■ Firefighter dies responding to West Side fire PAGE 2
FREE Vol. 39 No. 17
April 30, 2025 ■ Also serving Garfield Park ■ austinweeklynews.com
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Local woman raises funds to take Austin youth to Africa
Speciall Section, page B1
alt_ Chicago art center Executive Director Jordan Campbell and Aisha Oliver answer questions at the art center’s grand opening of their new home in the former Austin Bank on April 25.
This is the fifth year that Dyer has led a trip to Ghana By DEBORAH BAYLISS Contributing Reporter
Zenaida Owusu-Young, 17, looks forward to connecting with her Ghanaian heritage by way of a trip to Africa that was made possible by Crystal Dyer, a board member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce. “This is an opportunity to connect with my Ghanaian heritage,” Zenaida said. “I’m also looking forward to enjoying the food. Having Ghanaian food in Chicago is one thing but to have it there is a whole different thing.” The opportunity to travel to Africa could be lifechanging for a lot of youth and will also broaden her own horizon, she added. The trips to Africa are part of Dyer’s Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures nonprofit. August marks the 10-year anniversary of the organization and the fifth year that Dyer has taken youth from the West Side and other parts of the city to the continent.
TODD BANNOR
A new arts hub for Austin The nonprofit alt_ Chicago is launching an artist collective as it moves into the historic Austin Bank building By JESSICA MORDACQ
See GHANA on page 5
Staff Reporter
There’s a new arts hub in Austin that provides economic opportunities to local artists and increases affordable arts programming on Chicago’s West Side. Artist-led nonprofit Alt Space Chicago celebrated its grand opening at 5645 W. Corcoran Pl. over the weekend. Over 500 people attended an open house, art exhibition, One Earth watch party with a sustainability panel, artist market and Sunday worship. See ARTS HUB on page 8
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