Art is a public medium, meant to be consumed by the masses and deeply woven into our everyday experiences. With this ethos, Tonika Lewis Johnson has worked with various groups around Chicago—including the City itself—to create public art that challenges perceptions, opens minds, and stops passersby in their tracks.
Altgeld Library Project
In January 2020—with the COVID-19 pandemic right around the corner—Tonika Lewis Johnson was personally selected by residents of the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood to create public artwork for the new Altgeld Garden Branch Library, designed by Jackie Koo.
This project was personal for the artist; her grandmother, Marilyn Lewis, migrated to Altgeld Gardens from New Orleans and raised her father and his thirteen siblings on Corliss Street.
As her concept, Tonika Lewis Johnson proposed a juxtaposition of historic and current-day photos of the community stunningly backlist by the library’s large windows. The final project was met with community admiration.
Ain’t You Heard—What Happens to a Dream Deferred
Storytelling connects us to our past, our present, and our potential. In this spirit Tonika Lewis Johnson partnered with Paola Aguirre, Residents Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), Borderless Studio, and Creative Grounds for a 2019 public art event titled “Ain’t You Heard—What Happens to a Dream Deferred.” Inspired by the classic Langdton Hughes poem of the same title, the event brought memories to life and centered the stories of Black Americans who came to Chicago—and specifically Englewood—during the great migration.
The event was held on April 16th of that year and Woods Academy on 62nd and Racine, an Englewood elementary school that closed six years prior. Attendees joined RAGE and Grow Greater Englewood representatives in an evening of music, spoken word poetry, memory sharing, and the projection of visual art.
This projection featured archival images of Black Americans, with help from image curation organization Black Vrchives; while attendees took in the photos, Tonika Lewis Johnson shared a spoken word story about how her family came to call Englewood home—starting with her grandmother’s birth in Louisiana and decision to leave. Roy Kinsey performed songs “Mississippi Mud” “Citadel Blues” and more interspersed with Tonika Lewis Johnson’s stirring prose.
“Ain’t You Heard—What Happens to a Dream Deferred” was sponsored by the curators of Dimensions of Citizenship”: Architecture and Belonging from the Body to the Cosmos, the official US entry at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
Read the article, “Between Friends: Tonika Johnson & Roy Kinsey” from City Bureau
Scroll through photos and videos of the event below.
Pop Up Projection Party
A picture might say a thousand words, but the way it makes us feel is beyond description.
To celebrate Black culture on Chicago’s South Side, Tonika Lewis Johnson hosted a large-scale, site-specific video projection party in Englewood that featured old family photographs from Englewood residents and historic images of neighboring communities.
The evocative event was held on September 14, 2018 during and after the neighborhood’s second annual night bike ride, Roll N Peace DaRemix. Scroll on to see videos and images from the event, which was hosted in partnership with Black Vrchives, Borderless Studio, and Exposure for Concerned Black Photographers.
Englewood Rising Billboard Project
The narrative? Englewood is damaged and dangerous. The truth? Englewood is a thriving community full of joy, cherished everyday life, and beauty from block to block.
The Englewood Rising Billboard Project was born as a community-led campaign, created and funded by Englewood residents and activists. Each month between April 2017 and March 2018, a different collection of images from Englewood was featured on five billboards in Chicago. Tonika Lewis Johnson’s photography was the centerpiece.
CTA’s Year of Public Art
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) partnered with the City’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to create the CTA Lightbox Project, part of the collaboration’s Year of Public Art.
Four of Tonika Lewis Johnson’s photos were selected for the Lightbox Project, which featured lightbox installations in train stations that highlighted the perspective of Chicago artists and their neighborhoods. Tonika Lewis Johnson’s installation was installed on the Indiana Green Line L stop.
One image, entitled “Glow Radiant,” of a girl picking a dandelion in a vacant lot, was also included in the Chicago Cultural Center’s 2016 exhibition 50×50 Invitational/The Subject is Chicago: People, Places, Possibilities. The exhibition highlighted the work of one artist from each of the City’s 50 wards.
