In community organizing work, there are no shortcuts or gimmicks, only relationships built on trust and continued investment. The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot is a community-led museum located in a shipping container at the Spaulding Memorial Garden, a community garden in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. Chelsea Ridley and Jonathan Kelley, the museum’s founders, trace the evolution of this project from an idea seeded in the classroom to a living space rooted in a collective vision. Along the way, they highlight moments of uncertainty, talk about forging authentic partnerships, and offer thoughts on museums of the future.

Chelsea and Jonathan met in the lunch line at the University of Illinois-Chicago where they were both museum studies graduate students. Burritos may or may not have been involved. They both came to the UIC program with backgrounds in community organizing and a desire to enter the museum field as agents of change. Their work together on the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot continues to grow. Learn more at lawndalepopupspot.org or reach out to them at lawndalepopupspot@gmail.com. Follow Lawndale Pop-Up Spot on Twitter @lawndalepopup, Instagram @lawndalepopupspot, and on Facebook. 

About the Museum’s Founders

Jonathan Kelley is the co-founder of the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot. He has an undergraduate degree from Williams College and a Masters in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a member of the Greening, Open Space, Water, Soil and Sustainability (GROWSS) committee of the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council. Prior incarnations of Jonathan worked in the community organizing world and in the anti-censorship world. Jonathan was born and (mostly) raised in Denver, Colorado. Go Nuggets!

Chelsea Ridley is the co-founder of the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot. She has an undergraduate degree in History and Russian Studies from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master's Degree in Museum and Exhibition Studies from University of Illinois - Chicago where she won the MUSE Social Justice Award. A Chicago/Chicago Suburbs native, her professional career has focused entirely on community organizing and positive youth development on the South and West sides of the city. When she's not working (she usually is), she can be found either chasing around her son or sitting on the couch binge watching TV with her cats and a good bottle of wine. One can never have enough cats or wine. You can follow her on twitter @ckridley, for museum, politics, and pop culture opinions with a healthy dose of memes.  

Follow Chelsea on Twitter @ckridley and Jonathan @jk_museums

Show Notes

The Museum As Soup Kitchen: a paper about Museums, Responsiveness to Community Need and Social Service by Elaine Heumann Gurian  http://www.egurian.com/omnium-gatherum/museum-issues/community/the-museum-as-soup-kitchen-a-paper-about-museums-responsiven

Museu de Favela https://www.museudefavela.org/ 

Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project https://p-nap.org/

Gardeneers https://gardeneers.org/ 

Men Making a Difference https://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/2-6-2018/N.-Lawndale-group-reclaims-lots-and-lives-/

National Alliance for the  Empowerment of the Formerly Incarcerated https://naefimentor.wixsite.com/naefi