In partnership with Chicago Park District, Cooperation Racine is leading a cooperative reimagination process of the historic woodshop and ceramic areas at Anna & Frederick Douglass Park on Chicago’s Westside. In December 2025, these areas will relaunch as a unified, engaging, all-ages creative space, with the flexibility to host specialized classes, public workshops, professional development offerings, as well as community art events.
Cooperation Racine began the partnership in Fall 2024 with focus groups and community outreach. In Winter 2024, we piloted our first multisession intergenerational ceramics workshop. In March 2025, we convened a gathering of neighborhood arts and culture leaders to ensure the final redesign supports their missions and expands their programming capacity.
Throughout the Spring, we provided professional development sessions to introduce staff to new disciplines and methodologies including “...and all the little creatures in the wild” (Black Ecopoetics, ephemeral nature sculptures).
Similarly, we supported staff during peak summer camp season with sessions exploring creative place-making. We designed offerings for 3rd/4th grade “It’s Your World, Fam!” (light table, shadow art, pennant collages) and 5th/6th grade “Who, Where, What had happened Was!” (board game creation, group monostitch poetry).
As summer programming wraps, we will begin the formal build-out of the space, install large equipment and new studio supplies, and begin accessibility checks with members of the Special Recs Department to ensure our space is welcoming and inclusive. Additionally, in the lead-up to the official Grand Opening, we are eager to begin the largest public-facing component of the project to date: Public Programs.
As interdisciplinary teaching artists inspired by liberation pedagogy and inquiry-based approaches, we are excited to engage the public in weekly programming at Douglass Park in Fall/Winter 2025. We value the process of artmaking and the series will be iterative to ensure the questions, curiosities, and interests of participants are prioritized.
Upcoming programs include:
Creative Explorations (September - November 2025)
This expressive arts series will introduce participants to a range of styles and mediums, weaving together printmaking, sculpture, collage, and ceramics. Together we will rediscover how embracing spontaneity and playfulness can deepen the art-making process.
Creative Deep Dives (October - December 2025)
For creatives looking to build community and deepen their artistic practice, this workshop series encourages communal reflection and group collaboration. Participants will consider a central question: “How might a creative community inform, support, and nourish one’s art practice.” This series will highlight papermaking, linocut, sewing, screen printing, and book binding. Each week, everyone is encouraged to bring their hopes, hesitations, frustrations, and curiosities into the studio; these ongoing conversations will shape the trajectory of the series.