Threewalls

01/21/2026

On our website you can find resources gathered by the Threewalls team for help against ICE presence in Illinois, mutual aid following the recent governmental cut to food stamps, and best tips for cybersecurity. (Last updated November 23, 2025). The blog post with resources is in the Linktree in our bio.

01/12/2026

Threewalls community member Napoleon Jones-Henderson (1943-2025) is now an Ancestor, after transitioning last month. Born in Chicago, Napoleon was a friend, mentor, and collaborator at Threewalls. As a founding member of AfriCOBRA, the artist collective founded in Chicago in 1968, Napoleon helped to shape the collective’s ethos, impact and legacy in art history, contemporary art, and Black life and culture. Napoleon continued to steward the collective until his transition.

Napoleon’s relationship with Threewalls began in 2018 when our Executive Director Dr. Jeffreen Ash curated two AfriCOBRA exhibitions on the occasion of the collective’s 50th anniversary: “AfriCOBRA: Messages to the People” at MOCA North Miami and “AfriCOBRA: Nation Time” for the 2019 Venice Biennale, an official collateral event. Napoleon’s support and engagement with Threewalls has left a lasting impact, with the most recent being his contribution to our 20th anniversary publication “Dreaming of a Future.” Napoleon’s essay “Dreaming of a Future” is a poetic grounding of the past and the present with a nod to the future. 

We send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and community as they grieve and celebrate his life and legacy. Ashe.

11/19/2025

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11/12/2025

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11/05/2025

For our third installment of the Library Series, we wanted to focus on How to Carry Water by Lucille Clifton. The life and work of Lucille Clifton is a guiding light to our work here at Threewalls, and continues to anchor us in our politic and commitment to Black feminist praxis and cultural preservation.

We have been discussing the role of the artist, especially during times of crisis and political division and the need to be unwavering in our care for one another and (most importantly) for self. Clifton also demonstrates the beauty of taking moments to pause and deepen our understanding of the sequences of everyday life that may feel inconsequential, but hold deep meaning. Returning to How to Carry Water during our Library Series, we’re reminded of the need to hold each moment deeply, but not to linger too long so that we might not understand the field from “a dream of foxes” in front of us.
Para la tercera entrega de nuestro Ciclo de Lecturas en la Biblioteca, quisimos centrarnos en How to Carry Water (Como Acarrear Agua) de Lucille Clifton. La vida y obra de Lucille Clifton es una guía de luz para nuestro trabajo en Threewalls y continúa anclándonos en nuestra política y compromiso con la praxis feminista Negra y la preservación cultural.

Hemos estado conversando sobre el papel del artista, especialmente en tiempos de crisis y división política, y la necesidad de permanecer firmes en nuestro cuidado mutuo y (sobre todo) del propio ser. Clifton también muestra la belleza de tomar una pausa y de profundizar en nuestra comprensión de las secuencias de la vida cotidiana que pueden parecer insignificantes, pero guardan un profundo significado. Al regresar a
How to Carry Water durante este ciclo, recordamos la necesidad de abrazar cada momento profundamente, pero sin permanecer por mucho tiempo, para no perder de vista el campo de “a dream of foxes” (un sueño de zorros) que se abre frente a nosotros.

10/23/2025

Thank you all for joining our 'Dreaming of a Future' catalog launch! Held back in July, we gathered with our community at the Black Arts Consortium , to discuss and ideate around the invitation to resist, to imagine, and to build new futures. Following the long history of artists and cultural makers, we here at Threewalls know how valuable the action of dreaming can be for navigating what seems like unprecedented times. Dreaming is a part of rest and care, essential practices that can change how we process and move forward in our daily lives. Thank you for joining us in this space of creation and dreaming.

And a big thank you again to our wonderful artists and collaborators who were a part of this joyful launch!
Lee Ann Norman
Norman W. Long
Nnenna Okore
Gervais Marsh
Regina Agu
Andrés L. Hernandez
Wisdom Baty
Nancy Sánchez Tamayo
Adia Sykes
Jeffreen Hayes
Erica N. Cardwell
Emmanuel Iduma
Napoleon Jones-Henderson
¡Gracias por acompañarnos en el lanzamiento de nuestro catalogo 'Dreaming of a
Future’ (Soñando un Futuro)! El pasado mes de julio, nos reunimos con nuestra
comunidad en el Black Arts Consortium para conversar y
compartir ideas en torno a la invitación a resistir, imaginar y construir nuevos futuros.
Siguiendo la larga historia de artistas y fabricantes culturales, en Threewalls sabemos
lo valiosa que es la acción de soñar para navegar lo que a veces parecen tiempos sin
precedentes. Soñar es una forma de descanso y cuidado, prácticas esenciales que
pueden transformar la manera en que procesamos y avanzamos en nuestra vida
cotidiana. Gracias por acompañarnos en este espacio de creación y ensoñación.

¡Y un gran agradecimiento a nuestro maravilloso grupo de artistas y cómplices, quienes
fueron parte de este maravilloso lanzamiento!
Lee Ann Norman
Norman W. Long
Nnenna Okore
Gervais Marsh
Regina Agu
Andrés L. Hernandez
Wisdom Baty
Nancy Sánchez Tamayo
Adia Sykes
Jeffreen Hayes
Erica N. Cardwell
Emmanuel Iduma
Napoleon Jones-Henderson

10/16/2025

Presented here is a series of works by artists featured in the book.

In order:
‘Black Power Naps’ by Navild Acosta and Fannie Sosa performed at Performance Space New York. Photos by Da Ping Luo.

‘The Library of Missing Data Sets’ by Mimi Onuoha.

The Art of Sealing Ends Hair Stories Untold by Nakeya Brown.

‘Twins’ by Jordan Casteel. A small selection of works from the living text that is Black Futures.

Post-Read Reflections
What is your earliest memory or experience of art?

If you could create an archive for your life, what would that look like?

Thinking of the chapters in Black Futures, (Black Lives Matter, Black Futures, Power, Joy, Justice, Ownership, Memory, Outlook, Black is (Still) Beautiful, Legacy), how do you imagine these chapters becoming and changing in the future?
Reflexiones después de la lectura
¿Cuál es tu primer recuerdo o experiencia con el arte?

Si pudieras crear un archivo de tu vida, ¿cómo se vería?

Pensando en los capítulos de Black Futures (Black Lives Matter, Black Futures, Power, Joy, Justice, Ownership, Memory, Outlook, Black is (Still) Beautiful, Legacy), ¿cómo imaginas que estos capítulos se transformarán en el futuro?

10/14/2025

10/02/2025

What better way to kick off our Library Reading Series than with Tricia Hersey’s Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto. An important part of our library, this book directly connects to our values around centering our shared humanity and cultivating a culture of care. 

The book is broken up into 4 key parts: Rest, Dream, Resist, and Imagine. The founder of the Nap Ministry, Tricia Hersey, takes us through what it means to dream, her personal journey for the radical need and acceptance of rest, and how deeply necessary rest is for resistance and liberation. 

Find the full version of our reading series post, with related links, in our newsletter! Sign up at the link in our bio.
(Resistencia: Un Manifiesto). Este libro es parte importante de nuestra biblioteca
y conecta directamente con nuestros valores, los cuales ponen en el centro
nuestra humanidad compartida y el cultivo de una cultura del cuidado.

El libro está dividido en cuatro partes fundamentales: Descansa, Sueña, Resiste
e Imagina. La fundadora de Nap Ministry (El Ministerio de la Siesta), Tricia
Hersey, nos guía a través de lo que significa soñar, su camino personal hacia la
necesidad y la aceptación radical del descanso y lo fundamental que es el
descanso para la resistencia y la liberación.

¡Encuentren la versión completa de nuestra publicación sobre el ciclo de lecturas,
con enlaces de referencia, en nuestro boletín! Suscríbanse en el enlace en nuestra bio.

10/01/2025

Find the full version of our reading series post, with related links, in our newsletter! Sign up at the link in our bio.
¡Encuentren la versión completa de nuestra publicación sobre el ciclo de lecturas,
con enlaces de referencia, en nuestro boletín! Suscríbanse en el enlace en nuestra bio.