Built on Belief: Narrow Bridge Arts Club

This project is part of the Chicago Architecture Center’s Built on Belief initiative, a series of place-based activations exploring the connections between architecture, the built environment, religion, spirituality and sacred space. At Narrow Bridge Arts Club, the initiative unfolds through a series of programs rooted in the building’s history and its role as a gathering place in Chicago’s Woodlawn community.

Located at 6028 S. Champlain Ave., the 1923 building has been a site of song, celebration, worship and community for more than a century. Originally built as Congregation B’nai Bezalel, a synagogue, the building has been home to several important South Side churches over the past 80 years.

Over the next year, Narrow Bridge will host four major programs across some of the attributes by which they structure their organization:

• Strength | Learning coincides with Open House Chicago on October 17th and 18th, when artists lead a variety of activities throughout the building.
• Balance | Grace takes place in January of 2027 with a communal meal and the Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer Choir returning to fill the space with song.
• Awe | Garden in Spring 2027 there will be a day of planting native trees in the neighborhood.
• Beauty in Summer 2027 will result in the opening of a mural created with Walls Turned Sideways.

Related: Built on Belief: First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, another Built on Belief site activation, available to explore starting on October 17 and 18 for Open House Chicago, through April 2027.