Kevin Simmons

Kevin Simmons is the founder and co-director of two nonprofit art spaces: High Concept Laboratories (HCL), and Los Del Patio. HCL collaborates with Chicago-area artists and performers to foster the creation and development of new works, and also curates classes, screenings, lectures, and other events for the community. Los Del Patio, located in Panama City, Panama, entails a gallery, cafe/bar, center for studios and workshops, as well as professionally-oriented programming pertaining to the production and presentation of contemporary art. He is the president of Opera Cabal, a Chicago-based avant-garde contemporary opera company, and in addition to serving on the board of the Foundation for National Progress / Mother Jones Magazine, he is a board member of Molly Shanahan / Mad Shak Dance Company, The Canary Project, and the Azuero Earth Project. A former AmeriCorps*VISTA Site DIrector with LIFT, he studied political science and public policy at Princeton University and has worked in development and programming for a variety of environmental projects in Panama, including the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center and the Frank Gehry-designed BioMuseo / Museum of Biodiversity in collaboration with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.