Phillip Bahar, the president and executive director of the Chicago Humanities Festival, is stepping down, according to announcements from Bahar and the organization. The Chicago Humanities board of directors is launching a national search for his successor.
Bahar, who has led the Chicago Humanities nonprofit since he was appointed in 2013, is leaving to become the director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.
According to his letter, emailed on Wednesday to followers of the festival, Bahar is departing at the end of this season.
“During my tenure, you’ve helped us grow from a beloved seasonal affair into a year-round institution welcoming world-renowned authors, artists and thinkers,” he wrote in part, “and creating space for voices from every corner of Chicago.”
Chicago Humanities puts on events in the spring and fall but its flagship event has long been the Chicago Humanities Fall Festival, a weeks-long calendar of events with authors, politicians and other cultural thought-leaders. This fall’s edition runs from Sept. 21 to Nov. 13 with appearances by author Salman Rushdie, comedian Cheech Marin, musician Bob Mould, writer and activist Angela Davis, and author Jill Lepore; more information at www.chicagohumanities.org. The expansion to put on a spring festival was under Bahar’s leadership.
dgeorge@chicagotribune.com
