Maintaining Chicago’s cultural landscape is one of the city’s most important duties, particularly now, as the metropolis struggles with crime, the migrant influx and other issues.
So it’s good that Mayor Brandon Johnson this week has selected Clinée Hedspeth as the city’s new Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events commissioner.
We don’t yet know enough about Hedspeth to judge her abilities as commissioner. But we’re glad to see the department get a leader a month after Johnson showed the door to the agency’s last boss (but kept her aboard until last Friday), the capable Erin Harkey.
Harkey’s dismissal was abrupt enough to alarm the city’s arts community — a group Johnson would do well to keep on his side.
As Esther Grisham Grimm, executive director of the nonprofit arts organization 3Arts, told WBEZ earlier this month, Harkey’s firing “feels like the rug got pulled out from under us, just as we were gaining momentum.”
Grimm continued: “In the end, I felt the commissioner and her whole team were doing an excellent job, so I’m just a little confused about why the change and what’s coming next.”
Once Hedspeth’s appointment is confirmed by the Chicago City Council, having someone in charge of the department is key as the busy warm weather festival season approaches.
The agency also puts on the city’s biggest and highest profile summer events, such as Taste of Chicago, the Chicago Air and Water show and the Chicago Blues Festival.
The DCASE commissioner must also be the chief liaison to Chicago’s cultural and philanthropic community, two important sectors that contribute greatly to the quality of life in this town.
“Together with the DCASE staff and arts community, we will expand access to the arts, celebrate our city’s diverse heritage, and create new opportunities for cultural expression in every community,” Hedspeth said in a statement issued by City Hall.
For Chicago’s sake, we’re pulling for Hedspeth’s success.
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