Tuesdays on the Terrace | Shawnee Dez
July 15, 20255:30 pm - 8:00 pm
This event is free, but capacity is limited. Reserve a Fast Pass for expedited entry—available soon!
Shawnee Dez. Photo: Maya Iman.
About the Event
Summer Tuesdays come alive on the MCA terrace with free concerts highlighting artists from Chicago’s internationally renowned music community. Enjoy live music while relaxing on the lawn with your own picnic, or savor snacks and drinks available for purchase. Then head inside to catch the MCA’s summer exhibitions—we’re open late on Tuesdays and free for Illinois residents.
This week, Chicago vocalist and composer Shawnee Dez brings her soulful, R&B-infused sound to the MCA terrace. Known for her rich vocals and deeply expressive performances, Shawnee Dez creates music that resonates with heart and authenticity. In addition to her work as a musician, she hosts The Sit Down, a popular podcast presented by the Chicago Reader, where she interviews creatives across disciplines, from music and visual art to film and food.
About the Artist
Chicago-born and -based multidisciplinary artist Shawnee Dez intently engages her audience, encouraging energy exchanges first and foremost. Dez is concerned with ancestral knowledge and performance as an opportunity to channel from and communicate with the past and future. In her debut album MOODY UMBRA (2023), Dez explores their musical range, harmonic layering, the fusion of live instrumentation and digital production, and her dynamic multi-ranged alto melodic voice, to create the perfect dreamscape. When off the stage, Dez’s work centers youth and community advocacy by activating spaces for creative youth to express unapologetically. In June 2020, Dez organized a mass Juneteenth Black JoyRide bike ride, a critical-mass demonstration, through Chicago’s metropolitan area. This ride was birthed as a symbol of liberation and mobility during a time where many were heavily limited by the horrifying effects of two pandemics: systemic racism and COVID-19.
Funding
Tuesdays on the Terrace is presented by NBC 5 and Telemundo Chicago.
Tuesdays on the Terrace is made possible in part by a generous gift from Luminarts Cultural Foundation.
