Experience the texture and fabric of public housing throughout time by visiting three recreated historic apartments showcasing different families’ experiences at different moments in public housing history between 1938 and 1975. The intimate individual, family and community stories become the lens to understand large national public housing policies and their impact…
“What is an object that tells a story about your life and experiences in public housing?” History Lessons: Everyday Objects from Public Housing is a national effort to collect objects from public housing residents in diverse communities across the USA, and work with residents in storytelling and writing workshops to write their own labels…
Still Here uses art, archives, and public dialogue to explore and connect histories of displacement on the land where the National Public Housing Museum is located. As an institution that addresses displacement of public housing residents, we also want to understand the forcible removal of Indigenous peoples that came before and grapple with how those experiences are interwoven…
As you walk down Taylor Street, meet one of our founders, Commissioner Deverra Beverly and learn about the changing neighborhood through the stories of past residents. These exhibits are accessible from the outside of the museum.
Beyond the uniform exteriors of public housing buildings, there are apartment units with unique, enthralling, and carefully curated interiors. We partnered with Jayah Arnett from My Projects Runway to collect family photos of public housing apartments. From these photos, we share their stories and select fabric to adorn the seats in our main gathering hub.
No government program has left a more visible legacy on the American landscape than the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration. Along with the construction of hundreds of federally funded buildings, including the Jane Addams Homes, the program employed thousands of artists.
Experience the enchanting seven-piece sculpture Animal Court by Edgar Miller, which has been lovingly restored and placed in our courtyard. The sculpture garden is free and open to the public during museum hours…
Throughout the National Public Housing Museum, you will encounter objects that were salvaged from the original Jane Addams Homes building that now serves as our home. You are invited to consider what these preserved artifacts from the building have to say about the style, culture, and history of public housing…
What does it take to create and maintain truly public housing? Each year, we invite guest curators to examine a single case study that we believe demonstrates a creative commitment to public housing to learn from housing projects across the country…
From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Houston to Chicago, Minneapolis to Memphis. From Klezmer to Hip-Hop, Country to Latin Rock, the music that has emerged from public housing projects represents a range of popular sounds that have expanded our idea of American culture and American identity…
When American sitcom Good Times came out in 1974, it was the first time public housing residents saw themselves on mainstream television. We worked with Maurice Edwards, Cabrini Green Homes Community Development Corporation President, to ask current Cabrini Green residents to tell us their favorite episodes, clips of which are on view in our Lower Level gallery.
Throughout the interior and exterior of the museum, you will encounter public art connected to the stories of public housing.
