Founder and Artistic Director

JANE BEACHY is the founder and Artistic Director of Salonathon (est. July 2011), as well as the Program Manager for Art at Illinois Humanities, where she founded the Elective Studies series for artists.  She has produced events, performances, residencies and retreats at and/or with the University of Chicago (Chicago Performance Lab), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (OnEdge, SummerDance), Steppenwolf Garage, Metro Chicago, The Empty Bottle, Thalia Hall, The Promontory, Land and Sea Dept., The Inconvenience, The Neo-Futurists, Columbia College, MAKE Magazine, Printer’s Ball, Bottom Lounge, Berlin Nightclub, Chicago Reader, Slideluck and more.  She also runs Camp Salondawega, an artistic retreat at the acclaimed Camp Wandawega in Wisconsin, and teaches in the Theater and Performance Studies Department at the University of Chicago.  She has served on grant-making panels at DCASE, Illinois Humanities, and the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, and recently spoke on a panel about place-making at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Prior to founding Salonathon, Jane served as the Marketing Director at About Face Theatre, Account Executive at TheaterMania in New York City, Program Manager of the Community School of the Arts at Kansas City Young Audiences, and as a Teaching Artist and Drama School staff member at Seattle Children’s Theatre.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa.