Be The Ripple:
Bustling Spaces’ Collective Campaign
For the first time and in this giving season, we will be launching our collective fundraising campaign, Nov. 26 - Dec. 26, and we need your help to ensure our artistic community continues to thrive, especially now. This year, we’re amplifying 10 incredible arts and social justice organizations that are making powerful change across Chicago
Give to the Collective Campaign at the link below
Promote your Event / Organization as part of the Holiday Hustle
Scroll down to give to individual organizations and find out more about the Holiday Hustle Promotional Campaign
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In 2021 the church collaborated with its neighbors in Woodlawn to reimagine its campus as an accessible cultural hub for a community facing displacement through gentrification. Through this, Arts at First Church was born. This initiative emerged from a simple belief: sacred spaces are places that belong to their community, and where all in the community may come to find belonging They are living spaces intended for the resilience and flourishing of their communities.
Through exhibitions, performances, open studios, and workshops, Arts at First invites people from all walks of life to experience art as an exercise in world-building. Our programming is inclusive, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary, reflecting Chicago’s diversity and responding to its evolving cultural landscape.
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At Cabrini Art House, we envision a community intersection where the legacy of Cabrini's spirit, the essence of William Walker's "For All Mankind" mural, and culture are celebrated, preserved, and reimagined. Through art activations, community archiving and storytelling, we aim to reconnect displaced creatives with their roots, fostering a space where art, history, and community merge to inspire future generations. Our long-term goal is to transform the historical Strangers Home Missionary Baptist Church into a creative hub, revitalizing this endangered building and restoring Walker’s historic mural.
Cabrini Art House stands as a testament to resilience, artistic expression, and a sanctuary for limitless possibilities, ensuring that our stories and achievements are preserved while fostering an environment where new stories and achievements can flourish.
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We are patrons and protectors of Black Art.
Our mission is to collect, promote and preserve art from the African Diaspora by encouraging individuals and institutions to appreciate and acquire this art.
For over 20 years, we’ve been galvanizing art lovers and expanding the appreciation of our visual arts culture—and the contemporary Black artists who create it—through workshops, seminars, tours and special events.
We will continue to collect, promote and preserve art from the African Diaspora by inspiring individual collectors and institutions to embrace this extraordinary art form through establishing the Diasporal Rhythms African American Collectors Institute.
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Located at 4339 South Lake Park Avenue, this historic Chicago Landmark was once the home of McKinley Morganfield—better known as Muddy Waters, the legendary father of modern Chicago blues. It was the first house he ever purchased, and when he moved to Chicago from the South, it quickly became more than just a residence—it was a sanctuary and a creative hub. The home soon transformed into a vibrant gathering place for Muddy and fellow blues musicians, where impromptu jam sessions in the basement gave birth to the electrified Chicago blues sound that continues to influence music today.
The Muddy Waters MOJO Museum is focused on the history, preservation, and continuation of the legacy and art of Muddy Waters as a culture-bearer of the Blues. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service and is a proud member of the African American Civil Rights Network, recognized for its vital role in African American history and the cultural impact of the Great Migration.
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Executive director Evin Marie founded Blondena’s HEIRS to address the need for African American families to have conversations about navigating property inheritance and building generational wealth. Blondena is the name of Evin's great-grandmother, who migrated from Georgia during the Great Migration. A pioneer in her own right, Blondena established property wealth in Chicago and Michigan, inspiring Evin to continue the legacy of building generational wealth for herself, her family, and her community. HEIRS stands for Heritage, Equity, Inheritance, and Resources for Sustainability.
Through virtual and in-person programs that highlight legacy home stories, Blondena’s HEIRS is changing the way families think about property, wealth, and legacy; providing education on passing down property and offering programs for youth to prepare them to inherit property —informed and sustainably.
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ChiBrations is an artist-led media platform designed to celebrate and centralize performing artists of Greater Chicago. We prioritize communities of color and partner with creatives of all types. Our mission is to leverage technology to inspire collaboration, and explore socio-economic and creative solutions for our collective self.
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ISPro Academy trains aspiring artists, producers, and engineers in music production, audio engineering, and the music business.
Led by Marlon King and Bryan Sykes, it provides hands-on education, industry mentorship, and career opportunities to empower BIPOC creatives in Chicago's music industry. As we expand our program to the public with our IS Pro Academy mobile program currently in development, we seek to develop the next generation of successful producers, engineers, and artists.
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What began as the Black Metropolis Project in 2004 with a 25 Member Steering Committee of cultural historians and community preservationists has stayed the course to secure the Congressional designation for the National Heritage Area.
Stretching from Chicago's South Loop to Woodlawn (18th Street to the north, 71st street to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, and Canal Street to the west), the Bronzeville-Black Metropolis National Heritage Area contains assets that convey the story of the Great Migration and Civil Rights Movement both locally and nationally. Namely, the Bronzeville Historic District, a Chicago Landmark District designated in 1998, consists of eight historic buildings and a monument. These historic buildings have been preserved by preservationists over a period of more than 20 years.
Bronzeville will continue to emphasize preservation, education, outreach, and conservation, and accessibility in order to teach the next generation about its community history, while also building up the community through economic development and tourism.
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The Coalition of Black House Museums is an Urban Historic Preservation Advocacy Group that works to prevent the destruction of real estate and the extinction of events, actions and lives that are important to underserved communities around the United States.
We are a collective of historic landmarks in the city of Chicago, IL that seek to celebrate the change agents that once inhabited our neighborhoods. We strive to preserve the tangible, living experience of those who paved the way in both suffering and success for the benefit of us all. To maintain its historic intention, this coalition is comprised of African American, female leadership.
Formed in 2021 in response to a proposed ordinance that threatened the existence of house museums across the South Side, the Coalition, Founded by the Owners of five museum sites: Sajdah House, the Muddy Waters MOJO Museum, the Emmett and Mamie Till House, the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, and the Phyllis Wheatley House, into a collective network committed to advocacy, storytelling, and community empowerment.
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LMRM (“loom room”) is a project space fostering opportunities for art-making, research, and community programming around digital weaving.
Based in Chicago, LMRM is currently one of few places in the world offering public access to a TC2 digital jacquard loom and the only one in the U.S. with an open studio model: no residency application, and no university enrollment.
LMRM was founded by visual artist Hope Wang in 2020. Since then, LMRM expanded to include creative administrator Murat Ahmed as Co-Director. Between their shared passion for alternative art economies and maker spaces, Hope and Murat are committed to building a studio culture organized around experimentation, cross-pollination, and slowness.
Holiday Hustle Promotional Campaign
Do you or your organization have anything on tap for the holiday season?
💃Are you holding a holiday party?🕺
🥧Do you have any featured products you’re selling?🧣
🎺Any performances or exhibits coming up?🖼️
🖌️Any artmaking workshops or cultural traditions you’re sharing with your community? 🪔
Would you like to share information about these offerings with hundreds of fellow Chicago creatives?
This year, for the first time, Bustling Spaces is launching a Holiday Hustle promotional campaign for Chicago Creatives!
Purchase an ad as part of the Holiday Hustle!
Here’s How It Works:
Starting Monday, 12/8, we’ll be sending out weekly Holiday Hustle e-blasts and Instagram posts spotlighting dynamic creatives, their organizations, and their holiday events and specials.
For $25, you or your organization can advertise whatever creative products, services or programming you are offering in December, with a link for folks purchase from you or donate to your cause.
Instagram posts will tag you to easily share with your networks, and your submitted flyers will be housed on our “Holiday Hustle” page on our website.
The $25 advertising fee will go directly into our “Be The Ripple” collective fundraising campaign, supporting 10 dynamic small arts organizations in Chicago.
You can do the hustle, promote your work and support your fellow creatives!
Purchase your Holiday Hustle ad at the link below:
(*Once you purchase your ad, you’ll receive an email with instructions and a brief intake form to provide any flyers/ information we need to promote your work.)
To find out more, please reach out to us at admin@bustlingspaces.com