This is the first News item post for Pistocelli Services. This is where you will find announcements of our latest work and what’s coming up.

First some details on what we have done up to this point. Late last summer, after stepping down from his previous position, Mike was encouraged by various quarters to keep his philanthropic and support activities going using a small footprint, so that he would have room in his life for other professional, arts and humanities, and family activities. A structure was chosen and implemented.

The goal is simple – support arts and arts education initiatives and organizations, predominantly in the Chicago area. Do it through advising and small grants in a manner that is efficient and user-friendly for all involved. Setting up the business and logistics aspects has taken just a bit of time That takes us up to late summer.

Come fall, we were involved with our first micro-convening. It was on behalf of a music and broadcasting profession who sought advice for the next step in his fascinating and diverse career. An advisory council of five people was recruited, The all-day meeting was intense, throughtful, free-flowing, but always focused on the future of this curious and tremendously talented individual. The capstone was a celebratory dinner downtown with the client, his wife, and the committee. Lovely.

January of 2025 brought our first support of a large convening, the Equity Arc convening of national Pathways organizations in Chicago. More about this exciting event in a post to follow!

Most recently, Mike and Bruce made a site visit to The Miracle Center on the northwest side of Chicago. Read about that amazing organization in an upcoming post in the Grantee Corner.

The next convening we will support is the 2025 Chicago Arts and Culture Summit on May 19 at the Omni Hotel, Chicago. See post below soon!

Our overall goal is to be a small but dedicated part of support for a thriving arts and arts education component within a great city and beyond. That is no small task. For however much we can do at whatever level, we are started. One may be reminded of the stirring words of John F. Kennedy at his inaugural address:

“All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.”

And so we begin!