There are very few museum projects that don’t incorporate the advice, expertise, voice, or skills of an outside partner.

We’re especially interested in partnerships that reflect the depth and breadth of the design community, collaborations that demonstrate the everyday impact of design, and those that feature and amplify overlooked or underrepresented voices.

Have an idea? Let’s see if it makes sense — send us an email below and let’s talk!

HEY! PLAY!

The Museum exhibited Hey! Play! in Fall 2018. The collaboration began when a long time museum volunteer and lecturer in DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media, LeAnne Wagner, came to us with an idea for an exhibition about the design of digital games. Not industry games, like Super Mario or Sonic, but independent games that reflected and challenged contemporary culture, facilitated spiritual awakening, and addressed personal challenges. 

The exhibition was curated by Brian Schrank (Chair of Game Design and Associate Professor at DePaul University) and  LeAnn Wagner (Partner at Adjust Creative and Professional Lecturer at DePaul University). DePaul student interns worked with museum staff to build the exhibition infrastructure as well as install the games themselves. 

This collaboration was an opportunity to feature a new genre of design as well as to work with experts in that field. Chicago’s gaming history, particularly with mechanical and then digital game development, was an interesting connection to the city. It also encouraged the public to engage with design, and to think about the integration of design in our lives.

Raising Products

Raising Products was proposed by Chicago designer, curator, and educator Norman Teague of blkHaUS studios. Raising Products exposes the design process and its relation to fabrication, economics, and artisanship, and starts an economic conversation about the history of Chicago design and its relevance to contemporary communities of color. Primary goals are to illuminate the design process; provide opportunities to develop economically valuable pragmatic skills, and establish creative outlets that expand arts industry in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.

We believe that design can be an agent of change that uplifts and transforms marginalized communities and are convinced that craftsmanship, the act of creating with one’s hands, is extremely valuable monetarily and socially. The multi-phase project utilizes the unique nature of South Shore and works to bring attention to the legacy and relevance of Chicago’s designers of color.

The work on this project was driven by funding, and the museum and blkHaUS partners Teague and Fo Wilson were able to move forward with an event sponsored by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Featuring BIPOC artists, designers, and scholars discussing art, design, and communities of color, the conversations expose the design process and its relation to fabrication, branding, and artisanship. Discussion also addresses the future of the field as it concerns people of color and ways to open paths to more opportunities, acknowledgment, and visibility — what systems, structures, platforms, and support do artists and designers of color need to thrive?

We look forward to continuing the conversation and hopefully funding all phases of the project in their entirety in the near future.