Lillstreet Art Center is a Chicago institution situated in a 40,000-square-foot gear factory in Ravenswood. The building is a considerable step up from its former home in a renovated horse barn.
The goal of Lillstreet is to make art as accessible as possible to as many people as possible. First-time classes are always available, and new classes are based on student and teacher suggestions. New offerings include a class on pottery as a political object, and visiting artist workshops for feltmaking. These classes are outside the norm of what one would usually experience in an arts course.
“In the ceramics department we do all of our own firing,” Jenkins says. “In order to get your work fired, there is a lot of people who go into it. There is a lot of community to get the work to its final stage. You need other people, and so many people contribute to the work that is coming out of here, even if they are not putting their hands on it to create it. It’s this level of immediate connection to the maker that is something I, even as a customer, have never seen.”
4401 N. Ravenswood 773-769-4226lillstreetgallery.com
