Please note: despite hundreds of staff hours applying for dozens of funding support opportunities since 2019, no new support has been awarded the Assembly Zones program, either from local, state, federal or private sources. Without continued funding to prototype and develop the necessary technology for this effort, the program can no longer move forward.

We continue to believe deeply in the urgency and necessity of the Assembly Zones program, but as of Fall 2022, until sufficient new support is acquired to continue, development efforts on the initiative will be discontinued. Read the full announcement on our news page here. Those wishing to reach out with new capital opportunities can email us here.

ASSEMBLY ZONES: STATEMENT

Disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that poor, Black, Brown and Latin populations in Chicago have suffered greater numbers of infection and death than the rest of the population. While clearly a matter of systemic racism and historic disinvestment, we also view this situation as at least partially a practical problem of access to information and crisis resources.

According to Pew Research Center's first survey of phone ownership, 19% of Americans (around 60 million people), don’t own smartphones. According to another Pew survey, an astounding 23% remain without access to home wifi, and similar numbers are reported for households who do not own a computer at home of any kind. We have always argued that, just as there exist food deserts, a vast number of Americans also live in “information deserts” that present just as serious a public health challenge.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, artist and Bridge Editor-in-Chief Michael Workman proposed, and began working with a team of Bridge artists, to develop the pilot program of design-built “assembly zones” throughout cities where it can be helpful to communities in need. Demarcated using design principles easily replicable in a variety of environments, with the goal of creating a recognizable public space along the lines of a bus hut or phone booth, we seek to provide a design solution — such as a subject-marked pull tab a la a deli counter service tab for those seeking help for a variety of traumas such as domestic violence, addiction, mental illness, eviction, hunger poverty, or the status of current pandemic shelter orders, for example — to provide on-the-spot information resources in areas where technological solutions may be sparse.

Additionally, these spaces will seek to alleviate loneliness and isolation among the general public, with signage instructing visitors that listening and interaction is expected, and especially among vulnerable populations such as elderly and LGBTQ youth. 

Drawing on notions of performance as instructional and interactive choreography, the range of currently-extant “rule-based” shared public spaces, and precursors such as the Sidewalk Talk program (sidewalk-talk.org), these zones will function as public engagement stations freely utilizable on their own by members of the public, or programmed to provide interaction both within the zones, and that of any potential host spaces.

Supported in part by funding from The Little Village Community Foundation in partnership with Design Trust Chicago.

Core Project Team
Bob Faust, artist and Director, Faust, Ltd.
Michelle Kranicke, dance artist and Co-Director, SITE/less
Mat Rappaport, artist and Associate Professor, Columbia College Chicago
David Sundry, artist and Co-Director, SITE/less 
Michael Workman, artist, Editor-in-Chief & Founder, Bridge

Currently Committed Advisory Individuals

Lynn Basa, artist and Founder, Corner Project
Paula Danoff, President & CEO Evanston Art Center 
Jeffreen M. Hayes, Ph.D., Executive Director, Threewalls
Lisa Yun Lee, Executive Director, National Public Housing Museum, Co-Chairs of the Arts & Culture Transition Committee for Mayor Elect Lori Lightfoot
Carson Poole, Community Organizer, North River Commission
Maria Flora PT, Owner. RISE, Age-u-cate Certified Master Trainer, Dementia 

Currently Committed Host Sites / Orgs

Bridge
Corner Project
DePaul Art Museum
Evanston Art Center
Facility
Howard Brown Health Centers
National Public Housing Museum
North River Commission
SITE/less
RISE Six Corners