CREATIVE GROUNDS @ ANTHONY OVERTON
ROOTED FUTURES
SEASON 2025
ABOUT
Since 2017, Creative Grounds @ Overton has created space for the community to stay connected with the former Overton Elementary School - future Overton Center for Excellence.
​
The first couple of years, through our themes Opening Closings (2017), 8x3: Art + Architecture (2018) and Process(ing) Transformation (2019), our focus was on making space for collective creativity and art/design work activating the different classrooms with multiple teams. The following two years, through pandemic we held space driven by solidarity and resilience to take care of each other while organizing opportunities to reflect on issues that we care about addressing – we served our community through the Southside Food Distribution Network (2020), worked on the Climate and Cultural Resilience Project (2020), and activated the grounds again through Frame(works) of Resilience (2021), Reunite + Respond (2022), Growing Together (2023) and Soil + Soul (2024). As grantees of City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development's Public Outdoor Plaza program we opened The Overton Exchange Plaza in 2024.
This season (Summer/Fall) of 2025, Creative Grounds @ Anthony Overton will continue to make space for community to keep this former school active and connected through the improvement of outdoor spaces, including the demonstration pollinators garden along Indiana Avenue, the rain garden along Prairie Avenue, and the newly Public Outdoor Plaza called The Overton Exchange on the West part of the Overton Campus.
Our theme this year: Rooted Futures seeks to engage creatives, residents, stewards and entrepreneurs with programming that responds to the question: What does a future look like when it's rooted in care, culture, and community?.
Illustration: Overton Center for Excellence Campus
COMMUNITY DAYS
Community Days are free & open to everyone, and include a variety of programming activities, workshops, performances.​​
​​
Saturdays @ Overton Exchange Plaza / Center for Excellence
(221 E 49th St - Enter on Indiana Avenue)
​
FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
​
​
May 24, 2:00-5:00 pm: Kicking off a New Season
​​
June 27, 6:00-9:00 pm: Beyond Closure Film Screening + Tour
​
June 28, 2:00-5:00 pm: A Day for Building Together
​​
July 26, 2:00-5:00 pm: A Day for Beating Our Own Drum
​
August 31, 2:00-5:00 pm
​
September 27, 2:00-5:00 pm
​
October 18, 2:00-5:00 pm ​​​​
​
COMMUNITY & RAIN GARDENS
OVERTON COMMUNITY GARDEN​
​
As part of 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial, Studio BASAR designed and built the project Breaking Ground: The Schoolyard Workshop in collaboration with students and instructors from the Daniel Hale Williams Preparatory School of Medicine in Bronzeville and Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE).
​In 2021 and 2022, Overton Community Garden continued building on the Breaking Ground project by Studio BASAR (2019). One of the goals of this project is to provide an outdoor space for collective learning and gathering about growing healthy and fresh food while expanding active green areas along Indiana Avenue. The harvested greens and flowers are shared during Community Days.
​
In addition to growing, caring and nurturing the garden, the team will continue to make space for creatives and genuine allies, to share and exchange practices of creativity, regeneration, rest and peace for us to heal together.
Creative activities are coupled with our gardening activities in an effort to build community and literacy around environmental resilience and food sovereignty and see it in action and raise awareness of the reactivation of Overton.
​
Photo: Joe Ignatius (Summer 2024)
GARDEN WORKSHOPS
​
As our garden activities continue to evolve, we started hosting garden workshops during our 2024 season to support community stewardship and learning. In partnership with Lightly Farmed, these workshops led by Lucia Leon help our community to learn about caretaking, stewardship and maintenance of our different gardens.
​
Saturdays @ Overton Exchange Plaza / Center for Excellence
(4927 S Indiana)
​
FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
​
​
May 31, 10:00-11:30 am: Native & Pollinator Garden Planning
​​
June 14, 10:00-11:30 am: Stewardship for Native & Pollinator Gardens
​
July 19, 10:00-11:00 am: Insects in the Garden
​
August 16, 10:00-11:00 am: Soil 101
​
September 27, 10:00-11:00 am: Tree Walk with Morton Arboretum
​​
Photo: Joe Ignatius (Spring 2025)
CREATIVE NATURE WORKSHOPS
​
This 2025 season are piloting a new type of workshops in partnership with Somos Los Urbs in Horto led by Jennifer Guzman.​​ These series of workshops seek to explore creatively the neighborhood's natural and built environment. The series is rooted in the creative hub gardens foster and the endless possibilities it stores within. From simply being present to growing and producing – a garden can transform an individual to view the world past the surface layer and deep into its rich possibilities of growth.
Complimentary to the series, participants and visitors alike can take home a Garden Journal Zine that examines reflections from each part of the series to replicate in their own growing spaces.
​
Sundays @ Overton Exchange Plaza / Center for Excellence
(4927 S Indiana)
​
FREE + OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
​
REGISTER HERE​​​​
​
July 13, 2:00-3:00 pm: Bouquet Body Maps / A Grounding Workshop
​
August 10, 2:00-3:00 pm: Build Your Seed Stock
​
September 14, 2:00-3:00 pm: Plant Pressing and Preservation
​
October 18, 2:00-3:00 pm: Guerrilla Gardening 101 & Wildflower Shakers
​​​​
_edited.jpg)
Photo: Jenny Guzman (July 2025)
We are super grateful for all the volunteers that year after year collaborate with us and make space together with us!
ABOUT
OVERTON CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE (FORMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL)
Anthony Overton Elementary School closed in 2013, and was purchased by the Washington Park Development Group in 2015. Designed and built by prominent local architects, Perkins & Will in 1963, Overton represents a modern and progressive approach to education reform and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Overton Center for Excellence will transform the Overton School into flexible office space for entrepreneurs and nonprofits focused in the areas of CHANGE (Climate, Health, Arts & Culture, Next Generation, Growth and Education).
​
Sources: The Chicago Reporter, National Register of Historic Places Program, City of Chicago Community Development Program
ABOUT
ANTHONY
OVERTON
Anthony Overton (March 21, 1865 – July 2, 1946), a banker and pioneer manufacturer, was the first African American to lead a major business conglomerate. Overton established Hygienic in 1898 and produced baking powder, extracts, and toilet preparations. After moving the firm from Kansas to Chicago, he began to manufacture a full line of cosmetics and perfumes under the High-Brown Products label. He parlayed his early success with Hygienic into a highly diverse conglomerate, including The Great Northern Realty Company, The Chicago Bee, and the Victory Life Insurance Company. This was the first major conglomerate led by an African-American.
​
Source: Wikipedia
CREATIVE GROUNDS
TEAM
Janice Cowley (she/her)
​
Janice Cowley is the founder and executive director of Urban Explorers of Chicago, the city’s first mobile STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) microschool. Cowley launched this innovative educational initiative in 2020 to make hands-on, interdisciplinary learning accessible to children across Chicago’s neighborhoods. She has been supporting Overton as programming coordinator since 2024, and as programming partner since 2020.
_edited.jpg)
Jamee Wallace (she/her)
​
Jamee is a neighbor at Overton and helped as garden steward during our 2024 season. This year, Cindy will continue to help this season with community programming and activities.
Jennifer Guzman (she/her)
​
Jenny is passionate to work in re-engaging communities with nature, ignited from her family's diaspora from rural Mexico to Pilsen and the far Southside of Chicago. Her career focuses on creating open resources for communities to explore their neighborhood growing spaces and understand the growing environmental movement across Chicago.
Lucía León (she/her)
​
Lucia is a Chicago-raised urban farmer and land steward in her 10th season of growing. She’s passionate about connecting people to the healing power of soil and plants. She is the Food Production Manager at El Paseo Community Garden and does consulting, garden education, cut-flower production and landscape design and installation through her business, Lightly Farmed.
Ellie Mejía (they/them)
​
Ellie is a graphic designer and illustrator whose work has been featured in the South Side Weekly, Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ, and more. With experience in nonprofit journalism and civic engagement, Ellie brings a passion for communal care to their creative work. They have been supporting the Overton team with communications efforts since 2023.
Kenya Davis (she/her)
​
Kenya was born in San Francisco and raised in Chicago. She has been a resident of Bronzeville since 2010. Kenya is a professional in community economic development and non profit management where she helps people start non profits, and provides them with resources. She has been supporting Overton with her stewardship since 2022; she and her son Caleb are dear friends of Overton.
Paola Aguirre (she/her)
​
Paola is a native of the US-Mexico border region (Chihuahua), and an urban designer. She has been Overton's steward since 2017, and she continues to bring the community to connect with Overton and each other. She will be supporting the team in organizing activities for Community Days, and making sure the team has everything they need to keep Overton active and connected.