CAPE Office Damaged

Dear Friends,

You might have seen in the news that a long-standing Chicago institution, Central Camera, was destroyed on May 30 as a result of looting and a fire.  CAPE‘s offices at 228 S. Wabash are five floors above Central Camera and we sustained major smoke damage throughout.  Many other businesses on our block were also damaged, and the repairs are just now getting underway.

We have begun the process of salvaging our archive of student artwork, business records, personal possessions and our collection of office plants.  It will be quite some time before we are able to return to the office on a regular basis, so please do not mail anything to our offices at this time.  If you need to get in touch with CAPE, please do so via phone or email.

CAPE‘s programs are still occurring and our staff is working remotely.  We look forward to the start of the new school year when, hopefully, we can all return to our regular in-person programs serving thousands of our students.

To be clear: CAPE will be fine. CAPE is not one location, or a collection of office furniture, or snapshots of our past. CAPE is a living, vibrant network of passionate educators, artists, students, families, and community members, and this network is stronger than ever. We stand with protestors and we affirm:

Black students matter. Black families matter. Black artists matter. Black teachers matter. Black Lives Matter.

Thank you, as always, for your support.

Amy Rasmussen
Executive Director