Skip to primary menu Skip to main content Skip to footer content

Polaroid Poems: Poetry Writing Workshop

Banner graphic with the text Community Conversations, A Place in the World over a blue background
  • National Public Housing Museum, 919 S. Ada Street, Chicago, IL 60607

  • Free

How many words is a family picture really worth? More than a thousand? Are some photos actually best captured in haiku form?

Crack open your family photo album and bring a photo with you to the National Public Housing Museum for a poetry writing workshop led by creative writing instructor, poet, healer, and former Hilliard Homes resident, Toni Asante Lightfoot.

During this workshop, we’ll rediscover and reclaim snapshots of our past and use poetry to preserve our family memories and communal stories.

In addition to your polaroid (or any photo), please feel free to bring your favorite notebook and writing utensil. 

FREE. Light bites and refreshments included. Space is limited. Please register in advance.


Community Conversations

This workshop is the final event in a series of Community Conversations sponsored by Illinois Humanities, focusing on the theme of “A Place in the World,” which reminds us that the places where we live and work shape and are shaped by ideas, people, resources, histories, and events around the world—often in unexpected and curious ways.


Logo for Illinois Arts Council

The National Public Housing Museum acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.


Upcoming events

A collage of photos of family activities and performances

Groundwaves Generations with MURS

An all-ages afternoon of hip-hop, community building, and collaboration, hosted by rap icon and innovator MURS

Vintage photo of seven kids posed with books and notebooks in front of an large animal sculpture

Our Streets & Our Stories

Celebrate the addition of new stories and outdoor interactive audio stations that share neighborhood voices from the National Public Housing Museum’s oral history archive.

Banner for A Place to Call Home gala 2026

A Place to Call Home Gala 2026

The National Public Housing Museum’s biennial A Place to Call Home gala is returning in 2026! Join our engaged community as we honor Matthew Desmond, Jackie Taylor, and Denis Pierce…