Redmond joined Eastlake Studio, Sounding Boards, and Harmony Community Church on Sept. 18 to celebrate the opening of Sounding Boards Garden as part of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial. The project team was accompanied by the North Lawndale community, donors, volunteers, and attendees of the Biennial. Festivities included music, food trucks, and live painting by artist Damon Lamar Reed. We appreciate everyone who came out to support!
Check out photos from the opening celebration and read more about the project below.
Thank you to the dozens of volunteers and sponsors who helped bring this space to life through time and monetary donations! Check out Sounding Boards on Instagram to see how the space has progressed over the past few months.
Didn’t get a chance to make it out for opening weekend? Come back during Open House Chicago on Oct. 16 and 17! Harmony Community Church and Sounding Boards Garden will be one of the sites available to visit during this two-day free public festival that celebrates Chicago’s history and architecture. Visitors are welcome to speak with members of Eastlake Studio, Redmond, and Harmony Community Church about the interior space and exterior garden. The stage in the garden will have music ongoing throughout OHC weekend, weather permitting.
All photos credited to Kendall McCaugherty.
ABOUT SOUNDING BOARDS GARDEN
In alignment with the 2021 edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s theme, “The Available City,” Sounding Boards Garden is designed to activate a previously vacant parcel and create a space for the North Lawndale community. It also brings murals commissioned by Sounding Boards, a nonprofit organization founded by members of Eastlake Studio during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that took place during the summer of 2020, back into the public eye.
Sounding Board Garden is a platform for conversations, music, and performing arts. A semi-enclosed community space was created with plywood murals that act as structural materials. A stage area clad with mural slats and protected by larger painted panels was also built on the site, providing Harmony Community Church with a venue to host future outdoor events. Additionally, Sounding Boards Garden provides the community with a space to mourn, reflect, and remember loved ones lost to violence and addiction.
