Community Highlights

Chicago, IL – October 12, 2017 – After a great success of the Chicago based Brown Girls web series, another award-winning web series from Chicago is about to blow your mind – Low Strung. This comedy about an audacious pair of friends, Victoria Lee and Shervin Bain, explores their chaotic endeavors through a surreal lens in Chicago. Fresh, satirical, and often perplexing, Low Strung gives viewers a chance to vicariously experience sex, drugs, and montages.

Low Strung was nominated in four categories (before it officially premiered anywhere else) at the 2017 Brooklyn Web Fest – Best Actress (Victoria Lee), Emerging Voices, Outstanding Premiere, and the DaF Award (for diversity). Victoria Lee won in the category for Best Actress.

There are some notable appearances in the first four episodes from Kapron Lewis, from the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago drag queen, Lucy Stoole, who recently made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon performing with Charlie XCX. The series also features music from local musicians, such as ShowYouSuck, Lex Allen, Klassik, Air Credits, Celine Neon, Rahn Harper, Chason, The Rapper Chicks and Lili K. The series is directed by Addison Wright and Lili K, with music supervision by Lili K.

The first four episodes will officially premiere on October 21, 2017 at AMFM Gallery at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public. Local personality Ashley Tribble of PPower Radio will be emceeing the event and also hosting a panel after the show.

To learn more about Low Strung, you can follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Official trailer:  https://vimeo.com/237344300.  

About Victoria Lee

Scriptwriter, actress and cellist Victoria Lee is a Milwaukee native securing her place in Chicago’s vibrant community of artists. She co-writes, produces and stars in her web series, Low Strung. A classically trained cellist, Victoria performs with the Chicago Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and has recorded with a number of notable Chicago artists including Chance The Rapper.

About Lili K

Originally known for her stand-out guest features for Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, Lili K established herself as a knockout solo star with the April 2015 release of her self-produced, full-length debut album RUBY. She’s done numerous TV appearances on ABC and FOX, has performed at major festivals including Made In America, North Coast Music Festival, and Pitchfork, and has garnered glowing praise from VIBE, Huffington Post, EW, Consequence of Sound, and many more top-tier music tastemakers. Jay Z’s entertainment streaming service Tidal dubbed Lili as their very first “Tidal Rising” artist, and the Chicago Reader named her “Best Jazz Musician” in 2015. In 2017, Lili landed a recurring role as a background vocalist on Season 3 of Fox’s hit show Empire.

About Shervin Bain

After living and working in Miami, Manchester and New York City, Shervin Bain has truly found himself within the creative circle of Chicago. He gained experience in acting after studying at Chicago’s famous Second City, and went on to write Low Strung with Victoria Lee. Actor, writer and staple of Chicago’s vibrant LGBTQ community, Shervin has just begun to tell his story.

CHICAGO (Sept. 20, 2017) – ComEd is shining the Solar Spotlight on Hispanic Heritage Month and engaging more than 50 local Latino high schools students to help design solar-powered fashion.

 ComEd’s Solar Spotlight Program will bring together Latino students from a variety of Illinois high schools and non-profit organizations for a two-day immersion session focused on  Science, Technology, Engineering Arts, and Math (STEAM).

 The Program will take students through live, hands-on solar demonstrations where they will learn about solar energy and solar panels. They also will learn about notable Hispanics in STEAM-related careers, and have the opportunity to construct their own solar-powered cells. ComEd engineers will serve as volunteer mentors to help students and Claudette Soto, founder of VAMOS, will talk to students about her STEM journey and creative ways to improve public spaces using technology.

 “Exposure to STEAM experiences is critical as high school students are figuring out options to pursue after high school,” said Fidel Marquez, Senior Vice President, Governmental and External Affairs, ComEd.  “The demand for renewable energy is on the rise and solar power is becoming an important part of the clean energy economy. ComEd is offering the Solar Spotlight Program because we want to help diverse students learn about this important energy source and make them aware of great career opportunities they can consider as they plan for their future. And, we also hope that one day they will come work for ComEd.”

 This year, ComEd has added the “A” for Art in STEM, making it STEAM and is exposing students to an art component in the program. The students will help Chicago fashion designer Ronald Rodriguez by placing their own created designs on a solar-powered dress and jacket. The two pieces will include solar-powered LED lights and also will also light up the runway at Latino Fashion Week on Saturday, Sept. 30. Later they will be on display at the Mexican Museum of National Art and the Puerto Museum of Art.

 “Today’s students are technologically savvy, so if you’re going to engage them in a program you have to make it interesting. That’s why we brought in fashion technology into our Solar Spotlight program. We want to go beyond peaking their interest, we want to create an experience they will remember, one that makes a positive impact on their future,” said Marquez. 

 ComEd invites the general public to visit www.ComEd.com/SolarSpotlight to learn more about the students’ “Solar Spotlight” journey.

 ComEd proudly celebrates diversity year-round through programming that provides broad public exposure to diversity in the communities that the company serves. To learn more about ComEd’s community support, visit ComEd.com/community.

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 Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately 10 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.9 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

We are looking for volunteers!!

Pyramids have been built by civilizations in many parts of the world and now a collaboration between ComEd, a local artist, an art gallery and high school students has brought one to Bronzeville. ComEd’s Solar Spotlight Pyramid, a newly completed piece, is the first permanent artwork to be included in Gallery Guichard’s Great Migration Sculpture Garden in Bronzeville.

At a recent celebration, ComEd executives were joined by the Solar Spotlight students and several other community members to commemorate the completion of the solar-powered artwork and its installation at the Bronzeville gallery.

The towering artwork was created by artist Shala. with the help of local high school students who participated in ComEd’s Solar Spotlight Education Program earlier this year. This year’s program taught students about STEM Via the Arts, which is also known as STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math).

Students worked with ComEd mentors to use design elements from modern-day logos and ancient hieroglyphics to decorate the solar-powered panels with artwork that represented their individual personalities.

Traja, 17, choose to incorporate a basketball into her panel design.

“At 3 years old, I fell in love with basketball,” she says. “When I play basketball, it always makes me feel better. I drew a basketball with a horizontal line representing a heartbeat going through the basketball.”

The pyramid’s black solar-powered panels will gather energy from the sun during the day to glow at night.

“I was excited to learn about renewable energy because it’s our future,” says Charles, 15. He said he found it interesting to learn how nature, specifically the sun and wind, can be used to generate power.

Shala. says his Solar Art encompasses a revolutionary technique to add artwork to solar panels without disrupting their ability to draw energy from the sun. Believing that technology is a powerful new platform for creative expression, he developed this new medium to accelerate the adoption of solar energy and create a new art movement.

“Creating the pyramid was challenging, but it was fun and will be a monumental piece for the Bronzeville community,” he says. “ComEd is energizing the birth of a new international era in sustainable energy and art.”

Gallery Guichard, 436 E. 47^th St., partnered with Shala. and ComEd to construct the revolutionary pyramid, which sits in the garden adjacent to the gallery.

“The historical significance of an art piece in the shape of a pyramid will give visitors a sense of pride,” says Andre Guichard, who co-owns the gallery with his wife, Frances. “It adds a sense of style to the garden and is a symbol of ComEd’s role in the revitalization of an amazingly rich community.”

ComEd offers the Solar Spotlight Program in February as part of its annual celebration of Black History Month. The program engages 60 African-American high school students from across Chicagoland and encourages them to explore STEM. The program includes workshops where the students learn about solar energy and African-American trailblazers.

“This is the first time that our Solar Spotlight students have had the opportunity to create an art piece as they learned about STEM,” says Melissa Washington, vice president of External Affairs and Large Customer Service. “ComEd is proud to partner with the communities we serve to nurture diversity and empower the workforce of the future.”

Pyramids have been built by civilizations in many parts of the world and now a collaboration between ComEd, a local artist, an art gallery and high school students has brought one to Bronzeville. ComEd’s Solar Spotlight Pyramid, a newly completed piece, is the first permanent artwork to be included in Gallery Guichard’s Great Migration Sculpture Garden in Bronzeville.

At a recent celebration, ComEd executives were joined by the Solar Spotlight students and several other community members to commemorate the completion of the solar-powered artwork and its installation at the Bronzeville gallery.

The towering artwork was created by artist Shala. with the help of local high school students who participated in ComEd’s Solar Spotlight Education Program earlier this year. This year’s program taught students about STEM Via the Arts, which is also known as STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math).

Students worked with ComEd mentors to use design elements from modern-day logos and ancient hieroglyphics to decorate the solar-powered panels with artwork that represented their individual personalities.

Traja, 17, choose to incorporate a basketball into her panel design.

“At 3 years old, I fell in love with basketball,” she says. “When I play basketball, it always makes me feel better. I drew a basketball with a horizontal line representing a heartbeat going through the basketball.”

The pyramid’s black solar-powered panels will gather energy from the sun during the day to glow at night.

“I was excited to learn about renewable energy because it’s our future,” says Charles, 15. He said he found it interesting to learn how nature, specifically the sun and wind, can be used to generate power.

Shala. says his Solar Art encompasses a revolutionary technique to add artwork to solar panels without disrupting their ability to draw energy from the sun. Believing that technology is a powerful new platform for creative expression, he developed this new medium to accelerate the adoption of solar energy and create a new art movement.

“Creating the pyramid was challenging, but it was fun and will be a monumental piece for the Bronzeville community,” he says. “ComEd is energizing the birth of a new international era in sustainable energy and art.”

Gallery Guichard, 436 E. 47^th St., partnered with Shala. and ComEd to construct the revolutionary pyramid, which sits in the garden adjacent to the gallery.

“The historical significance of an art piece in the shape of a pyramid will give visitors a sense of pride,” says Andre Guichard, who co-owns the gallery with his wife, Frances. “It adds a sense of style to the garden and is a symbol of ComEd’s role in the revitalization of an amazingly rich community.”

ComEd offers the Solar Spotlight Program in February as part of its annual celebration of Black History Month. The program engages 60 African-American high school students from across Chicagoland and encourages them to explore STEM. The program includes workshops where the students learn about solar energy and African-American trailblazers.

“This is the first time that our Solar Spotlight students have had the opportunity to create an art piece as they learned about STEM,” says Melissa Washington, vice president of External Affairs and Large Customer Service. “ComEd is proud to partner with the communities we serve to nurture diversity and empower the workforce of the future.”

The residents of Auburn Gresham celebrate twelve years of safe family fun at the 12th Annual 79th Street Renaissance Festival this Saturday, September 9 and Sunday September 10.