Sounding Boards garden

Harmony Community Church
North Lawndale, Chicago
8,000 square feet

Sounding Boards, founded by members of Eastlake Studio, is a non-profit organization that amplifies the voices of progressive artists through public art. Inspired by Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the summer of 2020, Sounding Boards brought artists and business owners together to create murals on boarded-up storefronts. As the boards quickly went up to protect storefronts, they became vibrant reminders of the ongoing struggle for equality and painted the hope for a better future.

After the plywood murals had been removed and placed in storage, Sounding Boards searched for a way to honor their original intention as public art, while giving them a new life and a new home. The Chicago Architecture Biennial presented the perfect opportunity to create a new space for community engagement using the boards. 

Moving out of storage and back into public view,  Sounding Boards murals became Sounding Boards Garden,  a new asset for North Lawndale’s Harmony Community Church and its neighbors. Eastlake Studio, Sounding Boards, and Redmond conceptualized this multi-purpose design intervention for the Chicago Architecture  Biennial’s 2021 Available City edition.

Sounding Boards Garden utilized the plywood murals as structural materials to create a semi-enclosed community space adjacent to Harmony Community Church as a platform for conversations, music, and quiet contemplation. The stage area, clad with mural slats and protected by larger painted panels, allows the church and the community to host outdoor events. Engraved bricks in remembrance of community members line the garden, providing neighbors a place to mourn.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

ARCHITECTURE
Stage with side walls
Canopy
Planter boxes
Mural support system
Memorial bricks

PARTNERS
Redmond Construction
Harmony Community Church

FEATURED ARTISTS
Damon Lamar Reed
Christina Vanko
Chris Orta
Ennis Martin
Epifano Studios
Matt Mederer
Rahmaan Statik

RENDERINGS
Eastlake Studio

PHOTOGRAPHY
Kendall McCaugherty, Hall + Merrick Photographers

AWARDS
2022 AIA Chicago Foundation, Roberta Feldman Social Justice Award
2022 IIDA RED Awards, Honorable Mention in the Philanthropy category
2022 ARCHITECT Architecture & Interior Awards, Merit Winner, Civic/Design for Purpose category