If you missed last Fall’s bookbinding workshop, you have another chance this month! Join Jane Addams Hull-House Museum for a workshop led by featured “Participatory Arts” Hull-House artist Regin Igloria, founder of North Branch Projects – an organization that approaches community building through bookbinding practices, collective story writing and community archiving.

In this workshop, participants will collaborate to create hand-bound books from simple and recycled materials. The workshop is designed for slowing down, sharing stories, and connecting with one another. You are also helping to create a neighborhood archive that will highlight community voices.

This workshop is inspired by the work of Hull-House co-founder, Ellen Gates Starr (1859—1940), who established the original Hull-House Bookbindery (ca.1899), advocated for fair labor and union organizing, championed craft, and ran for Alderwomen of the 19th Ward in 1916. Several original books bound by Starr and Igloria’s project, “Everything on Wheels“ are featured in the current exhibition, “Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change.”

FREE WITH RSVP! REFRESHMENTS SERVED!
All ages welcome with supervision.
Workshops involve the use of needles and thread. No prior experience necessary. All backgrounds and abilities welcome! Workshops are located in Hull-House’s historic Resident’s Dining Hall that is wheelchair accessible. Be ready to slow down, make books together, share food and conversation and enjoy!

Regin Igloria is a multi-disciplinary artist and bookbinder from Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood. His studio community fosters an open approach to sharing work with new audiences and encourages collaboration and integration. Igloria is also the founder of North Branch Projects (NBP), an independent, artist-run project that offers community-based bookbinding and provides outlets for exploring the creative process in places where few resources exist for the arts. He uses bookbinding in an inclusive setting to encourage dialogue, collaboration and community building.

North Branch Projects (NBP) uses the book arts as a community organizing tool. NBP was founded 2010 and was originally located in the business district of the Albany Park neighborhood. The Lawrence Avenue storefront occupied 1500 square feet with exhibition and studio rental spaces located in the rear. With overhead costs preventing the continuation and progress of the project, the move to make North Branch Projects more mobile became a necessity. The storefront closed in November 2014 and now operates on a pop-up basis, with the “Everything on Wheels” project leading the charge. NBP participates in local street festivals throughout the year and continues to provide workshops and classes.

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (JAHHM) draws upon the legacy of international peace activist and feminist, Jane Addams, and other social reformers who worked, alongside their immigrant neighbors, to create social change on the Near West Side of Chicago during the Progressive Era. The Museum preserves and develops the original Hull-House site for the interpretation and continuation of the historic settlement house vision. Exhibitions and public programs elevate histories of activism, progressive education and democratic principles of participation and exchange, and connect them to present-day social justice issues.

“Participatory Arts: Crafting Social Change” and “Participatory Arts: Artist Workshops” is part of Art Design Chicago, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art exploring Chicago’s art and design legacy, with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. Participatory Arts is funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. The Chicago Community Trust has also provided generous support.

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Tags: Art Design Chicago, Chicago, Community Binding II: Participatory Arts Bookbinding Workshop, Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, near west side, North Branch Projects, Regin Igloria, Terra Foundation for American Art, The Richard H Driehaus Foundation