At the beginning of March, SWF welcomed its first volunteer group of the season for a two day immersion at The Commons. Ten community college students from SUNY Westchester Community College in New York participated in an Alternative Spring Break trip in Chicago. For two full days, they worked alongside the SWF team to prepare The Commons for spring and, ultimately, gained inspiration to bring SWF’s practice back to their own communities.

As the world slows down and moves indoors, the Sweet Water team and community continue to GROW the neighborhood, cultivating new life and growth at The Commons. We are focused on preparing the farm and garden beds for the growing season to ensure a bountiful harvest of fresh and nutritious food for our community. With the help of hardworking volunteers, Sweet Water has already rebuilt and refreshed its 20 community garden beds and seeded more than 5,000 plants. Our team is working hard and more dedicated than ever to cultivating hope and life at The Commons.

Humans of Sweet Water...Meet Victoria Pratt Davis. Known by the Sweet Water community as ‘Mama Victoria,’ she serves as a vital source of inspiration, wisdom, and counsel for Sweet Water Foundation as a key member of its Board of Elders. One of the many contributions to Sweet Water Foundation that she has made is sharing her gifts as a writer. Read on to learn more about Victoria and read a piece she wrote about Sweet Water’s work, Seeds For Change.

On Tuesday, February 11, renowned artist, activist, and MacArthur Fellow, Rick Lowe, joined Emmanuel Pratt for the February Artist Talk at the Gallery at [Re]Construction House. This conversation was the first of a series of talks between Rick and Emmanuel that will be hosted at The Commons in 2020.  During their first conversation, Rick talked about his journey as an artist, activist, builder, and collaborator with Project Row Houses.

On Wednesday, January 29, Sweet Water Foundation hosted ArtPlace America’s Arts, Culture, and Workforce Development Working Group at The Commons. A diverse group of more than 35 workforce leaders, policymakers, investors, researchers, artists, and community activists engaged in a half-day experience focusing on how arts and culture can be used to enhance workforce development programs.

In February, Sweet Water Foundation hosted two arts + culture workshops at The Commons in celebration of Black History Month. More than 40 participants - children, their families, elders, local residents, and SWF team members - engaged in the workshops, through which participants had an opportunity to celebrate their ancestors, history, and legacy through art.

Should you venture to listen beyond the bitter conflicts inside Washington and the deafening rhetoric within city councils and mayoralties; beyond even the overwhelming negativity, fragmentation, and divisive national conversations, you will find quite a different scenario unfolding. Critical numbers of people within urban neighborhoods are demonstrating a powerfully creative approach to issues that adversely impact the quality of their lives. The seeds of change are being quietly sewn and have already sprouted wondrous roots.

Humans of Sweet Water...Meet Hassan Beymuhammed and Sam Scardefield. Hassan and Sam have each been part of the SWF team since 2019. They bring different perspectives and life experiences to the SWF team, yet their relationship demonstrates the unique relationships that emerge at Sweet Water. Most recently, the two worked closely together to build hoop houses on SWF’s Community Farm. Read on to learn more about Hassan and Sam.

On Monday, January 20, Sweet Water Foundation gathered an intimate group for the inaugural Artist Talk at the Gallery at [Re]Construction House, featuring Janelle Dunlap. Janelle, a SWF Human-in-Residence, delivered the first of a series of talks that SWF will host to bridge artistic practices with communal and personal healing. Her presentation explored how her own ancestral reflection led to a practice of creative beekeeping that connects her work as a socially engaged visual artist and curator. Read on to learn more about the inaugural Artist Talk at the Gallery at [Re]Construction House.

On Saturday, January 11, SWF Human-in-Residence, Tanya Scruggs Ford, led Family Day: Cottage Constructions at the Smart Museum of Art. Children and their families gathered in the threshold of the Smart to create their own worker cottage house and dream about the future of their communities. The concept built upon SWF’s participation in the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial and continued the conversation about the Chicago Worker Cottages.

In early August 2019, Sweet Water Foundation welcomed Shani Peters and Joseph Cullier III, Co-Directors of The Black School, to The Commons for a 10-day Humans-in-Residence immersion. The Black School is “an experimental art school teaching Black/PoC students and allies to become agents of change through art workshops on radical Black politics and public projects that address local community needs.” The Black School was first introduced to SWF in late spring through Chicago Architecture Biennial Curator, Sepake Angiama, who identified synergies and potential future collaborations between the two organizations.

On October 3, 2019, the SWF core team gathered in the kitchen of the Think Do House to learn how to make yogurt from Human-In-Residence, Jen Rae. Jen transported the yogurt culture from her home in Australia to Chicago for Then a Cunning Voice - Food to Be Experienced, an overnight performance event at Calumet Park on September 28, and then brought it to The Commons during her residency to share the practice of yogurt making with SWF.