Open House* Chicago *As Seen in Streetwise
1
Open House
Chicago takes sites from around the city and, for one weekend, opens them up to the public, even spaces that are rarely open for public viewing. One of the best parts is that it is completely free, therefore inclusive to anyone, regardless of income status.
There are over 200 sites open to the public all around the city over the weekend of October 18 and 19.
Every year, I look forward to sharing the sites I have visited (and the sites I am excited to visit) with StreetWise readers. This year, we are highlighting the places and organizations that have been featured in StreetWise Magazine in recent years. I figured after reading about these great places, why not visit them in person!
Sites are in order of most recent appearance in StreetWise.
Uptown
1
THE CHECKOUT
4116 N. Clark St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 28, September 10-16, 2025
The CheckOut is a unique transformation of a long-empty 7-Eleven into a thriving chamber music venue managed by Access Contemporary Music (ACM). The venue hosts classical, cabaret, jazz, and original ACM musical productions. Visitors can take a self-guided tour with ACM staff on hand to answer questions. The teaching rooms, performance space and bar will be open. Scenes from ACM's PBS series "Songs About Buildings and Moods" will be screened, exploring the intersection of music and architecture. From 11 am to 2 pm each day there will be live performances of music from the series.
Garfield Park / North Lawndale
2 STARLING BY DUO/.
3243 W. 16th St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 25, August 13-19, 2025
A first-of-its-kind neighborhood amenity, Starling by Duo/. is the first commercial building to open on 16th Street in North Lawndale in over 70 years. The building operates as a café open to the public and is also available to rent by-the-hour for people to host pro-
2
3
gramming and events such as gallery shows, yoga classes, book launches, music production, and birthday parties. Spaces on view include the Moon Room (a library nook with free books curated by Open Books), Sun Room (open space with a sky light), Sound Studio, Meeting Room, terraces, garden, and anchor tenant and roastery, Monday Coffee.
Bronzeville
3 SOUTH SIDE SANCTUARY
4702 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 25, August 13-19, 2025
This 13,000 square foot outdoor cultural campus transforms a lot that sat vacant for over 30 years into a vibrant space for healing, creativity, and connection. For decades, neighbors carved walking paths through the empty lot. Today, those same paths are reimagined and lined with art walls, open-air classrooms, native gardens, performance space, and sensory landscaping that honors the quiet history of movement through space. The site features a public stage, pollinatorfilled living fences, free community Wi-Fi, and flexible outdoor seating. Weekly programs include farmers markets, youth showcases, wellness classes, and live art activations. South Side Sanctuary is a living example of community resilience, Black cultural legacy, and the belief that public space should feel like home.
Compiled by Dave Hamilton Photos courtesy of the Chicago Architecture Center
Near North Side
4 THE DRIEHAUS MUSEUM’ S MURPHY AUDITORIUM
50 E. Erie St.
Sat & Sun Noon - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 16, June 4-10, 2025
The Driehaus Museum, established in 2008 in the historic Nickerson Mansion, expanded its footprint in 2022 with the acquisition of the adjacent John B. Murphy Memorial Auditorium. This six-story, French Renaissance-style building was designed by noted Chicago architecture firm Marshall and Fox, and built between 1923-1926 for the American College of Surgeons. The Murphy originally served as a center for surgical research, education, and advancement, and to develop programs for the standardization of hospitals. The building’s iconic limestone exterior is Benjamin Marshall’s interpretation of the doublecolumned, two-story façade flanking the entry staircase of the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Consolation in Paris. It features a pair of cast bronze doors produced by Tiffany Studios, depicting prominent figures in the history of medicine. It also has a towering, multicolored stainedglass window inside the auditorium. Students and faculty from the Music Institute of Chicago will perform in the Murphy Auditorium from 2-3 pm on both days.
Garfield Park / North Lawndale
5 FARM ON OGDEN
3555 W. Ogden Ave.
Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 15, May 14-20, 2025
The Farm on Ogden supports and sustains a healthy urban community by bringing food, health and jobs together
in one location. It consists of greenhouses, aquaponics, and fish hatchery operations, a teen-led youth farm, commercial and teaching kitchens, and a community market space. The Farm on Ogden is managed in partnership by LCHC and Windy City Harvest, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban agriculture education and jobs-training initiative to help build a local food system, healthier communities and a greener economy. Visitors will be provided with a map to lead them through self-guided tour stations. There will also be interpretive signage and staff near the designated stations to share more information.
Englewood
6 GROWING HOME’ S WOOD STREET URBAN FARM
5814 S. Wood St.
Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 15, May 14-20,2025 Growing Home works to ensure access to good jobs and good food on the South Side of Chicago through innovative work in urban agriculture. It offers a comprehensive, paid employment training program to help individuals with barriers to employment find and keep stable, full-time jobs. Its USDA-certified organic farms provide healthy, fresh food and food education to neighbors in Englewood. Built in 2006, Growing Home's 1.5 acre Wood Street Urban Farm is the city's first USDA-certified organic farm and is a fantastic example of edible greenscapes in Chicago.
Near West Side
7 NATIONAL PUBLIC HOUSING MUSEUM
919 S. Ada St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 15, April 30-May 6, 2025 & Vol. 30 No. 43, October 42-30, 2022
The National Public Housing Museum is located in the last remaining building of the Jane Addams Homes, a development of linked three-story brick buildings that opened in 1938 as one of the first sites of public housing in Chicago. The museum mixes the historical with the contemporary, offering recreated domestic spaces, artifacts salvaged from the building, sculptures by Edgar Miller, an interactive music room filled with records from musicians who grew up and lived in public housing, and evocative art installations and exhibits. Visitors can enjoy a self-guided visit that includes special exhibits like "History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing" and "Living in the Shade: Open Space and Public Housing," a scavenger hunt of architectural encounters, and interactive experiences in the REC Room.
Pullman
8 PULLMAN NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
610 E. 111th St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 4 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 22 No. 09, April 9-15, 2025 & Vol. 31 No. 35, August 29 - September 3, 2022
First designated a National Monument by President Barack Obama in 2015 and upgraded to a National Historical Park by President Joe Biden in 2022, Pullman is the first National Park Service unit in Chicago. The park tells the story of one of the first planned industrial communities in the United States, the sleeping car magnate who helped create it, and the workers who lived there. The
district is significant for its influence on urban planning and design, as well as its role in American labor history, including the 1894 Pullman Strike and Boycott. Located in what is now the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago, the historic district includes the site of the former Pullman Palace Car Works, shops and administration building, original 1880s worker housing, Hotel Florence, Arcade Park, and Greenstone Church. Also within the district is the A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum which recognizes and explores African American labor history.
Near South Side
9
WILLIE
DIXON
’ S BLUES HEAVEN FOUNDATION (CHESS RECORDS)
2120 S. Michigan Ave.
Sat Closed | Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 33 No. 04, February 5-18, 2025 & Vol. 31 No. 33, August 16-22, 2023
2120 South Michigan Ave is known as the site of some of the world's most influential Blues and Rock n' Roll music recordings, including "Johnny B. Goode," "Rescue Me," and "Red Rooster." Between 1957 and 1967, brothers Leonard and Phil Chess made this modest facility the creative home for such artists as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Chuck Berry. The notoriety of Chess Records inspired other musicians to record there in the mid 1960s, including the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds. It was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1990. Partially guided tours of the Blues Heaven Gallery and the second floor recording studios will be offered to groups of up to 50 people on Sunday only. Tour reservations are available for Saturday by request at info@BluesHeaven.com or 312-808-1286.
Ukrainian Village / West Town
10 Wild Mile
905 W. Eastman St.
Sat Noon-5 pm | Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 31 No. 42, November 6 - 12, 2024
The Wild Mile is a fully floating eco-park, serving wildlife and humans alike. An ADA-accessible boardwalk is surrounded by floating gardens, which host native Illinois wetland species. This project restores critical habitat to urbanized waterways, while creating a community greenspace that can be freely used for recreation, education, and stewardship. The park space rises and falls with the river's water level. Installed modularly, the in-progress park currently stands at 700 linear feet, and will eventually expand to an mile in length. The entire boardwalk will be open for exploration, roughly 700 linear feet accessible from Eastman Street behind the REI store. Urban Rivers volunteers will be present to answer questions and lead 45-minute tours every hour, covering the site's history, design, environmental impact, and much more.
Austin
11 BUILD HEADQUARTERS
5100 W. Harrison St.
Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 32 No. 39, July 31 - August 6, 2024
BUILD is a leading violence prevention, gang intervention, and youth development organization on Chicago’s West Side. In 2011, BUILD acquired the former Shore Bank building. It quickly became a makeshift youth center, hosting programs in music, art, podcasting, sports, mental health and more. By 2018, BUILD met with architecture firm LBBA to plan an expansion. The newly con-
structed section spans an entire city block. It includes a gymnasium and fitness lab, youth lounges, a host of art and makers studios, reservable community workspaces, administrative offices, and public café Momentum Coffee. Outside, an outdoor classroom, playfields, kitchen garden, chicken coop, and peace garden create a sense of welcome, healing, and hands-on learning. The building’s exterior also features a vibrant mural by Chicago artist Dwight White.
Lakeview 12 LATHROP HOMES
2000 W. Diversey Pkwy. Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 32 No. 15, April 10-16, 2024 & Vol. 32 No. 03, January 17-23, 2024
An early example of public housing in the 1930s, the community now consists of revitalized and modernized mixedincome housing and open space. Lathrop's 34 acres border the Chicago River, Diversey Parkway, and Clybourn and Damen Avenues. Many of Lathrop's brick row houses and 3 and 4 story apartment buildings, set in a campuslike environment, have been preserved and restored and now feature redesigned floorplans with brand new finishes and contemporary conveniences. The lush open space—designed by legendary landscape architect Jens Jensen—has been restored, including the spectacular Great Lawn. Self-guided tours of a model apartment will be available, and Lathrop's Woodshop and Boathouse will also be open. Visitors can enjoy the 2-acre Great Lawn, the playground, and new Riverwalk.
Uptown
13 GRACELAND CEMETERY AND ARBORETUM
4001 N. Clark St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 3 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 32 No. 08, February 2127, 2024 & Vol. 29 No.42, October 25-31, 2021
Graceland Cemetery is one of Chicago’s finest hidden treasures, a serene and vibrant park-like cemetery on the North Side. Graceland is the final resting place to many prominent Chicago figures, including athletes, politicians, industrialists and many of the finest architects of the last century. Designed by visionary landscape architects, Graceland offers a glimpse into the past while creating a beautiful place for all to enjoy. Even after 150 years, Graceland remains an active cemetery and arboretum.
Downtown
14 HAROLD WASHINGTON LIBRARY CENTER
400 S. State St.
Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun 1 - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 31 No.22, May 31 - June 6, 2023
Harold Washington Library Center is the central location of the Chicago Public Library. Opened in 1991, it is named in honor of the late Harold Washington, Chicago's first African American Mayor. The building’s red stone exterior references other iconic Chicago buildings such as the Monadnock and The Rookery, but the enormous rooftop acroteria, in the form of copper owls, impart a distinctive presence. Always a hub of activity, the library houses over 1.2 million holdings, an awardwinning Maker Lab, the renovated Thomas Hughes Children's Library, cutting-edge Teen YouMedia space, dozens of works of art by notable artists, rotating exhibits, music practice rooms and a beautiful top-floor Winter Garden.
Bronzeville
15 THE HISTORIC WABASH YWCA
3763 S. Wabash Ave.
Sat 10 am - 5 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 31 No. 06, February 6-12, 2023
The historic Wabash YMCA, active between 1913 and 1970, played a vital role during the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North. An orientation center for young men seeking opportunity, the Wabash Y provided lodging and connections to the community, becoming a cultural epicenter for Chicago’s African American community. The Y served as a meeting space for over 100 community groups. After its 1969 closure, the Wabash Y remained uninhabited until its purchase and restoration by The Renaissance Collaborative, reopening in 2000. The building features an adaptive reuse of its original lodging as the Renaissance Apartments as well as office, recreation, and community spaces. Key features include a marble staircase, community room, fitness room, swimming pool, billiard room, and grand ballroom.
13
14
15
Austin
16 AUSTIN HARVEST
423 N. Laramie Ave. Sat 10 am - 3 pm | Sun Closed
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 31 No 05, January 30 - February 5, 2023
Austin Harvest grew out of a desire for youth to lead the way for positive community change. In the summer of 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 crisis and social justice movement, By The Hand Club youth gathered to create change in their community. Recognizing their neighborhood had substantially more liquor stores than grocery stores, students identified an opportunity to bring fresh produce to local residents. In less than two months, Austin Harvest opened on the site of a looted liquor store. The mission-driven market is entirely student-led, with 15 student entrepreneurs responsible for all aspects of operations including planning, staffing, ordering and inventory management. All revenue generated at the fresh market is invested back into its operations and student stipends. Austin Harvest fills a significant need in a food desert. Originally intended as a single-season pop-up, students were determined to make it a long-term food solution.
Near West Side
17 NATIONAL HELLENIC MUSEUM
333 S. Halsted St.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 4 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 30 No. 43, October 24-30, 2022
The National Hellenic Museum is a public history museum with a mission to share Greek history, art, culture, and the Greek American story in relevant ways that foster connections across generations, cultures and time. Visitors are invited to explore the entire Museum, including the rooftop, at their leisure. Guided tours will also be available at the top of every hour. The museum will showcase the exhibits "Legacy, Renewal & Unity: Celebrating 100 Years of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America" and "Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate: Protecting the Future of Faith,” as well as its permanent exhibitions.
Ukrainian Village / West Town
18 UKRAINIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM
2249 W. Superior St. Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 30 No. 20, May 16 - 22, 2022
The Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago was founded in 1952 by displaced scholars. Their goal was to establish a museum and archives that would reflect the lives of those forced by cruel circumstances to leave their homeland and who sought cultural continuity in their new settlements. Today, the museum stands as one of the finest achievements of the Ukrainian American community. Its exceptional collection of folk art, fine art, and extensive compendium of archival materials bring broad appeal for diverse audiences.
Near South Side
19 GLESSNER HOUSE
1800 S. Prairie Ave.
Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 30 No.08, February 21 - 27, 2022
H. H. Richardson's last surviving work in Chicago was commissioned by John and Frances Glessner. This urban residential masterpiece's radical design perplexed neighbors but was quickly embraced by architects for its innovative floor plan. With principal rooms facing inward toward a light-filled private courtyard, it helped create a new American style of residential architecture. An important collection of original furnishings features pieces representing the Aesthetic, Modern Gothic, and the Arts and Crafts movements of both England and the United States. Glessner House was saved from demolition in 1966 thanks to efforts that resulted in the creation of both Glessner House and the Chicago Architecture Center. 10-minute guided tours of the main spaces on the first floor will be offered.
Downtown
20 MCCORMICK BRIDGEHOUSE & CHICAGO RIVER MUSEUM
99 E. Riverwalk
Sat & Sun 10 am - 5 pm
Featured in StreetWise Vol. 28 No.28, July 20 - August 2, 2020
This five-story, 1,400-square-foot bridgehouse was designed by Edward Bennett, and is part of the revolutionary 1920, double-decker DuSable Bridge. The bridgehouse itself is crowned by an urn and a pyramidal roof above an emphatic cornice. It is operated by Friends of the Chicago River and is dedicated to celebrating Chicago’s river and world-famous movable bridges. The DuSable Bridge includes relief sculptures depicting Potawatomi men in violent conflict with U.S. soldiers during the Battle of Fort Dearborn. This sculpture was created by white artists in the early 20th century to romanticize a story of Indian displacement and genocide.
