News

The acclaimed choreographer, Christopher Williams, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Sybil Shearer Fellowship Residency at Ragdale, a nonprofit artist residency program and community in Lake Forest, IL. This prestigious opportunity, which we're proud to fund, continues our commitment to nurturing visionary dance artists. Described by the…

We at the Morrison-Shearer Foundation are thrilled to announce a new funding partnership with 3Arts for this year's Dance Award. The recipient is Robby Lee Williams, who embodies the spirit of innovation and dedication that both our organizations seek to foster. “The partnership between Morrison-Shearer Foundation and 3Arts is a…

Earlier this year, members of the Morrison-Shearer Foundation’s Board of Trustees visited the Chicago Film Archives  and the studio of noted photographer, Judy Natal. Through these visits and others, the Foundation is establishing the basis for its future support of the creative processes of media artists and their collaborators, set to launch…

Plans are underway for the digitization and wider distribution of Sybil Shearer’s three-volume autobiography: Without Wings The Way Is Steep. In addition to providing a fascinating view of an insider’s history of modern dance in America, the volumes offer intimate views into Shearer’s thoughts about leaving New York City and…

On Thursday, September 15, Jenny Harris, COSI Research Fellow for Modern and Contemporary Art at The Art Institute of Chicago presented a talk on her research into the fascinating connections between the seminal Pop Art figure, Ray Johnson, and Sybil Shearer. Her investigation was inspired by the acquisition of a…

In the fall of 2022, Scott Lundius, MSF’s executive director, discovered that the Hamburg Ballet would perform in Chicago at the Harris Theater in 2023 as part of a special tour celebrating John Neumeier’s 50th anniversary as its artistic director. Lundius called the Harris Theater’s CEO, Lori Dimun, setting off…

Milwaukee-born JOHN NEUMEIER has been the Director and Chief Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet since 1973. Yet his dance career and formative training took place in mid-century Chicago, most notably with modern dancer Sybil Shearer and the Stone-Camryn Ballet. This video documents a conversation between Mr. Neumeier and dance scholars…