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Englewood Arts Collective

The Englewood Arts Collective, or EAC, was founded in summer 2017 when Tonika Lewis Johnson organized a group of fellow creatives from Englewood under the mission to unify, represent, and contribute to the creative demographic of Englewood. The group is composed of professional photographers, writers, musicians, graphic designers, clothiers, fine artists, and street art/graffiti muralists that either currently live in or hail from Englewood Area.

The ultimate goal of the EAC is to reflect the beauty of the Englewood while enriching it—an aim they hope to achieve by helping produce events and interactions that uplift the Englewood community and reframe the mainstream narrative, from the inside out.

THE EAC BELIEVES:

  • In the agency of a people who tell their own story
  • The power of art as a legitimate, viable conduit for positive change in communities
  • And the potential for artists to be leaders and influencers of said change

Click here to learn more about Englewood Arts Collective, its projects, and the change EAC artists are creating in Chicago.

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February 2020- Change Agents Podcast featured EAC and the Resident Association of Greater Englewood in their coverage of the neighborhood, including the ways residents are changing the narrative with community initiatives, services, and beautification projects. Listen to the whole story here.

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October 2020- Englewood Arts Collective, winners of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s’ INVEST South/West public art initiative to the Englewood corridor, held a socially distanced beautification event: a community paint day in partnership with the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.). Photo credit to Oscar Sánches, @oso_campeon.

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August 2020- EAC partnered with R.A.G.E. to transform a longtime neglected and vacant Englewood corner store at the 6600 block of Halsted into a site of beauty, visual healing, and vision for the future. Friends from Alt_Chicago were invited to contribute by adding their free community market (Alt_Market) to the space alongside interactive designs from Made in Englewood and We All Live Here.

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June 19, 2020- The #EnvisionEnglewood campaign started with the above Juneteenth billboard, and was followed by a pop-up activation event in partnership with R.A.G.E. The event, entitled “So Fresh Saturday” saw EAC giving over 1,000 PPE items and over 100 art kits and posters of the billboard.

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September 2017- South Side Weekly published an interview with co-founders of the newly formed Englewood Arts Collective: Tonika, Janell, and Joe Nelson. Read the entire conversation here.

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July 2017- Tonika Lewis Johnson was interviewed about her reasons for forming Englewood Arts Collective. Read the full piece here.

City of Chicago Equity Office + Disrupting Segregation Initiative

Tonika Lewis Johnson’s Folded Map Project partnered with Together We Heal to launch a custom designed Action Kit as part of Chicago’s Year of Healing. The kit was launched as part of a Disrupting Segregation initiative created to help Chicagoans understand how segregation maintains and continually rebuilds racial inequities.

The toolkit was debuted alongside the chance for Chicagoans to win a free tour with Chicago TikTok historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas. Learn more about the toolkit, the project, and Folded Map here.

Tonika Lewis Johnson and Shermann “Dilla” Thomas hosted a bus tour to “disrupt segregation” in partnership with the city. (Kristan Lieb / WTTW)
Tonika Johnson (second from left) Candace Moore, Chicago’s Chief Equity Officer; Tonika Johnson, the creator of the Folded Map Project; and Dilla Thomas, Chicago’s neighborhood historian, are teaming up to showcase the Folded Map Together We Heal Edition project and to highlight the impact segregation has on Chicago. The goal of this experience is to expand the understanding of racial segregation in Chicago, highlight the Folded Map Together We Heal Action Kit, and to begin a journey toward racial healing and transformation. The event was August 21, 2023.
(Kristan Lieb / WTTW)

Tonika Lewis Johnson x Dilla: Greater Englewood History Tour

When one of Chicago’s most famed urban historians meets an award-winning social justice artist-activist, the world is in for an eye-opening collaboration. On September 26, 2022, Tonika Lewis Johnson joined Sherman “Dilla” Thomas in hosting the Greater Englewood History Tour. 

During the two hour tours, the hosts focused on educating guests about the “tale of two cities” unique to Englewood—from its historical prominence as a busy shopping district to the close-knit community of today. A pivotal piece of the tour explores Tonika Lewis Johnson’s Inequity for Sale project, which examines the discriminatory land sale contract practice of the 50s and 60s.

Read more about the project, which sought to empower and change perspectives, here.

“You don’t need a bus to do this,” Chicago’s Chief Equity Officer Candace Moore said of using the Folded Map Project to understand the perspective of someone from a different neighborhood. Photo: WTTW/Kristan Lieb
“Would Englewood get the second library today,” Thomas asked, in reference to its Kelly branch, the second-oldest branch in the city. Photo: WTTW/Kristan Lieb
Cheryl Nelson dreams of eventually open an outpost of Sweet Vegan Bakes on her native West Side, but for now has a store in Lincoln Park. Photo: WTTW/Kristan Lieb

Englewood Branded x Folded Map

The Folded Map Project by Tonika Lewis Johnson partnered with Englewood Branded, an Englewood-centric apparel shop on West 63rd Street, for an exhibition showing off the project and its implications in November 2019.

The shop allows residents to rep their city with pride; Tonika Lewis Johnson found it to be the perfect place to show off Folded Map, which Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich called part of Johnson’s status as “a kind of ambassador to our divided city.”

The exhibition at Englewood Branded launched with support from Propeller Fund and We, Women. Neighbors came, connected, and explored the Folded Map Project with their own eyes. Scroll on to see photos from the collaboration.

Tonika Lewis Johnson x Roy Kinsey

A Chicago collab for the ages. Tonika Lewis Johnson partnered with rapper-musician Roy Kinsey to turn Kinsey’s live performance of his album, Blackie, into a deeply moving personal narrative about the Great Migration. With assistance from African American image sourcing company Blvck Vrchives, Tonika Lewis Johnson and Kinsey merged their family histories to bring this multimedia storytelling to life.

The live performance was held at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre as part of its LookOut Winter Series Lineup.

To hear Kinsey’s album Blackie, click here. And to book Kinsey and Tonika Lewis Johnson’s collaborative performance, or receive updates about upcoming shows contact the artists at roykinsey24@gmail.com

Chicago Humanities Festival

Tonika Lewis Johnson participated in CHF as a presenter in 2018, 2019, and 2020. In 2018, she hosted an interactive discussion about her “Folded Map” project with architect and urban designer Paola Aguirre. Watch the conversation below.