Connections, Conversations, and Commitment: Reflections on the Great Lakes
Speakers:
Louise LeBourgeois
Louise LeBourgeois’s paintings are inspired by Lake Michigan, which she not only lives near but also regularly swims in. Though her style shares many of the hallmarks of photorealism, she is concerned less with achieving a true visual likeness of her subject than with capturing an emotional response. Her close cropping of the composition and exacting attention to the texture of atmosphere and water effect a vastness and abstraction that gives her room to explore a scene’s kinesthetic impact. What LeBourgeois paints is not the lake itself but rather her experience of it: “There’s no way I can perceive Lake Michigan without perceiving it through my human body—eyes, skin, ears, brain, and other bodily organs.” The works consequently produce a sense of embodiment. We feel both buoyancy and depth—not just down, but also out toward the horizon and up toward the heavens as we inhabit her paintings.
Matt Altstiel, VP for Development, Alliance for the Great Lakes
Matt Altstiel serves as Vice President for Development, joining the Alliance in July 2023. With the organization’s Advancement Team, he is driving efforts for Development, Community Engagement (volunteer programs), and Communications. Matt is the staff liaison for the Board of Governor’s Development Committee (DevCom) and a co-lead on Board Recruitment. In this role, Matt is advancing a culture of philanthropy and bolstering communications with a tailored, audience-focused approach. The VP of Development is the primary contact and lead for Major Gifts, Family Foundations, and Planned Giving.
Matt comes to the Alliance from Chicago’s Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), where he most recently served as Director of Development. Responsible for double-digit yearly growth in revenue in each of his seven years, he has a deep understanding of and passion for urban planning and ecology – including water infrastructure. Prior to MPC, Matt was Chicago Public Schools’ Senior Manager of Federal Grants, bringing the district more than $125M in competitive funding.
A fifth-generation Chicagoan, Matt lives in Albany Park with his wife, Ellie Bahrmasel, and rescue pup, Ozzie. He is on the Jewish Federation’s Community Building & Continuity Commission. In his spare time, Matt is a published author, photographer, and hip-hop recording artist.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3629577-0
Booking: https://go.evvnt.com/3629577-2
