Featured Programs

Featured programs

For a full listing of events and programs, please visit the
Calumet Heritage Area Calendar.

Calumet Voices, National Stories Exhibit Opening
June 28 - november 2019

Journey through the Calumet landscape, shaped by generations of grit and passion, home to rare orchids and the steel mills that tower over them. Join the Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibit series and explore what makes this region an unexpected American treasure.
Visit the Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibit at each of its three sites in the region, and at the Field Museum. Presented by local museums, galleries, and history centers, each exhibit in the series will be a unique display of artifacts and interactive components showcasing the region's unparalleled combination of natural, industrial, and cultural heritage.
Field Museum Press Release: First-of-its-kind exhibition series highlights Calumet's natural and cultural treasures

Exhibit Dates and Locations:
June 28 - mid-November 2019
Grit. Passion. Resilience. Might. Discover things you never knew about the Calumet region, from the people who know it best. Experience the first installment in the four-part Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibit series and uncover the hidden gems that make this region an American treasure.
Historic Pullman Foundation/Pullman National Monument Visitor Information Center
11141 S Cottage Grove Ave, Chicago, IL 60628
January - June 2020
Gary Public Library and Cultural Center
220 W 5th Ave, Gary, IN 46402
July - December 2020
Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University
709 Chapel Dr, Valparaiso, IN 46383
February 2021 - January 2022
Field Museum
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605
The Calumet Voices, National Stories exhibition series is a collaborative effort of the Calumet Curators, a group of the Calumet Heritage Partnership, and the Field Museum. The series showcases the rich cultural, industrial, and natural heritage of the Calumet region. The Calumet Heritage Partnership, Calumet Collaborative, and the Field Museum lead the effort to designate the Calumet region as a National Heritage Area.

20th annual Calumet Heritage conference
october 19th, 2019

The Calumet’s Musical Heritage
What is the importance of music for regional heritage?
We often think about heritage as being about interpreting and preserving objects and places from the
past for future generations, but music and sound are ephemeral and fleeting. Given that quality,
it may be difficult to know what our region’s music heritage is let alone to figure out ways to preserve
it. There are certainly places, photographs, documents, and recordings that can help, but perhaps the
best way to preserve musical heritage is through continued performance.
The 20th Annual Calumet Heritage Conference seeks to explore the Calumet’s Musical heritage
through presentations by experts about past and present regional music scenes as well as through
performances by regional musicians. What is the Calumet’s musical heritage and what contributions
has it made to our national musical culture? How can we best interpret our musical heritage?
What are our contemporary music scenes and how do they constitute a living tradition helping to
preserve the Calumet’s Musical Heritage?

We invite you to attend this year’s conference to explore these questions with us and to hear some great music from the region!
Brought to you by:

Calumet Outdoor Series
October 2019
Rainbow Beach Bird Walk

Join the Chicago Ornithological Society, Bird Conservation Network, and Sierra Club Chicago Group for an morning Bird Walk at Rainbow Beach. This event is a little different than other Cal Outdoor Series events in that it was initially organized outside of the Calumet Outdoors Series and already has a full promotional description here:

https://www.chicagobirder.org/events/2019/10/19/rainbow-beach-bird-walk-and-habitat-restoration

The birdwalk is from 7-9am. No obligation, but if you are interested, you are welcome to stay for the seed gathering and trash clean-up from 9-11AM.

This is a free event,
RSVP is encouraged at the url above
When: Oct. 19th, 7-9AM
Where: Rainbow Beach, Chicago (exit Rte 41 at Farragut Ave.)

With any outdoor activity, it is encouraged to dress for the weather including appropriate shoes for walking and staying dry.

Interpretive Materials

Coming soon and brought to you by:

calumet Heritage hackers

Gathers people who are interested in interpreting the cultural, natural, and recreational heritage of the Calumet Region for the public via exhibits, self-guided tours, quests, kiosks, and publications using a variety of media formats and technologies

For more information on any Calumet Heritage Partnership group contact calumetheritage@calumetheritage.org