Illinois Holocaust Museum Unveils Plan for Groundbreaking Interactive Galleries

Museum Announces $30 Million “Commit to the Future” Capital Campaign

SKOKIE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center has begun to build a new
three-gallery exhibition suite. The Take A Stand Center will
provide an immersive, empowering visitor experience through its Survivor
Stories Theater, interactive Upstander Gallery, and
action-oriented Take A Stand Lab.

Illinois Holocaust Museum will be the first in the world to use this
three-dimensional technology to tell Survivor stories in an incredibly
life-like way. The Survivor Stories Theater will address the
challenge of preserving first-hand Survivor narratives for future
generations. The technology, developed through USC Shoah Foundation’s
New Dimensions in Testimony project, combines high-definition
holographic interview recordings and voice recognition technology to
enable Survivors to tell their stories and then respond to questions
from the audience.

“The opening of the Take A Stand Center is the most exciting milestone
since the Museum’s opening in 2009,” said Museum CEO Susan Abrams. “I am
proud that Illinois Holocaust Museum is protecting our Survivor legacies
and providing visitors with engaging tools to take action for what they
believe.”

The Upstander Gallery will take visitors on an interactive
exploration of historical and contemporary Upstanders who have fought
against injustice and stood up for worthy causes.

The Take A Stand Lab will then put the power of change in
visitors’ hands, allowing them to get involved and make their voices
heard before they leave the Museum.

The Take A Stand Center’s official groundbreaking ceremony
will take place in Spring 2017 for a Fall 2017 opening, and is the
cornerstone of Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center’s $30
million Commit to the Future Capital Campaign that will secure the
financial and programmatic future of the Museum. The private phase of
the campaign raised $20 million with generous gifts from J.B. and M.K.
Pritzker Family Foundation, John W. and Jeanne M. Rowe Foundation, Dr.
Richard Chaifetz, the Crown Family, and Abe & Ida Cooper Foundation. The
remaining $10 million will be raised in the Campaign’s public phase.

“The urgency to keep this history alive is real, as the aging Survivor
population dwindles,” said J.B. Pritzker, immediate past Museum Board of
Trustees Chair. “It is a moral imperative to protect their legacy and
continue to tell their stories and teach the lessons that combat hatred,
prejudice, and indifference.”

Visit www.ilholocaustmuseum.org/commit-to-the-future for
more information on this capital campaign.

Contacts

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
Amanda Berrios
Amanda.Berrios@ilhmec.org