Tickets are On Sale for CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS 2026 on June 27!
CELEBRATION OF AUTHORS 2026!
SATURDAY, JUNE 27 from 12:30PM – 3:30PM CDT
At The NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MEXICAN ART
Sponsored by WINTRUST BANK & FORWARD SPACE
It’s both our annual gala AND a family-friendly, interactive festival!
Buy Tickets Now!
Silent Auction! Games! Food + Drinks! Open Bar for adult guests! 360 Photo Booth! And of course, LIVE performances of stories written by our students for the 2025/26 School Year!
Attire: Fancy Schmancy where you can come Fancy – dressed to the nines in your best attire. Or you can come Schmancy – with a silly hat or funny outfit that expresses YOU!
You can bid on our amazing Silent Auction Prizes at the event, or remotely from anywhere! Silent Auction items include: A Trip to Mexico with Vidanta Resorts, A Sailing Excursion, An At-Home Dungeons & Dragons Session, Dining Packages, Sports Tickets, Theatre Tickets, and MORE! Stay tuned for a preview and get those bids ready!
This is the most affordable & most FUN Gala in town!
Tickets include food, drinks, a show, and activities for all ages!
EARLY BIRD Adult Tickets (available through 5/31)—$50
EARLY BIRD Youth Tickets, ages 4 to 15 (available through 5/31)—$35
Adult Regular Tickets —$75
Youth Regular Tickets, ages 4 to 15 —$50
Children 3 years of age and under can attend for FREE
Because PlayMakers’ students rock, they typically go on to do exciting things. Every year, we use our banquet to honor a special alum. This year’s Annual Storyteller of the Year Award goes to Isabella Wilhemy Sanchez. Isabella is a special effects make up designer, and former PlayMakers Laboratory student!!!
Isabella Wilhelmy Sanchez has been in the performing arts ever since she was a student at Play Makers Laboratory. She graduated as a theater major from Lincoln Park High School and has been working in the Chicago Indie film scene working on shorts like The Crossing 2020, Perfectly Sane 2025, Wild Party 2025 and I Only Sleep When The Room Is Pitch Black 2025. Isabella has worked under Chicago based makeup artist Anthony Kosar learning more of the makeup profession and learning skills like laying beards and applying prosthetics to create characters/monsters. Isabella’s passion for story telling was nurtured by the teaching artists at PML and is thrilled to join us at the Celebration of Authors gala to share more of her journey, and to celebrate creatives of all ages in Chicago.
Buy Tickets Now!
Can’t attend our party? We’ll miss you! Consider donating to support arts education in Chicago. Thank you!
Additional Information:
This event is a fundraiser to support PML’s outstanding creative writing programming in partnership with Chicago Public Schools. 100% of the tickets proceeds will support PML classes! For 29 years PlayMakers Laboratory has served Chicago Public School students by providing a creative writing residency program aimed primarily at elementary schools. Our company of over 60 teaching artists utilizes creative drama and storytelling to promote literacy and self esteem during our in-school residencies and park district programming. Each year, our programs serve more than 4,000 young people across Chicago. In our 6 week writing residencies, a whopping 88% of students improve writing scores by at least one level over the course of our residencies. Plus, 100% of classroom teachers report that our program supports their student’s writing and improves confidence and self-esteem.
Celebration of Authors is sponsored in part by
Wintrust Bank
Forward Space
PlayMakers Laboratory is sponsored in part by
The Chicago Community Trust,
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,
The Crown Family Philanthropies,
The Field Foundation,
The Illinois Arts Council
The Mardi Gras Fund,
The Paul M. Angell Foundation,
The Polk Bros Foundation,
The Siragusa Family Foundation,
And generous Individuals like you!
The National Museum of Mexican Art has a ramp and is accessible to wheelchairs, both manual and electric. PML staff are not able to assist patrons transferring to or from a wheelchair, theatre seat or vehicle. Service animals are permitted. At this time there is not a planned usage of audio descriptions, Open Captioning, or for ASL interpreters to be in attendance. For any additional accessibility information or requests, please email admin@playmakerslab.org.
By Dinora S, Columbia Explorer's Academy
One day it was Christmas. I slept in the couch. I was 5 years old. I slept. Then I heard a sound, it was very loud. I got outside. It was an alien. It had a beard. I thought it was fake. I took off the mask, it was a huge gigantic monster and it was ugly too. It smelled very very bad. I ran and he was trying to eat me. But it did. It smelled very bad. The water was very green. I was in the water, my skin was a skeleton! THE END
By Journey B, Dixon Elementary
Once upon a time there was Journey a simple 9 year old then one day she took horse riding lessons. The horse started to gallop it was my first time so I wanted to stop so I said stop. The horse got mad and grew angel black wings an dsaid next time you have lessons with me you should know I’m not going to stop. Then he flew away with me into another galaxy and to his home dumped me into the trash went to go use it and then that’s when I escaped took his car drove myself back home and kept his car. I made an underground machine where my friends and whole family lived forever. I never went back to those lessons again. THE END
By Tiana J, Columbia Explorer's Academy
I believe that we don’t have to have Isat every year because kids don’t need no isat stress on them it does not matter if kids need to know more. They could go in books and learn isat is doing something to or heard that it is very bad because kids fail and kids passed and the kids who fail feel really sad and atrocious. It makes them feel bad about their selves. Kids who need help don’t need to maked fun of. And another reason about there should not be isat every year is that kids have to do that grade again. And kids are about 10 years old and in third grade and they feel really bad.
By Kyjuan M, Learn Campbell Academy
One day a women named Kelly. Kelly was going home with a lot of Christmas presents when suddenly she got stuck in a Christmas Ball her size. She called the army. They didn’t use any guns because they thought it might kill her and they did not want that to happen. So the used knifes and to try and bust the Christmas Ball. Then they gave up and used a tank and a machine gun but when the opened the bubble she was already dead.
By Cassandra A, Avondale-Logandale
Once upon a time there were dogs named Shadow and Sunny. Shadow is a boy and Sunny is a girl. They are brother and sister. They always stay together. They love each other. When their mother died in a car accident and police found Shadow and Sunny and Shadow and Sunny became police dogs and Shadow and Sunny found bad guys for the police so they can take [them] to jail. But they were sad about their mom but they are okay about it cause the police men are there with them. Now they are family. They have fun with them. They do not care about their mom any more cause the policemen are there with them and they lived happily ever after the end.
By Francisco V, Loyola Park After School Program
I woke up in the morning. I have pet dinosaur. He is a T-rex. His name is Rex. Zombies started coming out of the trees, and cars and dogs. I was dreaming. I was enjoying the dream. It was a little bit creepy. I took the pet T Rex out and unhooked his leash and he started eating the zombies and zombie dogs. The zombies got scared. Rex was hungry. Zombies are Rex’s favorite food. The whole time I just watch him eat. I strapped a carriage on the back of Rex so I can ride around and watch him eat. The aliens put the carriage on Rex for me so I can keep Rex fed and full of meat. If Rex doesn’t get meat he goes to sleep. Rex has great eye sight and can see really far. The End?
By Malik, Learn Campbell Academy
There once was a man name Carlo. He didn’t like to ride “Moose!” because his owner had not one to walk them and feed them. The moose felt tired. They had been on their feet all day and it got cold. And they got decided to quit and the man went to Miami , Florida and went to the beach.
By Sheriff N, Dixon Elementary
Once upon a time their was me so then I start growing hair I was mad so I went to the shop so I cut it off and it came back so I cut it it got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger so I cut it off so I couldn’t so that’s how I got hair!
By Gema R, Avondale-Logandale
Once there was a old lady that played a instrument called a accordian and she did not get any money so she got mad and she threw her accordian to the ocean and she felt better and she went to her house and watched TV. And then she played the piano. the end
By Jada B, Dixon Elementary
One time a girl name Katie had to go to school for the first time and had made lemonade for her lunch but when she got to school it was gone. When she got home she asked her sisters did they take it and they said NO! She asked her Mom and she said honey I never saw a lemonade this morning but when she went to the kitchen she looked in the fridge and looked in and saw the lemonade and from that day on she will now look before she ask. The End.
