What Happened Next

In 1991, DCA secured a $150,000 National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant that paid for promotional brochures, collaborative exhibition projects, and computer and website training for the city’s ethnic arts and cultural organizations. In 1994, as an extension of DCA’s outreach efforts, Guzman organized van tours of ethnic neighborhoods. “In the beginning, I was driving the van and giving the tour, and it wasn’t easy,” explains Guzman, who took a tour out once a month to one of five neighborhoods, explaining the community’s ethnic roots, cultural traditions, and architectural evolution.

Within a year, demand grew for the popular tours. “I decided that if I could market the tours to conferences scheduling in Chicago a year out,” says Guzman, “I could prepay for a full busload of tourists and afford to bring in another guide.” That plan worked well and in the fall of 1995 Guzman had 20 prepaid groups for her neighborhood tours. The tours’ success was apparent not only to Guzman but also to DCA Commissioner, Lois Weisberg. “She gave me the green light to pursue a full-fledged tour program and helped me apply for a grant,” Guzman says.

In 1997, Guzman spearheaded the complicated effort of coordinating about 25 cultural partners in a collaborative effort to take visitors into the neighborhoods to see, hear, smell, and taste the whole experience. This initiative—Chicago Neighborhood Tours (CNT)—managed by the Office of Tourism within the DCA, was funded with a $200,000 three-year grant from Sears, Roebuck & Co., and matching city funds. An outgrowth of the CNT, the Chicago Neighborhoods Gift Shops project, was established that same year with grants totaling $80,000 from NEA and the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Selling ethnically specific and authentic, handcrafted merchandise, the shops provide alternative sources of income for community-based arts organizations.

The tours themselves come under two headings: “Neighborhood” and “Special.” During Neighborhood Tours, local guides relate the founding and growth of communities like Swedish Andersonville, German Lincoln Square, Puerto Rican Humboldt Park, or the architecturally rich Prairie Avenue Historic District. There are nine neighborhood tours scheduled on a rotating basis on Saturdays throughout the year.

Special Tours present an amalgam of information about a culture and its history in the city, and they are often tied into neighborhood events. Presented by community historians who have researched their subjects thoroughly, these are longer, more expensive, and more in-depth than the regular tours. Special Tours include The Great Chicago Fire, Threads of Ireland, A Jewish Legacy, Gay and Lesbian History, and the most popular tour for international visitors, Roots of Chicago Blues and Gospel. During a five-hour Special Tour, guests are taken on a combination driving-walking tour of the district, view an artistic performance or exhibit, and have lunch at any one of a number of participating restaurants that serve traditional cuisines from around the globe.

All CNT tours can be prepurchased individually or by groups of 35 or more. To boost group sales, CNT is marketing the tours to senior citizen organizations, schools, corporations, and leisure travel planners.

Timeline

• 1991 - NEA grant awarded to DCA for cultural promotion'

• 1994 - DCA adds van tours to ethnic neighborhood marketing plan

• 1995 - Prepaid group tours catch on

• 1996 - With Sears grant, DCA founds Chicago Neighborhood Tours

• 1997 - 900 guests participate in CNT tours
  
  Chicago Neighborhoods Gift Shops established

• 1998 - 45 tours offered throughout the year

• 1999 - CNT hosts 1,600 guests

• 2000 - 2,500 guests take individual and group CNT tour

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