Current
Past
CPS Lives is proud to team up with Firecat Projects To put on Positive Slope , our first group show featuring 16 of our artists! The Opening reception is October 4th, and the show goes on until October 19th. Please stop by and view the hard work of our artists!
Image by Abbi Chase
Learn More
Oct 04
CPS Lives will have a booth at Expo Chicago (September 19th – 22nd) Show casing artists, Cecil McDonald Jr. and Melissa Ann Pinney, work that has been created during their time at their schools! Stop by Booth 421 and join us!
Image by Abbi Chase
Sep 19
CPS Lives has been working with over 30 artists, 34 schools, in approximately 29 neighborhoods and counting!
The Chicago Public School system is the nations third largest school district, serving over 400,000 students in more than 660 schools. The sheer scale and complexity of the Chicago Public School system renders it opaque to the general public, where stories of its successes and resilience remain untold. this project shows the power of public education in Chicago. we produce artworks providing a unique window in to the Chicago Public School system, generating support and reinforcing belief in the Chicago Public School mission; “to provide a high-quality public education for every child in every neighborhood”.
ExploreChicago has a long history of being an incubator for various industries: manufacturing, theater, architecture, music, science, literature. As a classic urban center, this city has provided opportunities and support for an array of industries. Now, as we enter the 21st century, this library of industrial and creative venues is transforming into a new range of digital industries. Providing educational resources to help develop an educated society is not a new issue, but one that changes and develops as the urban environment transforms itself. Public schools are key. If a city is to continue to develop and prosper, it must provide superior public services including schools and libraries.
Founded in 2018 by Chicago photographer, Suzette Bross, CPS Lives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that pairs Chicago artists, designers, creatives, thinkers, makers, and educators with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project, sharing the unique and individual story of each Chicago Public School. Each story will be celebrated and exhibited through local Chicago Public Library branches, as well as existing on the CPS Lives website as an accessible digital archive of history for students, families, community members, educators, administrators, policymakers, and the general public.
Learn More[wpedon id="2374" align="center"]
Each donation supports our organization, our artists, and the schools we work with! All donations are greatly appreciated, no matter the amount, your contribution helps CPS Lives make a difference!
CPS Lives seeks to expand our knowledge of the space students inhabit through the work of our artists produced in the public schools. The artists seek to enlarge our understanding of the places students inhabit and their worldview through the use of cultural processes. How public spaces are enriched and developed through the presence of visual production increases the level of the students’ cultural literacy and becomes palpable to the larger civic community, both politically and culturally. This program creates ties to local communities through the exhibitions in their library branches. By creating this relationship in the public space of a city library we come to understand the complexity and importance of the public school system and the increasing importance of these public sites, their value, their diversity. The public sites of schools and libraries are not fixed and untouchable, but are dynamic and informed by us.
We want to hear from you! Please feel free to email us…
Learn MoreWe proudly appreciate support from our partners.
Stories
Artists
Current
Past
Schools
Neighborhoods
Filter Photo will host CPS Lives this spring for critique and conversation. Join us as the CPS Lives photographers share with the larger Chicago photography community work-progress projects created between Chicago artists as residents in various Chicago Public Schools. CPS Lives artists will be sharing prints, videos, and digital projects of works in progress. Stop in to see what they’ve been working on and learn more about this city-wide project.
For more information, please visit Filter Photo!
Image by Marzena Abrahamik
CPS Lives is proud to team up with Firecat Projects To put on Positive Slope , our first group show featuring 16 of our artists! The Opening reception is October 4th, and the show goes on until October 19th. Please stop by and view the hard work of our artists!
Image by Abbi Chase
Learn More
Oct 04
CPS Lives will have a booth at Expo Chicago (September 19th – 22nd) Show casing artists, Cecil McDonald Jr. and Melissa Ann Pinney, work that has been created during their time at their schools! Stop by Booth 421 and join us!
Image by Abbi Chase
Sep 19
CPS Lives has been working with over 30 artists, 34 schools, in approximately 29 neighborhoods and counting!
The Chicago Public School system is the nations third largest school district, serving over 400,000 students in more than 660 schools. The sheer scale and complexity of the Chicago Public School system renders it opaque to the general public, where stories of its successes and resilience remain untold. this project shows the power of public education in Chicago. we produce artworks providing a unique window in to the Chicago Public School system, generating support and reinforcing belief in the Chicago Public School mission; “to provide a high-quality public education for every child in every neighborhood”.
ExploreChicago has a long history of being an incubator for various industries: manufacturing, theater, architecture, music, science, literature. As a classic urban center, this city has provided opportunities and support for an array of industries. Now, as we enter the 21st century, this library of industrial and creative venues is transforming into a new range of digital industries. Providing educational resources to help develop an educated society is not a new issue, but one that changes and develops as the urban environment transforms itself. Public schools are key. If a city is to continue to develop and prosper, it must provide superior public services including schools and libraries.
Founded in 2018 by Chicago photographer, Suzette Bross, CPS Lives is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization that pairs Chicago artists, designers, creatives, thinkers, makers, and educators with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project, sharing the unique and individual story of each Chicago Public School. Each story will be celebrated and exhibited through local Chicago Public Library branches, as well as existing on the CPS Lives website as an accessible digital archive of history for students, families, community members, educators, administrators, policymakers, and the general public.
Learn MoreComing Soon!
Learn More[wpedon id="2374" align="center"]
Each donation supports our organization, our artists, and the schools we work with! All donations are greatly appreciated, no matter the amount, your contribution helps CPS Lives make a difference!
CPS Lives seeks to expand our knowledge of the space students inhabit through the work of our artists produced in the public schools. The artists seek to enlarge our understanding of the places students inhabit and their worldview through the use of cultural processes. How public spaces are enriched and developed through the presence of visual production increases the level of the students’ cultural literacy and becomes palpable to the larger civic community, both politically and culturally. This program creates ties to local communities through the exhibitions in their library branches. By creating this relationship in the public space of a city library we come to understand the complexity and importance of the public school system and the increasing importance of these public sites, their value, their diversity. The public sites of schools and libraries are not fixed and untouchable, but are dynamic and informed by us.
We want to hear from you! Please feel free to email us…
Learn MoreWe proudly appreciate support from our partners.
Stories / Scott Fortino & John L. Marsh Elementary
08/08/2019
Artist —
School — John L. Marsh Elementary School
Neighborhood — South Side
The CPS Lives website was a gift from Columbia College Chicago. The branding, design system, and website, was created by a team of multi-disciplined students as part of the College's on-campus Internship program.
Jo-Nell Sieren, Project Manger
Students:
Dario Figueroa, Web Developer
Emily Gorski, Graphic Designer
Nick Rissmeyer, Graphic Designer
Andrew Shike, Web Developer
Devina Yoestong, Photographer & Designer