BE A PRESERVATION PARTNER

CFA is seeking preservation sponsors for two new collections, showcasing the work of two Chicago artists: Dancer/choreographer Ruth Page and experimental/feminist filmmaker JoAnn Elam.

Still from DANSE MACABRE (1923) starring Ruth Page and Adolph Bolm

Ruth Page (1899-1999) was a primary figure in Chicago’s dance history.  Almost 1,000 moving image items make up this major artistic collection of dance performances and oral histories.  The films span from 1922 through the 1990s and include interviews with Ruth Page and others that orbited her world.   See how you can become a preservation partner of the Ruth Page Dance collection by contributing funds in her name at CFA’s donation page.

Still from Joann Elam’s RAPE (1975)

JoAnn Elam (1949-2009) was a central figure in the history of Chicago’s experimental and documentary film communities.  The body of work she left behind contains 735 moving image and audio items as well as notes, letters and other ephemera.  At the start of her career Elam made two bold and defining films, RAPE and LIE BACK AND ENJOY IT, which are probing examinations of sexual assault and the representation of women.  Her final unfinished work, EVERYDAY PEOPLE, is about labor practices in the U.S. post office from the 1970s to the 1990s and focuses on issues of gender and labor activism in Chicago.   Become a sponsor of the JoAnn Elam Collection by contributing funds in her name at CFA’s donation page.