Information below taken from the City of Chicago’s website:

11th Annual Creative Chicago Expo – Moving Forward

Friday, March 14, 2014

Saturday, March 15, 2014

What’s on your mind? Text a question for our Keynotes: 312.533.4101

10am – 4pm

FREE – No RSVP

Creative Chicago Expo connects Chicago’s creative community with resources they need to thrive.

Keynote Speakers

ArtistTheaster Gates

Fashion DesignerMaria Pinto

ChefCarrie Nahabedian

Film ProducerRobert Teitel

All native Chicagoans, our Keynote Speakers pioneered strategies and creative practices that have gained national and international recognition. Keynotes take place in Claudia Cassidy Theater (second floor north); they are un-ticketed, first-come/first-served – and doors open 30 minutes prior to each talk. Keynotes will be recorded for later broadcast.

ARTS (Friday 3/14, 10:30am): Theaster Gates has an expanded practice that encompasses community development and reuse strategies, performance, object making and critical engagement with many publics. Founder of the non-profit Rebuild Foundation, Gates is currently Director of Arts and Public Life at the University of Chicago. His recent exhibition and performance venues include the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Punta della Dogana, Venice; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Santa Barbara Museum of Art, among others. In 2012, Gates was awarded the inaugural Vera List Center Prize for Art and Politics, the Wall Street Journal’s Arts Innovator of the Year, a Creative Time Global Residency Fellowship and became a United States Artists Fellow. Gates has also received awards and grants from Creative Capital, the Joyce Foundation, Graham Foundation, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and Artadia. He is represented by Kavi Gupta Gallery in Chicago and White Cube in London.

FASHION (Friday 3/14, 3pm): Maria Pinto gained fame with her one-of-a-kind designs worn by Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Her new ready-to-wear line M2057 by Maria Pinto was launched online after a massively successful Kickstarter campaign that garnered over $270,000 start-up funding. This new capsule collection of modern dresses, jackets and wraps reflect her desire to explore fresh and innovative ideas and techniques, with an urban flair. In addition to her own company and store, Maria has designed for The Joffrey Ballet, The James Hotel in Chicago and the Skylark Bar in New York. She has served as Creative Director of the department store Mark Shale, where she led the buying team and curated the women’s fashion collections. Her work has been featured at The Field Museum in Chicago and is now part of the permanent collection.

CULINARY (Saturday 3/15, 10:30am): Carrie Nahabedian has pioneered culinary arts in Chicago, Atlantic City, Los Angeles and Europe. After departing her position as Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Carrie returned to her native Chicago to open NAHA in 2000, which garnered her a James Beard Award and four consecutive Michelin stars. Carrie opened Brindille in the spring of 2013 along with partner and cousin Michael. While NAHA serves to highlight her Armenian roots, Brindille’s refined Parisian fare celebrates hers and Michael’s favorite spots in Paris. Carrie is one of only 10 female chefs in the U.S. to garner a Michelin star. Carrie will be interviewed by Elysabeth Alfano, creator and producer of Fear No Art and The Dinner Party.

FILM (Saturday 3/15, 3pm): Robert Teitel is the producer of some of the most successful urban studio and independent films and television series in motion picture history. The trendsetting comedies “Soul Food,” “Barbershop,” “Barbershop 2” and “Beauty Shop” sparked conversations about race across America, grossed over $100 million and led to several successful television series. A graduate of Columbia College Chicago, Bob formed his first production company with director George Tillman while both were in school, and went on to produce “Scenes for the Soul,” using Chicago talent and resources. In January 2009 they released NOTORIOUS, the true story of The Notorious B.I.G. for Fox Searchlight Pitcures, followed by “Faster,” “The Baytown Outlaws,” “Jane Mansfield’s Car” and most recently “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete” starring Jennifer Hudson, Anthony Mackie and Jeffrey Wright, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/creative_chicagoexpo.html