Design as Activism Symposium

As calls for racial justice, climate action, and gender equity grow louder and more urgent, designers, activists, and makers ask: How can we challenge social inequities and systemic oppression in order to activate a better tomorrow?

The two-day, public Design as Activism Symposium convenes Chicago design leaders and community organizers to explore community-led design approaches that bring about positive impact and to consider the evolving partnership between design and activism.

Focused on Chicago as a locus for social change, the symposium will include day-long activations across the city, followed by a second day of invited speakers, workshops, and conversations. Details and full schedule below.

Many of us are passionate about practicing design in a way that centers equity, inclusivity, and sustainability, but often find ourselves unsure of the practical steps to take. Through this symposium, we seek to provide actionable strategies and methods for implementing values-driven design.

All Design as Activism events are free and open to the public. Attendees must register in advance. Streaming will be available for select sessions. For more information, visit id.iit.edu/design-as-activism

Day 1 - Friday, September 13th
Various sites across Chicago, all day
Activation at various sites and pop-up events across Chicago. Participating community partners will demonstrate their projects and engage audiences as participants. A list of all participating sites will be provided to registrants in advance.

Note: Transportation will not be provided between sites. We ask that all attendees make their own transportation arrangements.

Highlights include:

Multiple events at the Chicago History Museum, including:

• a workshop with Shannon Downey of Badass Cross Stitch
• tours of the Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s–70s exhibition
  (Location: Lincoln Park)
• Designing Belonging conversation featuring grand-scale puppet project designed by Grace Needleman with Redline Service artists.
  (Location: North Lawndale)

• Community Readings and Workshop, part of Unearthing Layers, Connecting Stories: Reflections on Environmental Justice in Everyday Life.
  (Location: Archer Park)

Day 2 - Saturday, September 14th
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Invited speakers, workshops, and activities hosted at the Institute of Design at Illinois Tech, 3137 South Federal Street
(Location: Bronzeville)

Featured speakers include:

• Keynote Speaker: Anne H. Berry, Director of Design at University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
• Workshops and panel discussions led by designers from Greater Good Studio, Design Trust Chicago, Span Studio, Field of Practice, William Estrada, and more.

• Interactive making activities with Andrés and Marya Lemus-Spont of ¡Anímate! Studio and others.

Join us for two days of thought-provoking activations, workshops, discussions, and more. For more information and updates, visit our website.

About our Keynote Speaker:

Anne H. Berry (she/her) is a writer, designer, and Director of the School of Design at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her research focuses on race/representation and educational pedagogy in the field of design, and her published writing includes “The Virtual Design Classroom” for Communication Arts magazine and “The Black Designer’s Identity” for the inaugural issue of the e anthology, which features commentary from Indigenous people and people of color. She is co-creator of the award-winning project and managing editor of, an anthology centering a range of perspectives that spotlight teaching practices, research, stories, and conversations from a Black/African diasporic lens.

This event is supported by the Terra Foundation as part of its Art Design Chicago initiative in connection with the Chicago History Museum’s Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art in the 1960s-70s.

Tickets

This event is free and will be held in-person. Select sessions will be available online. Note our different ticket types:

1. General Admission
2. ID Students
3. Virtual (select sessions, to be determined)

Please note: Limited workshop tickets will be available for sign-up closer to the event date.

Accessibility Accommodations
For Saturday sessions, the event will take place in one building over two floors with elevator access between floors. Seating and wheelchair accessibility are available in rooms for all sessions. Gender-neutral bathrooms are available on each floor. The program includes scheduled breaks throughout the day, as well as access to a quiet space.
Keynotes and panel discussions will have microphones, and workshops and conversations will have amplification available as needed. ASL interpretation available upon request - please contact Jessica Meharry ([email protected]) to request accommodations.
The Institute of Design at Kaplan is easily accessible by public transportation.

At the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech, we look at the world in new ways to create the change we hope to see in it. Since our founding by Bauhaus émigré László Moholy-Nagy in 1937, we’ve continually turned design into a powerful tool anyone can use to transform the systems that shape our lives — from cities, education, and finance to food, healthcare, and technology.

We’re the only US design school devoted completely to graduate students, and the first to offer a PhD. By uniting science and rigor with creativity and rapid iteration, we’re recognized around the globe as pioneers in human-centered design, systems design, and other methods that apply design to the real world.

It’s through these unique approaches that students, communities, and corporations learn to observe the systems they’re surrounded by — and envision the new worlds they can build from them. Here, learners and leaders discover what design makes possible, how it enables us to adapt with the speed, scale, and complexity of life, and how to anticipate change and the impact of our actions. Most importantly, we discover what it means to imagine—then create—brighter futures for us all.

Learn more about ID at id.iit.edu.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Tech, 3137 South Federal Street, Chicago, United States