Highlights from the CAC
July-September 2025
Highlights from the CAC
July-September 2025
Dear Board, Docents, Volunteers and Staff,
As autumn nears, the Chicago Architecture Center continues to be a place where civic pride, cultural exploration and bold ideas converge. I’m thrilled to share highlights from a productive summer.
In July, we concluded our first-ever Trades Pre-Apprenticeship Experience, graduating more than a dozen young adults who received hands-on training and earned certification to jumpstart careers in the building trades. The pilot program, combining technical instruction, design thinking and real-world exposure to union training centers, is an investment in our city’s future workforce and a testament to what’s possible when education, opportunity and community come together.
On September 6, we welcomed hundreds of young people into the center to learn from women who are leading the way in STEAM fields at our annual Girls Build! Day.
Our annual Designing Futures gala on September 30 was a resounding success, raising more than $400,000 for CAC public engagement and education programs, supporting our mission to connect people with the power of architecture. The evening brought together leaders, creatives and community members who believe in building a more inclusive and inspired Chicago. Congratulations to our honorees: Related Midwest President Curt Bailey for receiving the Civic Champion Award; AIA Chicago President Jen Masengarb for winning the Lynn J. Osmond Legacy Award; and Mobile Makers founder Maya Bird Murphy, who took home the inaugural Lori Healey Rising Leader Award, created to celebrate rising individuals in community development, planning, design, government, or the built environment. Thank you to everyone who helped make this celebration both meaningful and memorable. There is still a chance for you to support this work by donating here.
At the Center, we’ve mounted a powerful, conversation-starting new exhibition: The Disappointed Tourist by artist Ellen Harvey, which will remain on view through April 2026. Through evocative paintings of lost or imagined places submitted by the public for consideration to the artist, Harvey invites us to reflect on memory, longing and the role architecture plays in shaping our emotional landscapes. It’s a poignant reminder that design is not only about what we build—but what we remember, reclaim and reimagine.
Coming this October 18-19, more than 200 sites across 25 neighborhoods will open their doors for Open House Chicago, which endures as one of our city’s most anticipated annual festivals. This year a record 30+ new sites and 3 Neighborhood Headquarters. Whether you’re guiding tours, greeting guests, or exploring on your own, thank you for helping make this celebration of Chicago so special.
As we look ahead, we remain committed to fostering dialogue, opportunity and creativity. From exhibitions to education, tours to trade programs, your support ensures that the CAC continues to be a dynamic hub for everyone who believes in the power of place.
With gratitude,
Eleanor Gorski, AIA
CEO & President
The CAC offers design education to students from Pre-K to adults. With your support, we can continue to empower Chicagoans to shape a more equitable, sustainable vibrant city. Learn more about what the CAC offers.
Youth Education
2,626 participants across 81 programs.
Adult Programs
1,087 participants across 17 programs.
Development
$3M Indiv. giving, $13.5K Corp. giving, $400K Gala (cumulative) $285K Foundation. $55K Gov grants & pledges. $3.7M total.
Volunteers
435 active volunteers gave 6,128 hours.
Center Attendance
14,847 entries and $65.6K in revenue.
Members & Retention
6,063 members, with $200.5K in revenue.
River Cruise
1,413 departures with 190.4K guests and $3.6M in revenue.
Walking Tours
1,136 departures with 8,457 guests and $148K in revenue.
Retail Sales
$239K in-store sales, $5,962 online sales and 53.90% profit margin.
In January, the CAC launched the Chicago Community Planning Academy, an eight-week pilot program developed with the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Designed for community members interested in urban planning, the program covered topics like zoning, housing and neighborhood development through expert-led sessions, case studies, and site visits. Weekly shared meals and discussions fostered connection and collaboration. Participants left with practical knowledge, new networks and tools to help shape more equitable, and sustainable neighborhoods across Chicago.
The CAC Girls Build! Day at the Chicago Architecture Center was full of fun and learning.
Girls Build! 2025 invited girls ages 11–17 to design, create, and discover through interactive STEM projects.
Participants explored design through tours, LEGO challenges, and hands-on workshops.
The Disappointed Tourist by artist Ellen Harvey opened at the Chicago Architecture Center.
The new exhibition explores hundreds of lost spaces nominated by the public and shared their stories.
VIP guests at the CAC's Designing Futures Gala enjoyed an exclusive evening celebrating the transformative power of design, creativity and community.
The CAC's Designing Futures Gala brought together industry and civic leaders, cultural changemakers, and engaged supporters to celebrate the transformative power of design, creativity, and community.
An unforgettable evening took place at the Epiphany Center for the Arts.
Block Club Chicago, January 29
Fox 32 Chicago, March 6
from Art Nouveau clubs to antique shops
Chicago Sun-Times, October 19
By Eleanor Gorski
Published in the Chicago Sun-Times 10/25/2024
What do you value in our city’s built environment? Residents have options to provide their input on what’s best for the city’s development, the head of the Chicago Architecture Center writes.
Chicago skyline. Photo by Mary Ellen Bleeden
By Eleanor Esser Gorski
Published in Better Magazine, July 2025
To many, urban planning feels like a mystery — something happening in the background until one day you wake up and that vacant corner lot is suddenly a coffee shop. As an architect working in city planning for most of my career, I know how these decisions get made. For the average resident in a large city like Chicago, navigating zoning codes or understanding who to talk to about a proposed development can feel like an insider’s game. Too often, city planning conversations exclude the people most impacted by the outcomes.
At the Chicago Architecture Center, we asked: What if more people understood the systems that shape their blocks, parks, grocery stores, and bus stops? What if Chicagoans — especially those in historically overlooked communities — had access to the tools to help shape their neighborhoods?
As a nonprofit institution that engages 500,000 people of all ages and backgrounds annually with design education, we felt uniquely qualified to tackle these questions.
These questions led to launch the Chicago Community Planning Academy (CCPA), a new initiative aimed at helping everyday Chicagoans reclaim their role in shaping the future of their communities.
Launched in Jan. 2025 in partnership with the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the program brought together 20 Chicagoans from 11 neighborhoods on the South, West, and North sides — for an eight-week program to learn how to navigate and influence community planning and development processes. They dove into housing policy, zoning, Quality of Life plans, and other community development tools. They learned from real estate experts, lawyers, and academics. They visited with the emerging developers who created Starling by Duo/., a stunning reimagination of what neighborhood amenities can look like. They shared their lived experiences, frustrations, and hopes for the places they call home.
Participants included educators, artists, small business owners, and health workers — people already deeply engaged in their communities, but who hadn’t had access to tools and networks that drive city planning. That’s the heart of CCPA. It’s not about producing professional planners (though community planning academies do have mutually beneficial outcomes for professional planners and participants). It’s about equipping people with information they can use to start a neighborhood coalition, advocate at public meetings, or know what to look for when a new project gets announced. We’re cultivating a community of peers ready to take action.
“I found the resources and materials provided insightful,” says participant Veronica Torres Luna, a Brighton Park native who lives in Edgewater. “Something like looking up who the city planner was for our region or looking at a Chicago zoning map — I had never done that.”
The program was designed with equity at its core, building off successful models in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Most participants identified as People of Color, and many came from South and West Side neighborhoods where urban planning conversations are not common. It was free to attend, accommodating to work schedules, came with a stipend, and didn’t require prior planning experience.
These choices matter. In a city where urban planning was not always a priority, CCPA works to challenge the past while building toward a more cohesive and resilient future. Participatory urban planning can help us get there.
We’re on our way. The first cohort saw 100 percent completion. All participants now feel confident in finding and participating in community engagement efforts. Ninety percent said they can now confidently describe planning processes and feel equipped to propose solutions to city agencies based on community needs. That’s sowing the seeds for real change.
“This course could be a gateway to a career in planning — or simply provide tools for building a better community,” says participant Will Porter, urban gardener and retired arborist. “It’s for everybody who wants to be engaged civically.”
Chicago Community Planning Academy graduates at the final showcase. Photo credit: Emilio Albertini.
Chicago Community Planning Academy graduates at the final showcase. Photo credit: Emilio Albertini.
Our next round will incorporate feedback from our first cohort: more neighborhood tours and more space for graduates to stay engaged post-program.
We hope to grow a citywide network of changemakers equipped to challenge systems to make them better and more reflective of the communities they serve. These civic advocates will be able to represent their neighborhoods when new public or private projects are proposed and make a difference.
Planning isn’t just about buildings. It’s about values. It’s about voice. The tools to shape our city shouldn’t be reserved for a few. That power belongs in the hands of the people who call Chicago home.
Applications for the next CCPA cohort will open in the coming months. Visit architecture.org or follow the Chicago Architecture Center to stay updated.
The Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) highlights the stories behind some of Chicago’s most iconic buildings to celebrate the city’s architectural innovation. The CAC also works to inspire children and young adults to reach their potential through the discovery of engineering, design, and architecture.
Donations to the CAC provide design education opportunities to youth, including tickets for students to experience the CAC River Cruise, curriculum materials for CPS teachers to architecture and design schools, and supplies for summer camp programming.
Please contact Jorrie Jarrett with any questions or input on the content of this report.
