Mission.
Cooperation Racine is a Limited Worker Cooperative in West Englewood, Chicago. The five founding “worker/owners” are practicing Black & Brown artists committed to reimagining the arts center as a site of “cooperative creative economies” in the broader arts ecosystem.
Together, Cooperation Racine’s “worker/owners,” “worker/members,” and “neighbor/members” pool resources, strengthen artistic and business skills, and expand professional networks to build wealth, in turn, uplifting their families, neighborhoods, and the Cooperative community.
Vision.
By weaving together economic empowerment, creative expression, solidarity economy building, and sustainable development, Cooperation Racine will demonstrate a comprehensive approach to addressing the racial and wealth gaps in Englewood, while tackling systemic barriers in the arts sector.
The cooperative model at the heart of Cooperation Racine will serve as a beacon for equitable and inclusive entrepreneurship, particularly for marginalized communities, including queer Black women and femmes, non-binary folx, and disabled individuals and families.
Values.
Rebuilding and reshaping systems requires Deep Relationship-Building with the communities most impacted.
Joy is at the Core of our community care work. We prioritize self-exploration, intergenerational healing, and growth.
Grounded in the history of Black Cooperative Traditions, Transparency and Accountability are essential to confronting and interrupting anti-Black racism and capitalist frameworks.
Through Cooperative Economics we can rewrite a history of redlining, divestment, and violence that has left Black and Brown communities devoid of opportunity and prosperity.
Imaginative Activation, Cultivation, and Innovation of spaces that were abandoned, forced barren, and deemed to have no utility.
In early 2023, in ℅: black women convened 40 artists to propose creating an artist cooperative. A core group of artists embarked on a journey of cooperative culture education to better understand how cooperatives operate.
With mentoring and support from co-op developers and fellow worker cooperatives in Chicago’s Community Wealth-Building Ecosystem, Cooperation Racine established itself as a Limited Worker Cooperative Association in 2024.