New leadership for Chicago Humanities Festival

The Chicago Humanities Festival, the 25-year-old organization that presents a huge annual Fall Festival, an international children’s theater festival, and a variety of other activities — and specializes in shining the spotlight on influential scholars, artists, writers, theologians, and policy makers — has announced two major changes at the top.Jonathan Elmer has been named the new Marilynn Thoma artistic director of the Festival, replacing Matti Bunzl (who headed CHF for five years but left to become the director of the Wein Museum in Vienna, Austria). In addition, Alison Cuddy, who formerly held the position of program director, has been promoted to associate artistic director.Elmer, who earned a B.A. from Yale University and a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, has had more than 25 years of experience in public programming, musical performance, and teaching. A Professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, he also serves as director of the school’s College Arts and Humanities Institute. The Institute serves as the public face for the arts and humanities on campus, funding research in a variety of fields, and organizing a wide array of public lectures, exhibitions and performances.Elmer, who will begin work here on March 1, will now split his time between his role as artistic director of the Humanities Festival in Chicago (living in the Lake View neighborhood with his wife, Alexandra Morphet) and his job as director of the College Arts and Humanities Institute in Bloomington. He will not have any formal teaching responsibilities at Indiana University.In a prepared statement, Clark Hulse, board chair of the CHF, said: “Jonathan’s extensive background as a professor, humanist, artist, and writer made him a fantastic choice for the position. We are excited that his vision and leadership will help attract the world’s great artists and thinkers to CHF as we enter our next 25 years.”

Elmer has published widely on all periods of American culture and literature, and on figures as various as Thomas Jefferson, Richard Wright, and Jeff “the Dude” Lebowski. He is a leading expert on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, and his current research explores how the notion of “play” fundamentally transformed the art, culture, and business of the 20th century. As CAHI director, he has brought an eclectic array of programs to IU including, leading cartoonist Chris Ware, video game designer, critic, and researcher Ian Bogost, and writer Margaret Atwood.

Elmer also is an accomplished trombonist who has recorded with Bang on a Can in New York, shared the stage with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Carter, performed Antillaise “compa” throughout France, and played jazz with Darius Brubeck in London and South Africa. He currently is a member of the Postmodern Jazz Quartet based in Bloomington.

In her position as associate artistic director, Cuddy will focus on developing new institutional partnerships and programs, and forging connections to the broader Chicago community.