Together We Heal
Creative Place
Together We Heal Creative Place
Together We Heal Creative Place (TWHCP) funds 47 artists and community-based
organizations for medium- and large-scale creative placemaking projects in low- and
moderate-income Chicago neighborhoods.
Why?
The TWHCP program harnesses the transformative power of art to cultivate a more equitable, vibrant, and united city. The program was intentionally designed to acknowledge and uncover past racial injustices and how they continue to show up today in Chicago neighborhoods. TWHCP projects create public spaces for dialogue, understanding, and reconciliation to help us learn from those injustices and build a better future.
The Creative Place Program positions resources in the hands of communities to use art as a vehicle to reflect, reclaim, and reimagine their neighborhoods using OERJ’s Together We Heal Framework.
What is creative place making?
Creative placemaking is the practice of using arts, culture, and community-guided design to transform public spaces into vibrant hubs of expression and connection that reflect the diverse voices within a community. It includes a strategic curation of performances and activations, public art, and inclusive initiatives that highlight issues including food insecurity and housing injustice that plague historically disinvested communities.
- Place artists and art at the center of planning, execution, and activity
- Invites people to be involved in the creative activity
- Honors the legacy of cultural organizing in community
- Leverages the creative potential already present in a place
- Focuses on what makes a place unique and distinct based on its history and character
- Creates a place where people want to go and linger, socialize, learn, and connect with the neighborhood and their neighbors
- Sense of Belonging
- Community Agency & Power
- Bringing memories to life
- Pride of Community
- Neighborhood Vibrancy
How TWHCP works.
From Fall 2022 to December 2024, artists and community organizations working in partnerships with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events and the Office of Equity and Racial Justice will identify priorities that strengthen the economic, physical, and/or social needs and visions of neighborhood or place. These priorities inform the development of multi-year creative placemaking projects that promote dialogue and connection; activate shared spaces; beautify communities; and celebrate local cultural richness.
TWHCP encourages projects that leverage and enhance the capacity of the work and creative potential that already exist in communities. The 47 total projects feature multiple artistic disciplines, including architecture, dance, film, music, performance art, photography, public art and theater. They will energize public spaces and invite residents to interact through dialogues, activations and creative problem-solving. All project work and programming will be free to the public.
The Together We Heal Creative Place program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, a part of the Mayor’s Road to Recovery Plan.
EXPLORE
the Creative Projects
Interlocking Visions will engage youth and communities in conversations about space, place, belonging, healing, and change in the built environment through design pop-ups hosted on site and out of a retrofitted mail truck.
EVENTS
Calendar
Discover a variety of “Together We Heal Creative Place” citywide events and programs. Utilize the filter option to sort through specific types of events, locations and dates. New events will be added to the calendar all summer long. Subscribe to the calendar and check back for updates!
Calling in Our Ancestors: Healing Our Hearts
Starling 3243 W 16th St, Chicago, United StatesWe are collaborating with Duo as they "unwrap" their new community space in North Lawndale, Starling. Our photo and storytelling exhibit "Calling in the Ancestors: Healing Our Hearts" will be […]
Front Porch Series
Mojo Museum 4339 S Lake Park Avenue, Chicago, IllinoisFree outdoor Blues concert at the Muddy Waters MOJO Museum, "Original House of the Blues."