About Us

Origin

In the fall of 2016, UIC graduate students Chelsea Ridley and Jonathan Kelley embarked on a mission to connect with the residents of North Lawndale to create a community museum in a vacant building on 16th Street. The vision was to provide space for neighborhood residents to research and curate the history, art, issue, and science exhibitions and associated programming. Our first steps were to connect with as many community organizations and residents as possible to host visioning sessions and discuss what they would like to see from a museum in their neighborhood. Through these sessions and conversations, we were able to connect with dozens of organizations and individuals doing great work in the neighborhood. Our first collaboration led to a community-painted mural on the side of the building. The unveiling of the mural in May 2017 brought nearly 100 residents of all ages out to the site and served as our "coming out party." That fall we helped teach a course at UIC, Building a Community Museum, which brought more engagement, ideas, challenges, and progress.

Unfortunately, due to an accident, the original site of the museum was demolished in the fall of 2018. As we were thinking about how to move forward, we connected with the Spaulding Memorial Garden two blocks east of the original museum site. We proposed a more nimble and exciting idea: create the first known community-led museum in a shipping container in a garden. The idea was to provide a cultural/educational space for North Lawndale (a neighborhood with only a handful of such spaces at the time) while also exploring the utility of shipping containers as forward-looking, green, and innovative options for neighborhoods with high rates of empty lots and vacant buildings in formerly vibrant retail corridors. The goal is for the museum to be one of many "sparks" for the sustainable revitalization of a great community. We continued to work with neighborhood residents and organizations to develop the concept and in August 2019, the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot officially opened its large metal doors.

In 2021, the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot relocated to Love Blooms Here Plaza, on the southwest corner of Douglas Blvd. and Central Park Ave.

Exhibits & Programs

The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot hosts between 6-8 exhibits per year, predominantly featuring work by and with West Side artists, curators, and community organizations. We also provide training on exhibit making, installation, programming, and promotion.

Additionally, we sponsor and co-sponsor numerous events throughout the year, including Fridays on the Plaza at Love Blooms Here Plaza, Sundays on the Boulevard on Douglas Blvd., open mics, artist talks, and more.

The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot is a proud co-sponsor of the annual Chicago Sukkah Design Festival. We also are lead co-sponsors of Let’s Move, Lawndale weekly Saturday morning walks starting in Douglass Park and Litter'-Free Lawndale, a community beautification and organizing initiative from the NLCCC GROWSS Committee.