We're happy to share the program guide from our 19th Annual Benefit. This years event was designed and produced with heart. Thanks to all our sponsors, volunteers, and partners who believe in #selfexpression #communication and #socialchange for Chicago Youth. To contribute, please go to www.street-level.org/donate

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Title page

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Event Schedule
6:00 - 6:45 Guest arrivals and hospitality
6:45 - 7:00 Welcome by MC’s
Dee Bangs
Rocio Roman
Darius Shy
7:00 - 7:30 Performances
Ben Capo
Anointed feat. Perez
Killer T and Chaos Network
Draii Blac and Joey Illanoy
7:30 - 8:00 Organizational messages
Manwah Lee
Eddie Clopton Jr.
SAIC welcome
Mary Jane Jacob
Founder recognition
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle
Paul Teruel
Tony Streit
8:00 - 8:30 Performances
Deejay Garcia
QdaPharoah
AlphaRcher
Katherine Daphne Whitington PhD
8:45 Raffle winners announced
9:00 Thank you and good night!
photos by Tamairis Dixon

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Through a fall program of exhibitions, symposium, events, and books, the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago explores the role artists can play in
shaping the future. We are grateful to SAIC and the Sullivan Galleries for
allowing us to celebrate within this context. Tonight you are surrounded by:
A PROXIMITY OF CONSCIOUSNESS: ART AND SOCIAL ACTION
September 20–December 20
Sullivan Galleries, 33 S. State St., 7th floor
At the core of Chicago’s intellectual and creative life stand these
influential artists for whom this city itself was a springboard for a
new way of thinking about art at the intersection of society. Their
work has influenced generations, having made social practice a
worldwide phenomenon. Now this exhibition brings their ideas
alive through 10 newly commissioned projects. Exhibiting artists:
Jim Duignan, Paul Durica and Heather Radke, Pablo Helguera
(BFA 1993), Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle (MFA 1985), Dan Peterman,
Pocket Guide to Hell, J. Morgan Puett (BFA 1981), Michael
Rakowitz, Laurie Jo Reynolds (MFA 2000), Temporary Services,
and Rirkrit Tiravanija (MFA 1986). Curated by Mary Jane Jacobs
and Kate Zeller
For information on the rest of the events within this wonderful program, please
refer to saic.edu/livedpractice on the world wide web.
Exhibition Info

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Street-Level Mission
Street-Level Youth Media educates Chicago’s urban youth in
media arts and emerging technologies for use in self-expression,
communication, and social change.
Street-Level’s programs build critical thinking skills in youth who
have been historically neglected by policy-makers and mass media.
Using video and audio production, digital arts, and the Internet,
Street-Level’s young people address community issues, access
advanced communication technology, and gain inclusion in our
information-based society.

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________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
CITY STATE ZIP
EMAIL
Check
I PLEDGE A TOTAL AMOUNT OF $___________ IN SUPPORT OF STREET-LEVEL YOUTH
MEDIA WITH THE FULL UNDERSTANDING THAT A BOUNTIFUL ROI COMES IN GRATITUDE,
STORIES, UPDATES AND PICTURES (BUT NOT TOO MUCH SO AS TO BE SPAMMY.)
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
NAME ON CARD IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE
ACCOUNT NUMBER EXP DATE CVV
________________________________________________________________________
SIGNATURE DATE
Visa, MasterCard, or Discover Card
CHECKS TO:
Street-Level Youth Media
IF MAILED:
Street-Level Youth Media
Attn: Helen Schneider
1637 N. Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
Headphones $25
Shared headphones break faster. The number we go
through in studio and in the classroom is not small.
Screening Snacks $100
Whether it’s Anime Club hosting a screen n’ grill event or
a sleepless sleepover with movies, these kids get hungry.
School Bus $250
Pledge the cost to bring a school bus full of students
to our studio for a field trip or special event.
Sofa n’ Bean-bag fund $500
Our only couch is dangerously past retirement. The
kids deserve some splinterless seats.
CTA pass for 10 rides to SL $50
______________________ $______
ADDRESS II
Pledge Program
In June of 2015, we will be incorporated for 20 years. Help us gear up for this
milestone anniversary by pledging your support! If you’d like to participate in
deciding where your pledge dollars go, we’ve got some suggestions. Feel free to
write in your own idea and of course, any “unrestricted” funds are distributed to both
programming and capacity building.
Sometimes the only thing keeping some youth from
getting to our studio is a ride
Unrestricted $______

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IN-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
Street-Level is a preferred CPS vendor. Our programs prioritize engagement that leads to
creative expression, emotional maturity, and social responsibility. We offer arts tntegration
and during school and after school electives. A few sample projects include...
GENDER IN MEDIA
Students analyze portrayals of gender
in popular culture. Through multimedia
projects, they express how they view
themselves in relationship to media and
work towards developing their own identity.
MULTIMEDIA
ANTIVIOLENCE PROJECT
Chicago is one of the most violent cities in
the country. This project teaches students
to use a variety of digital art tools to identify
causes and solutions to violence while
promoting peace.
MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
The voice of the new generation is often
lost, but with digital media tools and
internet savvy skills, students learn how to
articulate and publish what they consider
newsworthy, and learn how they can reach
a wider audience.

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IN-STUDIO PROGRAMS
NEWSXCHANGE*
with Kristin Heinichen
Tues 5-7pm and Sat 12-6
Sept 30 - Dec 6 | Ages 15-22
As a NewsXchange Intern, you’ll identify,
research, investigate, interview, photo-graph,
record video and audio, write, edit,
and publish your pieces. You’ll learn about
journalistic ethics, the changing nature of
the industry, and how to work as a team to
produce and broadcast relevant journalistic
content. You’ll sharpen your critical thinking
and communication skills and develop a rich
digital and journalistic portfolio. This is a
field-intensive program. Interns will spend
a lot of time outside, in public, meeting new
people.
*Experience a sample of a story written by
Summer 2014 NewsXchange on the follow-ing
pages.
MULTIMEDIA PROJECT
with Lisa L.U.S.T. and James Duke
Wed or Friday 5-7pm and Sat 12-6
Oct 1-Dec 6 | Ages 15-19
This program centers around 3 distinct
projects: Creating an EP - writing 3 origi-nal
songs, and creating 1 music video and 1
artists profile video; Anime Club - establish
rules, create a graphic look and feel, and
strategize distribution for an original card
game; Real Reality TV - documenting self-staged
social experiments.
Street-Level offers FREE in-studio media arts training for youth ages 13 to 22. Workshops
take place year-round at our multimedia center and are taught by experienced teaching
artists and mentors. In addition to field trips and open lab and open studio times, this is
what we’ve got starting next week...
ENTREPRENEUR OF THE ARTS
WORKSHOP
with Amanda Harth
Thursdays 4-7pm
Oct 2-Dec 4 | Ages 16-22
How will you generate an income? Time, te-nacity,
and diligence! This workshop will help
you gain basic knowledge of what it takes to
run a business and make it successful. You
will learn about the legal structure, business
planning, finances, and ways to market your
brand. Participants will be given a chance
to create your own mock business venture,
develop a business plan and proposals, and at
the last week of the workshop they will have
the chance to present it.

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Picture being forcibly confined to a 6 x 8 room en-cased
in steel and cement block. Sent to the place
where violence lives. Now imagine the desperate
attempts that follow as you try to disprove the ac-cusations
that put you there in the first place. Once
considered, now forgotten; so is the tale of three
men who have labored to prove their innocence.
Meet Jarrett Adams, a 17 year-old boy with a
bright future. Like most teenagers, he wanted to
have fun with his friends. On September 5th, 1998,
three boys set out for Jefferson County, Wisconsin
to attend a big college party. But one night cost
Adams ten years of his life.
In 2000, Adams and two others were wrongfully
convicted of sexual assault. The incident was said
to have happened at the University of Wiscon-sin-
Whitewater, and the all-white jury sentenced
him to 28 years. When he was exonerated from the
charge, he had already served one decade of his
sentence.
Adams was set free with the assistance of the
Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP). This project is
located at the University of Wisconsin Law School
and they work to reform the criminal justice sys-tem.
After being released from prison, Adams began
to work on the future he thought he might never
have. He began his studies at a junior college, then
transferred to Roosevelt University in downtown
Chicago, Illinois. In addition to his studies, he
worked full-time as an investigator with the Fed-eral
Defender Program for the Northern District of
Illinois. Adams graduated from Roosevelt Universi-ty
with top honors and continued his education at
Chicago’s Loyola University School of Law through
a 2012 Chicago Bar Foundation’s Abraham Lincoln
Marovitz Public Interest scholarship.
Adams, now 33, plans on using his law degree to
aid defendants who are less fortunate as well as
those who are wrongfully incarcerated.
“I want to be the opposite of what my lawyer was,
in so many ways,” Adams told Chicago Tribune
earlier this summer.
Adams works with Antoine Day to give back and
help those who aren’t heard. They have started
the Life After Justice Center and their mission is to
assist exonerees and parolees successfully re-enter
society, all the while providing stable housing, job
training and counseling.
Day is someone who seeks the development of the
whole person. He holds many professional posi-tions,
but the work he holds most dear is mentor-ing
ex-felons and assisting them with social re-en-try.
Day believes that personal triumph begins with
reforming one’s mind. Reform is never a bad idea
hinted Day; especially in regards to the judiciary
system that wrongfully incarcerated him.
“I challenge the law because the law can’t hide the
truth,” he said. “I believe in justice. I don’t believe in
unfairness.”
He was 28 when he went in and 40 when he was
released. While the reasons for putting Day away
were muddy, one thing became very clear to him:
WRONGFULLY INCARCERATED
BY: Dominique Brown, Shane Calvin, Bobby Musker, Niambi Smith, and Grace Zelle
under the mentorship of Photo-Journalist Kristin Heinichen.
This Summer, five youth spent six weeks experienced the role of “concerned journalist”.
Using images and text they captured the voice of those living and working
within a square mile of a chosen Chicago community. They looked for the
stories that celebrate life’s intimate moments and challenge our viewpoints. What
they found were folks eager to welcome them in and share their tales. “Wrong-fully
Incarcerated” is one of these stories. Special thanks to After School Matters.

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“The system is so broke,” he said. “If you want out
you have to fight for it…Nobody loves you like you.”
In 1990 Day was wrongfully convicted of first de-gree
murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use
of a firearm. Day had a bench trial and according
to him, the presiding judge had been suspended
during the time he issued the sentence. The justice
system didn’t just fail Day, it punished him for 12
years. None the less, he assures those who are slack
jawed over his sentence that he doesn’t live with
hate-
“I’m not even mad at the people who did this to
me because that’s what they’re used to doing,” Day
said with a shrug.
Before he was spending time behind bars, Day
could be found behind a drum set. At 28 he was
was a passionate musician and business man. He
was a member of a band and owned a nightclub
not far from his childhood home on the West-side
of Chicago.
“I made $18,000 a week. I had this club for a year
and 7 months,” he said explaining that his club was
shut down following Day’s arrest.
Even though his prosperous 20’s were replaced
with many unsettling years, he wasn’t left feeling
hopeless.
“I don’t consider it a waste of time because ev-eryday
God has given me an opportunity to learn
something new,” he said.
He also had the love and teaching of his mother
who implored that above all else, stay humble.
“She gave me the will to do what I needed to do to
come home,” he recalled. “She said ‘quitting is not
allowed.’”

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Giving up isn’t part of Patrick Pursley’s vocabulary
either.
Twenty-one years into his prison sentence and
Pursley is still fighting hard for his freedom. In
1994, Pursley was convicted of murder and sen-tenced
to life without parole.
“It’s a fight because the truth doesn’t seem to mat-ter
when you’re sitting in prison, because they’ve
already got you,” he said.
On April 2, 1993, at approximately 10 p.m., a couple
was seated in a parked car when an apparent rob-bery
led to the shooting and death of the driver.
The Rockford police discovered a spent bullet in
the car and later the county coroner recovered a
bullet from the victim’s shoulder. A forensic sci-entist
examined the bullets and determined them
to be of 9 millimeter caliber fired from the same
firearm. Two months following the incident, a call
was made to Crime Stoppers and Pursley’s name
was dropped in connection with the murder.
Marvin Windham, a former acquaintance of Purs-ley’s,
was the tipster. His incriminating testimony
was considered admissible evidence. However,
upon cross-examination it was revealed that
Windham had received a total of $2,650 in reward
money for his information. Windham also had two
criminal charges pending and he was a member
of a gang that rivaled Pursley’s. Ultimately, Pursley
was charged with Murder/Intent to Kill/Injure and
sentenced to “a natural life” at Stateville Correc-tional
Center.
“I didn’t do this crime,” Pursley insisted.
Pursley lamented about his criminal background
which landed him in jail three times prior as well as
his involvement with the Gangster Disciples. This,
he believes, held sway over the judge and further
indicted him on his latest charges.

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“I wish I’d never heard the words Gangster Disciple
in my life. Once you get a record, you’re basical-ly
killing your future,” he commented earnestly.
“When you’re painted a certain way, it’s very hard
to take the paint off.”
His missteps are evident, this he admits. But what
has always been irrefutable to Pursley is the unre-liable
Forensics that contributed to his conviction.
He insists that there’s evidence that the gun they
retrieved from where he was residing doesn’t
match the suspected murder weapon. And ever
since his sentencing, he’s been hell-bent on prov-ing
it.
Pursley has long pursued post-conviction ballistics
testing, the science of how a bullet leaves a gun, to
determine his innocence.
In 2007 Pursley set a precedent in Illinois when the
case, State of Illinois v. Pursley, granted ballistics
testing for the first time under the post-convic-tion
testing statute. While this was a win for other
defendants petitioning for this testing, it has yet to
serve Pursley as his request is still being appealed.
But waiting hasn’t made him inactive. He’s been
the driving force behind the I Am Kid Culture
movement, a newsletter created within the walls
of Stateville Correctional Center intended to
empower urban youth by illustrating the “traps of
the hood.” Ultimately, Pursley desires to impart his
peals of wisdom.
“Small mistakes can lead to the wrong path. Once
you get a record you’re basically killing your fu-ture,”
he said. “My actions have directly affected so
many of my loved ones. It’s a ripple effect, we’re all
connected.”
...to be continued
The Robert R. McCormick
Foundation proudly supports
Street-Level Youth Media
and its commitment to
educating urban youth in
media arts and emerging
technology.

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Staff
Eddie Clopton, Board Secretary
Exelon
Will Fletcher
City of Chicago, Office of the In-spector
General
Megan Geldman
Performance Trust Capital Partners
Courtney Gray
Gray Cloud Consulting
Shawn Healy, Board President
McCormick Foundation
Mien Dang
BlueCross BlueShield IL
Cristina De Leon
Segal Company
Andrew Hixson, Board VP
Performance Trust Capital
Partners
Tim Irwin, Board Treasurer
Wintrust Commercial Bank
Russell Lewis
Chicago History Museum
LaTonya Wilkins
Jones Lang LaSalle
Board of Directors
James Duke
Teaching Artist
Marc Furigay
Director of Education
Manwah Lee
Executive Director
Lisa L.U.S.T.
Teaching Artist
Helen Schneider
Director of Marketing and
Development
Christian Snow
Community Engagement Director

13. 13
Like and Follow
Facebook/street.level.youth
Twitter/street_level
Instagram/streetlevelchicago
LinkedIn/street-level-youth-media

14. 14
INSTITUTIONAL
+ CORPORATE
$100,000+
McCormick Tribune
Foundation
Prince Charitable Trust
$50,000-$99,000
After School Matters
Chicago Community Trust
Polk Brothers Foundation
$25,000-$49,999
Chicago Department
Family Support
Chicago Department
Cultural Affairs
$10,000-$24,999
Alphawood Foundation
(WPWR Channel 50)
Illinois Arts Council
Leo S. Guthman Fund
NAMM Foundation
$1,000-$9,999
Exelon
Farther Foundation
kCura
McMaster Carr
Performance Trust
Topfer Family Foundation
Wicker Park Bucktown
Chamber of Commerce SSA
Up to $999
First American Bank
Pfizer
Pierce Foundation
TA Cummings
INDIVIDUALS
$1,000+
Chris Carney
Rachel Dahan
Jason Elder
Will Fletcher
Courtney Gray
Shawn Healy
Andy Hixson
Tim Irwin
Russell Lewis
$500-$999
Brian & Dana Battle
Deborah Bono
Eddie Colton
Cristina De Leon
Linda Friedman
Michael Henson
Paul Johnson
Jens Shroyer
$100-$499
Margaret Ballsley-Cross
Janice Belzowski
Thomas Bundy
Adam Buresh
Charles Carpenter
Derek Chatterton
Meg Comer
Mien Dang
Cortez Davidaz
Michael Deitch
Cynthia Dickens
Dominy Edwards
Joanna Eisch
Michael Gard
Charlie Green
Jake Harrell
Nigel Johnson
Georges Karam
Deb Kurtzke
Jonathon Lotsoff
Steven Martina
Eileen Monahan
Mike Offergeld
Jim Peterson
Mary KayPhilips
Servia Rindfleisch
Shawn Roberts
Maureen Ryan
Thomas Scanlan
Maryanne Schneider
Jake Theisen
James Toliver
Frank Valadez
William Van Hoene
Andrew Wolfe
Darrelyn Zbaraz
up to $99
Roger Adank
Elvis Alkhas
Donna Allen
Mahesh Alur
David Anderson
Owen Auman
Zoubir Benzenati
Ann Bjorklund
Conrad Bowers
Caren Burmeister
Brenda Butler
Dennis Churilla
Michael Cleavenger
Nick Currie
Stacy Dang
Perry Defiglio
Daniel Dooman
Mariam Ebrahimi
Koltton Fox
2013 Supporters
Since incorporating in 1995, we have been able to stay in the game because of the
financial, in-kind, and human resource support from our community. We sincerely thank
all of our past, present and future supporters for their commitment to #selfexpression
#communication and #social change.

15. 15
Rhonda Frye
Brooke Grandberry
Courtney Gray
Wayde Grinstead
Luisa Hawkins
Brigitte Holiday
Claire Holmes
Andrew Holtz
Linda Hornbeck
LaTonya Howard
Colleen Iudice
Helena Jewell-White
Morgan Kelley
Derek Kessen
Robert & Christine Kowalck
Carla Leatherman
Jeffrey Light
Cheryl Maplesden
Eric Markowitz
Jeff Martin
Nicole Matassa
Jen Maves
Demetrice McClam
Heather McCullough
Brooke Meadows
Amber Mohammad
Nicole Moylan
Nesheba & Shom
Muhammad
Andrea Nash
Lisa Oppenheim
Denise Perry
Dan Peterson
Alex Petrovsky
Yvonne Petterson
Liz Pomroy
Corazon Regalado
Joanne Reilly
Heather Ridout
Shannon Romanowski
Eva Rosberg
Jake Rubenstein
Susan Sakamoto
Khadijah Saleh
Flassteen Saleh
Fia Schlosser
Lawrence Sezer
Gary Silverstein
Shannon Smyth
Thomas Stewart
Karyn Szurgot
Debbie Taylor
George Tchakanakis
Sasha Than
Gayle Ulrich
ChrisVan Haren
Joseph Welling
Lisa White
David Winer
Beth Winer
Bruce Winograd
photos by Alissa Pagels
Raffle Items
Cheers to the following donors for supporting
Street-Level with some in-kind goodies for
tonight’s raffle:
Adler Planetarium
Aramark
Broadway In Chicago
Chicago Blue Dolphins
Chicago Diner
Chicago School of Folk Music
Chicago White Sox
Chicago Wolves
ComedySportz Theatre
Design Hype
Dr. Martens
The Field Museum
Guitar Center
Lettuce Entertain You
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
Obsiderite
OtterBox
Trader Joes

16. Thank you to all our guests, performers, and volunteers, and a big warm hug to everyone who sponsored a youth to attend tonight’s event.
www.street-level.org