Open House Chicago: citywide festival of architecture and community
One weekend a year, Chicago neighborhoods throw open their doors to visitors from all over the city — and across the U.S. A free-of-charge festival of architecture, design, open spaces, and community development, Open House Chicago is a highlight of the city’s calendar. The Chicago event reinvented the Open House model by partnering with community-based organizations on planning, governance, and public education.
As part of the startup team for Open House Chicago, I secured funding, media, and community partners
While working with the Chicago Architecture Center, I served as part of the founding team for this signature citywide program. The CAC was looking to stand up a major program that appealed not only to self-identified architecture enthusiasts, but engaged a broader cross-section of the population. The Open House movement provided an ideal model for this kind of engagement.
As the person responsible for strategic partnerships for the organization, I investigated similar events in other markets, such as the popular Open House NY; identified potential funding sources and media partners; and sought to connect the program with professional and public audiences. I was gratified to secure a title sponsorship for the inaugural event from the Allstate Corporation, as well as to have the event guide produced by the Chicago Tribune.
I remain most proud, however, of our fundamental approach to make the event community-owned, its governance, programming, and economic impact distributed throughout Chicago’s neighborhoods. Especially in a city notoriously segregated by race and economics, the Open House Chicago weekend helps to build meaningful connections among neighborhoods and amplify the cultural assets of communities.