"Red Line Service makes
the kind of critical, visionary art
that is engaged in world building,
in rendering palpable
the world we want to live in."
- Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune
Events
A festive evening of poetry + song organized and led by Red Line Service performers.
Join us for a program supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art's Art Design Chicago program and presented by Jesse Rosenbluth, President of Omni Rewild™
Join us for a program supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art's Art Design Chicago program and presented by Chandra Christmas-Rouse
Join us for a program supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art's Art Design Chicago program and presented by Nootan Bharani, architect and Associate Director of Cultural Stewardship and University Partnerships at Arts + Public Life, and a lecturer in the Humanities Division, at the University of Chicago.
Join us for a VIP tour of current exhibitions at Wrightwood 659 as well as a tour of the magnificent building designed by Tadao Ando.
Join us for a program supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art's Art Design Chicago program and presented by Bess Williamson, Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and historian of design and material culture.
Join us for a program supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art's Art Design Chicago program and presented by Uthman Olowa, the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD)Teaching Fellow, Architecture, Interior Architecture, & Designed Objects, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Behind-the-scenes tour of the Field Museum's Africa collection in storage. Tour led by assistant curator of anthropology, Foreman Bandama.
Make and decorate seed shakers; plant seeds and share a meal, as we lay the groundwork – together – for a beautiful, thriving community garden which will bloom in spring/summer 2024.
Join us as Red Line Service – in partnership with Studio WIP – creates a community mural on a vacant lot in N. Lawndale as part of Red Line Service’s contribution to the Terrain Biennial. Light lunch will be available.
We are so pleased to partner with Congo Square Theatre to bring this opportunity to Red Line Service artists and thinkers.
Join us for a tour of The Plant, a research and production facility, comprising a collaborative community of small food businesses.
Join Michelle Gilbert, Legal and Policy Director and Terra Wilhelm, staff attorney, both at the Law Center for Better Housing for a lunchtime discussion.
Join us for a lively, fun, summer day of mingling with Red Line Service artists, viewing, buying and supporting their art!
Join Red Line Service, and artist Sonja Moser (Chicago-based writer; and theatre & visual artist), for a playful, yet meaningful art making workshop.
Join us for a full day field trip experience to Sheboygan WI!
A legal and advocacy framework for exploring the intersection of houselessness and food insecurity, followed by a radical art experience.
The Chicago Puppet Lab is a developmental lab for Chicago artists creating new, original puppet theater work. This cohort of artists from a variety of creative backgrounds and with a range of puppetry experience has been meeting weekly with Co-directors Tom Lee and Grace Needlman since October.
Join us for a tour of "Not All Realisms" with curator, Leslie Wilson.
Join us for a Book Launch Party
Join Annie Howard and Seven Benjamin from the Chicago Housing Justice League for a presentation on the many ways housing insecurity manifests in Chicago.
Join us for a private tour of The Arts Club of Chicago with director, Janine Mileaf. Lunch will follow. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness. RSVP is required. Space is limited.
Join Deanna Ledezma for a presentation entitled Family Photography Expanded: Kinship, Communities, Belonging
In partnership with EXPO Chicago, the studios at Mana will be open from 6-9pm.
Join us for a special art-making trip to The Chicago Weaving School. Weave a Carolina Snowflake of your own.
Join Art Historian Magdalena Moskalewicz, for a presentation on the work of the internationally recognized artist, Magdalena Abakanowicz as well as her connection to Chicago.
Join us for printmaking in the garden
Join us for a VIP tour of Derrick Adams' new exhibition at Rhona Hoffman Gallery. Lunch will follow. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness. RSVP is required. Space is limited.
Join us for The Fixer Upper: Buying into the American Tragicomedy with Amndtrn5thsnd, PhD (independent artist and scholar)
Special tour of the exhibition with artist, Max Guy. Lunch will follow. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness. RSVP is required.
We are proud to present Adrienne Brown, Associate Professor, University of Chicago. She will discuss her work, The Black Skyscraper: Architecture and the Perception of Race, which recovers the skyscraper’s drastic effects not only on the shape of the city but the racial sensorium of its residents. She will also discuss her work that charts the impact of the U.S.’s move to mass homeownership in 20th century on how Americans experienced residential space as a social, spatial, and, most significantly, a racial unit.
Join Rhoda Rosen, executive director, Red Line Service and associate professor, adj., School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a presentation, followed by a festive, holiday meal. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Join J. Dakota Brown for a presentation on typographers, design and labor politics in the Midwest.
Join art historian, Margaret MacNamidhe, associate professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a noontime talk. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Rebecca Zorach, Mary Jane Crowe Professor in Art and Art History, Northwestern University. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
We are thrilled to be represented at our first art fair. We will be showing Red Line Service artists, Deborah Awwad and Ravi Arupa's work. Our book, Voices from the Margins, will also be available. Join us for Vernissage on Friday, September 9th from 5-8pm; Fair opening hours are: Saturday, September 10th from 12-9pm; and Sunday, September 11th from 1-5pm. No RSVP needed. For more information, visit: https://www.mdwfair.com/assembly
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Community Agreement Workshop
Leslie Wilson, Associate Director, Academic Engagement and Research, Art Institute of Chicago. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Aisha Motlani, ACLS Leading Edge Research Fellow at Arts Alliance Illinois and lecturer, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs, Block Museum, Northwestern University. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
A private tour of Diane Severin Nguyen's "If Revolution is a Sickness" followed by a discussion with the curators and a shared meal.
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Lori Waxman is the art critic for the Chicago Tribune and a senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
A private visit to The Chicago Mosaic School for a personalized mosaic tile-making workshop with expert instructors.
A writing workshop for Red Line Service attendees who want to explore writing their own art histories. This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
Presenter Ross Stanton Jordan, Interim Director and Curatorial Manager, Jane Adams Hull House Museum This event is free and open to the public, with a special invitation to people with a lived experience of homelessness.
VIP Field Trip
Private experience of the School of the Art Institute (SAIC) annual biblioderive. In addition, we are pleased that the Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection and John M. Flaxman Library (both located at SAIC) each accessioned into their collections a copy of the Red Line Service artist book, Voices from the Margins.
Private tour with director, Laura-Caroline de Lara, of the exhibition Stockyard Institute: 25 Years of Art and Radical Pedagogy. Jim Duignan, founder of Stockyard Institute made a surprise appearance and co-led the wonderful tour.
Private tour with Chief Curator and Deputy Director, Karen Irvine, of the exhibition, American Epidemic: Guns in the United States.
Supporters
2022-23 Red Line Service Contributors include so many generous people and institutions. Warmest appreciation to:
Aaron Rose, Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, Ana Sanchez, Anonymous donor advised fund at The
Chicago Community Foundation, Callie Alton, Chicago Funders Together to End
Homelessness, Chicago Housing Justice League, Christina Crosthwaite, Church World
Service, Connor Frew, Crossroads Fund, Dana Boutin, Department of Cultural Affairs and
Special Events (DCASE), Emily Green, Francine Almeda, Gaea Lady, IL Humanities, Ilise
Goldberg, Jacqueline Hayes, Jean Eisenman, Jonathan Rothstein, Joseph & Bessie
Feinberg Foundation, Julia Fetters, Julie Parson-Nesbitt, Kathleen Vitaioli, Lacourdaire
(Lucky) Camargo, Lawrence Weschler, Leanne Horvath, Lisa Yun Lee, Mariela Acuna,
Mike Phippen, Mission Endowment Grant from the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Paul Gee,
Reva & David Logan Foundation, Rhoda Rosen, Sasson Azoory, Stephanie Wong,
Suzannah Papish, The Owens Foundation, The Seabury Foundation, Terra Foundation for
American Art, Uptown United, Victoria Saltek, Weinberg/Newton Family Foundation
2021-22 Red Line Service Contributors include so many generous people and institutions. Deepest civic love to:
Anonymous donor advised fund at The Chicago Community Foundation,
Alex Olech, Althea Teamer, Amy Schuman, Andrew White, Bella Meyer, Carol
Oppenheim & Jerome S Lamet Charitable Fund, Chris O'Hara, Chris White, Clint
Froehlich, Connie Yu, Dale Ginsburg, DevorahHeitner & Dan Weissman, David
Gersten, Ellen Zemel, Eric Calvert, Elizabeth Seward, Emily Green, Emily Neuharth,
Father Tito, Gaea Lady, Gary & Norma Zuckerman, Guy and Cindy Linn, Jacqueline
Finley, Jacqueline Hayes, Janet Dill, Jay Neuharth, Jean Eisenman, Jessica
Cochiaro, John & Lorena Manley, John Engman, Jonathan Rothstein, Julie Parson-
Nesbitt, Karen Trine, Kathleen Bickford Berzock, Kathleen Vitaioli, LJ Bailey, Lamont
Burnett, Lawrence Weschler, Lori Waxman & Michael Rakowitz, Marc Fischer,
Margaret MacNamidhe, Mike & Marion Kneafsey, Nicholas Wylie, Paula Olszewski-
Kubilius, Pierce Family Foundation, Rachel Rubin, Rebecca Zurier, Reva & David
Logan Foundation, Rhoda Rosen, Richard Gibbons, Sabrina Kendrick, Scott Henry,
Sean Hutchinson, Shane Davis, Sharon Cargile, Sonja Moser & Billy McGuinness,
Sonny Patel, Susan Corwith, Susan Gold, Suzanne Ariola, Terra Foundation for
American Art, Tiffany & James Bland, Mission Endowment Grant from Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, Victoria Bland Styrbicki, Weinberg/Newton Family Foundation, and WUSA9.
2020-21 Red Line Service Contributors include these amazing people and institutions. Our heartfelt thanks to:
Arts & Business Council*, Connie Yu, Gregory Bell, Jane Thompson, John Engman, Jonathan Rothstein, Lawrence Weschler
Michal Raz-Russo & Zev Salomon, Public Media Institute, Ray Wu, The Reva & David Logan Foundation, Rhoda Rosen
Weinberg/Newton Family Foundation
We remain eternally grateful to all of the generous contributors to our first five years, 2015-2019:
6018|North*, Abby Fraser, Adriana Haro*, Amy Schuman and Larry Stoler*, Anna Maria Jordan*, Anonymous (9), The Art Institute of Chicago*, Awesome Foundation, Barb and Dennis Kessler
Bess Williamson*, Billy (the drug dealer) & His Friends, Billy McGuinness, Burrito Man*, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless*, Chicago Community Trust*, Christina Cosio*, Danila Miranda*
Dennis Gallagher, Derrick Shirley*, Diab (the Uber driver)*, Eastern European Man, Felix Rosen, Hannah Avellone*, Heather Berhalter*, Institute of Global Homelessness*, Jacqueline Hayes
James Pepper Kelly*, Janice Feinberg*, Joan Sand*, Joy Wasserman and Rob Weinberg*, Jules Kim-Cohen, Julie Parson-Nesbitt, Kate Zeller*, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP*, Lawrence Weschler
Leah Rothnagel*, Marcela Glusman, Maureen Kelleher*, Mickie Gordon, Miranda Hope*, Peach and Green*, Polly Ulichny, Propeller Fund, Rebecca Parker*, The Reva & David Logan Foundation
Rhoda Rosen, Risë Birnbaum, Robert Alexander*, Roberta Glick*, Robin Deacon, Ross Jordan*, Sarah Ward*, Sarah-Bess Dworin and Sam Feinsmith*, Shari Giddens*, Sharon & Bill Anderson
Shirley & David Grott and Marissa Grott & Dave McDermott*, Skip Stevens*, Smart Museum of Art*, Stanley’s Fruits and Vegetables*, Starbucks*, Stranger on the Train
Students for 60,000 (Northport High School), Sue Smock-Lawson*, Sullivan Galleries*, Tina Golas*, Tricia Van Eck*, Toussaint, Weinberg/Newton Family Foundation, Weinberg/Newton Gallery*
Wenli Liu*, Women & Children First*
*Indicates an in-kind contribution.
Mission
Red Line Service is the only art organization in Chicago—and one of the only art organizations world-wide—led by people experiencing homelessness.
Impact
Red Line Service is a community of artists with a lived experience of homelessness working together with professionals in the arts. We provide stipends, meals, transportation, amazing cultural experiences, and platforms for our art. Through Red Line Service programs and events, we:
- Engage with highly regarded visual artists, art historians, curators, filmmakers, actors, writers, musicians, and other cultural workers;
- Sharpen our own art, writing, and music expertise in workshops with renowned practicing artists;
- Present our own art to a broader public through publications, events, exhibitions, and performances; and
- Build a thriving, loving community.
The impacts of our shared experiences are felt on an individual level and contribute more broadly to a change in lived relations that shapes the larger society. Together, we:
- De-stigmatize homelessness;
- Decrease social isolation;
- Develop a sense of belonging and social cohesion;
- Provide channels for talent to be recognized, appreciated, and enjoyed; and
- Shift the narrative on homelessness away from individual blame and moral failure, and towards the systems that cause it.
Beyond the importance meeting basic needs, our programming is based on current research, which shows that a sense of personal well-being and social connectedness are critical to securing and retaining housing. Check out the Jigsaw of Homeless Support created by our friends at Arts & Homelessness International (formerly With One Voice). With your help, we can provide more than emergency services. We can fundamentally reshape society into a deeply connected community of care.
Publications
Archive
Red Line Service creates cultural programming by and for Chicagoans with a lived experience of homelessness. As a community, we enjoy lectures, performances, film screenings, exhibitions, meals, and more. We are also creators, writers and artists, who boldly claim our place in the cultural community. 2021 was a big year for us, with the publication of our second book and a return to steady programming.
Learn MoreThe project began in 2014 as an impassioned conversation between an artist and a curator about how culture might be brought to bear more directly on social issues, homelessness in particular. In our first five years of programming as an informal collaborative, Red Line Service averaged one program per month, hosting over 60 events and reaching over 3,000 participants.
Learn More