The story of us

Chicago Arts and Cultural Association is a not-for-profit organization founded by three incredible women who live in the greater Chicago area. They first met at a networking event at 3 Arts Club around Christmas in 2016. The café was packed, but the three of them were able to find a quiet corner near the dinning area and shared past experiences and their passion about arts and cultural exchange. They were excited to find such a lot of details in common, among which there was one big dream they all held in mind for a long time: to become an influencer and make their passion about arts into a career. After that event, these three women talked over the phone almost every day in the following two weeks. They were glad to find that each of them was pretty serious about the opportunity of making contribution to the communities in the U.S. and abroad.

It was in a chilly winter weekend in January 2017 that the three of them decided to meet again at a Szechuan restaurant. They spent the whole afternoon talking about missions, professional capacities, resources, and drafted a plan to get a not-for-profit organization registered. It was not an easy decision because besides passion and ambition, running an organization also requires strong determination and continuous dedication. Luckily enough, they were able to find those traits in each other.

The following weeks were extremely challenging but exciting for them. Talking with and encouraged by a group of amazing people in Continuing Studies Office of School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Institute of Design in Illinois Institute of Technology, as well as design professionals in top architecture companies in the greater Chicago area, various ideas of programming came into their minds. With the help of experienced professionals in organization operation, Chicago Arts and Cultural Association (CACA) was founded with blessing and hope.