Cart 0
Cart 0
 
 
EAC logo FINAL WHITE transparentbkrnd-LARGE.png
 

Englewood Arts Collective (EAC) is a group cofounded by 10 creatives who all grew up in and remain connected to Greater Englewood. They use art and community engagement as a tool to reclaim spaces and change the narrative. EAC uses their individual art practices and collabs with their large network of affiliates to produce and support initiatives that not only showcase, but broaden understandings of the diverse talents that come from historically disinvested neighborhoods like Greater Englewood Chicago. EAC enriches, advocates for and enacts impacts that benefit the quality of life not just for artists, but communities everywhere.

Our Impact: Creative Placemaking & Placekeeping

We believe art is more than expression—it’s a powerful force for transformation. Through creative placemaking & placekeeping, we:

  • Create economic opportunities for South + WestSide artists, ensuring they thrive in their own communities.

  • Revitalize public spaces through art-driven beautification, reclaiming sites in Greater Englewood that were abandoned or stripped bare by systemic racism and segregation—restoring their historic and educational significance.

  • Engage locals in creative experiences that foster community pride, deepen connections, and highlight neighborhood assets and history.

Disrupt harmful narratives about Englewood and communities demographically similar to it, by amplifying culture, stories and value through art & visibility.

 
 

So What Are WE? A Nonprofit, or a Group?

Both. EAC is a collaborative group of working artists and a vital part of Folded Map Project NFP.

EAC is the branch that brings our nonprofit mission to life through public art beautification, cultural events, and neighborhood activations. We are one entity with an expansive vision: to impactfully reimagine what’s possible in, and redefine expectations of those from communities like Greater Englewood, through the power of artistic connections.

 

A shared mission

EAC and Folded Map Project the NFP work in tandem toward a shared mission: using art, storytelling, and place-based engagement to disrupt segregation and invest in communal creativity. We’re committed to shifting narratives about Chicago’s South Side—particularly Greater Englewood—with positive representation, meaningful conversations, creative interventions, and community-driven solutions that create tangible ways for people to engage with historically disinvested areas.

 
IMG_6019.jpg
 

Core activites

 
 

EAC Arts Village Experience at the Englewood Music Festival

Since 2021, EAC has transformed the Englewood Music Fest into a cultural and economic engine via the EAC Arts Village.

What We Do:

  • Provide direct financial support through paid artist showcases, vendor stipends, and commissions.

  • Engage thousands of festival goers with live mural painting, interactive art installations, and storytelling projects—healing with communal creativity.

  • Expand visibility for Black & Brown creatives, ensuring they are recognized and compensated for their contributions, which also lead to future job opportunities.

Creative Placemaking: Restoring & Reimagining

We reclaim & transform public spaces. By revitalizing areas stripped bare by segregation, we honor their significance while shaping a more just future.

Projects That Drive Change:

Community Engagement & Artist Support

EAC is committed to investing in artists and residents, ensuring that creatives are valued, supported, and paid for their contributions to the communities they represent & enhance.

How We Empower Artists:

We’re passionate about advocating and demonstrating the value that artists bring to the economy and cultural capital of this world, and consult regularly.


IMPACT SAMPLES

A “taste” of what we do ;) Peruse the video recaps below for a snippet of just what we do.

This at-a-glance recap gives a quick primer of how we realize our main tenets: Engage locals in creative experiences that foster community pride; Disrupt harmful narratives; public-art beautification and economic opportunities for other artists.

EAC Summer 2023: The ribbon-cutting of the “Englewood Breakroom” POPCourt! EAC leadership Janell Nelson, Joe “Cujodah” Nelson, and Pugs Atomz beautified and designed the visuals for the storage containers and court asphalt mural. On ribbon cutting day all of EAC activated the area with artmaking alongside other community orgs for stakeholders Englewood Branded and Teamwork Englewood.

EAC transformed a vacant storefront and turned it into an artists haven, providing free arts programming and original works and merch for sale, as a proof of concept “pop-up” demonstrating the economic, cultural, and harm-reduction value artists have in communitites. Now this concept is a rotating pop-up at fairs, festivals and community events.

Gateway Mural in Englewood – A large-scale, vibrant mural welcoming residents and visitors to a thriving, creative Greater Englewood. We kicked-off the transformation of this area, now an entry point into the Englewood Nature Trail. Learn More: ourenglewoodmural.com

One of our original projects That Drive Change: A collaborative take-over of an abandoned lot and turned it into a space of healing and communal resource sharing that was stewarded by partnered stakeholders years later.