SPACE
School Partnership for Art and Civic Engagement, also known as SPACE, is a program created to foster the creative, intellectual, and civic development of students.
Featured images

As part of their final project, Curie students host a parade to the post office to mail 1,200 student-designed postcards on civic topics of their choosing, May 31, 2018
Photo: Braxton Black © MCA Chicago
Curie parade to post office, May 31, 2018
Photo: Braxton Black © MCA Chicago
SPACE artist's studio exterior at Curie Metro High School
Photo: Nathan Keay
Damon Locks leads a discussion around art and civic engagement during an MCA field trip
Photo: Nathan KeaySPACE
The Mission
School Partnership for Art and Civic Engagement, also known as SPACE, is a learning program created by the MCA to foster the creative, intellectual, and civic development of students.
A multiyear partnership with Chicago Public High Schools, SPACE embeds an artist-in-residence within a school, fostering the MCA’s learning philosophy far outside the walls of the museum. Students investigate local issues, identify what impacts their life directly and what they feel passionate about, then work to research and engage community members in dialogue to create change.
Current Site
Hyde Park Academy High School
- Delisha McKinney, Teaching-Artist-In-Residence
- Rhonda Gholston, Art
- Joanna Jogodka-Petra, Civics
Intended Outcomes
SPACE culminates in student-created artistic projects and civic action plans that address the pressing needs of their community. Youth take the lead as empowered change-agents with the confidence, knowledge, and ability to confront real-world issues.
SPACE resident artists relocate their studio practices, transforming the high schools into creative hubs for artistic and civic exchange. Together with the art and social studies teachers, they codesign and coteach an interdisciplinary socially engaged curriculum.
Past Partner Schools and Artists
School Sites
- Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA), Pilsen
- Curie Metropolitan High School, Archer Heights
- Sarah E. Goode S.T.E.M. Academy, Ashburn
- Nicholas Senn High School, Edgewater
Teaching Artists
- Damon Locks
- Artist-in-Residence at SARAH E. GOODE S.T.E.M. ACADEMY
- Andres L. Hernandez
- Artist-in-Residence at CURIE METROPOLITAN HIGH SCHOOL
- Zakkiyyah Najeebah Dumas-O’Neal
- Artist in Residence at NICHOLAS SENN HIGH SCHOOL
Funding
Lead support is provided by Crown Family Philanthropies.
Major support is provided by the Polk Bros. Foundation.
Additional generous support is provided by Discover and the Dr. Scholl Foundation.


