The first few months of 2024 have been productive and dynamic at The Commonwealth with Communiversity and Civic Arts programming in full swing. Sweet Water Communiversity has already led programming at The Commonwealth and Values-Based Partner sites across Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, and a nationwide audience online.

As we begin to ramp up for the rest of the year, we invite you to take a moment to read about Communiversity happenings at The Commonwealth and beyond!

This fall, the Sweet Water Foundation team has been focused on the "three R's," returning to our routines, rituals, and reflections. Team members honed in on their specific pathways - from energy to education, carpentry, systems, storytelling, and media - as we shifted to Fall Flows. We also welcomed second-grade students from Beasley Academic Center for Seeding the Future lessons, hosted 75+ people from Creative States Coalition for a half-day immersion, and continued to host Wellness Wednesdays and Friday Farmer's Markets.

After an amazing summer, the Sweet Water team has shifted to new routines and fall formations. The summer of 2022 featured SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration, a national convening of SWF’s Values-Based Partner network, the opening of Civic Arts Church, and our summer Urban Ecology Global Fellows program. As sunflowers and tomatoes begin to fade on the farm, we are preparing indoor spaces to grow during the winter and refining our carpentry lesson plans for future workshops and production.

After an amazing summer, the Sweet Water team has shifted to new routines and fall formations. The summer of 2022 featured SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration, a national convening of SWF’s Values-Based Partner network, the opening of Civic Arts Church, and our summer Urban Ecology Global Fellows program. As sunflowers and tomatoes begin to fade on the farm, we are preparing indoor spaces to grow during the winter and refining our carpentry lesson plans for future workshops and production.

After an amazing summer, the Sweet Water team has shifted to new routines and fall formations. The summer of 2022 featured SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration, a national convening of SWF’s Values-Based Partner network, the opening of Civic Arts Church, and our summer Urban Ecology Global Fellows program. As sunflowers and tomatoes begin to fade on the farm, we are preparing indoor spaces to grow during the winter and refining our carpentry lesson plans for future workshops and production.

The Sweet Water Foundation team started 2022 by honing in on the 3 Rs of Regenerative Neighborhood Development - Routine, Ritual, and Reflection - with a focus on rooting our practice in a way that cannot be unraveled. We [re]constructed Civic Arts Church into a dynamic arts + culture space, continued to cultivate and transform The Commonwealth, and engaged learners and leaders across the country via SWF's Communiversity and the Values-Based Partners network.

After an amazing summer, the Sweet Water team has shifted to new routines and fall formations. The summer of 2022 featured SWF’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Celebration, a national convening of SWF’s Values-Based Partner network, the opening of Civic Arts Church, and our summer Urban Ecology Global Fellows program. As sunflowers and tomatoes begin to fade on the farm, we are preparing indoor spaces to grow during the winter and refining our carpentry lesson plans for future workshops and production.

We have officially entered the season of abundance at The Commonwealth!  At the end of June, the first sunflower opened up on the Community Farm, signifying the start of our abundant harvest season that will continue through October. Today, hundreds of sunflowers are in full bloom all across The Commonwealth, bringing new and vibrant energy to the site. 

2022 is in full swing! This year has brought new flows, activities, and engagement. In January, we hit the ground running with virtual connections including Homeschool Club, a 3-week immersion with SWF's RND Research Interns, and Seeding the Future lessons with nearby schools. In February, we hosted the 2022 Sankofa Series with three events that focused on [Re]Membering, [Re]Generation, and [Re]Mediation. With the onset of warm spring days in March, our team began preparing the Community Farm and Garden for the quickly approaching growing season.

Fall at The Commonwealth has brought new flows, visitors, and activities. This fall, the SWF team focused on education and outreach, including relaunch of the Seeding the Future program in nearby elementary schools. From creating new lesson plans, to connecting and re-connecting with educators, to hosting onsite activities with local youth; SWF is engaging young learners virtually and in-person at The Commonwealth. We have also begun to refine our indoor spaces, including our three hoop houses on the Community Farm where seedlings and crops that will sustain our neighbors and team for the entire winter are already growing.

As the vibrant and productive summer of 2021 comes to a close, the Sweet Water Foundation team is taking time to reflect on the transformative experiences that transpired and the many relationships cultivated. This summer, The Commonwealth truly came to life as a “Communiversity,” a place where local youth and residents, artists, university students, recent graduates, and Values-Based Partners from community-based organizations near and far connected through hard work, dialogue and immersion in the practice of Regenerative Neighborhood Development.

The Commonwealth is buzzing with activity, color, and life! Although Sweet Water Foundation continues to practice social distancing and mask wearing to protect the community, our summer programming is in full swing with a steady stream of new and returning visitors each day.

After record breaking and sustained cold and snow, Spring is here! The Sweet Water team is busy preparing for the coming growing season and (still) harvesting produce that has been growing in our hoop houses all winter long. So far, we have planted more than 10,000 seeds for the Sweet Water Community Farm and SWF Seedling Market that will be opening in early-to-mid May.

Every month is Black History Month. The histories of Americans of African descent have been inextricably woven into the fabric of our nation and our culture since the first ship carrying enslaved peoples arrived in Virginia in August of 1619. Black History is American History. As we celebrate Black History Month, Sweet Water Foundation continues to radically reconstruct history by collecting and amplifying untold stories and truths. To this end, we are embracing the practice of Sankofa, reaching back to the knowledge and wisdom of the past and bringing it into the present in order to build a more radical and imaginative future.

Sweet Water Foundation entered 2020 with a Clarity of Vision. In the early months of 2020, we hit the ground running; deconstructing exhibits of the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial, hosting visitors from near and far, and engaging an intergenerational audience in Arts + Culture workshops. Then, ...the world changed. We invite you to read our 2020 year-in-review.

Sweet Water Foundation stands in solidarity with those actively seeking justice nationwide. Amidst the uprisings in our cities and the continued COVID-19 pandemic, the SWF team + family is more focused than ever on cultivating The Commonwealth. Since 2014, we have reclaimed land on Chicago's South Side and cultivated safe and peaceful spaces for its residents. This work continues and is more essential than ever before.  Our team is dedicated to ensuring that our community not only has access to healthy food, but also the resources to grow their own.

As the world turns indoors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sweet Water team has continued to focus on growth and new life at The Commons. In March, over 7,000 seeds were planted, 25 new garden beds were constructed, and more than 3,000 plants have been transplanted to the Community Farm. The SWF team is more determined than ever to sustain life at The Commons for the upcoming growing season.

In February, the Sweet Water Community celebrated Black History Month with workshops, conversations, and events that focused on our ancestors, history, and legacy. We welcomed Rick Lowe for an intimate conversation in Gallery at [Re]Construction House, activated The Thought Barn during an arts+culture workshop for kids and their families, and shared memories with elders and local residents during a card making event. 

The Sweet Water team is back in full swing and ready for another amazing year. Despite the snow and cold weather, the SWF team is already busy preparing for Spring. The farm team is growing food inside SWF's two hoop houses and creating a farm plan for the 2020 growing season. The carpentry team has been transforming the attic in the [Re]Construction House, winterizing the RND Meeting House, and refining lesson plans and projects in the Work-Shop to prepare for the next Academy Cohort.

2019 was a year of Re-Rooting…via Routine, Ritual, and Reflection. At the onset of 2019, Sweet Water Foundation had reached a point of critical evolution, a point at which our work had moved beyond a mere demonstration of what is possible to the establishment of a new normal. This year, we intentionally sought to re-root the community through a return to the Three R’s… Routine, Ritual, and Reflection.