Cultural Affairs Comm. Weisberg To Step Down

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Lois Weisberg will be stepping down at the end of the month, according to published reports.

Lois Weisberg, who has been at the helm of the department since Mayor Richard M. Daley took office in 1989, will step down on Feb. 1 as the city merges her department with the Mayor's Office of Special Events.

Weisberg, 85, has said in a statement that she is "strongly opposed to the merger," the Chicago Tribune reported.

Currently, the Department of Cultural Affairs manages art exhibitions, performances and programs at the Cultural Center, Millennium Park and other venues in the city. The Mayor's Office of Special Events is in charge of city festivals and celebrations, including the summertime music festivals in Grant Park, the Taste of Chicago, and the Air and Water Show.

Mayor Daley first suggested merging the departments in September of last year.

Weisberg has been in Chicago city government since 1983, when Mayor Harold Washington named her head of the Mayor's Office of Special Events, Crain's Chicago Business recalled. Since moving to Cultural Affairs, Weisberg has been credited with selling ideas to Mayor Daley such as the "Cows on Parade" public art exhibit in 1999, and events such as the World Music Festival, the Tribune reported.

Weisberg also joined Maggie Daley in 1991 in creating the Block 37 art program, which brought students to the then-vacant Loop block to create art and put it on display, the Tribune reported.

But more recently, Weisberg has expressed strong opposition to some of Mayor Daley's plans, including a plan to privatize the taste of Chicago to help plug a city budget shortfall.

Weisberg said in September that it would be a mistake for the very reason that has made the Taste so successful: it's a free event that's an annual celebration of food, music and the city's rich history of racial and ethnic diversity.