Kindred Civic Arts Forum

Kindred Civic Arts Forum Using arts, culture, and civic engagement to expand opportunity, belonging, and community across Chicago’s West & South Sides.

Meet Michelle Major: artist, writer, and a guide into risk, discovery, generosity, and beautiful trouble.Michelle joins ...
09/14/2026

Meet Michelle Major: artist, writer, and a guide into risk, discovery, generosity, and beautiful trouble.

Michelle joins Krista Franklin in leading The Art of Collage, bringing a practiced hand and an artist's eye to a cohort designed for learning, making, experimenting, and becoming.

This is not about producing ten versions of the same assignment. It is about helping ten makers listen closely enough to discover what their own work is trying to say.

Come prepared to cut, layer, assemble, question, share, begin again, and surprise yourself.

The cohort is limited to ten participants.

Apply: https://f.mtr.cool/o3vx5n5t06

Meet Krista Franklin: artist, writer, and one of three guides into the beautiful unknown.Krista will lead the cohort thr...
09/13/2026

Meet Krista Franklin: artist, writer, and one of three guides into the beautiful unknown.

Krista will lead the cohort through the histories and material cultures of collage; the artists who expanded its visual language; its techniques and processes; community cutting and generating; and the ethical questions of copyright.

This is study with its sleeves rolled up. History will meet the hands. Ideas will meet paper. Curiosity will meet practice.

And somewhere along the way, each participant will begin developing a collage language that belongs unmistakably to them.

Apply for The Art of Collage, Fall-Winter 2026: https://f.mtr.cool/2oxj9jn7n1

Collage begins with what has been cut, carried, discarded, saved, torn, and remembered.Then the maker enters.Paper becom...
09/12/2026

Collage begins with what has been cut, carried, discarded, saved, torn, and remembered.

Then the maker enters.

Paper becomes memory. Fragments become language. What once appeared unrelated begins to reveal a pattern, a protest, a possibility, a self.

What might your fragments become?

The Art of Collage is a ten-session creative pilgrimage through history, technique, material culture, personal style, community making, an artist retreat, and a culminating exhibition.

If something in you has been waiting for permission to make, let this be the invitation.

Apply for one of ten seats: https://f.mtr.cool/pdiwugerrx

NEXT STOP: WGN. 🚆💚A Love Letter to Chicago is moving.What began as a summer arts journey through Chicago neighborhoods h...
09/11/2026

NEXT STOP: WGN. 🚆💚

A Love Letter to Chicago is moving.

What began as a summer arts journey through Chicago neighborhoods has become a photographic love letter to the people, places, stories, and communities that make our city home.

And our next stop is WGN’s Spotlight Chicago.

Join photographer Doni Rochelle-Smith and Reesheda Nicole Berry of Kindred Civic Arts Forum as they share the story behind A Love Letter to Chicago and the journey that is carrying us toward our October exhibition.

📺 WGN-TV Channel 9
📅 October 7
⏰ 1 PM CST

Six neighborhoods. Six stops. One photographic love letter to Chicago.

And the train is just getting started. 💚

Some classes teach technique. Some gatherings change the way we see.The Art of Collage is both.Kindred Civic Arts Forum ...
09/11/2026

Some classes teach technique. Some gatherings change the way we see.

The Art of Collage is both.

Kindred Civic Arts Forum invites ten makers into a ten-session hybrid master class led by artists and writers Krista Franklin and Michelle Major, facilitated by Reesheda Nicole Berry and KCAF.

Together, we will study collage's histories and methods, experiment with image and text, gather for an in-person weekend artist retreat, follow what emerges through responsive sessions, and offer the work in a culminating exhibition.

No formal artistic training is required. Bring your curiosity, your commitment, and the fragments that keep asking for your attention.

Fall-Winter 2026 | Exact dates TBD | 10 participants maximum

Apply: https://f.mtr.cool/p252wbr65b

What does it mean to remember together?It means gathering around the table, sharing stories, honoring those who came bef...
08/19/2026

What does it mean to remember together?
It means gathering around the table, sharing stories, honoring those who came before us, and creating space for the generations to come.
Join Kindred Civic Arts Forum for a special Just(Us) Dinners: Black Day Celebration as we commemorate 133 years of Black Day in Chicago—a day that recognized the strength, brilliance, and resilience of Black Chicagoans in 1893 and continues to inspire us today.
Enjoy an evening of community, conversation, and a shared dinner as we reflect on the legacy of Frederick Douglass, the influence of the Chicago Black Renaissance, and the importance of preserving our history through collective memory.
🖤 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM
📍 The Blk Room | 4015 W. Carroll Ave., Chicago
🍽️ Dinner Included
🎟️ Registration Required
This is more than a dinner—it's the start of a renewed annual tradition and an opportunity to help shape the future of Black Day in Chicago.
Pull up a chair. Bring your curiosity. Leave inspired.
We can't wait to share the table with you.
https://brushfire.com/kcachicago/justusdinners/635644

08/12/2026

Some stories deserve more than remembrance—they deserve a seat at the table.
On Tuesday, August 25, Kindred Civic Arts Forum invites you to a special Just(Us) Dinners: Black Day Celebration, honoring 133 years of Black Day in Chicago.
Together, we'll share a meal, reflect on the legacy of Frederick Douglass, explore the impact of the Chicago Black Renaissance, and engage in conversations that connect our past to the future we're building together.
This evening is more than dinner—it's the beginning of a renewed tradition rooted in history, culture, and community as we prepare for the return of The Black Aura in 2027.
🗓 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕕 6:00–8:30 PM
📍 The Blk Room
🍽️ Dinner Included
🎟️ Registration Required
History lives through the stories we tell, the meals we share, and the communities we build. We hope you'll join us as we honor Black Day and create a new tradition for generations to come.
Reserve your seat today—we can't wait to welcome you.
https://brushfire.com/kcachicago/justusdinners/635644

08/07/2026

Join us as we gather around the table to honor 133 years of Black Day in Chicago. ✨🖤
On August 25, 1893, Black Chicagoans created a powerful celebration of resilience, excellence, and community in response to exclusion from the World's Columbian Exposition. Today, we continue that legacy.
At this special Just(Us) Dinners: Black Day Celebration, we'll share a delicious meal, engage in meaningful conversations, reflect on the legacy of Frederick Douglass, explore the Chicago Black Renaissance, and celebrate the stories that continue to shape our city.
This gathering also marks the beginning of a new annual tradition as we look ahead to the re-launch of The Black Aura in 2027.
📅 Tuesday, August 25, 2026
🕕 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM (Doors open at 5:45 PM)
📍 The Blk Room
4015 W. Carroll Ave.
Chicago, IL 60624
🍽️ Dinner is included.
🎟️ Registration is required.
Come take your seat at the table. Together, we'll honor our history, celebrate our present, and help shape Chicago's future.
https://brushfire.com/kcachicago/justusdinners/635644

07/22/2026

🤎 A little over a week from today, we open the doors.

Not to another book club.

To a space where women of color can simply...be.

A place to be seen.
A place to be known.
A place to be loved.
A place to be respected.
A place to breathe.

Beginning Saturday, August 1, we'll spend 15 Saturdays journeying through Kin by the incredible Tayari Jones. But this experience is about so much more than turning pages.

It's about finding yourself in the stories.
Finding healing in the conversations.
Finding community in women who understand your journey.

Come in your satin bonnet.
Come from the soccer field.
Come with your coffee.
Come even if you haven't finished the reading.

Just...come.

Because everyone deserves a space that pours back into them.

🗓 Starts: Saturday, August 1
🕘 9:00 AM CT (Virtual)
📚 15-week literary salon
💛 $35/month

Reserve your seat today:
https://f.mtr.cool/kernfyecwh

Don't meet us there...beat us there. 🤎

07/20/2026

🤎 **Sis...this isn't just another book club.**

It's a place to breathe.

A place to laugh.
To reflect.
To be challenged.
To be seen.
To simply...be.

Beginning **Saturday, August 1**, we're inviting you into the **Women of Color Salon**—a 15-week literary journey through *Kin* by Tayari Jones. But don't expect a traditional book discussion.

Together, we'll explore the stories behind the story through music, poetry, film, art, and honest conversation. Every week is an opportunity to connect more deeply—with the book, with one another, and with yourself.

✨ Come as you are.
🤎 Bonnets welcome.
☕ Coffee encouraged.
📚 No pressure to have all the reading done.

If life gets busy and you miss a week, don't worry. Every session includes a recap so you can jump right back in whenever you're ready.

This is more than a reading group.

It's a community.

It's a conversation.

It's a space created for women of color to relax, relate, release, and reimagine what's possible when we gather with intention.

📅 **Saturdays | August 1 – October 31**
🕘 **9:00 AM Central (Virtual)**
💛 **$35 per month**

Reserve your seat today:https://f.mtr.cool/kdzpqthxuz

**Come on home, Sis.**

We'll save you a seat. 🤎

Address

200 West Madison Street, 3rd Floor
Chicago, IL
60606

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