On May 22, the Center on Halsted will present its 2010 Human First award to longtime LGBT community activist and philanthropist Martin Gapshis, who, as co-chair of the Center's capital campaign, helped raise $20 million for the construction of the organization's current Lake View location. Gapshis will receive the award at a Harris Theater ceremony that features Lily Tomlin and is emceed by actor/comedian Hal Sparks.
Other recipients are grantmaking organization Chicago Foundation for Women and Walgreens, which supports the Center and its Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders ( SAGE ) program.
Gapshis, a lifelong Chicagoan, is president of Progress Printing, a 75-year-old business founded by his father, Stanley. Under the elder Gapshis, work done by Progress Printing was aligned with the two tiers of traditional Chicago politics, organized labor and the Democratic Party: According to a 1993 obituary in the Chicago Tribune, Gapshis printed material for the campaigns of Sens. Carol Moseley-Braun and Paul Simon, as well as for Bill Clinton's Midwest presidential campaign. Progress Printing also published the first issue, in 1942, of Negro Digest. The Gapshis family lived in Bridgeport, the same neighborhood as the family home of Mayor Richard J. Daley, who according to Martin Gapshis was close to his father.
In a recent interview with Windy City Times, Gapshis credited his upbringing as vital to the work he does today. "People need to be taught philanthropy," he said. "My parents were really involved in all aspects. I think a lot of people don't have that."
Though he briefly went elsewhere for college, Gapshis said that it was natural for him to stay in Chicago and inherit his father's business. "I had printing ink running in my blood," he said. As for staying in Chicago, he said, "I love Chicago and I think it's the finest city in the country. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."
The philanthropic and political activity undertaken by Stanley Gapshis has continued with his son at the helm of the business: a press release announcing the Human First award ceremony credited Martin Gapshis with in-kind printing donations to "virtually every not-for-profit organization in the city." Gapshis has supported Heartland Alliance, the Chicago International Film Festival, and Lakefront Supportive Housing; he also raised funds for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. He was a member of the board of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, is currently on the emeritus board of Cinema/Chicago, and serves on the Costume Council of the Chicago History Museum.
Gapshis has also worked on various city environmental initiatives, including a stint on the Mayor's Executive Committee for Greening Projects that included work on rooftop gardening and the co-chairmanship of the Chicago Flower and Garden Show.
"I consider him a friend," Gapshis said of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. "We worked very closely with Mayor Daley during the building of the Center … I think the mayor's done a fine job."
The feeling is apparently mutual. In 1995, Daley declared Feb. 10 "Martin Gapshis Day" in recognition of Gapshis being honored as the "Biggest Heart in Chicago" by the Hearts Foundation, a now-defunct HIV/AIDS fundraising group.
In the earliest days of the AIDS crisis, Gapshis said, Progress Printing helped then-nascent organizations like AIDS Foundation of Chicago and Test Positive Aware Network. Involved as well with the NAMES Project and Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, Gapshis was inducted in 2007 into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, which recognized him for "demonstrating a quiet commitment to improving the lives of others."
Gapshis said that he was approached about the construction of the new Center on Halsted by Patrick Sheahan, who invited him to work on the capital campaign. ( Sheahan himself was honored with the Center's Human First award in 2008. ) "His enthusiasm is so contagious," said Gapshis. "Without Patrick, there would be no Center."
Gapshis said that the project succeeded—the building opened, to much fanfare, in June 2007—as the result of "incredible focus and planning," as well as generous donations from community members. In addition to his role with the capital campaign, Gapshis served on the Center's Development and Community and Culture Programming committees.
"It's all about leadership," he said. "If you have a plan, and know what you're talking about, and it's solid, people are willing to invest in it."
Regarding his receipt of the Human First Award, Gapshis said, "The people who are working in the building—they're the ones who are making the difference. They're the ones who are deserving of the awards. They are the real heroes.
"I take a small part of the credit. I was a little cog in the wheel. It was a big wheel. There were lots of cogs."
For tickets to Human First 2010, see www.centeronhalsted.org/humanfirst2010.html .
