NON:op's Immersive Platform for Virtual Performance and Participation
volume 6:3, March 2025
Please join us as we investigate alternative futures through
music, art, poetry, performance, research, observation, and activism.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
AND SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMMING WITH A DONATION.
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Remembering Ronald Browne
Saba Ayman-Nolley
 Just last week, March 13th, was the fifth anniversary of the killing of Breonna Taylor and soon it will be the fifth anniversary of killing of George Floyd. In reflecting on these events, how might we commemorate and remember these unfairly and unjustly shortened of lives? How might we bring awareness and healing and eventual change? Shortly after these two events, NON:op launched a project to respond to these crucial and timely questions.In June 2020, I was a new member of the NON:op board. I had been listening to the pain in the hearts and souls of my African American friends, especially those in my Southside of Chicago Baha’i community. Young people wanted action, something they could do to respond non-violently to the injustice around them. In collaboration with Ron Browne, an independent researcher, and inspired by NON:op's 2019 Blood Lines project we presented the SAY THEIR NAMES (STN) project to NON:op.
Over the last four years, and with support from Field Foundation, Healing Illinois, Hyde Park & Kenwood Interfaith Council and numerous staff and volunteers, the STN project has been commemorating lives of Black Americans killed by police. Starting with 2020 and researching simultaneously both forward and backward we created an interactive digital map that marks each death and remembers their shortened lives with a short bio and a photograph as they were in life.
 Our hope is to bring awareness and healing by engaging everyone in the process of adding new and improving existing memorials. By showcasing their lived lives—who they were, their hopes and dreams— we remember them and allow their families and communities to heal while we hope to awaken our society to the injustice that needs to end. We aim to do this through completing the map (going back to 1919) but also asking for artists to respond to the map with their voice through the arts. This year we are commissioning poets and composers to respond.Sadly, in the fall of 2024, we lost Ron Browne to this earthly life. A true servant of humanity, Ronald Wayne Brown's life was focused on peace and justice. It is now more important than ever to continue his dream of giving voice to the voiceless victims whose lives were ended too soon. Please join us for a weekend of remembering and celebrating Ron Browne and his work in the community. Additional information is below.
Saba Ayman-Nolley
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Save the Date: SAY THEIR NAMES Salon
Sunday, April 6 at 5pm
Experimental Station, 6100 S Blackstone Ave
Join us on April 6 at Experimental Station in Woodlawn as we remember Black Americans killed by police violence and honor the memory of Ronald Browne, lead researcher and one of the originators of the SAY THEIR NAMES project. Join us for food and drinks, a demonstration of the new map and database, live art-making, and the presentation of the STN commissioned artists who will talk about how their new works will engage with the map.
April 6, 5pm • Experimental Station
6100 S Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL 60637
Experimental Station is wheelchair accessible.
Tickets are sliding scale with a suggested donation of $30 per person.
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[ PARTICIPATE ] HEAR BELOW 2025
Guided, Self-Guided, and Virtual Soundwalks
in Chicago’s Pedway System – April 2025
NON:op Arts and Humanities and Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology partner for HEAR BELOW 2025, a month-long set of guided, self-guided, and virtual soundwalks through Chicago’s Pedway system. Guided soundwalks will be available during April and will be led by the Hear Below 2023 teaching artists cohort including Sam Anthem, Allen Moore, and Jeanette Dominguez. This year’s self-guided edition, “My Pedway Soundwalk,” invites participants to rediscover the art of listening and share their experiences through audio, video, images, and text, which can be added to the Hear Below Community Archive.
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[ INTERACT ] New Digital Home and...
We are very, very excited to roll out our NEW NON:op Arts and Humanities website. After a year-long development with Designed Advantage (shout out to Greg Denagall!!) it HERE!!! This new interactive website will make it easy to directly participate in multiple NON:op projects. Check it out!
[ INTERACT ] New Physical Home!
We are very, very excited to announce that NON:op Arts and Humanities is moving to the Theatre Y building at 3611 West Cermak Road in North Lawndale. We are thrilled to be welcomed at Theatre Y by Melissa, the Actors, and Staff. At the beginning of 2025 we embraced the humanities programming we have been doing since 2020 by changing our organization's name to NON:op Arts and Humanities, and now we are moving to the Theatre Y building in North Lawndale to be closer to the communities that we serve. While we will not move in until later this year, we will be spending most of our time on Cermak. Come visit us!
Already in the past month, NON:op has provided technical and video support for Theatre Y’s Not To Be, a documentary shot inside Stateville Correctional Center. And NON:op's artistic director, Christophe Preissing, made his Theatre Y debut as a metaphor for police violence in Tortured By Blue by Stanley Howard, for which also created sound.
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[ COLLABORATION ] Becoming an Oyster
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click to view the trailer
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Becoming an Oyster is an animated short film by Michael Covello and Elizabeth Schneider, in collaboration with NON:op's composer Christophe Preissing. It explores the intersection of two significant generational crises: climate change and opioid addiction. Told through the eyes of a young boy, the allegorical narrative touches on themes of consumption, excess, and trauma. The metaphor of an oyster’s life cycle reflects the vulnerability of human and ecological systems. These filter animals become a two-way mirror through which one may glimpse ecological failure and the consequences of climate disruption as well as the broader struggles and individual trauma of addiction. Becoming an Oyster blends ecological metaphors with human narratives to create a surreal landscape of boyhood adventure, heartbreaking loss, and the legacy we each leave to future generations.
NOTE: We can only share the trailer because of debut rules. The animation was selected as one of the features in the New Jersey International Film Festival (at the Rutgers Film Co-Op in New Brunswick, May 30 - June 13, 2025. It was one of 16 films (of 860) selected for CURRENTS2025 Festival in Santa Fe (screening June 13-22, 2025).
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[ NEW PROGRAM ] Equipment Sharing Program
Do you need AV equipment for your next show or project,
but can't afford to purchase or rent it?
?
Beginning in February, NON:op will begin offering audio and video equipment and services to toher small Chicago non-profit organizations and individuals with whom we share a vision and creative aesthetic. This high-quality gear—purchased with funding from DCASE's CARP grant—may be used for both in-person and live-stream productions. Equipment and services will be made available at a very reasonable rate and/or in exchange for equipment and resources that we do not have.
For more information about this exciting new program
contact Theo at [email protected].
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[ PARTICIPATE ] 2025 Performances and Events
Mark your calendars for the following 2025 performances and Events:
- April: Hear Below, Listening to Chicago Underground, our annual partnership with the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology. Stay tuned for details and routes.
- April 6: STN FEED Salon at Experimental Station in Woodlawn. This engagement salon and gathering will include the presentation of our first STN commissions, a demonstration our new STN map, and food and beverages in a relaxed and engaging setting.
- May: Feed Salon with performances and location to be announced.
- August - October: Season two of our Listening Across Neighborhoods.
- Fall: Performance of SAY THEIR NAMES commissioned works.
- October: Performances of Christophe Preissing's RE|ambiguation and IS : SI NG, a collaboration with visual artist and poet Matt Bodett. Venue to be announced.
- Other collaborations with Andy's Music and Theatre Y are in the works and will be announced soon.
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[ WOW ] 2024 Fundraising News!
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IMPACT THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES: JOIN THE NON:op BOARD!
NON:op is growing, and like many organizations coming out of the pandemic, we are growing with projects, installations, and performances. It's quite an exciting time for us! Are you savvy about one or more aspects of running a non-profit? Join our board of directors. Do you have a passion for planning engaging events and projects? Join our programming committee. For more information, contact Christophe at non [at] nonopera [dot] org. And to find out more about NON:op Arts and Humanities and our initiatives visit our WEBSITE.
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Governing and Programming Board Positions
Do you believe in the work we are doing? If so, please contact non [at] nonopera [dot] org to find out how you can support NON:op as a Board member. NON:op is seeking creative, passionate, and inspired individuals to join our board of directors in one of the following roles:
Programming Committee
The programming committee meets monthly with the artistic director and is responsible for supporting current programming and devising and producing future programming and events.
Governing Committee
The governing committee is responsible for finances, governance, and legal matters in support of the organization and its programming. The governing committee meets once per quarter and is joined by members of the programming committee.
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Thank You to All of Our Funders
- Healing Illinois for SAY THEIR NAMES public engagement support
- Richard H Driehaus Foundation for two-year funding for Listening Across Neighborhoods and a board development project
- Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Chicago Arts Recovery Program and CAP Grant to improve our digital and technical infrastructure, create a new website and to support general operations
- Field Foundation, A Road Together, to support general operations
- New Music USA New Music INC grant to support general operating and organization development, and to fund a New York performance of L'sGA
- ComEd/Powering the Arts for a series of three L'sGA concerts in three Chicago neighborhoods
- Field Foundation Funding to support the continued development of the SAY THEIR NAMES Project and a public launch of the updated interactive map and database
- Illinois B2B grant to support general operations
- MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation to support programming and general operations
- Robert H. and Terri L. Cohn Family Foundation for their generous support of our programming and general operations
- Illinois Arts Council Agency grant to support general operations
- Illinois Humanities to support SAY THEIR NAMES
- Hyde Park and Kenwood Interfaith Council to support SAY THEIR NAMES
 Volunteer, Intern, and Other OpportunitiesNON:op is seeking volunteers, interns, participants, assistants, artists, and all who have creative ideas and who would like to work with NON:op to implement a shared vision. Please contact Christophe at non [at] nonopera [dot] org if you would like to find out more and join us as we create an alternative future.
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Click here to order and support NON:op and its artists. |
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Thank you for taking care of each other by staying indoors and practicing social distancing.
We hope you and yours are well and staying safe as we work to create an alternative future.
SHARE. INTERACT. COLLABORATE.
Christophe, Saba, Theo, Ja Nelle, Jason, and all of NON:op's creatives, staff, volunteers, and interns
NON:op is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Please consider supporting NON:op's program initiatives, creatives, and mission with a donation today.
All donations are tax deductible according to federal guidelines. Thank you.
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Our hope is to bring awareness and healing by engaging everyone in the process of adding new and improving existing memorials. By showcasing their lived lives—who they were, their hopes and dreams— we remember them and allow their families and communities to heal while we hope to awaken our society to the injustice that needs to end. We aim to do this through completing the map (going back to 1919) but also asking for artists to respond to the map with their voice through the arts. This year we are commissioning poets and composers to respond.
Volunteer, Intern, and Other Opportunities
