Crusader Staff Report
The iconic DuSable Museum of African American History has pushed back its annual fundraising gala, “A Night of 100 Stars” to the fall, according to its website.
The event was originally scheduled for June 23 at the Marriott Marquis, but the fundraiser will now be held October 6. The move came after seven members of the board quit just before Memorial Day weekend.
Two of those members are Chance the Rapper and his father Ken Bennett. Recently, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that another board member Theaster Gates, resigned, and CFO Veronica Milton resigned last weekend.
When contacted by the Crusader, a DuSable staff member said Milton no longer works there.
According to Crain’s, the MacArthur Foundation, a longtime donor of the museum, has sent a third-party financial team to help DuSable tap resources it needs to grow and move forward after the exodus.
Despite the exodus, DuSable CEO Perri Irmer still has a vision for a $25 million renovation of the museum’s Daniel Burnham-designed Roundhouse, which would create a revenue-producing performance, event-rental and retail space for the museum and form the nation’s first African-American museum campus.
According to Crain’s, Irmer reduced the museum’s deficit in 2017 to $300,000, down from $1.2 million in 2016.
