Near NorthWest Arts Council

05/07/2025

A panel discussion about Artists + Creatives owning property.

03/06/2025

Event later this month.

Don’t miss this discussion on how the arts are shaping urban policy.

11/01/2024

Redlining isn't history—it's harming communities in the present. Our research shows it correlates with poor mental health and lower life expectancy. We need to fight back against this injustice. Your support helps to combat modern redlining - donate today to bridge the gap & help create equitable communities for a ! https://hubs.ly/Q02WnwCt0 https://hubs.ly/Q02Wnvyc0

10/28/2024

A Quaker Elizabeth Magie invented Monopoly to demonstrate land grabbing effects

10/23/2024

WBEZ reported today that among the country’s 10 largest metropolitan areas, Chicago has witnessed the second-highest growth in rent prices over the past year, according to data from Zillow.

Landlords in the Chicago area are using real estate software made by a tech company that may be engaging in an illegal price-fixing scheme to drive up rents, according to a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit and a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court.

https://www.wbez.org/data/2024/10/22/chicagos-rental-crisis-is-an-algorithm-rigging-the-system?subscription=true&utm_source=Newsletter_Daily-Rundown-Non-Member&utm_medium=WBEZEmail&utm_campaign=Daily_Newsletter_Daily-Rundown_Sponsored_20241022&utm_content=10/22/2024&DE=WBEZEmail

October is COOP month

https://cooperativenetwork.coop/co-op-month/
The best strategy to avoid displacement is ownership, and an even better strategy is shared ownership as a cooperative. Find out more at our COOP 101 Workshop presented by Artists Design the Future, a project sponsored by NNWAC.

IN PERSON Sat Oct 26:
https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/events/66fc2a107da7e037008afa3d

OR

ZOOM Thurs Oct 24 option:
https://partiful.com/e/gq6zf2VXDNWWu5BnHVoY

06/27/2023

Artists & Creatives Interactive Mixer

Wednesday June 28, 2023
5:30 - 7:00pm
Don Nash Community Center
1833 E 71st St, Chicago, IL
This event is presented by: Three Walls/Rad Lab Fellow Kiela Smith, Community of the Arts/COTA, Artists Design the Future/ADtF, Near NorthWest Arts Council/NNWAC and The Sanctuary Chicago.�
Chicago Southside Artists and Creatives of all kinds and abilities are invited.�Please email: [email protected] for accommodation needs.

06/27/2023

Announcement: New Funding
Near Northwest Arts Council (NNWAC) and Artists Design the Future (ADtF), announce new funding from National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ), Community Wealth Building Initiative (WEB); and Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) with the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ). The three grants are a significant win for South Side artists and arts organizations to move forward to plan cooperatively owned Work Live spaces. This demonstrates a path for shared ownership of a fully accessible, energy- efficient, mixed-use building owned by artists.

NNWAC and ADtF won a $25,000 NEA Design Award. This grant supports planning and design for artists-owned spaces on Chicago’s Southside. ADtF is one of 1,251 recipients of this grant, FY 2023. “The NEA is proud to support arts projects in communities nationwide,” said Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD. “Projects, such as this one with NNWAC and ADtF strengthen arts and cultural ecosystems, provide equitable opportunities for arts participation and practice, and contribute to the health of our communities and our economy.” The NEA grant supports a feasibility study, market research, and a participatory planning process for artists and creatives.

The Chicago Recovery Plan Community WEB grant of $150,000 supports wealth building through predevelopment, cooperative training for owners, project design, and site selection. In May 2023, the City announced 133 finalists out of 670 applicants received a combined $54 million.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) launched the Together We Heal Creative Place Program to promote healing and transform Chicago’s Neighborhoods. The $45,000 grant underwrites an innovative project where local artists plan and implement grassroots action research, community cooperative game play, and placekeeping activities.

The collaboration leads to the development of permanent sustainable Work Live spaces, where citizen-artists can afford to own, live, create, and engage with the greater South Shore community. This demonstration project not only activates community solutions but also enhances the capacity building of local artists of all abilities.

09/20/2022

“the oppressor would not be so strong if he did not have accomplices among the oppressed”
― Simone de Beauvoir
Book: https://amzn.to/3eHdgtl
( The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir )

09/14/2022

Kiela Smith-Upton spent some time with Politics Done Right discussing Artists Design the Future, an intriguing worker cooperative of BIPOC people.

05/04/2022

Good work here! Needs to happen in every neighborhood.

Congratulations & the Washington Park Development Group team — thankful for your leadership, generosity & passion for this community! We’re excited for what is yet to come at 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Overton Center for Excellence was one of the projects selected by the Recovery Grant Program by announced today 💥💥💥