Steppenwolf's season runs September through August. Thus far, this season's Arts Exchange highlights include:

The Fall 1999 Arts Exchange production of Whispering City - Chicago Ghost Stories, a collection of the city's supernatural folklore, neighborhood stories, rumors and superstitions. Whispering City played for an audience of 3,638 students and teachers - the majority who had never been to Steppenwolf before. Of the 62 schools attending, 31% were Chicago Public Schools, with the remainder being suburban schools and Chicago private schools. The show was also performed on weekends for 1,199 family members, bringing the total audience to 4,837.

Arts Exchange Ensemble Workshops that bring teens from diverse neighborhoods together for an intensive 5-week program to create a theatrical performance based on their own experiences and writings. This season, Steppenwolf is holding four workshops - 2 onsite and 2 at Boulevard Arts Center, located in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Workshops will be held in this winter and spring 2000. Currently there are t2 workshops underway = 1 on-site at Steppenwolf and one in Englewood. There are 13 youth involved in the onsite Workshop, the majority of whom are Chicago Public School students (62%). This group of teens is ethnically diverse - 31% are Hispanic, 23% are African -American, and 39% are Caucasian. There are 10 youth involved in the Engelwood Workshop, 100% of whom are African-American and Chicago Public School students.

The Family Series. This season's first Family Day took place on October 2, 1999. 88 family members spent the day at Steppenwolf and attended Warren Leight's 1999 Tony Award-winning play Side Man, a hauntingly beautiful memory play about a fractured family and the music of their lives. This Family Day event began with pre-show reception including a discussion about the play and its themes. Following the reception, families attended Side Man and participated in a post-show discussion with the cast. The post-show discussion was extremely lively and fun for the families. Following the discussion, Steppenwolf ensemble member and Side Man cast member Rondi Reed took the family members backstage for a tour and invited families to come onstage for a chance to feel like a member of the play.