Hi Friends! While Open Studio Project has been in the Evanston community for over 25 years, we have quietly worked in our studio and across community sites for most of them. But now you may have seen the new Main Street Mural on our building, or the vibrant displays of student art at YEA! Festival in Raymond Park. And we are so glad you’ve had the opportunity to enjoy these larger community efforts.

But now we invite you to learn what’s inside. In all of our programs, participants sit at a table filled with art materials. First, they write an intention: a sentence about how they feel or what they hope for. Then they make art, with no instruction and no right or wrong answer. Afterward, they write about what they made and, if they choose, read it aloud. Everyone listens. No one comments or critiques. Our participants find the creativity they were born with. And they find that they could be a source of healing for the people beside them.

This past fiscal year 4,216 people took part in Open Studio Project programs. including:

• 150+ students at two Chicago Public Schools made art every week during the school day.

• 100+ residents in transitional housing in Evanston, Chicago, and the northern suburbs had a weekly place to create and be heard.

• Hundreds of neighbors joined us to create tiles to install on the Main Street Mural.

• Veterans and their families at the Evanston Vet Center used art to reconnect and adjust to civilian life.

Please view our FY2026 Impact Report to view much more of what we do.

“Making art is relaxing. It feels good to me. At the end, it’s a surprise... Being an artist is like walking down a road and noticing things around me.” (translated from Spanish)

• a resident at Northside Housing Men’s Shelter, where we run a weekly program