Friday’s concert at NewBo City Market to be American Sign Language-interpreted

This Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., NewBo City Market will be hosting a free American Sign Language-interpreted concert featuring Chicago talent Ivy Ford as a part of the market’s Rock the Block summer series. This is the first time a concert organized by the market will be ASL-interpreted.

The market wanted to offer an ASL-interpreted concert because accessible arts programming is a core tenant of its mission as a nonprofit, and that goes beyond having just free concerts, said Sarah Blais, director of development at NewBo City Market.

The market was awarded funding for ASL interpretation through the Arts Midwest Gig Fund, Blais said. This is the first time the market has ever received funding from the regional organization, which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

“It's really an honor to be among the recipients,” Blais said. “Once we were awarded funding, we reached out to Hands Up Communications to reserve interpreters.”

The next ASL-interpreted concert after Friday’s will be on June 17.