Chance can now add museum board member to his ever-growing resume, as Crain’s Chicago is reporting that Chano has just been added to the board of the DuSable Museum of African American History amid a recent shakeup.
Chance’s duties were not mentioned in the article, but you can expect some big things to come from this new role. Very dope.
Chance the Rapper is one of the newest board members at DuSable Museum of African American History in Washington Park. His appointment is part of a larger board makeover that includes six to eight new members. Another is Eric Whitaker, a physician and close friend of President Barack Obama. Chance’s assistant confirmed his appointment; Whitaker confirmed his to Crain’s.
DuSable Museum, one of the city’s 11 Museums in the Parks, was founded in 1961 by Margaret Burroughs, an artist and poet, and other prominent Chicagoans. Perri Irmer, a Chicago attorney and architect, was named CEO of the museum in 2015. Irmer plans to boost the museum’s presence in anticipation of the Obama Presidential Center, projected to open in 2021 in nearby Jackson Park.
The Midway Plaisance connects Jackson Park to Washington Park, which is north and west of Jackson Park. Washington Park was also under consideration as a site for Obama’s presidential library.
Plans for DuSable Museum include an app-based mobile museum for students, funded in part by the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation. In 2015, DuSable had about 100,000 visitors, according to Museums in the Park data. Its operating budget is about $4.1 million, according to its 2014 tax form posted on GuideStar, the nonprofit information website.
Chance and Whitaker add star power to DuSable’s board. Current high-profile trustees include artist Theaster Gates, who in 2015 proposed that University of Chicago take over programming for the museum; former Illinois Sen. Emil Jones Jr., and the Rev. Byron T. Brazier of the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, according to the museum’s website. The website lists 14 trustees.