table.’ It’s like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, why them?’ And a lot of times, they happen to look like us.
Roeback: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Hedspeth: Change is coming. Those that don’t want to change, they change and look somewhere else. You don’t have to put it that way, but if they choose to, they can. And you know, this is collaborative, but people will be assertive. So, there are certain things that this administration and I certainly don’t tolerate, but I am happy to work with all that want to work together. We have the shared goal of bettering the city, and we can make it happen.
Bria Purdiman, DCASE Deputy Commissioner, Marketing and Communications to Hedspeth: Anything you want to add about yourself?
Hedspeth: I’m open, and it’s not performative. I see this as a service role. The thing that I would do for free, without getting a paycheck, is work with art and artists, period. I’m proud of who I am, proud of the community I come from, and proud of the community I live in.
I am Chicago’s favorite adopted daughter, born and raised in Seattle, but I’ve been here since college and never left. I do believe Chicago is the strongest heartbeat for this creative experience in the landscape. It is smack dab in Middle America. And if it can stand and pump out the people it’s pumped out, it can do a lot more. That’s just what it is.
Roeback: You mentioned Dr. Margaret Burroughs several times. What does she mean to you?
Hedspeth: Dr. Burroughs was one of the greatest American she-roes. First of all, she moved in spaces and places and did things most people don’t even know about. When I was at DuSable and over curatorial and exhibitions and archives, I just took time looking at the letters, some nice, some nasty. She stood 10 toes down on what she believed. It’s a hell of a thing when you open up the Southside Community Arts Center, and you have the federal government come in and lock you out because they say you’re a traitor to the United States. That’s a hell of a thing. When people were coming after her, and of course, they always were, in our skin, our neighbors, right? She never faltered. She never left. She stood there and they locked her out of a place she established. She stood there. If you look through her letters and her art, you can see this transformation of a person and these experiences. So, when she passed, it was very sad for me. I took it very hard.
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So, then, working at DuSable and being able to see the legacy—and not just there, but in many places—[Los Angeles], Seattle. She told me one time, ‘You guys don’t have your museum yet in Seattle.’ That was before we had our African American Museum there. She’s like, ‘You need me to come in there, right?’
So, she built institutions. She created things. What artists do you know who are taking their [lithographs], their paintings, photocopying them, and giving them out to everyday people?
That’s what I want to be like. If I was locked out and the FBI came and intimidated my friends and my family and I had financial ruin, I don’t know. She didn’t leave the community. She did it for us. And sometimes we forget who she was to this city. Sometimes, we forget who she was nationally. Sometimes, we forget who she was globally.
But when I walk into the Royal Academy in England, and I see her piece there, she’s somewhere. She’s everywhere. That is why it is very important that we verbalize what we do, even if it’s symbolic.
We talk about proclamations, and we recently issued one for Doctor Burroughs. She’s one of many, but I think she was and is a major force that allows me to sit here. So, people like her and the others will be celebrated. We have an amazing legacy. We need to stand on that.
She’s there. She’s with all of us.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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