Anti-Racist Pop-Ups

ID faculty member Chris Rudd, along with four ID students, facilitated three anti-racist pop-ups to bring new design methods to Chicago communities. The team sought to use design and creative placemaking to intervene and disrupt the racist outcomes further amplified by the pandemic. Set up in neighborhoods across the city, Anti-Racist Pop-Ups were a set of activities that enabled participants to identify racism, imagine equitable futures, and co-design anti-racist infrastructures to serve as protagonists of change. Because the possibility of dismantling racism and building equitable futures depends on our collective capacity to identify racism, envision equitable alternatives, and take action, one of Rudd’s goals was for no “professional” designer to show up — it was a community exercise for community participants. The project was a finalist in the Fast Company Students Category and honorable mention in the Social Justice and Art & Design categories. Student team: Mithila Kedambadi, Azra Sungu, Monica Villazon San Martin, Julian Walker. Faculty: Daniel Chichester, Chris Rudd.