Design as Activism 2024

Design as Activism Symposium
September 13–14, 2024

As calls for racial justice, climate action, and gender equity grow louder and more urgent, designers, activists, and makers ask: How can we challenge social inequities and systemic oppression in order to create a better tomorrow?

The two-day, public Design as Activism Symposium convened Chicago design leaders and community organizers to explore community-led design approaches that bring about positive impact and considered the evolving partnership between design and activism.

You can watch a recording of  the livestream below.

Anne H. Berry (she/her) is a writer, designer, and Director of the School of Design at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her research focuses on race/representation and educational pedagogy in the field of design, and her published writing includes “The Virtual Design Classroom” for Communication Arts magazine and “The Black Designer’s Identity” for the inaugural issue of the Recognize anthology, which features commentary from Indigenous people and people of color.

She is co-creator of the award-winning project Ongoing Matter: Democracy, Design, and the Mueller Report and managing editor of The Black Experience in Design: Identity, Expression, and Reflection, an anthology centering a range of perspectives that spotlight teaching practices, research, stories, and conversations from a Black/African diasporic lens.

Chandra Christmas-Rouse (she/her) is an urban planner, advocate and artist. A background in community development and environmental justice informs her design approach of working with community stakeholders in a participatory process to support capacity building, achieve place-based solutions, and reimagine systems. Chandra currently directs housing TA and policy advocacy strategies at Metropolitan Planning Council and is the author of Where the Sidewalk Grows.

See schedule for more information about our our sessions.

For Saturday sessions, the event is in one building over two floors with elevator access between floors. Seating and wheelchair accessibility available in rooms for all sessions. Gender-neutral bathrooms available on each floor. The program includes scheduled breaks throughout the day, as well as access to a quiet space.

Keynotes and panel discussions have microphones, and workshops and conversations will have amplification available as needed. ASL interpretation available upon request. Please contact Jessica Meharry (jmeharry@id.iit.edu) to request accommodations.

The Institute of Design at Kaplan is easily accessible by public transportation.

Design as Activism is part of Art Design Chicago, a citywide collaboration initiated by the Terra Foundation for American Art that highlights the city’s artistic heritage and creative communities.

Design as Activism is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art in connection with the Chicago History Museum’s Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art in the 1960s-70s.