Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Designs for Dignity helps give LGBTQ spaces new looks
Special to the online edition of Windy City Times
by Liz Baudler
2015-05-05

This article shared 493 times since Tue May 5, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

      More Photos


Chicago-area organization Designs for Dignity ( D4D ) works with non-profits to redesign existing spaces or help complete new ones.

Executive Director Jen Sobecki said it has grown tremendously since its 2000 start. "We've got a staff of three, a board of 20 and hundreds of volunteer designers that give back their time and connections with various larger firms [and] smaller independent firms that sign up to donate their time and expertise; help us leverage pricing when we can't get donated materials; and then vendors that want to provide materials," said Sobecki. "I think to date we've redeployed over $6 million of excess materials, and we really want to do more."

Organizations that think they might be candidates for a Designs for Dignity project can fill out a grant application. Sobecki said D4D's grant committee looks at what an organization's needs are and the impact D4D can have. That way, it can assemble a team with the appropriate resources and expertise. Often, D4D will work with other firms as part of a larger design effort.

Recently Designs for Dignity has undertaken two Chicago-area projects with LGBTQ connections: the TransLife Center at Chicago House, and the Town Hall senior apartments. Both were challenges: The Town Hall apartments repurposed a 100-year-old building, and the TransLife center turned a former AIDS hospice into a residential center for homeless trans individuals.

"The purpose of the house was changing so significantly," said Cary Filsinger, a designer for the TransLife center. "The first thing we did, in a meeting with Chicago House, was learn what they wanted the house to look like. They are certainly the experts, although a house for homeless transgender persons was largely unique. For instance, with nine rooms, ultimately their goal was to put two people in a room, but knowing the challenge that they'd be dealing with, they wanted to start with one person and one twin bed per room, and then grow from there once they got established."

Filsinger said regular meetings ensured that the designers were meeting Chicago House's needs. "A perfect example was that we wanted to use more colors in the house, initially. And Chicago's House's valid concern was—given the kind of use and probably occasional abuse that it might get, given that we're going to have to touch it up—[it] really wanted to stick to two or three paint colors. We certainly understood what [Chicago House was] coming from. [The organization] definitely set the tone and it was our goal to sign on to the needs and make sure that was what we were delivering."

"Those are spaces where people lost their lives to AIDS back in the '80s and '90s," Sobecki added. "To see the transformation that that team created, to have breathed new life and to give this population the opportunity to thrive and survive, I think is awesome."

With the Town Hall apartments, D4D assumed responsibility for community spaces since a larger construction firm, Gensler, was already working on the major areas. "It's an affordable housing project, and both D4D and Gensler helped spearhead these workshops with people who—if they weren't going to necessarily live in a building—were embedded in the LGBTQ community, or are people who, if they don't live in public housing, are aware of what some of the challenges are when you overlay affordable housing with this particular population," designer Michael Hanley explained. "We had to be very purposeful in helping the owner ultimately determine what some of these common program would be. There was the space, there was the budget. And so these communal spaces become hugely important in capturing some of the top needs and desires of the people who would live there."

Hanley felt D4D was instrumental in creating the space. "From a design perspective, I think that what D4D had to offer with this program was exactly what our team needed and what the client needed in terms of infusing some playfulness and some attitude, frankly, in public spaces or heavily used spaces," he said. "These folks don't have big apartments. These are pretty small living units, so we knew that these communal spaces were extremely important to the overall success of the project. And so our team worked really closely with D4D what was most appropriate for these spaces, not just in terms of color palette and furniture but the overall aesthetic and attitude."

Sobecki feels that word of mouth helps both D4D and their projects—the Town Hall project came their way through a connection with a volunteer and a housing company, and the Chicago House builders were thrilled with their collaboration. Their relationship with vendors and manufacturers often gets them donations for future projects, and will go to showrooms at the Merchandise Mart and happily collect turned-over product. "When a whole office floor is being upgraded or renovated, where does all of that stuff go?" Sobecki pointed out. "There is so much excess in the industry."

To Sobecki, D4D fills a crucial role. "Hopefully we are that go-to resource for the nonprofits when they're expanding or need simple design services," she said. "With the designers, I think everyone wants to give back in some way, and there's an immense amount of talent in the Chicago area in the design industry. How do we create that outlet for them to give back so they can give back when they have time? The biggest thing for us is really being there every step of the way and looking to advocate on behalf of the non-profit, and then stretch that budget in any capacity possible."

Designs for Dignity's 15th annual gala takes place on Thursday, May 7, 6-10 p.m., at the The Geraghty, 2520 S. Hoyne Ave. Tickets are $150 each; visit www.designsfordignity.org/ .


This article shared 493 times since Tue May 5, 2015
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

City Lit Executive Artistic Director Brian Pastor talks theater, comics, queerness
2024-03-26
City Lit Theater has announced its programming for the 2024-25 season—which will be the company's 44th. It will also be the first season to be programmed under the leadership of Brian Pastor (they/them), who will assume ...


Gay News

After 30 Under 30: MAP Executive Director Naomi Goldberg
2024-03-25
NOTE: In this series, Windy City Times will profile some of its past 30 Under 30 honorees. Windy City Times started its 30 Under 30 Awards in 2001, presenting them each year through 2019. This year, ...


Gay News

Jamie Barton brings nuances of identity to her Lyric Opera 'Aida' performance
2024-03-18
Chicago's Lyric Opera is currently featuring a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida starring Michelle Bradley as Aida, Jamie Barton as Amneris and Russell Thomas as Radamès. The opera runs through April 7, 2024, with Francesca Zambello ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition'
2024-03-15
Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

Chicago History Museum announces "Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s - 70s exhibition
2024-03-14
--From a press release - CHICAGO (March 14, 2024) — The Chicago History Museum is thrilled to announce its upcoming exhibition, "Designing for Change: Chicago Protest Art of the 1960s—70s." Set to open on Saturday, May 18, 2024, this exhibition is ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted celebrates Dreams of Drag
2024-03-11
On March 9, Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., in partnership with the Ralla Klepak Foundation, presented the Dreams of Drag Spring Cohort Class of 2024. The event featured performances from a class of new ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted hosts 6th Annual Intergenerational Talent Show
2024-03-03
On the evening of Feb. 29, Center on Halsted held its 6th Annual Intergenerational Talent Show in front of a packed audience at the Hoover-Leppen Theater. The event brought together participants of the Center's youth and senior ...


Gay News

THEATER When growth is paramount: Jim Corti helps fuel Aurora theater expansion
2024-03-01
Out actor/director/choreographer Jim Corti made his Broadway debut in 1974, in the ensemble of Leonard Bernstein's musical Candide. Director Harold Prince's acclaimed Tony Award-winning revival is often cited as a ...


Gay News

TAWANI Foundation commits $25K to StartOut, supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurship
2024-02-08
--From a press release - CHICAGO — February 8, 2024 — The TAWANI Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides support in the areas of arts and culture, historical preservation, health and wellness, LGBTQ+ and human rights ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted opens two new art exhibitions
2024-02-07
On Feb. 2, Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., hosted its latest gallery opening, presenting two solo exhibitions exploring the role of the artist and their relationships with their environments, albeit using vastly different styles. ...


Gay News

ART Champaign display looks at the Midwest Black lesbian experience
2024-02-03
In Illinois, archival photos are the centerpiece of a new display at the Krannert Art Museum focusing on the Black lesbian experience in the Midwest, IPM reported. The new solo exhibition by St. Louis-based artist Jen ...


Gay News

SPORTS Chicago Hounds' Nick McCarthy reflects on being out in professional rugby
2024-01-24
In recent years, people from numerous high-profile fields have publicly declared themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Among them have been individuals from tech (such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Apple CEO Tim Cook), ...


Gay News

ART Queer photographer James Hosking focuses the lens on his own work
2023-12-18
James Hosking—a Chicago-based LGBTQ+ artist who specializes in photography and collage—is one of 17 people selected to be part of "Once: 2023 Emerging Artists Exhibit" at the Cleve Carney Museum on the College of DuPage campus ...


Gay News

MOVIES Director Daniel Peddle on the sequel to the classic doc 'The Aggressives'
2023-12-05
In 2005, Daniel Peddle released The Aggressives—a groundbreaking documentary filmed during the late '90s and early '00s in New York City that profiled several masculine-presenting/transmasculine people of color. Fast-forward to ...


Gay News

GLAAD marks World AIDS Day with launch of global resource hub, new HIV report
2023-12-01
--From a press release - New York, New York — Friday, Dec. 1 — GLAAD marked World AIDS Day this year by sharing the results of its fourth annual State of HIV Stigma Report, a national survey among U.S. adults measuring ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.