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RE·VER·BER·ATE Festival

RE•VER•BER•ATE is a free multidisciplinary arts festival for all CPS students and our entire community, taking place in downtown Chicago from April 22nd - April 25th, 2025!

The Festival provides students in grades PreK - 12th with exhibition and performance opportunities, workshops, masterclasses, and academic and professional collaboration opportunities.

Partnering with The Chicago Cultural Center and the Design Museum of Chicago, RE•VER•BER•ATE serves as a testament to what happens when our students, teachers, and arts professionals of Chicago come together to create a truly unique event for our CPS artists.

What Does RE•VER•BER•ATE Offer?

RE·VER·BER·ATE brings together students, teachers and professional artists from across Chicago to create a singular event focused on artistic expression.

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    Arts Fair

    RE•VER•BER•ATE student participants learn about opportunities and programs throughout the city. Past participants of the arts fair include: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Uniting Voices Chicago, Marwen, After School Matters, Chicago School of Musical Arts, Urban Gateways, Music Institute, Experimental Station, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art.

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    Exhibitions

    RE•VER•BER•ATE hosts the All-City Visual Arts (ACVA) Elementary, High School, and Senior Portfolio exhibitions.

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    Masterclasses

    RE•VER•BER•ATE offers specialized masterclasses where students work with and receive feedback from professional artists in their field of study. Past masterclass instructors include: Chicago School of Musical Arts, Music Will, and Judy Hanson of Uniting Voices.

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    Performances

    RE•VER•BER•ATE features student performances including large and small instrumental, choral, theater and dance ensembles.

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    Workshops

    RE•VER•BER•ATE features workshops for students led by professional artists. Workshops include: jewelry making, song writing, shadow puppets, improv, audition prep, painting, hip hop, video game music, and devising theatre.

RE•VER•BER•ATE 2025 Timeline

RE•VER•BER•ATE Festival Dates - April 22-25, 2025
from 10am-1pm

Performing Arts

Performing Arts Application Opens
October 1, 2024

Performing Arts Application Closes
January 10, 2025

Performing Arts Acceptances Released
January 22, 2025

Apply Here

Visual Arts (ACVA)

ACVA Application Opens
October 28, 2024

ACVA Application Closes
March 13, 2025

ACVA Acceptances Released
March 21, 2025

APPLY HERE

How to Participate in RE•VER•BER•ATE

Selection Process for RE•VER•BER•ATE

RE•VER•BER•ATE seeks to offer a platform to as many student artists as possible over the course of the festival days. When curating the festival, the RE•VER•BER•ATE team works in collaboration with additional partners to purposefully ensure an acceptance list that fully represents the breadth and depth of the arts across Chicago Public Schools. This includes artistic discipline, experience level, geography, cultural diversity, and instrumentation. We strongly encourage submissions that represent the lived experiences of students and educators across Chicago.

The selection process involves the expertise of the Department of Arts Education, the Arts Teacher Leadership Team, and the Arts Student Voice Committee (ASVC).

The Arts Teacher Leadership Team is a group of committed fine & performing arts educators who support the work of Student Programs through collaborating on specific initiatives, including the RE•VER•BER•ATE Festival and All-City Visual Arts exhibitions.  Meet the current team.

The Arts Student Voice Committee (ASVC) is a diverse group of CPS high school students who work with the Department of Arts Education (DAE) team to discuss, create, and execute strategies for improving arts education in Chicago Public Schools.

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