Lawndale Popup Spot

Render created by thefairArchitect.com

Lawndale Popup Spot is a community museum featuring exhibits by and for the North Lawndale community. Lawndale Popup Spot is now located at Love Blooms Plaza, southwest corner of Central Park Ave. & Douglas Blvd.

Open Architecture Collaborative - Chicago assisted with the fundraising efforts, program organizing, and architectural visualization and consultation led by Jonathan Fair, Mark Wille, and Craig Stevenson. Lawndale Pop Up Spot held its first exhibit, "A Safe Place," which has been designed by students from the West Side who were part of the After School Matters program supported by Gardeneers.

The goal of this project is to assist Lawndale residents in developing a safe, affordable, attractive, and sustainable site for cultural expression, education, and community building, in connection with other ongoing community revitalization efforts. It is in keeping with the quality of life plan released last year by the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Committee, which includes as goals:

  • Activate open spaces and vacant lots throughout the community with public art, such as commissioned art installations, pop-up exhibits and performances, rotating artwork from neighborhood schools, and performances curated by local arts and culture organizations.

  • Curate cultural experiences in green and open spaces such as our community gardens and parks to build awareness of these community assets.

 
 
 

Recent Developments

Ytasha Womack Leading the Afrofuturism Visioning

Craig Stevenson assisted Could Be Architecture and the Lawndale Popup Spot with partnerships for the first Chicago Sukkah Design Festival.

The Chicago Sukkah Design Festival pairs North Lawndale community organizations with diverse architectural designers to design and build sukkahs (small huts constructed outdoors for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot) that amplify civic life. Working collaboratively, each team explores themes of design literacy, social justice, and neighborhood futuring through the design of a small structure that provides a big impact. The Pop-Up Spot hosts an exhibition exploring Sukkot, the Festival design process, and more!